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/127591
ยท checkered flag in the first 125cc A Stock m ot o, th e n secured the class cha mpionshi p w it h two carefully p la nned th ir d -p lace ri des in th e remaining motos. Lat ham, an unfortunate 15th in the first m o to, p o wer ed to a 'p a ir o f de term ined wins in the second and third motos but cou ld not climb higher than sixth in the ove rall ta llies . Kawasaki-mounted Derek Natvig captu red the vice champion's trophy wi th a 3-6-2 scorecard; Anthony Pocorobba earned third by vir tue of a 4-2-5 record. Grewe ended up fif th be hind Bobby Stovall after bad starts de mo ted him to seventh in each of the final two motos. The 250cc A Stock class will be remembered as much for Rand's win as for Latham's letdown. After dominating the first two motos, Latham raced past Rand a t the midway mark of the final moto and appea red to have his first AMA ama teu r championship in the bag . Bu t then the Kawasaki p ilo t crashed ha rd on th e far side an d coul d not reen ter th e race . Ra nd, second in mot os one and two, jumped on th e chance to ca p ture th e fifth title of h is a mateu r career and raced away from Natvig and Pocoro b ba to cl inch th a t crow n. Poco robba's 44-3 was good for secon d o ve ra ll w hile 25 -year-ol d Rich ard H al stead bea t o ut Natvig fo r third . Latha m was out o f the top five. "I came in with a 2-2 beh ind Clint (11) and I knew it wou ld take a miracle to pull this off," admitted Rand in the winner's circle . "It just happened to work out the way it d id . Clint rod e a great race and it was unfo rtu na te that he went dow n th e way h e did . I know he worked hard for this and I think he had tha t race wo n before he went down. It was a shame for him, but the Lord gave me the chance to win so I decided that I had be tter take it." Foley was ano ther met hodical lead er, rid ing at the fro n t of th e Ju nior (+25) and Vet A (+30) classes each time out and ne ver losing his comp osure despite cons tant pressure fro m ever-p resent rival Alan Andreu. The Honda-moun ted Andreu p ro vi d ed pressure in all six motos an d in fact beat Foley in the last Jun ior mo to wi th a stra tegic last-la p pas s. But for all his attemp ts at shu tting d own Foley, Andreu still went home as the runner-up in bo th classes . "Anythi ng could happen out th er e, th at's for sure, but Kevin just doesn't m ake very m any m ista kes," sai d Andreu, who has won tw o Vet titles at Lorett a Lynn's. "I always jus t ride my best race and hop e that I'm there at the end . Kevin just has a lot of momentum out there this year ." " Ala n ' s a lways fast here in Tennessee, just like he is back home, " remarked Foley, who was again assisted to the crown by r ace partner Sco tt Taylor. "When he gets ou t in front it's tou gh to chase him down becaus e he's so determ ined to win. 1was lucky a couple of times this week that I was able to get a hook in him before he got too far awa y. Ala n rides h is heart ou t every time. I've got so mu ch res pect for that gu y." . Grewe and Tom my Mart in w ere in the th ick of things in every moto bu t had to settle for third an d fou rth overall, Grewe posting a 3-2-3 tally to Martin's 4-3-4. In the Vet A class Ricky Palme r, Brian Austin an d Connie Feist took tu rn s pl acing third in the three mot os but Ya maha- mo un ted Kreg Bige low took home the third-place tro phy with his steady 5-4-4 finishes. Fresh off th e Min ic ycl e G rand National Ch ampionship at Po nca City one week earlier, Cha rley Bogard was easily the fastest 85cc pilot, but his asp irations for tw o titles were w iped ou t when he was p rotested for having an Charley Bogard (28) was arg uab ly the fas test 85cc pilot, but was disqualified in the Stock clas s for having an illegal rear wheel. illegal wh eel in the second 85cc Senior Stock moto, Race officials ruled tha t the wheel, reported to be 5/ 8" wider