Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ MOTOCROSS Commotion ByThe Ocean ~ Rick Johnson (13) and Larry Brooks (30) battled in the Pro main until a derailed chain stopped Brooks, Johnson jetted ahead to the finish line for the win. J hnson overpoweing at Carlsbad o r By Tony Alessi CARLSBAD, CA, OCT. 28 ea m Honda 's Rick J ohnson overpow er ed a for mer Nat io na l cha mp and severa l loca l and upand -corning pro s lO top the com bined P ro class a t Ra cing Enterprises' Commot ion By T he Ocean III a t Carl sbad Raceway. Multi-time National a nd Su perc ross Cha mp io n J ohnson , fresh off a victory at th e fin al ro u n d of th e 500cc National s at Unad illa Vall ey Sports Center in New York, only dr ove II mi nutes to compete wit h mor e tha n 500 Pro a nd Amateur class riders tha t packed Car lsbad Racewa y for the twoday even t. Sa tu rday 's action featured the Beginner and Novi ce class ride rs, whi le the Pro s a nd Intermedi ates raced Sunda y. Racing Enterprises, Power Bar, AXO , O 'Douls and Pro Circu it co nt r ibu ted mor e than $5000 in .cash a nd co ntingency pri zes. The-Pro class fea tured a supercrossstyle for mat in which the riders were req u ired to compete in one of two qua lifiers in ,order to make th e mai n event. T hose who didn 't transfer from the qualifiers were eligible for the Last Ch a nce Qual ifier. Kevin Geyer put his Suzuki out in . front of J ohnson, Ryan Hugh es a nd Jim Ch amberl ain a t the start of the first Pro qualifi er. Hughes was the first to pass Geyer with J ohnson doing the same a turn la ter. Geyer held the pace for fou r laps before dr opping back three secon ds. J ohnson push ed Hughes hard and made a pass on the thi rd lap . Hughes stayed close to J ohnson until the final lap when he bobbled, giving Johnson a big lead which he held lO th e checkered flag . Hughes finished second, Ge yer was . third in h is first-ever Pro class moto a nd J im Ch amberl ain took fou rth aft er T 16 pa ssing Chris Young half way through the mot o. Juan Benavides got the h ol esh ot a t the start of the second q ua lifier with Mik e Craig, T ommy Clo wers a nd Larry Brook s in lOW. ' Crai g passed Benavides on the first la p , bu t Bena vides repassed him o n the downhill. Benavid es led the next four la ps while Craig studied h is lin es. On the fifth lap Crai g mo ved lO firs t and pu lled a way from Ben avid es. La rry Brook s was closing in from th ird place but he was stopped with mech anical problems. Former twotim e 125cc Na tion a l cham p Mickey Dym ond spent th e length of th e q ua lifier carvi ng to th e front aft er starti ng 19th and passed Ben avides for second near th e en d of th e race. Benavid es held o n to fin ish th ird in fro nt of T ommy Clowers a nd Randy Moody.while Dymo nd clo sed o n Cra ig o n the last la p to fin ish just seconds behind a t th e checkered flag. Br oo ks ca me bac k . in th e Last Cha nce Qual ifier and stomped th e pack with nearl y ha lf a track lead over Martin Klossner. At the start of the main , Ch am berlain , Young and Dymond went down a nd took ou t most of the pack, ca us ing the race lO be red-flagged. T he resta rt saw Bro ok s o ut fro nt fo llowed close ly by Johnson , Ge yer, Dymond, H ug hes a nd Moody. Dymond d ispl aced Geyer in the opening laps as did the baul e between Hughes a nd Benavides. Brooks and Joh nson had insta nt ly pulled away from th e pac k and began a battle that would last 12 la ps of th e 16-lap race. Brooks was rid ing very str ong wit h Johnson in ches behind and ready lO pounce. J ohnson made his move in the back sectio n of the trac k but Brooks dogged him for the nex t three laps trying to repass on more th an one occasion. T he battle ended on th e 13th la p when Brooks came to a halt when the chain on his Kawasaki KX500 derai led beca u se the ax le bo lt ca me loose, leavin g him out of the top 20. Johnson . cru ised to the checkered flag for the wi n in fro nt of Dymond, Hughes and Benavides. Geyer and Moody battled on the last lap for fifth wi th Moody gett ing th e nod a t the fini sh . Mark Ea sley topped th e second divisio n of 125cc Interm edi ate rid ers. " I have been playing at a few local races , bu t today I a m giv in g it 110%," Eas ley said befor e th e first mot o. Derek Meyer grabbed the lead a t th e sta rt of mo to one a nd ope ned up a com fortable margin o n th e o pe ning laps. Bu t o n th e third lap Meyer encountered problems. " My front tir e go t ca ugh t in a rut a nd when I tri ed to correc t it I washed o ut:' said Meyer, who rem ounted a nd was back underway around m idpack. Argentina National cha m p Freddi e Villagea p icked up th e lead with Bill y Mercier behind and pr essuring. Easley recovered fro m a poor start to engage in a battle over third with Ch ad Doggett. Mercier passed Villagea o n the fin al laps and pu lled away while Easley remo ved Doggett. On the final lap Easl ey p ushed Villagea bu t was unable to pass and Villagea finished second behind Mercier. Mercier went down at the start of the second mota whi le Meyer aga in led the way until he was hed o ut on ce again. Easley started sevent h a nd was in th e lead by the third la p. Once out front Easley put 10seco nds on Villagea and Pagel , which he held to the checkered flag. Easley's win in the second rn oto secu red the overall victory over Vill agea a nd Pa gel. T y Kad y was the fastest I 25cc Novice rider o n th e track but a lapse in co nce n tra tio n cost him th e overa ll victory . Kad y sto rmed wi re to wire in th e first mo to with a big lead over Lars La rsso n a nd Sh awn McIntosh . Kad y was off to a repeat performance in the second m ot o until disaster struck o n the fina l lap. " I had such a big lead I was just too relaxed, I was looking way ahead and slid out,"said Kady. By the tim e I got up, Lars passed me." Larsson, son of Swedish champ Erik . L~rsson, took the mota and overall wm. Kady still went home a champion, winning back-to-hack motos in the 80cc Interm ediate class. Kady ~as unchallenged by any o ther Intermedi a te rid er and beat most of the experts in the second moto. .,,, Keith Katz won the 250cc Beginner class on a bor rowed bik e while riding his first race ever at Carlsbad Raceway. T ommy Brackens g ra bbed the lead and never loo ked back in the first mota . Ka tz sta rte d fourth, passed Len Vern er o n the ro ug h Carl sbad uphill the n moved ins ide Steve Donavan when Don av an swapped wildl y o n the downhill to fin ish second. Ka tz got the hol eshot in the second mo to wit h Do navan two bik e leng ths be hin d. The two r id ers separated them selves fro m the pack and battled for the rem ainder of the mot o. Katz he ld o n for the win while Brackens finished th ird. Danny Anderson was flawless in the first 250cc Interm ed iate rnoto with a . sta rt to finish romp. Chris Ridgway held off a hard-charging Mercie r on the final la ps lO fini sh second. Anderso n again co nt ro lled most 6f the second moto up to th e final lap. After get ting the white flag, Anderson's fro nt end slid out, yet he pushed the bik e back uprigh t, but Scou Sease, wh o had been foll owing closely most of th e- mota, saw the bobble, and accelera ted past as did Mercier. On the last half lap Mercie r attacked Sease, co ncluding with a knock-down pass in the fina l turn. Mercier won the

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