AMA Supercross racing's 'big three' of Chad Reed, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart will for the first time meet head to head in the prestigious Daytona Supercross by Honda this Friday night, March 10.
The leading trio of the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series have battled all season long and are a close one-two-three in the points chase, but the spotlight will shine especially brightly on one of the best battles in AMA Supercross Series history when the series comes to Daytona International Speedway, one of the tracks from which Supercross racing originated.
Reed has been a model of consistency this season, including a victory in St. Louis last month and as a result holds a one-point lead on Carmichael coming into Daytona, round 10 of the 16-race series.
Carmichael missed the podium for the first time since January of 2003 at the Phoenix round, after a disappointing 20th place finish at St. Louis a few weeks back, and has been able to bring his Makita Suzuki up to second place in the championship.
Stewart has shown the most speed of the three leaders, but has suffered a spate of crashes and as a result sits 17 points behind Reed in the standings. This will be
Stewart's first appearance racing in the main AMA Supercross class at
Daytona. He won the 125 East class (now called Supercross Lites East) at the Speedway in 2004. He sat out last year's race due to injury.
Reed is riding a two-race winning streak at Daytona. He won in 2004 in Carmichael's absence and then proved his first Daytona Supercross victory was no fluke when he defeated Carmichael and the rest of the field in last March. A third win in a row at Daytona would not only give Reed breathing room in the standings, but would also place him among the elite.
Only three riders have been able to win the gruelling Daytona event three times in a row. They include Jeff Stanton, Mike Kiedrowski and Carmichael. Stanton and Carmichael each won four consecutive years.
