As I said in my article last friday, Chad Reed has ridden most of this season at a pace fast enough to keep him in front of the majority of the pack (everyone except Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart), but cautious enough to keep it on two wheels and finish on the podium in nearly every race. His two prime opponents (Carmichael and Stewart), on the other hand, have run a pace consistently faster than Reed’s, but have consequently been plagued by numerous crashes throughout the season.
The result is that going into this weekend’s final race at Las Vegas, Reed and Carmichael are tied for the AMA Supercross championship points lead, despite the fact that Carmichael has won three times as many races. James Stewart sits just 5 points behind the two of them.
So, if Reed has been riding at least somewhat conservatively all season, how much faster will he be when he goes ‘all-out’? Can he run the same pace as Ricky and James, and even battle with them for an entire twenty-lap main event?
None of us know, but we’re going to find out this Saturday in Vegas. Reed has a chance to win the 2006 AMA Supercross championship, but to do so he has to beat one of the most dominant riders in the history of the sport – Ricky Carmichael. Reed’s caution and intelligence have gotten him this opportunity, but to seize it he’ll have to push his riding up to the next level, and risk crashing as James and Ricky have.
Whoever comes away with the title, we are certain that the Supercross main event in Vegas will be an exciting one – the title fight hasn’t come down to the final event in a while, and a lot of people are holding their breath for this race!
