Indy Practice Report
Well the talk around here, for the second week in a row, revolves around the Ricky Carmichael and Makita/Suzuki fuel situation. Now that Ricky has his points back, the racing tonight should get even better, since all three of the big three are back in the hunt for the championship. With just six points between Reed and Ricky, we’re about to find out if Reed really is the man in the second half of the season, or if Carmichael is usually just laying up at that point since he usually has a big points lead.
Oh and there’s James Stewart to worry about, too. James, Ricky and Chad traded fast laps throughout practice all afternoon here at the RCA Dome in Indy. But then, on the very last lap of the final practice session, Stewart ran a double-triple combo after a corner after the whoops and brought his lap way down. Now RC and CR will have to try to do it in their heat races.
So Stewart is the fastest out of the gang, but it’s very close, or at least it was until he jumped that section. The track here looks a little slick. Usually it’s soft and gets rutted up here, but there are at least three slick spots that will test a rider’s throttle control coming out of corners. The riders need to be patient tonight ….
The track will probably rut up, still, so it’s going to be tough. Throw Stewart’s new jump combo in there, and there’s plenty to think about. Reed, in addition, seemed to be working on something different in the jump section after the start stretch, but it doesn’t look he was able to figure out anything new.
Unfortunately, Mike LaRocco's final homecoming race here in Indy has been spoiled by a practice crash, and The Rock apparently headed to the hospital to get X-rays on his arm and wrist. Let's hope Mike can at least make it back to be a part of opening ceremonies tonight, and also to watch his son Ryder compete in the KTM Jr. SX Challenge. Mike planned on calling it a career after Las Vegas. Hopefully, he hasn't already run his final race.
As for that fuel thing, well, Carmichael seemed happy (of course), Reed didn’t seemed bothered and said he wasn’t surprised, and Mike Fisher, the Kawasaki Team Manager, didn’t look too pleased. Listen in on interviews with these three tonight during the pre-race show on Supercross Live! at 7 p.m. EST on www.supercross.cc.com.
In the Lites, Davi Millsaps is fastest as usual, but Josh Grant isn’t too far behind. Grant looks determined to run with Millsaps. We’ll see what happens.
