Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127540
Alt er winning five o ut of six classes, R eynard was th e talk of th e town. sa na' s Ke'vin Windha m was th e big wi n ner , racki ng lip th ree class wins . T h e T ea m G reen racer went th ree-fo rth ree in th e Mi ni Open (7- 16), Sen ior ( 12- 13) a nd Stock ( 12-'13) cl asses. Ka ns a n Ro bbi e Skaggs wa s th e o n ly o ther multi-class wi n ne r in th e Mini ra n ks, scoring first-place trop h ies in th e Sen io r ( 14- 16) a nd Stoc k ( 14- 16) div is ion s o n h is T eam Green su p po rte d Kawasakis. Eleven -year-old Ricky Carmich ael , a nothe r Tea m Green rider. blew away a ll co mers in th e 1\1 ini Stoc k (7-11) class , while Suzuk i-mo u nted J acob Marr in topped th e l\Iin i Jun io r (7-11) divisio n. A grand to tal o f 949 entry forms were fill ed O U I for thi s year 's first major ga lhe ri ng o f so me o f th e co un try 's top ama teu r motocross racers. but acc o rd, in g 10 G ' C 's J err y Surber, rid er a ueuda nre was dow n approxi mately 100 en tr ies co mpared to prev ious Lake Whilney GN C event s. " We ' ve had a 1 1 o f rain in Texas 0 th e pa st week a nd I think th a t scared a 1 of peop le aw a y," sai d Sur ber. "A 01 1 o f peop le th ought th e track wo u ld 01 be under wa tel. .. Ra in was o n everyo ne 's m ind go in g in to th e weekend , but sunny skies pr evai led for th e most part. Frid ay a n d Saturd a y w er e cl ear , b u t Sunda y dawn ed clou dy a nd cool wi th rai n falling du rin g the last few mot o s. Fr iday 's raci ng featured th e Begi nner classes o n ly, foll ow ed by a n open practi ce sessio n for Sat u rda y a nd . Su nday's co m petitors. The rac ing for mat was sim p le - o ne rnor o i n eac h class wa s r u n o n Sa tu rday and th e seco nd o n Su nday. R iders wit h th e lo west co m b ined m oto fin ish es were decla red the overa ll class winn ers. Ti es were b rok en by th e hi gh est finis h in th e seco nd mot o , A few classes need ed two d ivisions to acco m moda te th e 36-rider sta rli ng gate. The first 15 rid ers in each div ision (A & B) automatica lly " qua lified " for Sunday 's seco nd mot o . T he rem a in in g riders in eac h d ivision raced agai nst eac h o ther in a sing le co nso la tio n race at th e end o f th e da y, with th e to p six rider s in thai ra ce qu a l ifying fo r Su nday's seco n d mor o . T hirt y-five rno tos were run o n Sa turday (incl uding co n so la tio n . ra ces) and 32 on Sunday. Races varied between fo ur to six laps, wh ile the Experts ran ni ne lap s. O n Su nday , o ne la p was added 10 each class. Reyn a rd 's wi ns ca me in th e 125 and 250cc Modi fied In term ed iat e a nd 125cc Stock Intermedia te, a n d th e 125 a nd 250cc O pen (ava ilab le 10 intermediate or less classified riders ) classes. The o nl y class Reyn a rd co m pe ted in that he didn 't win wa s th e 250cc Stock In termediat e class, wh ere a poor jump off th e startin g gate in th e first moto Kevin Windham (51I) was the only multi-c1ass winner in th e Minibike ranks. H e aced th e Open (7-16) and Seni or (12-13) classes. ef fectively cos t h im th e o vera ll vic.' tory. Decker wo n tha t moto, whi le Reyn ard la bored u p to th ird . Reyna rd ca me ba ck Su nday a nd led from sta rt to fi n ish in the secon d rnoto, but it wa sn't eno ugh , as Decker cha sed him all th e wa y in second , a nd cli nc he d the cla ss win with a 1-2 o ver Reyn ard 's 3- 1. The on ly o ther mota Reynard di d n' t win wa s Sa tu rday's 125cc Stock Inter medi at e race, where he, agai n , got o ff 10 a slow sta rt a nd th en cras hed o n th e firsl lap. After passin g ea rly lead er J a son I\IcCormi