Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DMOTOCROSS Florida Winter AMA Motocross Series: Round 4 ~ Brian .Swink (42) chased series poin ts leader Barry Carsten (34) early in the first 125cc P ro moto. Swink stuffed h is way pa st Carsten to take th e mo to victory. Mark Renaud (179) held second place at th e start of the first 250ce Pro moto before dropping off th e pace. Winner Brian McElroy was already long gone. Swink, McElroy top Motocross ofMarion County By Mike an d Anne Adair REDDICK, FL, JAN. 26-27 rian Swink and Brian McElroy each cla imed Pro class overall win s i n dram ati c Iinal-rn oto co ntes ts a t the fourth ro un d of the Florida Winter AMA Motocross Series at Motocross of Marion County. B 18 Peak Antifreeze/Pro Circuit/ AXO· sponsored Swink caught Mike Brown in the closing laps of th e fin al 125cc rno to, tried twice to stuff in side Bro wn , o n ly to unload with in sigh t of th e . xh eckered fl ag . Swin k , wh o still topped Bro wn for the overall win, said, " T hat white flag came ou t too quickly for us. We thought that the clock indica ted ano ther lap to go. " Brian McElro y, aft er scoring hi s th ird strai g ht 250cc class ov era ll victory, com mented, " I had a lot of help here toda y. )\ fter practice Woody Kyle of WKR Ra cin g replaced my top end and at the same time Doug Harv ey of Pro Action Suspens io n rebuilt m y forks . Both changes worked for th e best. My bike did fine d uring th e motos." Motocross o f Mario n Co un ty attracted 400 riders to the fourth round of the Winter AMA Seri es. This central Florida track is known for its hard clay, rocket fast surface and sky jumps. Two nights of hard rain " however, softened the clay and disappointed th e " hard pack" rid ers. Saturda y's o pe n i n g rnot os were actua lly mor e of a m ud race. Dry, mostly sunny wea ther on Saturday ha rdened the track befor e Sunday's pro session. Track promoter Ken Black bu rn ela bora ted, "The track was pe rfect : befor e the rai n . We will regrade it an d the pros will have a good su rface to rid e o n." The first 125cc Pro rnoto saw Barry Carsten burst off the start with a clear getaway with Mike Treadwell, Cliff Palmer and Doug H en ry in tow. Swink, J ustin J ackso n , Ezra Lusk and David Beckington overcame mediocre starts and moved u p ra pidly. Henry said, " I got into second place, caug h t up to Carsten, but fell. Swink and Bro wn caught me." Swin k closed on Carsten and descri bed hi s winning pass, saying, "The track was rutted. There weren' t ma ny pas sing lines. I got inside Barry and ha d to stuff him. There was no o ther way 10 get by." Ca rsten , wh o is leading th e series added, " After Brian and I shared a ru t , Henry caugh t up and we had a good race. I sho u ldn' t hav e let off. He got by o nce, but I retook seco nd ." Moto two had a dramaticall y differen t script as Brown ripped off th e ga te fir st a hea d o f Carl Vai llan court , Swink, Carsten, Pal mer and Jackson. ' Bro wn 's dad, Bern ie, said, "Just befor e the two-la p card, I not iced that Mik e had a rear flat. It was too la te th en 10 tell him. He rod e th e entire race. with it." Brown said later, " I felt th e flat in the first long straig h t. The bike rode hard and felt slo ppy in the rear ." Brown bu ilt a 'seven-seco nd lead by th e ti me Swin k dealt with Vailla nco urt to take over th e nu mber two spot. Swi nk said later, " Brown was o ut there and it too k a long time 10 reel hi m in ." On th e white flag lap, Swin k soa red a longs ide Brown on the grandsta nd tri p le, but Brown held the ad vanta ge o n th e final la p. Brown , wh o ended up second o vera ll, sa id, " I kn ew that Brian was com ing and guarded the inside. He tri ed 10 pus h me out of the ru t twice and fell the second time." Carsten , who too k third overall and main tain ed his