Bench Racing Ammo: Three for Three?

January 9, 2007, 9:10am

Following what went down in Anaheim this past Saturday night, many supercross fans seem to think that the series might already be over, as James Stewart was absolutely phenomenal. But after the first three rounds of the Amp’d Mobile World SXGP Series (Toronto, Vancouver, Anaheim 1) we actually have three different winners: Chad Reed, Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart. That’s parity, right? It would seem that we’re in for another amazing season like last year, and the title could again be decided at the final round in Vegas. Okay, that could happen again, but it’s doubtful due to the following reasons:

1.) Carmichael is dropping out of the series after Phoenix
2.) Chad Reed has a broken shoulder blade
3.) James Stewart is riding unbelievably fast and has confidence

But getting back to our original point, over the past 10 years, this is only the third time the season kicked off with three different winners in the first three races.

Chad Reed took A1 in 2004

In 2003-’04, as the World SXGP series picked up steam, the first three races were won by Daryl Hurley (Seville, Spain); Ernesto Fonseca (Arnhem, Holland); and Chad Reed (Anaheim 1). In fact, the next race in line after Anaheim 1 that year was Phoenix, and it was won by a different rider—Kevin Windham. So after four rounds we had four different winners in ‘04.

And prior to that, the only time the series started with three different winners in the first three races was pre-World SXGP. Ten years ago, back in 1997, the AMA Supercross Series began with Greg Albertyn taking his one-and-only 250cc SX victory in the L.A. Coliseum, followed by Doug Henry and Jeff Emig winning the next two rounds. That series was a great one, as there were seven different winners on the season. Those seven winners included the aforementioned Albertyn, Henry, and Emig, as well as Damon Huffman, Jeremy McGrath (on a Suzuki), Ezra Lusk and Kevin Windham. When all was said and done, Team Kawasaki’s Jeff Emig won the championship by 15 points over Suzuki of Troy’s Jeremy McGrath.

Jeff Emig (3) won the spectacular 1997 SX series