The dramatic 2008 AMA Supercross season edged closer to the upcoming Las Vegas championship finale as L&M Racing’s Chad Reed finished second in the 15th round of the series at St. Louis, MO on Saturday night, April 19. Despite suffering from a painful shoulder injury, Reed’s grit and determination took him to his 11th podium finish of the year and gives him a 13-point lead over rival Kevin Windham in the standings with just two rounds left to go. In essence, Reed needs only to finish close to Windham in the final races to claim the prestigious supercross championship for the second time.
Supercross... After a frightening cartwheel in Detroit sent Reed to the hospital on April 12, he spent the week in rehabilitation to prepare for the St. Louis event. He was fourth quickest in practice with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Josh Hill fifth quickest, though Hill rallied to win his heat race with Reed again conservative in fifth. When the gate dropped for the main event in front of 48,698 fans at Edward Jones Dome, Kelly Smith grabbed the holeshot but immediately crashed out with Davi Millsaps, handing the lead to Reed. Riding in pain, the YZ450F pilot led for three laps before Windham got past, then wisely maintained second place for the duration of the race. Meanwhile Hill, after starting reasonably well in sixth place, fell hard in the whoops on lap three, getting the wind knocked out of him before remounting his YZ to finish 16th.
Reed’s gutsy performance in St. Louis is nothing new to fans, as the event marked the Australian’s 95th consecutive and 100th career Supercross start, a remarkable achievement in this most demanding of sports. “I was fired up and I’m not going to let it go,” Reed said after the race. “It doesn’t matter how much pain I’m in – I’m going to ride as hard as I possibly can.” Yamaha Supercross team manager Jim Perry added, “I was glad to see Chad fight through the pain to finish second. That says a lot about his character and shows how badly he wants to win the championship.”
Supercross Results - Round 15 |
| 1 |
Kevin Windham |
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| 2 |
Chad Reed - YAM |
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| 3 |
Andrew Short |
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| 4 |
Nathan Ramsey - YAM |
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| 5 |
Thomas Hahn |
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| 6 |
David Millsaps |
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| 7 |
Justin Brayton |
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| 8 |
Paul Carpenter |
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| 9 |
Travis Preston |
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| 10 |
Jason Thomas |
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Supercross Standings - After Round 15 of 17 |
| 1 |
Chad Reed - YAM |
318 |
| 2 |
Kevin Windham |
305 |
| 3 |
David Millsaps |
244 |
| 4 |
Andrew Short |
241 |
| 5 |
Josh Hill - YAM |
196 |
| 6 |
Tim Ferry |
190 |
| 7 |
Nathan Ramsey - YAM |
173 |
| 8 |
David Vuillemin |
146 |
| 9 |
Paul Carpenter |
136 |
| 10 |
Nick Wey |
131 |
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Supercross Lites East Results - Round 7 |
| 1 |
Trey Conard |
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| 2 |
B. Jesseman |
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| 3 |
Josh Grant |
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| 4 |
Ryan Villopoto |
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| 5 |
Ryan Morais - YAM |
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| 6 |
Kyle Chisholm |
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| 7 |
Ryan Sipes |
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| 8 |
Nico Izzi |
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| 9 |
Matthew Goerke |
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| 10 |
Billy Payne |
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Supercross Lites West Points- After Round 7 of 7 |
| 1 |
Trey Conard |
147 |
| 2 |
Ryan Villopoto |
137 |
| 3 |
Nico Izzi |
99 |
| 4 |
B. Jesseman |
94 |
| 5 |
Josh Grant |
91 |
| 6 |
Tyler Bowers - YAM |
86 |
| 7 |
Ryan Morais - YAM |
84 |
| 8 |
Ryan Sipes |
84 |
| 9 |
Martin Davalos |
73 |
| 10 |
Billy Payne |
71 |
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