Spy Optic’s Kevin Windham Is Back Where He Belongs
CARLSBAD, Calif. – Spy Optic’s Kevin “K-Dub” Windham had the crowd behind him at the second of three Anaheim (Calif.) races at Angel Stadium – and it showed – as the Mississippi native pulled the holeshot and led the first half of the SX class main event before eventually scoring a 3rd place podium finish – his first podium through three rounds of 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship.
Also ripping it up for Spy Optic over in the SX Lites class was Jason “JLaw” Lawrence (Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) who overcame a rough start in his heat race to win the LCQ, then pulled an excellent start after a poor gate pick and raced his way to a season-best 4th place.
Windham’s effort was stellar. The veteran narrowly beat Mike Alessi to the holeshot stripe, then gave up the lead to Alessi right after. Windham buckled down and passed the younger rider right before the finish line jump to take over the lead – which he held for the next nine laps.
Roughly midway through the race James Stewart would get past Windham, which set up great battle for 2nd place between Windham and rival Chad Reed. The two went back and forth before Reed would move forward, but Windham was able to hold onto 3rd for his first podium of the year – his previous best ’09 finish being 6th at Phoenix.
“It’s been a while since I got my sponsors up on the podium, so that feels good,” said Windham, who also made the podium in 3rd place in the second heat race to make the main. “Third place feels like I won tonight.”
Spy Optic’s Lawrence’s route to the Lites class main was a bit more hectic as he continued to run into bad luck – from colliding with a rider he was about to pass to running into a Tuff Block that a rider had booted out into the middle of the track. Regardless, Lawrence bucked up and won the LCQ and darn near pulled the holeshot in the main, only to get pushed outside to a near dead stop on the top of the first turn berm. Lawrence was still able to get through the pack fast and come out in 6th place after the first lap, and worked his way up to 4th – but without the jump with the leaders (Dungey, Morais and Weimer) he wasn’t able to challenge for the podium.
“Yeah, I’m still managing to find all kinds of ways to keep myself off the podium – seems like something new every week,” said Lawrence. “We’ve got this weekend off with the start of the Eastern Lites series, so that’ll give me some time to get out and practice, work on a few things before we start the WSX back up the following week in San Francisco.”
Also running well in the SX class was Spy Optic’s Paul Carpenter (Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki) who placed 11th – the top finishing privateer, and Nick Wey (Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) who placed 13th.
Next up for the Spy Optic-backed supercross racers is round four of the 2009 Monster Energy Supercross Series at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
About Spy
Spy Optic designs, develops and markets premium products for the action sports and youth lifestyle markets. Spy’s principal products, sunglasses and goggles, target the action sports market, including surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross, wakeboarding and skiing, and the youth lifestyle market within fashion, music, and entertainment. Spy’s innovative proprietary products utilize high-quality materials, handcrafted manufacturing processes and engineered optical lens technology to convey premium quality, contemporary style, and progressive design. Spy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orange 21, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORNG). www.spyoptic.com
About Crown Athlete Management Group
Crown Athlete Management Group is the most comprehensive marketing, branding and athlete management firm focused on the future of action sports. For sponsorship opportunities or media information please contact (info@crownamg.com) or by phone at (760) 918-9382. Please visit us online at www.CrownAMG.com
