2000 Indianapolis 250cc Heat #2 (Jeremy McGrath Vs. Kevin Windham #1)
4This is the 2nd 250cc qualifying heat from the 2000 Indianapolis Supercross.
In 2000, Team Honda's Kevin Windham was having a Supercross season where more questions were asked than answers were given. The Honda rider had a season best of 2 3rds at Anaheim 1 and San Diego. Kevin had also won 2 heat races at both Anaheim races before taking a 4th in his heat at San Diego, a 2nd at Phoenix, and a 3rd at Houston. Kevin's main event finishes were a different story though.
Outside of the 3rds, Windham had recorded a 7th, and 2 8ths in the other 3 races. After 2 wins in the '99 season (including his famous late-race pass on Jeremy McGrath at Tampa), Kevin was not really filling in the blanks after 4 National wins in 1999, resulting in 2nd overall; other Honda riders weren't really of much help either. Their main star, Ezra Lusk #11 was knocked out of the Supercross season at Anaheim 1 in practice with a broken shoulder. #21 Sebastien Tortelli was still learning the ropes for Supercross; his best finish was the Anaheim opener where he came from around 10th place to finish a respectable 4th.
Series leader, Chaparral Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath was having another season to his liking. With 3 wins in 5 races, Jeremy held a 7-point lead over Team Yamaha's newest 250cc rookie, David Vuillemin. McGrath had a worst finish of a 4th at San Diego when he lost his front brake in the main after a terrible start in 10th. Vuillemin won San Diego, but famously passed Jeremy at Phoenix before the white flag lap; as a result, McGrath lost his only chance at the $500,000 Vans Triple Crown to Vuillemin.
In this heat race, Kevin Windham jumped out to a good holeshot. Jeremy McGrath, who was suffering from a terrible case of the flu, rounded the first turn in 7th or 8th; he was up to 2nd just a few turns later. McGrath pressured Windham for his 6th consecutive heat race victory before he tipped over, briefly losing 2nd to his Chaparral Yamaha teammate, Tim Ferry. Jeremy did not ride or test at all since he won the last race in Houston. He took a 2nd, losing his first heat race of the 2000 season. Jeremy cast that heat race loss aside and made his start count in the main with a holeshot.
As for Kevin Windham, he showed promise in the main with a 3rd place start behind Vuillemin and McGrath. Kevin managed to pass Vuillemin for 2nd and managed to run Jeremy's pace. Unfortunately, Kevin faded to a 7th place finish due to tightness; he would not have another decent finish until Minneapolis when he took a 4th place. Kevin rebounded at the Pontiac 2 race and finished 3rd over David Vuillemin. From then, Kevin podiumed through the last 4 races of the season, including winning his first race of the season at Dallas.
Enjoy.