ck , Decker scored th e moto win , whi le Reyna rd ch ased down seco nd aft er passing i\IcCo rm ick lat e in the ra ce. On u nda y, Reyn a rd gra bbed the hol esho t a nd ro osted awa y for th e wi n and class victo ry, wh ile it was Decker's tu rn to p la y catch -u p aft er a so-so start . H o wever, Decker co u ld n 't move up as well as Reyna rd d id in th e first mal o a nd had 10 seu le for fi fth in th e mot o a nd th ird ov era ll. Suzu ki support rid er Da vid Ping ree, from Arizona , ended up seco nd overa ll via a -1 -2 co mbi nation . For th e most pan, Reyna rd ru led th e Interm ediate class m ot os, while Decker usua ll y chased in second. Arguab ly the th ird fa stest rider in th e Intermedi a te class wa s Pin gree, wh o fin ished seco nd in the 125cc Stock class, third in th e 250cc Stock a nd fourth in th e 125cc Int ermed iat e cla sses. Hi s bes t moto fini sh es wer e tw o seco nd- p lace rid es, one in the 125cc In termed ia te d ivis io n A baule o n Sa turday a nd th e o th er in the seco nd 250cc Int ermed ia te race o n Su nday. Pin gree's Suz uk i lea rn mate Joey Pra ll was a lso a th rea t, as he was usu al lva fro nt -ru n ner in th e Iruermedi at e races. P rat t, a nother T exan , put together hi s best ride in th e 125cc Intermedi at e class where he fini shed th ird in th e first divi sion A mow a nd second plac e in th e secon d moto , g ivin g him second overa ll 10 Reynard 's I- I. Pra ll also loo ked good in th e seco nd 125cc In termed ia te Stock cla ss o n Su ndav, wh ere he ran second 10 Reyna rd th e ~nt i re mo ro , but a crash during Sa tu rday's firs t moto COS I him in the ov er a ll sta nd ings wh ere h e fi ni sh ed o u t of the top 10. An other co ns iste nt from-runner in th e In termedia te cla sses was Ho n da mount ed J a so n McCormick , wh o . at on e time, led bot h Decker an d Reynard for th e first three la ps in th e first 125cc Interrned iar e Stock moto, which was per haps McCo rm ick's sin gl e-best outing o f the weekend. H e ended up th ird in that moto behind winner Decker a nd R eyn ard. ' A fi fth o n Su n day, h o weve r , knock ed McCormi ck to fo urth in th e overa ll sta nd ings. H is best o vera ll fini sh ca me in th e 125cc In termed ia te class wh ere he finish ed th ird overa ll wi th a 3-3 tall y. David Pingree (23) and Mike Metzger mix it up in one of the 250cc classes. An other ride r who fin ished a respectabl e th ird o ve ra ll in on e o f t h e Interm ed iat e classes wa s Ka wa sa k i rider R.C. Ben n ett. The Cal ifo rn ian la nd ed founh in th e first 250cc In termedia te moto a fter di cing wi th thirdpl ace fini sher Anthony Poco ro bb a a nd fift h-place Eri c Edwards , whi le Reyna rd a nd Suzu ki rider Mike ' Metzger ra n a way in Iir s t 'a n d sec o n d , respectiv el y, In th e seco nd moto , Bennet t aga in lan ded fo urt h behind Reyn ard , Decker a n d Suzu ki-m ounted Joey Mo o re. Bennett 's 4-4 ral ly was enough for third o ve ra ll beh ind R eyn a rd 's 1-\ a n d Decker's 6-2. Ka w a sa k i T eam Green ' s J a so n Edwards was th e rider 10 beat in th e 250cc Expert class. In the first mOLD, Edwards led from start 10 fin ish, despite an ear ly cha llenge by Ro y Schellenber ger . who held seco nd for two laps before droppi ng back a nd eventua ll y fini sh ing fo u rth. Slipping int o second was a homesta te favorite, T erry Tin n ey. The H o n da rider moved into seco nd on th e th ird la p but fou nd 100 much distance b e twee n h i m se lf a n d t h e lead er , Edwards , 10 make up in the n in e-la p ra ce. Ti n ney settl ed for th e ru nner-up spot, while Ca li forn ia n Ra y Crumb slipped hi s Kawa saki Team Green KX II