Story and Photos by Jeff Kardas

The Georgia Dome was home to this season’s Eastern Regional Supercross Lites series opener, and round eight of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championships. Traditionally the highest attended round of the entire series with crowds in the 70,000 range; this year’s racing action was witnessed by a respectable 67,429—again, likely the biggest event of the season

The riders did not disappoint, with solid and exciting racing in just about every race of the night, resulting in two first-time winners—Team Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps in Supercross and Team Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Trey Canard in Supercross Lites. Not only did Honda nail both wins for the night, but they also managed a complete sweep of the premier Supercross class with Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Kevin Windham finishing second and Millsaps’ teammate Andrew Short completing the podium. Perhaps a bigger surprise than who actually won was who didn’t win, and that’s series favorite Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Not only did Villopoto fail to get a heat or main event win, but the 2007 AMA Motocross Lites and Western Regional Supercross Lites champion blundered twice in the same spot on the track in both his heat and main event, failing to finish the first main of the new season. In a championship whose winner had previously seemed to be a foregone conclusion, it’s now turned into anyone’s game. As for the Supercross class, Team San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Yamaha’s Chad Reed also had some trouble, finishing a distant sixth in the SX main.

SUPERCROSS LITES CLASS QUALIFYING

The first heat race of the east coast season started out as a precursor of things to come, as Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Trey Canard put his CRF250R up front for the holeshot and never looked back. The Oklahoma rookie dominated the six-lap race from start to finish, keeping a solid full straightaway lead over the battling MDK/KTM duo of Ryan Sipes and Martin Davalos. The teammates swapped positions several times in what, again, was a preview of the main event later in the evening. Further back was another rookie, this time Motoworld/Xtreme Kawasaki pilot Phil Nicoletti, who put on an impressive ride in front of Yamaha of Troy teammates Ryan Morais and the much-anticipated debut of Tyler Bowers. As for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, after being held up with a bad start, he had worked his way up several spots before floundering and falling over on one of the track’s nearly vertical five foot tall walls. Ryan had hit it in such a way that his balance was lost and he wasn’t able to dab his foot anywhere to keep himself upright, tumbling down to the side as a result. Despite the fall, RV still qualified in seventh position for the main.

Another first-timer to AMA Supercross Lites racing walked away with the second heat race, although at first it did not appear so. Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Nico Izzi chased the Torco Racing Fuels/Honda of Josh Grant for the duration of heat race number two, and while Grant did indeed cross the finish line first, he ultimately was not the winner. Grant was informed just after his visit to the podium for the win that he had tripled despite being signaled not to, and as such was penalized five seconds. Josh’s disbelief with this ruling was apparent, as he adamantly denied doing any such thing, but the ruling stood and he was scored with second in the race, which now recorded Izzi as the victor. Regardless, the racing behind these two was exciting from the get-go, much of which included Izzi’s run to the front through a solid group of riders. Also impressive was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Branden Jesseman, working his way up from a bad start to third, and absolutely mind-blowing was the ride put in by privateer Chad Ward, who ran in the top three for much of the race until eventually fading to sixth behind the Star Racing Yamaha of Jake Moss and Motosport/Xtreme/Kawasaki’s Kyle Chisholm. Red Bull Honda’s French import Benjamin Coisy ran with the front trio as well early in the race and looked quite impressive, before having a date with a Tuff Block that just didn’t want to give him up. Coisy was relegated to a trip to the LCQ.

A solid holeshot by Chaplin Kawasaki-mounted Ricky Renner set the tone for the Lites LCQ, and although the young Floridian couldn’t keep in front of the speedy Frenchman Coisy, he did hold on for second ahead of a very determined privateer Honda ridden by Ryan Mills, and the Rockstar/Suzuki City RM-Z250 of Jimmy Albertson. “Albee” led a trio of his teammates across the line as Justin Sipes and Willy Browning failed to qualify by just a couple of spots.

Results:

Lites Heat One:

1. Trey Canard (Hon)
2. Ryan Sipes (KTM)
3. Martin Davalos (KTM)
4. Phil Nicoletti (Kaw)
5. Ryan Morais (Yam)
6. Tyler Bowers (Yam)
7. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
8. Kyle Partridge (Hon)
9. Nathan Skaggs (Hon)

Lites Heat Two:

1. Nico Izzi (Suz)
2. Josh Grant (Hon)
3. Branden Jesseman (Kaw)
4. Jake Moss (Yam)
5. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
6. Chad Ward (Yam)
7. Matt Boni (Hon)
8. Billy Payne (Hon)
9. Levi Killbarger (Hon)

Lites LCQ:

1. Benjamin Coisy (Hon)
2. Ricky Renner (Kaw)
3. Ryan Mills (Hon)
4. Jimmy Albertson (Suz)

SUPERCROSS CLASS QUALIFYING

Last round’s main event winner, Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Kevin Windham, started out the night on the same foot as last weekend—with a convincing win. K-Dub’s tough to beat when he’s on, everyone from Ricky Carmichael to Chad Reed are even willing to admit that, and after witnessing the first Supercross heat race, he certainly seemed to be “on” this night in Georgia. The story developed in the battle behind Windham, a battle which Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short ultimately came out on top of. That wasn’t without a bit of hounding toward the end of the race by Team Yamaha’s Josh Hill, who spent the entire race moving up from a mid-pack start to nail down third, a long ways ahead of Hart & Huntington’s Troy Adams in fourth. BBMX.com’s Bryan Johnson rounded out the top five.

