Wednesday, March 13

Carmichael Takes Over Points Battle

By B.J. Smith

DAYTONA FL. (March 9) - If this Supercross season stays consistent, Ricky Carmichael will not only win the championship, he may be the last rider standing at the end. With several top title contenders already out of the running the series points leader, David Vuillemin, has joined the fray. Vuillemin, unable to ride practice due to an injury, sat out while Carmichael went on to win his third Daytona Supercross in a row.

Ricky Carmichael won his third Daytona Supercross and took over the points lead in the process.

The big story of the day was of course, Vuillemin's absence from the main. The Yamaha rider crashed during a photo shoot one week ago and sustained a shoulder injury. Vuillemin attempted to ride morning practice but said the pain was too unbearable. He's still not sure if he will be able to return for round 10 in New Orleans.

For Carmichael it was another typical Daytona performance. He pulled the holeshot, was passed by Tim Ferry, retaliated quickly, and led the rest of the race in cruise control.

Ferry, back from injury put in a very impressive second place ride, considering the amount of time he has taken off. Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk muscled his way to his first podium finish of the year with third place and he also took over third in the point standings.

SoBe Suzuki's Travis Pastrana was fast all day long, that is until he crashed on lap 11 while running the pace of Carmichael. Pastrana is unhurt, but was unable to finish the race.

In the 125cc Eastern Region series, Yamaha of Troy's Chad Reed continued his streak with his fourth win in a row to keep his perfect season alive. Mike Brown put in a solid ride for second and KTM's Grant Langston finished third.

250cc Main Event:

1.Ricky Carmichael - Hon
2. Tim Ferry - Yam
3. Ezra Lusk - Kaw
4. Sebastien Tortelli - Hon
5. Jeremy McGrath - Yam
6. Nathan Ramsey -Hon
7. Ernesto Fonseca - Hon
8. Nick Wey - Yam
9. Damon Huffman - Suz
10. Heath Voss - Hon
11. Kyle Lewis - Hon
12. Stephane Roncada - Kaw
13. Jason Thomas - Yam
14. Keith Johnson - Yam
15. James Povolny - Hon
16. Barry Carsten - Suz
17. Kevin Crine - Hon
18. Jeremias Israel - Hon
19. Brian Mason - Kaw
20. James Oehlhof - Yam

250cc Points Standings (After 9 of 16 rounds)

1. Carmichael - 184
2. Vuillemin - 179
3. Lusk - 132
4. Stephane Roncada - 126
5. McGrath - 126
6. Mike LaRocco - 120
7. Ramsey - 102
8. Pastrana - 96
9. Fonseca - 95
10. Huffman - 94

125cc Main Event:

1. Chad Reed - Yam
2. Mike Brown - Kaw
3. Grant Langston -KTM
4. Branden Jesseman -Suz
5. Josh Woods - Suz
6. Greg Schnell - Yam
7. John Dowd - KTM
8. Andrew Short - Suz
9. Buddy Antunez - Suz
10. Ryan Clark - Yam

125cc Point Standings (After 4 of 8 rounds)

1. Reed - 100
2. Brown - 84
3. Steve Boniface - 62
4. Antunez - 59
5. Kelly Smith - 50
6. Larry Ward - 48
7. Dowd - 47
8. Langston - 47
9. Jesseman - 46
10. Schnell - 45