The 2008 Atlanta Supercross held true to the tradition of the event, where the fastest riders at the beginning of the day didn't necessarily turn into the winners at the end of the day. Ultimately, it was a banner night for Honda.
Torco Racing Fuels Honda's
Trey Canard (48) got the holeshot in the first Lites Heat, and turned it into a win over MDK KTM's
Ryan Sipes (57) and
Martin Davalos (577).
Canard's teammate
Josh Grant (20) did likewise in the second Lites Heat, grabbing the holeshot and then taking off for a runaway victory, despite seriously casing one of the track's triples on his way. However, he was stripped of his Heat win after the race for reportedly not rolling a triple while the red lights were flashing, and he was credited with second behind Rockstar/Makita Suzuki's
Nico Izzi.
Canard and Grant's teammate
Kevin Windham won the first 450cc Heat, setting fastest Heat time in the process.
San Manuel Yamaha's
Chad Reed (22) fought off early pressure from Honda Red Bull Racing's
Davi Millsaps (118) to win the second 450cc Heat.
Canard (48) grabbed another holeshot in the main event, over teammate Grant (20), Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Branden Jesseman (77) and the rest of the field.
Star Racing's AMA SX rookie
Jake Moss (right) fought through the field to grab second with only a couple of laps to go, but bobbled and ended up fourth.
Sipes (57) ran second early in the race, withstanding pressure from his teammate Davalos (577). After Moss passed them both, Davalos followed Moss past Sipes, before both of the KTM riders passed Moss back.
Ryan Villopoto came from outside the top 10 and caught all the way up to sixth before crashing over one of the track's "Walls of Death" and dropping out of the race.
Grant fell in the exit of the first turn in the main event, caught up to seventh (behind Villopoto), and then got caught up in Villopoto's crash, which dropped him back outside the top 10. Eventually, Grant fought his way back up to seventh.
Trey Canard grabbed his first AMA Supercross victory in his first attempt.
Canard (middle) on the podium, with second-placed Davalos (left) and third-placed Sipes (right).
The 450cc main holeshot went to Reed (22), followed closely by Millsaps (118) and the rest of the pack.
Reed went down over the same "Wall of Death" that claimed Villopoto while leading at the end of lap five. It took him a while to get going again, and he re-entered the race well outside the top 10.
Millsaps assumed a sizable lead after Reed's fall.
Windham came through from a so-so start to grab second from
Nate Ramsey on lap seven of 20.
Andrew Short (29) leads Monster Energy Kawasaki's
Timmy Ferry (15) and Yamaha's
Josh Hill (40). Short had to fight off Ferry twice. The first time, Ferry made the pass, but then fell, handing it back to Short. On the last lap of the main, the two came into contact twice, with Short eventually getting the nod for third. Hill crashed out of the main.
Millsaps won his first-ever 450cc main event in front of his home crowd.
Millsaps (center) celebrates his first win alongside second-placed Windham (left) and third-placed short (right). It was also Short's first 450cc podium.
Chad Reed eventually finished sixth, and Windham now trails him by exactly 25 points as we near the halfway point of the series.
