Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps has won a lot of Lites supercross events, but he’s never won one at his home track in Atlanta, so it was somewhat fitting that he managed to win his first 450cc SX main in Atlanta. He is also the first new winner in the 450cc class since James Stewart won Dallas in April of in 2005.
Racer X: Haven’t you won Atlanta in the Lites class before?
Davi Millsaps: No, never. Like sixth, second, fourth, 14th, now first...
Is it because there’s added pressure racing in front of your home crowd?
No, but it was added pressure when he [Chad Reed] went down, because I knew that I could win then. It was just a matter of me keeping it on two wheels.
When you were out front, did your mind wander at all knowing this had the potential of becoming your first win?
Yeah, for sure! I was like, “Checkered, c’mon, checkered, c’mon, checkered, c’mon... Dang it, no checkered.” I could see the pitboard and I knew I was four seconds ahead, and I knew what lap I was on, so...
There were a couple laps where Windham closed up on you a bit.
Yeah, I got caught up in some lappers and was making a lot of mistakes, and I didn’t do the triple. Other than that, he rode a good race, and I rode a good race.
Are you 100% healthy yet?
No... I mean, I’m 100% healthy, but I’m just not 100% in shape because when I got hurt, I had to take those four weeks off of riding, and that hurt me pretty bad. I’m just trying to get up there and get back into shape.
What is it about Atlanta that tends to result in such inconsistent finishes, such as your four previous races to this one?
In ’06, I was plenty fast enough to win. I was leading and then went down. I don’t know, I think the dirt is so good, but the track was really difficult because it was really rutted and really soft. It was difficult, but you just have to put your head down and go for it.
Is Atlanta like that a lot?
The East coast races are all like that, yeah.
What does this mean to your team? You just took the first win for Team Honda since Ricky Carmichael was on the team.
I don’t know. I’ll find out as soon as I go into my meeting. I’m pretty sure they’re happy.
Do you get a bonus check?
(Laughs) Yeah!
How does this change your outlook on the rest of the season?
I don’t want it to get to my head too bad. I just want to keep pushing and keep riding like I have been and hopefully I’ll come out on top some more.
