Mo' Money!
Published: 09th November 2006
Author: Words and Photos by Steve Cox
Kevin Windham and James Stewart cash in big during the off-season
If an AMA racer raced every major race available in a given year he would end up racing 32 times. Two of those events - the U.S. Open and the Jeremy McGrath Invitational - are two-night events. Those are the only two races that aren't part of a championship series and they both offer huge purses in the hopes of drawing the country's top riders.
The first of the two is the new Jeremy McGrath Invitational. Jeremy thought it up himself with his main idea being to bring excitement back into supercross and for the riders to have a good time racing the event. Of course, the $500,000 purse makes for a good time for somebody.
Both nights' racing start out with match races where the top 16 qualifiers race each other head-to-head, one round at a time, until ultimately the final two race for a winner's purse of $30,000 per night. Second gets $20,000 and so it goes on back through 16th.
With James Stewart sitting out the event and both Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed with hurt shoulders the hands-on favourite to win the JMI is Kevin Windham and he'd rather not disappoint seeing as there's a possible $185,000 maximum award on the line ($30,000 for each night's match race and $125,000 for the overall winner of the two main events).
Windham seals the deal on night one as he works his way through the early rounds of the match race with ease only to meet up with his 250F-mounted team-mate Josh Grant in the final.
With the 200cc extra displacement Windham grabs the holeshot and then holds the lead for the entire two-lap race to the finish, pocketing $30,000.
"I actually came out of the first turn pretty good every time and my strategy was just to get in and get out," Windham says. "Some of those guys were getting down there and doing the brake-check thing and really going slow but I figured, hell, I'd go in there hot and try to get out quick and that worked well for me. It helped to be on a 450, but it was tough. You couldn't rule out the Lites guys, and you had to protect your insides because the berms were really big and fluid. It stayed pretty clean, though and there was some good racing there."
The first night's main event is all Windham as Eric Sorby grabs the holeshot and Windham passes him right away and splits while Grant works his way from behind for a solid second just ahead of Nick Wey.
"Sorby got me down there and I thought he was going to overshoot it because you lose a lot of your braking power going over that jump face but he didn't," reckons Windham. "He kept it around there and I was able to get him right there by the finish line."
Night two is more of the same for the most part as Windham again dominates the match races and again faces off in the finale against Grant although this time Grant is forced to put a last-turn block-pass on David Vuillemin that could've shaken Vuillemin's fillings loose in order to get there.
Once in the final though Windham leads both laps to easily best his 250F-mounted team-mate.
"The match race was something that kept you on the edge for sure," claims Kevin. "It was scary. You could get put out with one move. You had to ride two laps completely perfect and that's tough. Josh was riding good on the Lites bike and everybody's not wanting to get beat by a Lites guy on a big bike so there was a lot of pressure involved. It was awesome. Everything worked out how I wanted it to but you never know in that kind of racing."
In the final event of the weekend, night two's main event Windham starts second again and quickly moves into the lead and takes off while Vuillemin gives chase. Vuillemin stays close for a while but eventually Windham breaks away to win the 16-lap race. Vuillemin hangs on for second, while Grant gets as far as third before deciding it's in his best interest to not push the issue on Vuillemin who he nearly knocked down in the match race.
"I knew if he got second I'd get second overall anyway and there was no point in rushing it when I've got second locked down," Grant says. "I would've battled with him but I didn't need to."
But the night and the weekend is all Windham and he pockets the maximum award of $185,000.
"It was like an escalating weekend for sure and the closer you got to the end the more you realise there's a lot of money on the line. $30,000 is nothing to sneeze at and 60 isn't either but then I had the big one on the line at 125 grand and it took two nights of perfect riding to get that accomplished."
The US Open is the more established of the off-season, big-money races and sees the return of Ricky Carmichael to racing action and US Open debut of James Stewart.
