Shift Number Cruncher: MXoN
October 1, 2008, 11:53am
This has not been that good of a number for Team USA recently. Stewart did well with it as an amateur, but since turning pro it hasn’t been pretty. The first time he changed his old #259 to #1 was at the Dave Coombs Sr. East West Shootout and he suffered a horrendous endo. Three seasons after that, Ricky Carmichael was supposed to wear it at Matterly Basin, but got broke off at Glen Helen and handed it to James, who was beaten by Stefan Everts. He almost had the #1 curse lifted last weekend until that haybail jumped up and grabbed him. Cudby Ryan Villopoto didn’t have to change a thing last weekend. As holder of AMA Permanent #2, that number has been good to the red head from Washington. It was the second time he has worn the number at the MXoN, and it was the second consecutive ass whooping he’s laid down. RV Park has established himself as a modern day General Patton for the stars and stripes. Respect. His hard nosed riding reminds me of another member of Team USA from the past. First three to name who, what, when, and where (that’s four facts, folks) the other #2 pictured here is gets something sweet from Shift. Cudby (top) RX Archive (bottom) Timmy Ferry had an up and down day at Donington Park. He was passed left and right, and ended up a down right dirty 9th place in moto one. But like any sly fox, he will fight you the hardest if you back him into a corner. When he saw James on the sidelines he poured on a charge. At the end he made it happen for us and won the war wearing #3, just like he did at the Summercross in 1999 riding a Yamaha tuned by Brian Lunis. (haha) Simon Cudby Great Britain’s Billy Mackenzie was riding with national pride on his shoulders. The Union Jack attack’s chances for victory took a blow when he went down in the third moto and finished back in the running order. RC wore it for us at the Brazilian MXoN event and had similar flat-tire-skunk luck. Rick Johnson, Sebastian Tortelli, Michael Craig, and Heath Voss have raced with it and watched things go straight to the gutter. If you actually choose to race with this number you either ate too many paint chips as a kid or you are truly fearless. It should be outlawed. Simon Cudby OK, this one doesn’t have anything to do with the MXoN but it’s current and pretty cool if you ask me. The GOAT is going to take it to the high banks of Talladega this Friday evening and try to run like the devil is chasing him. I tell you what – when that snarling pack of 700HP monsters gets up to full song and starts bump drafting him, he’ll wish it was the devil chasing him instead. This shot is just from the Talladega test session, his car will be painted much different for the race. He also won’t have the comfort of #4 on the door, but 33 should be good luck for him. His car owner is Kevin Harvick who is #29 in the Cup series. 4+29 = 33. Could be a winning combination! Check him out live on SPEED at 5pm EST. He can win this thing! Scott Taylor I didn’t know what to expect out of Reed on the #58 Makita Suzuki. Simon did a video of him practicing on it and he looked outstanding. The MXoN is just a little different than the Suzuki practice track, though. Reedy still looked good, just didn’t have the speed. He did pretty well for a guy riding two different bikes in the same season. Just like Kyle Cunningham did. Cudby (left) Matt Ware (right) One of the coolest comparisons was when we saw Mongolia’s Erdenbileg Khaliunbold wear the #101. You see, Carmichael wore it at the 2005 MXoN and, well, wait…I guess that’s it. Vurb Moto (Left), Simon Cudby (Right)