AMA
Unadilla: Round six preview
Windham looking forward to return to Unadilla Classic race marks mid-season for AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship PICKERINGTON, Ohio (July 12, 2004) -- Factory Connection Honda's Kevin Windham is eager to get back to Unadilla Valley Sports ...
Published: Jul 13, 2004, 2:40 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Windham looking forward to return to Unadilla
Classic race marks mid-season for AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (July 12, 2004) -- Factory Connection Honda's Kevin Windham is eager to get back to Unadilla Valley Sports Center. It was at Unadilla last year that Windham stopped Ricky Carmichael and the longest winning streak in AMA Motocross history. The battle last year between Windham and Carmichael was one of the most exciting AMA Motocross races in the history of the series. An enthusiastic crowd of fans mobbed Windham after he took the checkered flag and the win.
A year later and Carmichael is again in the midst of another long winning streak and many feel that Windham is one of the few riders capable of stopping the defending and four-time AMA 250 Motocross champ. On Sunday, July 18, the top motocross racers from across the country will converge on the tiny burg of New Berlin, New York, for the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Nationals, round six of the 12-race AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship.
Carmichael is nearly halfway to matching his historic 2002 campaign where he went undefeated the entire season. Since switching to Honda's four-stroke motocross race bike, the CRF450R, Carmichael has been even more dominant than he was two years ago on a two-stroke. An example of just how strong he's been since making his comeback from knee surgery this winter came at the last round in Buchanan, Mich. Carmichael won by margins of 42 and 30 seconds in the pair of 250 motos.
Even though Carmichael is winning by huge margins, he still tries to find areas of improvement.
"Over the last two weeks, I just did my thing like these guys," Carmichael explained. "They're trying to pick up the pace, and so am I. I look at areas where I think they're better than I am, and that's where I try to capitalize. I'm always trying to improve."
Windham is coming off a runner-up finish to Carmichael and is in a heated battle with AMA Supercross champ Chad Reed for second in the series. Windham's victory last season is still fresh on his mind and he said he's looking forward to getting back to the hilly, natural terrain of Unadilla.
"I had a great race there last year and the fans were really on my side," Windham said. "It's seems right now that it's going to be tough for anyone to beat Ricky, but I think Unadilla is a good track for me and I'll do my best and see how it comes out. I've got to work on coming out the gate ready to race. We can't let Ricky open up a lead so early in the race. It's just too tough to chase him down."
Carmichael and Windham will be the only former Unadilla winners in the 250 class. Carmichael is shooting for his fourth win at the historic racing circuit.
In the 125 ranks Kawasaki's James Stewart will attempt to become the first three-time Unadilla 125 winner. The series leader is coming off his first motocross loss this year. A starting line pileup crash and subsequent clutch damage in the second moto in Buchanan, Mich., on July 4, caused Stewart to retire from the race and cost him his chance at a perfect season. The young Floridian will look to rally at Unadilla and start yet another streak.
Boost Mobile Yamaha's Mike Brown was in the right place at the right time in Michigan, and was able to take advantage of Stewart's unlucky break and took his first victory in over a year. Brown, who is 31 points behind Stewart in the 125 standings, is looking to earn his first victory at Unadilla.
New York fans will have a number of home state riders to root for at Unadilla. Veteran Bruce Stratton, of Clifton Springs, is racing a limited schedule in the series, but scored a solid 15th-place finish in Southwick, Mass., a month ago. Stratton feels at home at Unadilla and will be shooting for a top-10 finish. In the 125 ranks New York riders Ryan Mills, Paul Carpenter and Brian Gray are all threats to score podium finishes. Mills, of Clintondale, has already scored a top-10 result this year on his Amsoil/Chaparral Honda. He's ranked 12th nationally and is hoping to improve on his standing with a good result this weekend.
For ticket information for the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Nationals contact Unadilla Valley Sports Center at (607) 965-8784 or visit www.unadillamx.com.
The Unadilla races will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 on July 24. Check your local listings for show times.
-ama-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Texas statement on possible rule changes
Next article NA-F2000: Bobby Wilson Sears Point preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Chad Reed
Van Gisbergen turned to bike stars for help
Supercars
Supercars
Van Gisbergen turned to bike stars for help
Good, bad and ugly dominate Gatornationals memories
NHRA
NHRA
Good, bad and ugly dominate Gatornationals memories
Stewart heading down under for Australian Open of Supercross
Other bike
Other bike
Stewart heading down under for Australian Open of Supercross
Latest news
Why MotoGP didn’t move Australian GP to Saturday despite bad weather forecast
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
3 min
Why MotoGP didn’t move Australian GP to Saturday despite bad weather forecast
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
29 min
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
Inside COTA's Turn 1 clubhouse and its plans to build a second track
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
47 min
Inside COTA's Turn 1 clubhouse and its plans to build a second track
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe