There’s only one word to describe the Honda Red Riders’ performance at the Atlanta round of the AMA Supercross series: Awesome. If there was something to win, they won it. And the race included some stand-out first performances from several members of the race teams.

Supercross:

In the first heat of the evening, it was business as usual, with Kevin Windham taking a decisive win, followed by fellow CRF450R rider Andrew Short. In the second heat, Davi Millsaps was right behind series leader Chad Reed. (Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco is still out with a broken hand.)

When the gate dropped in the Main, it was clear this would be no ordinary night. Sometimes, by this point in the season, riders are beginning to settle into a groove, with one leader emerging and the rest following like a freight train through the series. This year just the opposite is occurring. The points gap between the series leader and the rest is narrowing, not growing. Several riders, especially Honda Torco Racing Fuels’ Kevin Windham, have proven that they can challenge for the lead and win. This week, three Honda riders were challenging for the lead.

For the first six laps, Millsaps ran in second, right behind Reed, keeping up the pressure in a race where lap times were only about 50 seconds. Windham had started in sixth, but quickly moved up, and by lap five he was in third. Short got a better start, in fourth, but was passed by Windham on lap three. Still, on lap four he passed Tim Ferry. Short and Ferry would continue to battle for the spot, passing and re-passing each other throughout the race.

Then, on lap five, everything changed. Reed ended on one of the track’s more abrupt jumps, and Millsaps swept into the lead, followed by Nathan Ramsey, Windham, and Short. Both Windham and Short made quick work of Ramsey, with Millsaps and Windham checking out and were never challenged. Millsaps led the race from lap five on, looking smooth and in control the whole time; holding held a six-second margin at the end. For the local rider, it was a special victory. "I had a lot of friends and family here tonight, so winning in front of them is huge, especially my first win in this class."

Meanwhile, Andrew Short had come out on top of his battle with Ferry, making it a Honda one-two-three sweep of the podium—Millsaps, Windham, and Short—Windham’s performance putting him within 25 points of the series lead. What a race!

Supercross Lites

As noted previously, Atlanta was the first race in the Lites East class, and as such marked the debut of newly minted pro rider Trey Canard, riding on the Torco Racing Fuels Honda CRF250R. Canard is just 17 years old. In 2007, he won all the classes he entered at Loretta Lynn’s, along with the AMA’s Horizon Award for most-promising amateur rider. Everyone was curious to see what this young rider would do in the big leagues. Canard served notice early, getting the holeshot in his heat and winning it handily.

The second Lites heat was a different story. At first, it looked as though Honda Torco Racing Fuels rider Josh Grant had won easily, after ripping the holeshot and leading wire to wire. The AMA, however, thought otherwise. At one point they determined that Grant had not rolled a triple while the red lights were flashing on the track (used when there’s a particularly dangerous situation, like a downed rider or a bike in a particularly bad part of the track) and penalized Grant, bumping him back a spot in the results.

In the Main, it was all Canard all the time, as the young rider turned in a simply stellar performance, scoring another holeshot and never looking back. Grant, on the other hand, got caught up in a turn-one crash, and finished the first lap back in 14th. Still, he began to charge forward, moving up to eighth, when he was held up again by another rider’s crash, and eventually had to settle for a seventh overall. Ben Coisy, replacing injured Ben Townley had a tougher first-race appearance, also getting caught up in the first-turn tangle, never really recovering, and finishing just inside the top ten.

Canard dedicated his first victory to his late father, who passed away five years ago. "I don’t know what to say right now," said Canard. "I’ve waited my whole life for this, and to get the win means so much to me.”

AMA Supercross Class Results, Atlanta
1. Davi Millsaps (HONDA)
2. Kevin Windham (HONDA)
3. Andrew Short (HONDA)
4. Tim Ferry (Kaw)
5. Nathan Ramsey (Yam)
6. Chad Reed (Yam)
7. Charles Summey (Yam)
8. Paul Carpenter (HONDA)
9. David Vuillemin (Suz)
10. Jason Thomas (HONDA)

AMA Supercross Class Season Standings
1. Chad Reed (Yam) 184
2. Kevin Windham (HONDA) 159
3. Tim Ferry (Kaw) 137
4. Davi Millsaps (HONDA) 123
5. Andrew Short (HONDA) 121
6. Nathan Ramsey (Yam) 101
7. Joshua Hill (Yam) Yamaha, 84
8. Nick Wey (KTM) 84
9. David Vuillemin (Suz) Suzuki, 72
10. Mike Alessi (Suz) Suzuki, 69

Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class Results, Atlanta
1. Trey Canard (HONDA)
2. Martin Davalos (KTM)
3. Ryan Sipes (KTM
4. Jake Moss (Yam)
5. Tyler Bowers (Yam)
6. Branden Jesseman (Kaw)
7. Josh Grant (HONDA)
8. Nico Izzi (Suz)
9. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)
10. Ben Coisy (HONDA)

Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class Season Standings
1. Trey Canard (HONDA) 25
2. Martin Davalos (KTM) 22
3. Ryan Sipes (KTM) 20
4. Jake Moss (Yam) 18
5. Tyler Bowers (Yam) 16
6. Branden Jesseman (Kaw) 15
7. Josh Grant (HONDA) 14
8. Nico Izzi (Suz) 13
9. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw) 12
10. Ben Coisy (HONDA) 11