Ezra Lusk

Supercross riders won't have Ezra Lusk to kick around tonight at Edison Field, where promoters expect another sellout crowd of 45,000 for the second race of a 16-race series. Not that they could do it anyway. Lusk, who won last year's two events at Edison Field but missed the EA Sports Supercross Series season opener there last Saturday because of a shoulder injury, won't compete in tonight's races, which begin at 7, for the same reason.

Supercross riders won't have Ezra Lusk to kick around tonight at Edison Field, where promoters expect another sellout crowd of 45,000 for the second in a 16-race series. Not that they could do it anyway. Lusk, who won last year's two events at Edison Field but missed the Supercross series season opener there last Saturday because of a shoulder injury, won't compete in tonight's races, which begin at 7, for the same reason.

Doug Henry, who missed much of last season with a broken back suffered in a fall in 1995, completed two weeks of championship riding by winning the second round of the Supercross season Saturday night in the Coliseum. Henry's Yamaha teammate, Ezra Lusk, led off the starting line in the 20-lap main event, but took the lead on the fourth lap and was never seriously challenged. It was a Yamaha night, as Henry and Lusk were also heat winners.

Supercross riders won't have Ezra Lusk to kick around tonight at Edison Field, where promoters expect another sellout crowd of 45,000 for the second race of a 16-race series. Not that they could do it anyway. Lusk, who won last year's two events at Edison Field but missed the EA Sports Supercross Series season opener there last Saturday because of a shoulder injury, won't compete in tonight's races, which begin at 7, for the same reason.

Supercross riders won't have Ezra Lusk to kick around tonight at Edison Field, where promoters expect another sellout crowd of 45,000 for the second in a 16-race series. Not that they could do it anyway. Lusk, who won last year's two events at Edison Field but missed the Supercross series season opener there last Saturday because of a shoulder injury, won't compete in tonight's races, which begin at 7, for the same reason.

The racing didn't start until Saturday night, but some of the biggest news in the first round of the EA Sports Supercross Series happened in the afternoon. It was during practice that Ezra Lusk, who won both Anaheim events last season and finished second in the season standings to Jeremy McGrath, crashed with two other riders. Lusk suffered a dislocated shoulder and didn't compete on his factory Honda, clearing the way for the field to get a giant head start in the competitive 16-race series.

If Ezra Lusk could win in Supercross elsewhere the way he does in California, the quiet Georgian might well take the coveted No. 1 plate away from six-time champion Jeremy McGrath. Lusk, who recently moved from Bainbridge, Ga., to Lake Elsinore to be closer to Honda's training track, raced four times in California last year--and won four times. Three races were in the AMA national series, two of them at Anaheim's Edison Field and one in San Diego.

Edison Field had a new look when the American Motocross Assn. Supercross Series championship returned Saturday night for its second event at the stadium in four weeks. The track was tightened up and strewn with more obstacles, and the rain that preceded the event left the dirt sticky and compact. But the change in conditions didn't affect the performance by Ezra Lusk of Bainbridge, Ga., who won for the second time in less than a month at Anaheim in front of 44,895.

Chad Reed, the 2003 World Supercross GP champion, won the opening round of the 250cc THQ AMA Supercross series at Angel Stadium before a sellout crowd of 45,050. Making his first start since he had surgery four weeks ago to repair a dislocated shoulder, Reed, 21, started the evening by storming to an easy 12-second victory in his eight-lap qualifying heat race. In the 20-lap finale, Reed lost the holeshot to Ernesto Fonseca.

Ricky Carmichael, who won all 24 motos in last year's 12-race Outdoor National Series, begins defense of his title today in the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. Carmichael, fresh from winning his third consecutive Supercross title with a seven-point victory over Yamaha rider Chad Reed, is more at home in the outdoor series and hopes to pilot his 250cc Honda safely around the treacherous Glen Helen layout.

The racing didn't start until Saturday night, but some of the biggest news in the first round of the EA Sports Supercross Series happened in the afternoon. It was during practice that Ezra Lusk, who won both Anaheim events last season and finished second in the season standings to Jeremy McGrath, crashed with two other riders. Lusk suffered a dislocated shoulder and didn't compete on his factory Honda, clearing the way for the field to get a giant head start in the competitive 16-race series.

If Ezra Lusk could win in Supercross elsewhere the way he does in California, the quiet Georgian might well take the coveted No. 1 plate away from six-time champion Jeremy McGrath. Lusk, who recently moved from Bainbridge, Ga., to Lake Elsinore to be closer to Honda's training track, raced four times in California last year--and won four times. Three races were in the AMA national series, two of them at Anaheim's Edison Field and one in San Diego.

Doug Henry, who missed much of last season with a broken back suffered in a fall in 1995, completed two weeks of championship riding by winning the second round of the Supercross season Saturday night in the Coliseum. Henry's Yamaha teammate, Ezra Lusk, led off the starting line in the 20-lap main event, but took the lead on the fourth lap and was never seriously challenged. It was a Yamaha night, as Henry and Lusk were also heat winners.

The Toyota World Supercross championships came to the United States for the first time since starting in 1990 and American riders made the most of it. Ezra Lusk, Larry Ward and Jeremy McGrath made it a one-two-three finish Saturday in the second round of the world championships before an estimated 18,000 at the Rose Bowl. France's David Vuillemin moved a step closer to his first world title by finishing fourth, just ahead of Jeff Emig.

David Vuillemin doesn't like the boos. He heard them two weeks ago when he was introduced at Anaheim in the opening round of the AMA supercross series, though they weren't as loud as last year when he won the season's first two races and established himself as a rival to champion Ricky Carmichael. "I don't want to be the bad guy," said the Frenchman, who goes for his first U.S. victory of the season tonight at Edison Field. "Nobody wants to be the bad guy. I just accept it.