Anaheim Two; 80’s throwback, 08 throw down.

Coming into Round 3 of the series the folks at Live Nation are mixing it up and so are the guys out there racing which is all good news for the average Supercross fan. Early word out of the teams has it that no one is really going to rock the 80’s look on the bikes but I would look to the gear sponsors for a different answer on that one. Heck the guys at No Fear were a year ahead of the trend already with the retro looking gear for the Honda boys. Word on the interview trail has it that Rick “Too Hip” Johnson is going to one up everybody on the hipster front with the whole clan going Bad Boy for the event. I also hear that certain #4 will be making an appearance for a couple turns around the arena, not to race but rather to greet the faithful. It would be awfully nice if Ricky brought out a machine that uses pre-mix to run that little session on but we will have to take a wait and see on that one.
We do know that any fan in attendance at this race will have the best shot at seeing more the legends of this sport together in one place than any other in recent memory and that is going to be awesome. In the run up to the event there has been a lot of circulation of the famed “Battle Royale” video between RJ and Bailey and as good as those laps were in the edited version I found something entertaining in the full version of the race. Johnson was way out front, running away with it when he got held up by a lapper. The very same complaint that we hear about so much today is what actually set up the last half of that race as the epic battle it has become known for. Now granted Burnworth looked a little more interested in holding RJ up than he did Bailey, only fair considering the slam he got at the start of the race from Johnson. It just sort of made me smile to see the “greatest SX race” being set up by a grudge from a lapped rider.

So far the absolute knock-down drag out action has been in the SX Lites class with both rounds so far delivering the goods with tightly packed battles and hyper-speed paced racing. The Rockstar/Makita Suzuki backed Ryan Dungey has been doing everything right so far and I don’t think you are going to see this kid back it down until the last checkered flag falls with him as the 08 West Champion. Coming into round three I think the rider with the most to prove right now has got to be Yamaha’s Broc Hepler. I think that Broc was absolutely right to take his time with recovering from the serious concussion he suffered but it has got to weigh on him now as he tries to make his mark on the West Coast series. Torco Honda backed Jake Weimer will have to try to keep his momentum rolling after possibly the best bounce back of the New Year with last weeks win. Boost Mobile’s Jason Lawrence is another rider who has got to come out and make a statement soon before this lightning quick Lites series passes him by. So far my pick for the dark horse contender on the West Coast still stands with Daniel Reardon who has put in some solid rides so far and is just outside the top three below Brayton and Lawrence in overall points so far. If Reardon can get a breakout ride this weekend we will have yet another turn of the screw in the West Coast Lites standings.

Now how about the Supercross class?
Coming into the second visit to Anaheim last year Monster Energy Kawasaki’s James Stewart was already rolling like a fright train while San Manuel Yamaha backed Reed was 10 points down and sitting in third because of the scratch taken away by a part-time player Ricky Carmichael. This year we have a whole different ball of wax going on and for my money this is shaping up to stay a tight race for a few more rounds to come. We saw Reed putting pressure on Stewart early in the race at Phoenix but ultimately it was too slick of a surface for the kind of push Reed needed to force a costly mistake out of James. Not to mention the fact that Stewart didn’t seem to rattle one little bit under the firestorm Reed put on him in the opening laps. Barring some kind of incident like James had at A-1 Chad is going to have to bring it hard if he wants to keep #7 from building momentum.
The question is “what does a guy have to do to get some respect around here”?
The guy asking that question……Torco/Honda’s Kevin Windham.
If you listened I to the DMXS radio show on January 16th you heard an interview with K-Dub where they talked about his being left out in the wind at the Anaheim 1 press conference with no one asking the seasoned veteran a single question. In classic Windham style though his answer to the issue…”well if I get my butt on the podium and do my job, then maybe you guys will want to talk with me again.” No complaints, no excuse and mission accomplished at round 2. It is a thing a beauty to watch Windham ride when he is in the flow and I hope we get to see it for many more rounds this year.
The Factory Honda/Red Bull racing bosses have got to be leaning on the awning that shelters Davi Millsaps, Andrew Short and Ivan Tedesco looking for a podium finish from somebody soon.

The big discussion coming into this week centered on the “86 Replica” track design and how it would affect the racing of modern Supercross machines piloted by riders who have advanced the sport light years ahead of where it was in those bygone boogie down Eightie’s nights. Well the early report from one source has the prediction being “don’t expect the track to look the same” as it is becoming readily apparent that while “old-school” may be cool the 08 bikes are running roughshod over yesterdays track design.

I hope the riders and the fans all get a healthy dose of fun for the A-2 round as it is sorely needed in this hyper-serious time but we certainly ain’t in Kansas anymore Dorothy and the wind that is blowing change into the world of AMA Supercross is definitely going to shake the house.

Now where did I put my parachute pants?