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This is the Supercross (450cc) Main from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.
In 2006, Yamaha's Chad Reed #22 came into the start of the 2006/2007 Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP with full expectations of his second Supercross title. The 2006 Supercross title fight came down to the final round in Las Vegas in May between Reed, Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael #4, and Kawasaki's James Stewart #7. It ended in triumph for both Carmichael and Stewart, and in heartbreak for Chad Reed. Carmichael walked away with his 5th Supercross title, Stewart walked away with the race win and the 2006 World Supercross GP title, and Reed ended up with nothing.
After Ricky Carmichael dominated his way to Motocross title #10 over the summer with 9 wins out of 12, he announced at the Vegas Supercross finale that he would race part-time in 2007. Carmichael won 17 of the 24 motos while Stewart took the other 7 motos and 3 overall wins; unfortunately, the 2006 season ended in a shock for Carmichael fans as he scored 0 points at the Glen Helen finale due to a crash in moto 1, and not reporting to the gate for moto 2. Carmichael suffered a soft tissue injury to his shoulder and was forced to withdraw from Team USA for the 2006 Motocross des Nations. His Suzuki teammate Ivan Tedesco took his place, and Team USA still brought home the bacon for the second straight year.
James Stewart also won the 2006 U.S. Open of Supercross in a head-to-head battle with Ricky Carmichael and new Xyience Honda privateer David Vuillemin #12. He was the odds-on favorite to win both the World Supercross title again, and the 2007 AMA Supercross title, too, with Ricky Carmichael going into retirement for 2008 and beyond, and moving to a NASCAR career.
In this opening round, #27 Nick Wey on his MDK privateer Honda got the holeshot. Carmichael started in 2nd, Reed started 3rd, and Stewart started around 8th or 9th. Carmichael crashed on lap 2 shortly after he was overtaken by Chad Reed. Reed got around Wey immediately and began pulling a gap while Carmichael remounted in 16th place in the 21-man field. Stewart fought up to 2nd around Wey, and his new Kawasaki teammate Tim Ferry #15. The race turned into a two-man fight for the lead once James caught up to Chad. They exchanged the lead 3 times in the final few laps until Reed unintentionally tapped Stewart's back wheel and Stewart jumped off the track. James threw no caution and re-entered the track in front of an airborne Travis Preston on his #11 Samsung Mobile Honda. Preston plowed into Stewart, sending them both to the ground. Stewart continued on while Preston, who was running 7th at the time, was done for the night. Carmichael fought through the pack to pass Stewart for 2nd on lap 19. At the checkers, it was Reed, Carmichael, and Stewart in that order, but the drama was just beginning.
After his 3rd place finish, James Stewart dropped to the ground and grabbed his right leg in pain. Tempers flared between Preston and the wounded Stewart, and Preston, who was credited with 16th, had to be restrained. In the end, Stewart was fined $6000 for that and a practice incident with Ivan Tedesco earlier in the day and placed on probation for the whole Supercross season. Stewart was on crutches the entire week and was considering bypassing the 2nd race at Vancouver. He showed up, led 18 laps, and finished 2nd to Carmichael. Toronto winner Chad Reed finished a distant 3rd.
When the AMA series started in January at Anaheim, Stewart didn't let that Toronto opener bother him. He dominated the series winning 13 races to Carmichael's 2, and Reed's 1 win in San Diego. Stewart would close the 2007 Supercross season winning the last 7 in a row from Daytona to Las Vegas, and ultimately, the 2007 Amp'd Mobile World and AMA Supercross Championships.
Enjoy.