[crfsonly]

WOW! Have you seen the practice times for the 250 class? Check it out:

1 00:51.043 Ricky Carmichael RM250
2 00:51.281 James M Stewart KX250
3 00:51.515 Kevin W Windham CRF450R
4 00:51.947 Chad Reed YZ250
5 00:52.346 David Vuillemin YZ250
6 00:52.369 Jeremy A McGrath CR250R
7 00:53.017 Timmy M Ferry YZ250
8 00:53.075 Travis A Pastrana RM250
9 00:53.167 Sebastien Tortelli RM-Z450
10 00:53.238 Mike Larocco CR250R

You could make all kinds of observations here. First, it's just practice. Second, Chad was FOURTH quickest and almost one second a lap SLOWER than Ricky. Third, Bubba is the real deal on a 250, can he do it lap after lap in a main? Forth, Travis must still be injured. Fifth, MC, the king of supercross, can stil bust out a very fast lap. We'll have have the stamina to compete at that level for two or more motos? Sixth, this is going to be one heck of a race tonight.

Don't forget to tune in tonight live. Check out the 'Race Results' link in the main navigation bar above on how to listen in live.

Results later!

Ken

[systemnt]

yep, bubba's fast... but as Ricky has stated ..time and time again, theres 20 laps.... We know Ricky can go the distance... we'll see if bubba can.. And don't ever count out K-Dub... he never has the quickest practice times..we'll see what his thumper can do on a dry track..

And of course ..theres still Reed.. he'll be mounting a huge effort to make up for A-1...you can be sure..

McGrath is still a monster..
Every interview I've read about the practice times, have said "stewart is super fast.." and apparently Reeds mechanics were pissed at him because he 'intentionaly' stole reeds line in practice..
Might lead to some interesting racing...

-Dave

[crfsonly]

looks like bubba crashed today in the second practice and broke his arm just above the wrist...no word on exactly how bad the break is but he'll definitely be out for some time, perhaps the season. so, scratch bubba off the list of contenders this year.

rc, reed, and k-dub were all very close in lap times...the main is going to be awesome!

ken

[systemnt]

ouch... but that kinda reiterates a lot of folks contentions that theres a different in riding fast and in control, and riding fast by taking chances.. which bubba is very well known for, (ie: all the commentary about him having as many crashes as he does wins)..of course.. then you see the absolute insane doubles in 2 foot of mud by RC and MC.. and , I gotta admit, damn that's fun to watch

[systemnt]

this from Racerx :
The Factory Connection crew just let our own Eric Johnson take a look at their videotape of James Stewart's practice crash from this afternoon. According to EJ, Stewart went into an inside berm and overcooked it, causing the back end of his bike to slide out. Low on momentum, he tried to triple the upcoming jump. He cased the landing and the bike bounced twice, and Stewart put his arm out to cushion his fall. EJ said the impact looked absolutely awful. Stay tuned.

[crfsonly]

ricky lit it up tonight in the main...he had early pressure from windham but was able to pull away and ended up winning with almost a 10 second gap. Kevin came in 2nd with a 5 second lead over Reed.

1. RC (RM250)
2. Kevin (CRF450R)
3. Reed (YZ250)

McGrath finish 9th
Travis crashed out and DNF
The Rock finished 15th

1998 was the last time a Suzuki won a AMA Supercross race...what was Honda thinking?

Ken

[systemnt]

Yeh RC dominated... proven his stamina is still there..

[crfsonly]

he's always been willing to ride over his head if necessary...the question is are the other riders and if so, which can do it at keep the wheels right side down. my money is on RC...how bout you?

[systemnt]

Yup.. RC is my bet to win it... I like windham a lot though..class act and hes a rider's rider....

[crfsonly]

i'd love to see windham win...and it's not just because he's riding a crf450r. he's, like you said, a class act and has TONS of heart. my guess is there's lots of drama yet to unfold. too bad yesterday's drama took james out of the picture.

ken

[systemnt]

Yeah, I just finished watching the race (tivo rules btw).. but I have to say, after everything I've read and heard about Stewarts crash, it sounded like he flipped 90 times and landed in the crowd... from what I saw.. he got loose out of the turn, tried to hit the triple but ended up casing it, then went over the handlebars, had sense enough to try and bail... and just landed using his arm to break his fall.... the bike landed sorta on him..but that wasnt the cause of his arm injury.
Sucks we wont see that showdown for a few more weeks now.. but I'm kinda glad all that hype will calm down now.. theres more to the series than those two guys..

[Logan#925]

Guys I just read about it on Fox apparently James had a plate put in his arm to speed up hiss recovery and he hopes to be back before the seris leaves Florida


Logan

[systemnt]

I hope he isnt rushing the healing process.. you never win and its never worth it.....

(and now for a comment from the anti-stewart camp): "I guess this way, he'll have an excuse when he gets beat"

The comments in this post do not reflect the views of systemnt, and any resemblance of fact, truth, or non-fiction is entireley coincidental.