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MOTOCROSS AMA 1251250cc National Championship Motocross Series Final rounds: Steel City Raceway mistake for a long time. That's why that guy is the champion." ''I'm sorry I finished second, but I've had a lot of good races this year and I feel really good about how I rode today," said Lamson, who will be going after his third straight 125cc National title - and Honda's fifth in a row - in 1997. "Win or lose, it was two great races and I'm really glad I was part of it." Minlcycle sensation Ricky Carmichael made his pro racing debut at Steel City, coming away with eighth overall In the 125cc National. He did finish as high as sixth in the second moto. Brieflv. ... • Ryan Hughes left the track befo;e the start of the second 250cc National mota in order to have his ankle X-rayed: Hughes was inadvertently torpedoed in the fir.st turn by Suzuki's Greg Albertyn. Ironically. Albertyn fell but Hughes did not. Hughes rode the entire moto in extreme pain and at one point .passed Suzuki's. Mike La'Rocco for third before settling forfourth. The doctors told the tough-as-nails Hughes that he cracked the tibia bone where it goes into the ankle socket and that he courd plan on not riding for at leaSt a month...·. '...And thai leads us to the MotoCross des Nations. which takes place in three weeks at Jerez, ·Spain. Hughes .was long-ago tabbed to be Team USA's 500cc ri<;ler alongside Steve Lan'\son {125l and Jeremy McGrath (250l. a move that caused a lot of controversy in ihe pits throughout the' summer when it became obvious that Hughes' Kawasaki t~ammate Jeff Emig belonged somewhere on that team. It now appears certain that someone will be resetting the Kawasaki KX500 that Hughes has been prac· ticing for Emig's tastes. Thai ~hould close the book on that controversy. though the disappointed Hughes should be admired 'for his determination and desire in preparing for the event. So serious was Hughes about his nomination for the team that he had spent. a considerable part of August preparing on the Open bike. "I was going to go over there and kill them.' said the menacing-yetcharisn'\atic Hughes on Sunday night as he limped around his Pittsburgh hotel on crutches. "Now. it looks like I won't be able \0 go. but I know Emig really wanted to go. I think he'll do a good job. but I know I would·ve. too.' Who's going where? The Silly season summar1to date has Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw and Suzuki's Tim Ferry on the dole for now. though Bradshaw's 'name was mentioned as a Team Chapar'ral/Yamaha candidate alongside Phil Lawrence. in 1997 or a Yamaha -Europe replacement for French I'enfant terrible Yves Demaria. {Demaria was fired before the last 250cc Grand Prix o'f the 'year for' doing a contracl-terminaiing test for KTM, his next probable employer.l Ezra Lusk is already signed with Yamaha as Bradshaw's replacement. Said to be staying are the other three members of the. 1996 team: Kevin Windham. John Dowd and Doug Henry. 'Kawasaki already has Damon HuHman and Ryan Hughes locked up. and newly crowned 250cc National Champion JeH Emig is said to be happy with 8 250cc NAnONAL Everybody in the park - 15,000 of them, according to the 'AMA's Duke Finch - knew the score in the 250cc class as they lined up for the first moto. Though Jeff Emig had a two-point lead, both Emig and McGrath controlled their own destinies. If either rider won both motos, that man would be crowned champion. It was that simple. When the 250cc pack crashed into the first turn, it came as no big surprise that h01eshot maestro Emig led on the Jeremy Albrecht-tuned Kawasaki with McGrath right on his back fender, even though Emig and Albertyn sandwiched together from either side and pushed out the Honda halfway to the turn. What happened was that Albertyn's momentum carried too far into the first turn and he ran up on Emig's Kawasaki teammate Ryan Hughes' left leg and crashed. Hughes somehow stayed up, somehow finished the moto in fourth and then found out an hour later that he broke his leg. (See Briefly... ) Honda of Troy's Brian Swink and Noleen Yamaha's Kyle Lewis also crashed with Albertyn, along with a handful of others. "Albee".made the best comeback.of the bunch and finished 11th. Behind £mig and McGrath rode popular privateer Rich Taylor, LaRocco, Yamaha-mounted Cory Keeney, Hughes and Keeney's Xtreme/ Atomic 22/PJl Kawasaki. and a very h'appy Roy Turner assured us that Kawasaki is very satisfied with its new champ. Suzuki pic~s up Mickae. Pichon in place of Ferry. and Mike LaRocco and Greg Albertyn are staying, put. {Maybe Bradshaw would have fit her", in a straight·up trade for LuskJ And Honda's Jeremy McGrath and Steve Lamson will be joined In 1997 by New York privateer Scott, Sheak. ,who has shown flashes of brilliance and bad luck all year long. Honda of Troy seems set with larry Ward. Mike Craig and Mike Kiedl'Owski as the 250cc supercross primary players. and Splitfire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki will send out rookie Ricky Carmichael alongside incumbents Chad Pede....on and David Pingree. Robbie Reynard will be back with the American Honda-backed Team Primal Impulse/Fox Racing. and with some good results over a long period of time. Honda might kick him up to the A team. teammate Jimmy Button. Hughes moved up into fourth in a short period of time and then actuaJly passed LaRocco for a while before slowing after the 20-minute mark and letting LaRocco back by for third. Hughes ended up fourth, while Larry Ward was a steady fifth. Taylor was sixth for almost the entire moto, but on the last lap he was passed by fellow