Next up was a semi-predictable heat race number two, where Chad Reed forced his San Manual Band of Mission Indians/Yamaha into the sandy first corner side-by-side with Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps. This was the point where it became clear to the 69,000-plus fans that young Millsaps just might have something for Reed one of these days, and that it’d probably be sooner rather than later. Davi stayed close enough to Chad throughout most of the eight-lap race that even the slightest bobble by the former champ would certainly be pounced upon, as Millsaps stuck within a couple of seconds for the duration of the heat. Meanwhile, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Timmy Ferry did what he does best—slice through the pack after a poor start and force his way toward the front. Ending up third, “Red Dog” looked as solid and predictable as ever after displacing Jason Thomas, David Vuillemin and Jeff Gibson in quick succession during the final laps. In other interesting news, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s new recruit Travis Preston found himself under, over, beside, and on top of Hooters Honda rider Eric Sorby—sometimes by his own doing, and sometimes not. Neither of the two advanced to the main, but the showdown was on for the LCQ.

The remnants of the 32-man field of entries made their way to the LCQ, which was handily won by Heath Voss and his WWR/MDK CRF450R. Voss inherited the lead after a holeshot by Chris Gosselaar, who took advantage of the ability to race out east on a 450 after starting the season in the Western Region Supercross Lites competition. A small bobble allowed Voss and San Manuel’s Nathan Ramsey by, preventing “Lil’ Goose” from making an appearance in the main event. Once again the dynamic duo of Preston and Sorby found each other on the track, and once again both failed to qualify for the next race after some intense battling.

Results:

Supercross Heat One:

1. Kevin Windham (Hon)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Josh Hill (Yam)
4. Troy Adams (Hon)
5. Bryan Johnson (Hon)
6. Charles Summey (Yam)
7. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
8. Nick Wey (KTM)
9. Ryan Clark (Hon)

Supercross Heat Two:

1. Chad Reed (Yam)
2. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
3. Timmy  Ferry (Kaw)
4. Jason Thomas (Hon)
5. David Vuillemin (Suz)
6. Jeff Gibson (Kaw)
7. Josh Hansen (Yam)
8. Cole Siebler (Hon)
9. Jake Marsack (Hon)

Supercross LCQ:

1. Heath Voss (Hon)
2. Nathan Ramsey (Yam)

SUPERCROSS LITES MAIN EVENT

Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Trey Canard nabbed the $1,000 Progressive Direct holeshot award, followed closely by MDK/KTM-mounted Ryan Sipes, Yamaha privateer Chad Ward, Sipes’ teammate Martin Davalos, Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy’s Tyler Bowers, and Star Racing/Yamaha’s Jake Moss. Further back was the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki of Ryan Villopoto, whose midpack start brought him across the line for the first lap just outside of the top-10. Also well back was Red Bull Honda rider Ben Coisy, who went down in the sandy first corner along with Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy’s Ryan Morais and Motoworld/Xtreme/Kawasaki’s Phil Nicoletti.

By lap two things had shuffled around quite a bit behind the lead trio of Canard, Sipes, and Davalos. Villopoto had moved his way into eighth, following the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki of Nico Izzi through several riders after the opening lap. Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Josh Grant, recovering from a first turn bobble that left him also way back was able to grab onto Izzi and Villopoto and draft them up into eight by lap four.

With Canard stamping his absolute authority over the field at the halfway point, a lot continued to happen behind him—primarily Villopoto’s second run-in with the near-vertical jump that cost him a good finish in his heat race just before the finish line. When Ryan got out of shape in the sand leading up to the obstacle, fell over on the face, and while attempting to pick his bike back up and re-mount, he was hit square on the arms by Grant. In a violent move to the ground, Villopoto lay just off the track, clearly in pain and holding his already tender right wrist, as he walked slowly off the track for a DNF. This moved Izzi up the spot that he’d lost to Villopoto, while Grant moved back a few after the incident. Moving up steadily was the other Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki of Branden Jesseman, who by lap eight eased in behind Izzi and Tyler Bowers for seventh. Further back, Cosiy also continued to move up steadily, finally reaching the top 10 with a few laps to go.

While all of the great racing was happening for seventh, the battle just behind Canard forsecond-fourth was possibly the most intense of the night. MDK/KTM teammates Davalos and Sipes swapped positions several times, with Jake Moss sneaking a nose in here and there as well. By lap 11, Moss was in between the two and looking good for a podium as he even managed a pass on Davalos (who had bobbled after already capitalizing on a mistake by Sipes to get into second), and the Australian found himself sitting pretty for a second place finish. It was not to be, though, as he too made a mistake with one lap to go, allowing both KTM riders back around, with Davalos eventually getting the upper hand at the line ahead of Sipes and Moss. In what can only be called an impressive debut, Bowers held on for fifth in his Supercross Lites debut ride, just ahead of a hard-charging Jesseman, and a slowly recovering Grant. Coisy eventually finished 10^th in his debut ride on the factory Honda.

