Saturday Afternon Update

Chad Reed rode practice, enough to advance him to the night show tonight. So far it looks like he will be able to tough it out.

Tedesco rode too. He hasn't had much time on the bike but he will also get through the night.

Josh Grant crashed out of the first practice and we don't have any details yet.

Progressive Direct, sponsors of the supercross holeshot checks, has a new web site dedicated to holeshots! It's called "Holeshot Heaven" and it's running right now. Check it out.



Holeshot Heaven.

Friday Notes from Anaheim 1

2007 will be the second year that there is no Friday practice, so the day was more low key with teams just setting up and getting ready without track time. This will also be the first year of the new format which did away with semis and just has 2 heats and an LCQ for both classes.

To make the new format acceptable to teams, the AMA added a chance for top guys that have bad luck in a heat/LCQ to use up to two "mulligans" - a pass to race the main without qualifying, if you are top ten in points. There is a possibility Reed will need this option tomorrow since his shoulder is really hurting. So far the L&M Racing team still says it will be a game time decision. Reed will still need to ride practice enough to get a lap time, and at least try to ride his heat and LCQ.

Reed's injury is a compression fracture in his shoulder blade. What happened was he had a fall over a jump and landed OK, but unfortunately the bike came down on him hard.

Some good news: Tedesco is in! He hurt his wrist in Toronto in the crash that got Stewart fined, and he has been riding a little already.

Bad news, Honda confirmed today that Tommy Hahn is out after bruising a lung this week. That means the factory Honda pits have all three riders out, but at least the No Fear/Samsung team is parked right by them and they have three strong riders to support this weekend.

Some top riders were still out practicing today, RC and the crew were out at a track instead of setting up here. Langston rode today too.

There are always new teams and new ideas to check out at Anaheim. The biggest new team is MDK/Lucas Oils/Yamaha aka Wonder Warthog. WW is out of the business of paying signups, and instead has a semi (that is a work of art inside) with both MDK/Lucas Oils/Yamaha team riders, and a "Hog Haven," which looks like an assembly line of supercross guys.

Another interesting new team is Pro30.com/Ware Enterprises Racing. The have Tyson Hadsell and Jeff Dement (and Shae Bentley in the east), and the #30 NASCAR cup car on display. The car is one of the new Toyota bodies. Ware Enterprises sees some good benefits to having a presence in supercross, such as you can hold your hospitality right beside your team, and the whole event is over in one day, which is good if you don't like to wear your VIP visitors (sponsors) out. I asked the owner what he thought about RC driving and he said one thing to remember is driving takes seat time, and seat time in those cars is expensive. He doesn't doubt RC can do it, but learning is money in NASCAR.

Thor has a huge new stage to check out.

The Toyota Zone will be a driving/racing simulator set up for a moto at Glen Helen!

A couple of riders will be on the track with a Leatt brace this weekend.

KTM and Pro30.com are using trick carbon fiber hubs this weekend. KTM used them in Europe last year.

The Trucks of Supercross

While the trucks were waiting to get parked Friday morning, I did a "drive by shooting."

Here's the trucks of supercross, parking right now...

Race a Toyota Truck in a Moto!

The Toyota Zone stepped things up for 2007.

This year fans will sit 4 at a time in a Toyota truck that is also a racing simulator!

So when you are at the supercross, you can stop by the Toyota Zone, hop in, and you are "in" a moto at Glen Helen. Very cool idea.

Anaheim 1 - Big Press Day

KW leads in new haircut points.

I like to call Anaheim 1's press day "New Haircut Day." That's the day the new teams gather for a lunch and press conference at Anaheim. All the main characters were there but Reed, who is resting uncomfortably and hoping for the best this weekend.

Brooks spoke for Reed and said he took a hard crash Sunday. He's been X-rayed and checked out and his concern is pain - not bones. His collarbone injury is a chipped part, and his sternum has a compression fracture. Structurally, Chad is good. They still plan on making a "game time" decision Saturday.

Chad doesn't have to push himself in practice or the heat race either. The new SX format rules allow one to use a muilligan to get into the main twice, as long as you are in the points. So Chad could actually suit up and make a lap of practice and say "ouch." Then he lines up for the heat and does it again, then uses one of his two options to get into the main and he just has to suffer for 20 laps and he gets points. It's a living.

Some photos from today.

Interesting things:

Stewart and Ferry's Monster Kawasakis were seen by quite a few people for the first time.

RC dropped the Berik boots he made famous two years ago and is now in Fox Racing boots. Fox even has their boot people here meeting with him as he rides and taking notes.

RC's number backgrounds are red to indicate he has he FIM points lead.

Stewart didn't comment publically yet, but everyone is watching for a sign of Red Bull activity on his helmet. So far, nothing spotted.

Davi Millsaps should be ready by Anaheim 3, but he spoke in the press conference today. Windham did too, and talked about racing in the premier class 10 years now.

RC and Stewart both got nice supercross championship rings.

Local/news/TV media turnout was really good. Interest in supercross by the media in southern California is the best anywhere. One of the guys from Speed Freeks asked Stewart a question and joked about Peyton Manning, and Stewart joked right back at them.

Kawasaki's SX Kick-Off and Monster Kawasaki

Kawasaki employees and team riders met in the afternoon Wednesday before Anaheim 1 in a "SX Kick-Off." Monster Kawasaki debuted its new graphics and Bruce Stjernstrom joked that productivity went up since Monster Energy arrived!

All the greenies were there - Monster Kawasaki (Stewart and Ferry), Monster Pro Circuit (but Ben is still in Florida training), plus Cernic's and Motosport Outlet. Christophe Pourcel was there too.

Since everyone is curious about the Stewart/Red Bull thing, the buzz is his deal was up Dec 31, but that's not confirmed and no one commented.

Anaheim 1 - It's On!

Any time Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart are ready to throw down, you don't want to miss it. RC and James always seem to find each other on the track, so this one is likely to be a good one. Since Anaheim always sells out, at least you can catch the start of the 2007 Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series LIVE on SPEED.

RC and James are ready to appear at the preseason press conference tomorrow (Thursday). Chad Reed is still expected to appear, but he's a maybe for this weekend due to a fractured shoulder blade. If he can ride through the pain, he will. Tedesco is a maybe too, with his hand just now healed up.

The thing to watch with RC this weeked will be his attitude. He's been looking forward to racing without the ever-present title pressure hanging over his head, and he believes he can change his style and go faster to match any challenge Stewart serves up. RC hasn't won an Anaheim 1, and you can bet he doesn't want to leave this weekend disappointed.

Don't expect Stewart to cut RC any slack either. He may feel less title pressure right now, but he's not going to plan on starting his season in cruise. For this weekend as Stewart likes to say, "It's on."

Chad Reed is one tough guy. We already know he can handle an incredible amount of pain and still go fast from Daytona. This may be another weekend just like that one. As of this writing the best estimate of Reed being in for the weekend is about 50% in 50% out.

2007 brings more changes than no RC every weekend. Supercross gets a new format that is designed to be more live TV friendly, so people are thinking ahead. Semis are gone-but this actually got tested in Canada at world supercross and it went fine.