series lead , exp lai ned , " I had a grea t race with Vaillan court, bu t once he was slow to accelera te after a jum p and I almost landed o n him." In the first 250cc Pr o rnoto, Brian McElroy's Ge ar/WKY/ P ro ' Actio n · backed Suzuki roo sted the field and led all the way for a win. The battle for second featured Mark Renaud, Earl Ma y, Vaill ancourt, Palmer , Vin ce DeVane, Ross Pederson ' and John Dowd. Vaillancourt worked o n Dowd and Renaud and took over second on lap three. " I was riding by myself and lost the race," said Vaillan court. " DeVa ne came up and I had someone to race with. He jumped by and passed me , but we both ga ined on McElroy. DeVane said, " After I go t by Vaillancourt, I saw Dowd co ming. It gave me energy to rid e faster, but McElroy was too far ahea d." Series lead er Dowd said, " I got hit in th e start and had to use all of m y energy catchi ng up again . This is getting old." Winner McEl roy said, " I hate to lead early in a rnoto, bu t I handled leading better th an I expected to." J u stin Jackson spearheade d th e assa u lt in moto two with Vaillanco urt , McElroy, Cli ff Palmer, Rob Black and Dowd in pursui t. McElroy reeled in Jackson 10 lead on la p three, but Do wd wa s on his tail by la p five and even tu ally pa ssed him for the win. "A good start saved my strength," said Dowd. " I passed Brian in a fast set of whoops in the back . I passed people all day right there. No o ne else _ was using that line." ' , McE lroy said, " I had a good race with J oh n , but go t twisted on a jump and aggravated an old hand in jury. I didn 't push af ter that and hun g o n for the overall win." DeVane, who clawed his way bac k by Vaillancourt for third and th ird overa ll, explained, "Someone knocked me down at the start. My cl utch side grip came off and it got pretty tricky to ride. , • In Saturday's muddy amateur com peti tion , only Pee Wee rider Tyson Hadsell and 85cc (12-13) class rider Kevin Windham maintained perfect seri es records. Ricky Carmichael, wh o has dominated th e 85 (7·11 ) class, crashed hard on a triple jump and left the win to Tri City Honda's Kenny J ones. Jones said, " I ha ted for R icky to fall , but I haven 't beat him in a long ti me. Car sten won th e 125cc Exp ert class by sweep ing both 'motos. The Mechanicsvill e Cycle/Malcolm Smith/DG-supported rider said, "A lo t of pros have been gelling track time and co ndition ing by rid ing on Saturday. I enjoyed raci ng both days." T immy Ferry edged David Beckin gton in a hot ly-co n test ed duel for seco nd. Ezra Lus k inj ured his bac k in th e fir st mo to, but rebounded on Sunday ' 10 sweep th e 125cc Youth class. Th e 250cc Expert ac tio n focused o n Mc Elr o y, Bi ll y Si l va ro le , An tho ny Paggio , Beckin gr on and To m my Martin. Martin led moto o ne , with Beckingt on , Paggi o a nd McE lroy o n hi s fender. Beck in gton's TU F Suzuki took over a nd led until th e white flag . Beckin gton said, " Bria n was on me. I sta lled it in a boggy turn and he took the win." T eam Gr een Kawasaki 's Silvarole put his KX250 ah ead of Paggio and owned mot o two. Silvarole said, " I love the mud; I'v e been wai ting a ll year for a track lik e this." McElroy salvaged the overa ll Will with a pass o n Paggio. " I hit ' a slick spot and fell ," said Paggio. " I sho u ld have mad e Brian work harder for it." . McElroy added, " My rear brake lever pa cked up with mud. It was a thrill taking th ose doubles with th e back wheel locked. I had 10 hold the throttle on." Mini cycle com petition was intense. James Garrett and J eremy Shuttleworth upset series leader Don Leddy in th e 65cc co ntest. T eam Green Kaw asaki 's Robbie Skaggs split mot os with teammate Kevin Windham in a close 85cc ( 1213) fight. Skaggs, wh o with his grand-

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