Results:

1. Trey Canard (Hon)
2. Martin Davalos (KTM)
3. Ryan Sipes (KTM)
4. Jake Moss (Yam)
5. Tyler Bowers (Yam)
6. Branden Jesseman (Kaw)
7. Josh Grant (Hon)
8. Nico Izzi (Suz)
9. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
10. Benjamin Coisy (Hon)
11. Ryan Morais (Yam)
12. Kyle Partridge (Hon)
13. Ryan Mills (Hon)
14. Billy Payne (Hon)
15. Jimmy Albertson (Suz)
16. Phil Nicoletti (Kaw)
17. Ricky Renner (Kaw)
18. Matt Boni (Hon)
19. Nathan Skaggs (Hon)
20. Levi Killbarger (Hon)
21. Chad Ward (Yam)
22. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)

Supercross Lites East Point Standings (Round 1 of 7):

1. Trey Canard (25/1 win)
2. Martin Davalos (22)
3. Ryan Sipes (20)
4. Jake Moss (18)
5. Tyler Bowers (16)
6. Branden Jesseman (15)
7. Josh Grant (14)
8. Nico Izzi (13)
9. Kyle Chisholm (12)
10. Benjamin Coisy (11)

SUPERCROSS MAIN EVENT

When San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Yamaha’s Chad Reed stuck the holeshot in the Supercross Main Event, some of the nearly 70,000 fans probably wrote it off as another predictable victory for the speedy Aussie and headed for the exits. But those few would have been mistaken, because even though Reed rode the first several laps with precision, Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps was pushing him to the limits the entire time.

Just behind the two leaders in the opening laps was Reed’s teammate Nathan Ramsey, followed by Millsaps’ teammate Andrew Short, Hart & Huntington’s Troy Adams, and Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Kevin Windham. Just before the start of lap five, K-Dub made his way past Adams and Short, while at the same time Millsaps found himself in the lead with a clear track ahead.

On the same vertical obstacle that had claimed Villopoto twice earlier, Reed hit the face square and flew over the bars, landing in a heap, while coughing up the lead to the gracious Millsaps. Then, for the remaining 15 laps, all Millsaps had to do was keep an even keel while things sorted themselves out behind him, get through lapped traffic unscathed, and go open the bubbly. That’s exactly what happened. Millsaps rode flawlessly (although in post-race interviews he felt he’d tightened up and got nervous), while the rest of the pack jockeyed for the remaining spots on the podium. Ramsey held strong in second for a couple laps before succumbing to Windham’s pressure, as the veteran locked onto Millsaps’ pace and mirrored his every move—albeit a straightaway behind—for the remainder of the race. Ramsey’s troubles weren’t over yet, as the bid for his first podium finish was in dire straights thanks to the relentless pursuit of not only Andrew Short, but Tim Ferry and Josh Hill, as well. Ferry had actually made his way up from ninth to third by the halfway point before a crash sent him backwards, which Ramsey, Short, and Hill all capitalized on. Unfortunately for Hill, his good fortunes ended there for an unknown reason, as shortly after he was seen riding the track slowly with his goggles removed. Ferry, meanwhile, was able to move back up to fourth by the final lap, right behind Short and a few clicks shy of Windham and Millsaps. As for Chad Reed, he forced his way back onto his bike and slowly worked his way through traffic to a respectable sixth place after being as far back as 11^th after his crash. Not a customary Reed comeback, no doubt, and the question remains whether Reed was a bit battered and bruised after the incident, although he was unfortunately unavailable for comment after the race. Going into round nine in Indianapolis next weekend, the point’s standings remain about the same although Reed’s lead has now dwindled to a still solid 25 points over Windham, while Millsaps moves ahead of his teammate Short for fourth.

Supercross Main Event Results:

1. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
2. Kevin Windham (Hon)
3. Andrew Short (Hon)
4. Timmy Ferry (Kaw)
5. Nathan Ramsey (Yam)
6. Chad Reed (Yam)
7. Charles Summey (Yam)
8. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
9. David Vuillemin (Suz)
10. Jason Thomas (Hon)
11. Ryan Clark (Hon)
12. Heath Voss (Hon)
13. Bryan Johnson (Hon)
14. Nick Wey (KTM)
15. Jake Marsack (Hon)
16. Cole Siebler (Hon)
17. Jeff Gibson (Kaw)
18. Josh Hansen (Yam)
19. Josh Hill (Yam)
20. Troy Adams (Hon)

Supercross Points Standings (Round 8 of 16):

1. Chad Reed (184/5 wins)
2. Kevin Windham (159/1 win)
3. Timmy Ferry (137)
4. Davi Millsaps (123/1 win)
5. Andrew Short (121)
6. Nathan Ramsey (101)
7. Josh Hill (84)
8. Nick Wey (84)
9. David Vuillemin (72)
10. Mike Alessi (69)