For the first time at event the night starts with a Superpole showdown which allows each rider the opportunity to set one fast lap by themselves on the track. The winner of the Superpole on each night would earn $10,000. If the same rider wins the Superpole, gets the main-event holeshot and wins the main event it's called the 'Trifecta' and is worth $50,000. Do it both nights and not only do you get $50,000 each night you also get another $50,000 bonus. That, added to the $100,000 winning purse makes it possible for one rider to win $250,000 for two nights' work.
Stewart starts it off right with a Superpole win on night one then grabs the $5,000 main-event holeshot while Carmichael spins out and falls in the first turn getting up dead last. Windham runs second early on but Stewart takes off.
Carmichael is storming through the pack and actually passes Windham for second with less than eight laps left in the 25-lap event. Since it's a two-night event second is as good as first on night one and Carmichael knows it.
"I went in and turned too fast and laid the bike down," Carmichael claims. "I don't know if I hit the guy on the outside of me or what but I just spun around and had my work cut out for me. I knew I had to get to second place. I believe I can challenge James tomorrow night."
But night one means $50,000 for Stewart which isn't a bad way to start it off. "I got a good jump but Ricky pinched me off on the start," Stewart said. "I think he wanted to break what I had going and he pushed the front end out. He made it back up and ended up second and stuff. I thought Kevin was pretty far out and honestly I can't believe he caught him."
Windham is the guy who ends Stewart's run at $250,000 as he tops the Superpole event on night two and grabs himself $10,000.
"The track was a little bit slick and I just went for it. The guys said I still looked really smooth but I felt so out of control - I felt like my feet were coming off and stuff and that's the way these guys have been doing it. Ricky's the king of hanging it out like that. I made one or two little bobbles but I made a good laptime and I felt that James might be able to beat it. I figured he would beat it to be honest with you. I knew it was good, but I didn't think it was as good as it turned out."
Ivan Tedesco gets out front early in the main event and collects the $5,000 holeshot award before giving way to Vuillemin and then crashing a couple of laps in, holding up Stewart, which allows Carmichael by for second. Over the next few laps Carmichael fights to find a way past Vuillemin but the Frenchman won't budge.
Finally, Carmichael grabs the inside in a tight right-hander and just as he secures the position Stewart comes flying in and passes them both. Carmichael re-assumes second and Vuillemin falls back to third.
"We started catching Vuillemin and Ricky passed him and the way Vuillemin was block-passing Ricky I didn't want him to hold up me so I just went for both of them," says Stewart.
Carmichael assumes the role of pressuring Stewart and does so until only three laps from the end Stewart stalls in the tight section outside the arena but keeps the bike rolling as he attempts to refire it. Carmichael tries to go around the rolling bike and ends up pinched between the bike and the track markers and goes down just as Stewart refires his machine and takes off. The race and the US Open title are Stewart's.
"I just went in there and I was in a taller gear like third gear and I just went around there and stalled it. He tried getting around me on the outside so I stuck my elbow strong so he couldn't get around me and he went off the track and fell."
Carmichael gets up in time to finish second but he's upset.
"If I would've stopped I would've had to wait for his bike to crank first," Carmichael says. "If I would've waited he still would've cranked up and went on. Maybe I would've had a chance at him but... After that happened, I came around and my mechanic had '3 laps' on the board and I was just like, 'Damn!' It would've been over. If I would've gotten by him - the rest would've been history.
"But to be honest with you guys I surprised myself tonight. I surprised myself this weekend with the way my shoulder is and not getting buck-wild everywhere. I think I was the most consistent guy through the whoops and I was really good through the dragon back. Unfortunately, things didn't go my way."
Stewart leaves Vegas with $150,000 and a brand-new Bentley Continental GT as a gift from his sponsor Red Bull. "I can't gamble it so I know it's safe until I get out of here," Stewart says of the money. "I'm still young so I'm not going to put it up! I'll throw the $150,000 in the back of the Bentley and roll out on the 15 [freeway - toward California]."