Reed: "I'm ready"

If there is one rider on the planet with the experience and the skills to run at this upcoming Supercross Championship it's Yamaha mounted #22 Chad Reed. While there will be other threats to win races and perhaps more, Reed is the guy with the credentials to back up his attack.

Let it be known that there is blood in the water. With RC in retirement mode and likely to only compete in selected events, the other top riders can smell the blood and are looking to move in for the kill. And while Bubba Stewart might be the new big fish, Reed is a shark and he knows the sight and smell of blood when it is present.

The truth is that while Stewart might be the odds on favorite to capture the two Supercross Championships up for grab, and perhaps an newly inspired Kevin Windham should not be forsaken, Reed is the guy with the proven record and the will to take the throne. The big #22 in blue is going to be a real force this season and Reed has recently said he is ready to compete in the two Canadian rounds that lead to the World GP title and into the AMA title. Reed says he's been working harder than ever and feels he has the speed to run with anyone on the planet. With Stewart's inconsistent ways and Reeds determination and skill it is safe to say the titles are wide open and there for the taking. Both riders are going to have to be smarter than the average bear if they are going to come out on top.

Last season was the closest Supercross title in history with Carmichael and Reed tied for the lead, and Stewart just three points behind going into the final round. RC won the race and the title, but not without working for it. This season is promising to be just as close with Reed and Stewart to fight it out. Or course Windham would like to be up there to and K-Dub may in fact surprise some people. There are other spoilers out there to, including Lites champs Grant Langston and Ivan Tedesco, as well as Davi Millsaps who is on the mend from a broken leg and should be ready for the AMA series that kicks off in January in SOCAL.

So Long Binghamton!
11/13/06

The first year was 1994. My neighbor and good buddy was there to race the amateur nationals on Saturday, we had no plans to stay for the pros on Sunday. As the pros came out to rip up the Broome-Tioga track for Saturday practice we decided that staying the extra day might not be such a bad idea after all. So stay we did, but members of our party could not stay long because of prior engagements back home in New Jersey so the day was short and we left wanting more.

The following year we made it our number one priority to return for the entire weekend, a tradition that would continue until this summer of 2006. Sure the routine changed, details changed, the amount of beer changed, some of our addresses changed, I myself went from a NJ resident to a NY resident living just 15 miles from the Broome-Tioga track, but one thing never changed....we all made the race virtually every single year. In fact for the last several years we rode our own ATVs and motorcycles to the track through the woods from our house. It had not only become a tradition to attend the AMA National but to camp out and ride ourselves through the NY State woods and into the rear entrance of the track. Those of you who've been there probably saw us, sometimes a group as big as twenty-five people all hanging around our machines during the race at the top of the hill in back. When we heard that this might be the last season at Broome-Tioga we all hoped the rumors were wrong. But we here at Motodirt looked into it and we are not-so-proud to claim that we broke the story right here on this little blog. We were the first on the Internet to have the information, but he hoped that perhaps the deal would not work out and our scoop would be thwarted. It was not.

This week it was made official when the AMA released the new schedule to include the race from Texas as we indicated last month. From the standpoint of spreading the series around more, it is a good move. It will bring a race to a part of the country where there was none, and probably should be. But from a personal standpoint it will be missed. Even complaining about it seems silly since the Unadilla race is less than a two hour drive for me, and for most people who attended the Broome-Tioga race driving a little more in some cases won't matter a bit. Of course now the Unadilla race is going to be packed beyond all imagination. Sure a lot of the same people attended both, but to guess another 10,000 people could show up is not out of the question. In turn Southwick could also bring in some more fans which it can handle.

We at Motodirt just wanted to give a big thanks to all the people involved with the Broome-Tioga National over the years. It has been a blast to be there for the last eleven years. Maybe with the announcement of the new AMA ATV Nationals being announced for 2007 there is some hope the guys on four wheels might come to Broome-Tioga and rip it up. Either way I guess my plans will probably include Unadilla next year, and probably several nostalgic trips to Broome-Tioga for the local District-6 races.

Bad Break:

Team Honda suffered a bad break when a couple weeks ago top rider Davi Millsaps suffered a broken femur. Word is that Millsaps took a spill at his practice track and suffered what is being touted as a "clean break". The good news is that he has surgery the same day, and because the break is clean it will heal quicker than the usual six weeks needed to heal bone. Couple that with Millsaps' fitness and still fresh 18-year old body, and he should be back within a couple races of the start of the season. In fact there is speculation that he will be ready by the start of the AMA Supercross series after the new year in Anaheim. A healthy Millsaps certainly means we will be seeing his red #118 machine near the front of the pack all season, and he is certainly a legitimate threat to the championship.

We hear at Motodirt want to wish Davi a speedy recovery.