Honda sweep - two riders win their first supercrosses. Davi Millsaps takes his first 450 Supercross Main, Trey Canard wins opening round of 250cc East Lites.
Read pre-race interview with Ryan Villopoto below.
| Round 8 - Atlanta GA - Feb 23 |
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Honda sweep: Davi Millsaps takes 450 Supercross Main, Trey Canard wins opening round of 250cc East Lites.
450 Supercross: Chad Reed was the early leader, but on lap 5, Chad fell ... and that put Davi Millsaps into the lead. And Millsaps, riding for the Honda Red Bull Team, won his first ever 20 lap 450 Supercross Main event, riding strong all the way to the checkered flag. Honda took all three spots on the podium, with Kevin Windham second, and Andrew Short third.
Series points leader Chad Reed ended up finishing sixth. Over 67,000 fans were in attendance.
250 East: The first round of 250cc Lites Eastern Division got going tonight in Atlanta. The winner, competing in his first major AMA supercross: Trey Canard, riding a Honda!
Pre race favorite Ryan Villopoto did not have a good night. He crashed in the main event, got going again slowly, but eventually pulled off the track for a DNF.
Second and third in the 15 lap main- two KTM riders - Martin Davalos & Ryan Sipes.
Courtesy Amanda, Kawasaki Motor Corp., and Pro Circuit
Amanda: Ryan, we are here in Atlanta for the first east coast race of the season, and your first race of the year. Can you tell us what has been going through your head the past couple of days, and today?
Ryan: Well, I’ve just been getting ready the past few weeks and showed up today to see where I’m at. As you know, I haven’t raced in a while, so I just want to get back out there and race myself back into shape, because I have been dealing with an injury for a while.
Amanda: You are running the #2 plate now (which has belonged to “The King” Jeremy Mcgrath for so many years). Was that your idea? Was the number open? Was it Jeremy’s idea? How did that come about?
Ryan: Well, the number was open, and I have had it for the last two years at MXON, and it was a low number that I could get, and it was what I took.
Amanda: Has Jeremy said anything to you about it? And do you feel any extra pressure ridding with that number?
Ryan: No, Not really, I just hope that I can do what he has done with it.
Amanda: How many west coast races did you attend this year?
Ryan: All three Anaheim’s, and San Diego.
Amanda: What’s it like sitting in the stands watching? Is it hard?
Ryan: It’s alright. Sometimes I wish I could go out there and at least ride practice to see what my lap times might be. But I knew my time was coming, and its here now.
Amanda: Now next year you are going to be riding in the 450 class, is that right?
Ryan: Yeah, in ‘09 I will be on a 450.
Amanda: What’s that going to be like, racing every race in the series? Are you excited? Nervous?
Ryan: Its definitely going to be a long one (series). West (series) does eight rounds, and East does seven rounds I think, and the 450 class rides all of them, so it’s definitely something I am going to have to get used to.
Amanda: Earlier you mentioned an injury, your wrist has been a big talk around the pits, what’s going on with it right now? And how do you feel?
Ryan: In October I had it looked at and it needed to be worked on. That’s not when I hurt it, but it did need to be worked on.
After being worked on, it actually made it worse. So I have been dealing with that, then I took 2 weeks off to have it looked at again, and rode 5 or 6 days before tonight’s Atlanta Supercross.
Amanda: You were really fast in practice today. Was your wrist giving you any problems out there?
Ryan: Today it is actually feeling pretty good. And we are just working on getting it back to where it should be.
Amanda: You have been racing for a long time; do you feel like a veteran out there with all of your experience? Or do you still feel as if you have something to prove, and you are learning every weekend?
Ryan: We learn new stuff all the time but, I guess in the Lites class I am a veteran. But in the 450 class I will be a rookie again.