veteran privateer Giff Palmer and poor-starting Yamaha factory rider Doug Henry. Still, it was the best ride in a long time for both Taylor and Palmer. Emig led McGrath until they came to a long, steep double jump at the far end of the track from where the starting gate sits. At the point, McGrath made a quick stab at the lead and led Emig through the next turn. But Emig went against his year-long trend of letting an early McGrath pass get under his skin and drain his confidence like a busted rad iator. He stunned McGrath on the next downhill ski jump with a wide-open launch that had him nearly land on "Showtime's" shoulder. He made the pass but seemed to leave himself open for an outside-in swing pass by McGrath, so Emig hit the brakes with both feet and held the inside line, causing some contact but neither rider fell. The whole scenario'was a message from £mig to everyone else that he was playing for keeps this time. Then began what was quite possibly the best 250cc moto of the year as the two fastest riders on the planet rode off into the distance to settle the title for themselves. For the next 30 minutes they rode together, just as Windham and Lamson had done in the 125cc class. Emig crossed the finish line just one second before the 3D-minute mark, meaning that the riders would have to be on the track for a season-long 38 min- Sebastien Roy. But in the first moto. the over-anxious Carmichael made ihe mistake of trying to pass Brian Deeg~n on the outside of a comer and found himseif being pushed out into the ropes going into the next tum by Deegan. Carmichael tried to hold his ground. and .keep his elbow out. but .whe~ he got to the next turn Mike Brown's Honda Was laying there in the dirt and Carmichael suffered his first professional crash. or paid his first dues. depending on whether your glass is half·empty or half·full. Carmichael ended up 16th i.n his first heat. but in the second moto he pushed the #768 Kawasaki KX125 to an eye·opening sixth-plate finish for eighth overall.. Carmichael was helped in the pits by Mickael Pichon's former mechanic Chad Watts. who directed the Frenchman to the last two 125cc East Region SX titles. which is where Carmichael will be riding come Janoary. The bottom line? He's for real. The .top priyateers ai -Steel Ciiy on Sunday wer.e Buddy' Overshadowed by. the debut of al~time AMA Amateur National Antunez in the 125cc class and CliH Palmer in the 250cc Championship winner Ricky Carmichael we,e the introductions of Brock Sellards. Robbie Horton and Josh Sweilt. three class. California's Antunez scored a solid sixth overall in the 125cc diVision with 6-9 moto scores, while Oklahoma' s Palmer . other amateur stars whose successful careers often have been overlooked by Carmichael. Ohio's Sellards rode in the top 10 for finished 6-11 for eighth overall In the 250cc group. Each rider received $500 as part of Skoal Racing's Top Privateer most of the first 125cc moto and showed strong potential by leadChallenge. Antunez also clinched the Top Privateer Award ing Ezra Lusk much of the WaY befOre fading to 13th in the longest for the season as' the ourth-ranked 125cc rider {a career bestl mota of his life to date. $ellards had a decent 16th in the second moto for 16th overall. Georgia's Horton finished 17th in the first ;and will be getting a check soon for $5000 from Skoal Racing. The y~ar-end winner in the 250cc class was Kyle Lewis, sixth in moto and just mi~sed points in the second moto with a 21 5t place the year-.end 250cc standings. He will also receive $5000 for his finish and'21.st overall. West Vlrginia's Sweat made the main efforts on behalf of Skoal Racing. event. but did not finish in the points in eithe'r moto. Speaking of Ky,le Lewis, the long-time privateer hero and allaround good guy finally got himself a factory ride after years of bad timing always left him off the short list of lucky riders. However. the ride won't be in America. LewiS is g.oing to Japan io comP'i'te for the 1997 AII.Japan Championship. Noticeably ,absent at·Steei City was top 125cc privateer James Dobb. who had a falling out with Performance Engineering. According to Barry Kern of the Florida-based PE Racing team.. Dobb failed In his contractual obligali"on to mention Performance Engineering as his sponsor numerous times. throughout the season. The long-awaited professional debut 'of Havana. Florida's Ricky Carmichael finally took place on Sunday at Steel City with mostly positive results. The' 16-year-old Team Green/Pre Circuit rider started out his day with a convincing 125cc qualifier win over privateer contender Scott Sheak and Canadian Champion Jean- Here's an ~nofficial list~f.the 1997 AMA National Numbers. according to points scored in the 250cc. Supercress Serie~. and the 125 and 250cc National Series. The #1 plate will be wom by Jeremy McGrath in the 250cc SX Series. Steve lamson in the 125cc MX Nationals and Jeff Emig in the 250cc National class. In af))' other divisioR. th.e numbers will be like thiS: #2 Jeremy McGrath: #3 Jeff Emig: #4 Steve Lamson . .#5 Mike laRocco;' #6 Larry Ward: #7 Kevin Windham: #8 Ryan Hughes: #9 Greg Albertyn: #10 Damon Bradshaw: #11 Ezra Lusk; #12 Phil Lawrence. At that po.int the ball moves into Brian Swink's court with the next-highest: points total because h", haS ·the ,choice of taking #13 or #14'. The next few' riders in line. in order. are John Dowd. Mike Craig. Kyle Lewis. Damon Huffinan. Jimmy Button. Buddy Antunez. Doug Henry and Mike Brown. . It was confirmed through Racer Productions' Dave Coombs this weekend that he has asked the AMA to consider the Steel City Rae_ay facility for the 1999 Motocross des Nations.