As I stood watching Kevin Windham stretch his lead, lap-by-lap, over second-place Ricky Carmichael during the early stages of the first moto at Glen Helen on Sunday, I turned to my son Alex and said “What a story this will be . . . Kevin Windham returns after more than a year off and promptly beats Ricky Carmichael in his first moto.” Carmichael, who recorded the perfect season (24 wins in 24 motos) outdoors last year, couldn’t run Windham’s early pace (the stop watches proved it, as did the growing gap between them).
One lap after I made the comment to Alex, Windham had a small crash, and difficulty re-starting his CRF450R. When RC emerged on our section of the track without Windham in sight, I knew the fairy tale had ended.
Finishing out Moto 1 mid-pack, Windham came back to hole shot Moto 2 and finish a solid second behind the streaking Carmichael. Oh well, at least the magical Windham is back, and it will make this season all the more interesting.
