2000 Joliet (Chicago) 250cc Main Event (Jeremy McGrath Goes for Supercross Title #7)

This is the 250cc main event from the 2000 Chicago Supercross.

In 2000, Chaparral Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath came into the penultimate round of the 2000 EA Sports 250cc Supercross Championship with a 25-point lead over Team Yamaha 250cc rookie, #934 David Vuillemin of France. McGrath had won 8 of the 14 races while Vuillemin had won 4 times, including the last round in New Orleans. Team Kawasaki’s Ricky Carmichael #4 had won Daytona, and Team Honda’s Kevin Windham #14 had won 2 races ago at Dallas; both led all 20 laps (21 at Daytona supposedly for Carmichael due to 2 white flags) en route to their victories.

The 2000 EA Sports Supercross season was supposed to be another season-long battle between McGrath and Team Honda’s Ezra Lusk #11. After winning 5 races in 1999 for Team Honda, Lusk wound up sidelined for the entire Supercross season due to a crash in the first practice session at Anaheim 1 with Team Suzuki’s Greg Albertyn #7 and Team Kawasaki’s John Dowd #16, which injured Lusk’s left shoulder. 1997 champ Jeff Emig #3 was forced to the sidelines, too after he broke two wrists on New Year’s Eve in prep for the 2000 Supercross season. Emig, who lost his Kawasaki ride with only 2 races to go in the 1999 Mazda 250cc Motocross Championship, was on the comeback trail after winning the 1999 U.S. Open aboard a #11 Yamaha YZ250. With 2 riders already out, the question remained: who would challenge Jeremy McGrath for his 7th Supercross title?

The answer turned out to be… David Vuillemin. McGrath began with 2 dominating wins at Anaheim with Vuillemin challenging in the 2nd Anaheim event. David Vuillemin would pull the holeshot at the next round in San Diego and lead all 20 laps en route to his first ever 250cc Supercross win, and his first since Seattle 1998 when he was on a YZ125. Vuillemin made it 2 in a row in a come-from-behind ride at Phoenix when he stole the lead from McGrath with 1½ laps to go. McGrath was visibly upset because that cost him a shot at $500,000 for the Vans Triple Crown; he responded back emphatically with 4 straight wins and led all 80 laps while Vuillemin could only finish with two 3rds, a 2nd, and a season-low 6th at Pontiac 1. As for McGrath, he would win again at St. Louis and again at Pontiac 2, but Jeremy never finished worse than 4th at San Diego all season long; McGrath crashed on the opening lap at Dallas after getting the holeshot and came from last to 4th. Vuillemin rebounded and won at Minneapolis, the second round of the Triple Crown, and also stopped a 6-race win streak from Jeremy McGrath at the Metrodome going back to 1994.

In this race, all Jeremy McGrath needed was a holeshot to ice his 7th Supercross championship in 8 years. McGrath did just that, despite an early challenge from Kevin Windham. Jeremy would lead all 20 laps, but David Vuillemin, who got held up behind Ricky Carmichael in the first turn, was coming like a freight train and passed Windham for 2nd place on the last lap. At the checkers, it was Jeremy McGrath with win #9 of the 2000 season. In addition, it was the first time since 1996 that McGrath sealed the championship with a win on the track, and his 5th season with at least 9 or more wins (10 wins in ’93 and ’95, 9 wins in '94, and 14 wins in ’96). Jeremy finished the season with his 10th win of the season at the finale in Las Vegas to match his record from ’93 and ’95, and the 4th season with 10 or more wins for the sports icon. He would win the title by 35 points over David Vuillemin, and stopped Vuillemin from claiming the $500,000 prize from the Vans Triple Crown. However, David Vuillemin would walk away with the $25,000 consolation prize with a 4th place finish.

Enjoy.