Windham Dominates Salt Lake SX

AMA Supercross 250cc/125cc West
Round 15: Salt Lake City, UT
24 April, 2004

Windham Dominates Salt Lake SX

Against the backdrop of the snow-capped Wasatch Mountains, Round 15 of the
THQ/AMA Supercross kicked off in front of 37,143 race fans in Salt Lake
City, Utah, and Honda Red Rider Kevin Windham gave the crowd plenty to
cheer for as he nailed down his fourth Supercross victory of the season.
The win brought Windham within 12 points of series leader Chad Reed, with
the season finale coming up in Las Vegas on May 1. This sudden tightening
of the championship chase owed its roots to some off-track drama as well;
the day before the Salt Lake race, AMA officials determined that Reed's
team had used illegal fuel at the previous SX race in Dallas, so Reed and
his teammates were docked 25 points each. Meanwhile, in 125 action Team
Honda's Nathan Ramsey finished the night in fifth place, which will put him
in a solid second-place standing heading to the East/West shoot out in
Vegas.

Beginning with his heat race, Windham made his intentions clear as he
blistered his way into the main event decisively, holding a 27-second lead
over second place. That stellar performance gave him one of the fastest
times of the day-a foreshadowing of even better things to come. Red Rider
LaRocco transferred by taking second in semi one, and Honda-mounted Damon
Huffman, a top contender for the THQ World Supercross Championship,
finished fourth in heat two.

With Reed and his teammate David Vuillemin losing 25 points each due to the
AMA ruling, K-Dub capitalized on their vulnerability by racing with renewed
determination. Windham rocketed off the line in third, then quickly gained
the lead after Chad Reed ran into some tough blocks. By setting a
blistering pace, Windham easily held the lead for the entire 20 laps as
Reed trailed behind. "That was a great race tonight," said Windham. "I am
going to go into next weekend's race in Las Vegas with the same attitude
and hopefully I can walk away with the championship." Teammate LaRocco, who
came off the line in fifth, continued his ongoing battles with David
Vuillemin as the pair dueled doggedly all night long. LaRocco on his Amsoil
Honda CR250R would finish the night in fourth, with Vuillemin just ahead.
Red Rider Damon Huffman dropped to a disappointing 18th due to mechanical
gremlins during the main, relegating him to second place in the THQ World
Supercross series tally, as Heath Voss clinched the THQ World Supercross
Championship title.

In the final round of the AMA 125 West Championship series, Red Rider
Ramsey, plus Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Greg Schnell and his teammate Justin
Brayton, took second, third and fourth place in heat one. During the main,
Nate-dog got off to a rough start and as a result, ended up finishing fifth
on his CRF250R. Brayton, piloting a Honda CR125R, captured ninth place and
teammate Schnell on his four-stroke CRF250R finished 18th.

AMA 250 Main Event Results

1. Kevin Windham-Honda
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha
3. David Vuillemin-Yamaha
4. Mike LaRocco-Honda
5. Sean Hamblin-Suzuki
10. Jason Thomas-Honda
12. Kyle Lewis-Honda
13. James Povolny-Honda
15. Craig Anderson-Honda
18. Damon Huffman-Honda
19. Clark Stiles-Honda

AMA 250 Points
1. Chad Reed-Yamaha-333
2. Kevin Windham-Honda-321
3. Mike LaRocco-Honda-290
4. David Vuillemin-Yamaha-253
5. Michael Byrnes-Kawasaki-191
9. Damon Huffman-Honda-191
12. Nathan Ramsey-Honda-91
22. Craig Anderson-Honda-40
23. Travis Preston-Honda-34
25. James Povolny-Honda-30
27. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda-28
29. Craig Stiles-Honda-17

AMA 125 West Event Results
1. Ivan Tedesco-Kawasaki
2. Stephane Roncada-Kawasaki
3. Brock Sellards-Yamaha
4. Josh Hansen-Yamaha
5. Nathan Ramsey-Honda


AMA 125 West Points
1. Ivan Tedesco-Kawasaki-197
2. Nathan Ramsey-Honda-147
3. Stephane Roncada-Kawasaki-138
4. Brock Sellards-Yamaha-127
5. Travis Preston-Honda-117
6. Greg Schnell-Honda-90