than a standard rim, violated the s tock code and disqualified the feisty Suzuki rid er from that mo to. Nevertheless, Bogard came back with a veng eance in the last Stock moto, climbing from deep in the fiel d to claim the lead from Team Green's Dustin Nelson. "T hat proved something for me," said the American Su zu ki / Arlington Suzuki/ Answer/Bell /Tsubaki/ Sprocke t Specialis ts/TR Racing/ Cernic's/Dunlop/FMF-backed Boga rd afterwards, still angry from the official's ruli ng. "I've been working hard and riding ha rd every day this year to come out here and win. Winning that last moto doesn't all the way m ake up for what happ ened, but it did prove a point. They said I couldn' t win and I just showed them tha t I can - I wasn't going to lose Kevin Windham wo n all six 125cc Stock and Modified Schoolboy class motos. that race." Nelson was fas t and consistent all week long on his way to the Senior Stock championship. H is 2-3-2 tally gave him the edge ove r Team Green's Brock Se lla rds and Sco tty Pi nson . Jo h n Sch neider was fo urth overall, but he took ho me the distinction of being the only rider other tha n Bogard to win a Senio r mini m oto, "I'm usually no t this consistent, so it really fee ls good to w in the title this way," said Nelson. " It's been a while since someone took home (to California) a minicycle championship from Loretta Lynn's." In the 85cc Modified (14-15) class Bogard was without equal. He swept all three motes while rival Sellards settled for second each time out. Andy Bowyer ran 8-4-3 in three races to earn third overall. Like Bogard in the Sen ior classes, Car michael was at the front of the Junior minicycle races all week long, except his disastrous final 85cc Mod ified (9-13) race. Th e befreckled Kawasaki rider rod e to a pa ir of solid wins in the first two motos ahead of the Georgia duo of Shae Ben tley and Robbie Horton, bu t in the final race Carmichael let both wheels ska te o ut from under him on a fast righ t-hand sweeper and hit the ground , hard. As Bentley, Horton and the rest of the pack raced by, Carmichael struggled to get his machine up and running. "I crashe d in tha t big sweeper and then I couldn't get my bike to crank," sa id a disappointed Carmichael after losing the title. "I kicked and kicked and kic ke d, then it fi n ally started once everyone was gone. All I nee ded was a third. Even after I fell I thought I cou ld ca tch them and win b u t the bike ju st wouldn't start.,,1 Car m ichae l ' s mi scue open e d the d oor for ei ther Ben tley or Horton to claim an unexpected title, and Bentley, up front from the sta rt, was in the bes t position to capitalize. He won the fina l moto and the title while Horton battled in vain to get past third-race finisher Nicholas Wey. Still, H o rton 's 2-3-3 accounted for second overall while Wey pla ced third. Carmichael, after d ropping out of the third rnoto , plummeted to 12th overall in the Modified class, but his Stock class performance offered some red emp tion . The Team Green /Fox / Oa kley / Shoei! CTi-backed r ed h ead won all thr ee motos ahead of Ben tley and Horton, marking the four th time in Carmichael's young career tha t he has won a Loretta Lynn's championship. Th e 85cc Sto ck (7-11) di vision was another ra ce tha t ha d a dramatic tum in the final round. Su zu ki-mounted Travis Pastrana, a d ouble-mote winner going into the finale, suffered a major spill on a long, jump-filled straight on th e opening la p. He tried co urageous ly to remoun t his motorcycle, but the force of the cr as h left his body a bit batt ered, and he d ro p p ed out. Pa strana's bu m luck opened the door to th e ch amp ions hip for Johnny Ma rley. The Team Green rid er posted three second-place fin ishes to better the 5-4-4 sh owing of Ma t t Wa lke r, the run ner-u p . Eri c Williams rounded out th e first three. While Pastran a was relegated to 14th overall, Jus tin Buckelew, the wi nner of 13