Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SUPERCROSS Stadium THOR/PARTS UNUMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES was losing ground on the leaders. But that would change. Up front, Windham and Roncada were involved in a heated duel, a duel that many did not think would last for as long as it did. The new Honda of Troy rider matched Windham's every move for much of the race and was, in fact, beginning to threaten the defending champ for the lead. Near the halfway point, Roncada tried stuffing Windham in a turn, but the Yamaha rider would not give an inch. After tha t move, Roncada decided second was good enough. "1 figured 1 didn't want to take any chances and that second would be good enough," Roncada said. . Roncada eventually pulled back his forces and let Windham have his way. The ~actory Yamaha pilot flew across the finish line with three seconds to spare over Roncada. . Reynard, who has been plagued by arm-pump lately, obviously did not have any such problems this night, as he eventually loosened up and made a valiant charge through the pack. He went from 10th to third in eight laps and would finish there, just ahead of Brandes, who put on another strong performance. Keeney turned a lot of heads with a fourth-place finish, especial1y due to the fact that he held Craig Decker at bay for the last four laps. Seven th place wen t to Primal Impulse/Honda's Shaun Perolio, while Ramsey, who got off to an 18th-place start, finished up in eighth. Rusty Hol- Roy Turner (right>, the team manager for Kawasaki, -qui·te possibly managed his last supercross race ~t Phoenix. Turner Mnounced that he ;s leaVing Kawasaki to be the race leam manager for Rock Shox, a bicycle company based in San Jose, California. This means that Turner will end his 27-year association with Kawasaki, 20 of which will take. over For Turner 125 HEAT 1 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer to main): 1. Casey Johnson (Kaw); 2. Michae.l Brandes (Yam); 3. Craig Decker (Kaw); 4. Robbie Reynard (Hon); '5. Grayson Goodman (Yam); 6. Shaun Perolio (Hon); 7. Rusty HoUand (Kaw); 8. Terra.nce Millan (Suz); 9. Lex Malan . Team Pro Circuit/SplitFire/Kawasaki's David Pingree. aiso made his '97 supercross debut. He too is slated to compete in the Eastem Regional 125co Supercross Series but compete9 in the 250cc class in Phoenix to get in some.practice. This was Pingree's first-ever race in the 250cc class, and he looked to be headed to the main while running second in the LCQ, but he ended up crashing when he was run off the track by Jeff Matiasevich. Honda of Troy's Ca_y Lytle was a no-show at Phoenix. During Friday's practice sessions at the stadium, ·Lytle came up short over a triple and cased his Honda, resulting in a sprained ankle for ,the Californian. Lytle tried riding on Saturday, but was in too much pain to finish out the program. According to team manager Erik Kehoe, Lytle is hoping to compete in S e a t t l e . · . as Kawasa~j's Yet another rider on the injured list was Team Moto XXXlO'Neal/HSKS of Ocala's B~n Swink. Swink, whq had a· spectacular crash off the Peristyle jump at the Los Angeles Coliseum the previous week, was still feeling the· effects of a· sore neck. According to his team mijnager Jordan Lieberman, SWink is ·expect,ed to (ide in Seattle.. race 't~ani manC!ger. Team Yamaha's· J~hn Dowd and Doug. Henry ·got into the S.uper.BQwl spirit in Phoenix. Dowd, wh·o hails from Chicopee. ·~assa .chusefts, ·sported a custompainted Arai· heimet (right) that looked identical to that of the New EnglaDd Patriots fDotbali team's helmets. Hie helmet, painted by Artco, was silver with the Patriots logo on each Side. "I'm· not really big into football, but since the Patriots are in the Super BoWl. I'm definitely pulling for them." Dowd said. Henry, on the other hand, went the more conservative route. His Troy Lee-painted Arai helmet had the Patriots' team colors and logos on one side and the Green Bay Packers· on ihe other. -You see, I'm from Connecticut and Pete's (Steinbrecher, Henry's mechanic) is from Wisconsin," Henry said. "We hlllle a bet that whoever's team wins the Super Bowl gets to keep the helmet." It looks as though Steinbrecher has himself a new helmet. This year's Phoenix Supercross, held at Sun Devil 'stadium (above.l marked the return of supercross racin9 to Arizona. The last time Phoeni~ hosted a round of the AMA Super-cross Series w.as in 1991, when Team Honda's Jean-Michel Bayle won. Count on Phoenix being on the 1998 schedule aher attractin9 a near-sellout crowd to this year's event. The '91 event had approximately 15,000 spectators with th;;; year's crowd jump· ing to 63,565 - a significant imp";lVemenl. Speaking of supercros,;' venues, rumor has it that the series has seen the last of Anaheim Stadium. Disney is turning the ~taaium into a bas",ball-only· facility and m·ost doubt that motorsports will ever be allowed to return to the Southern Cali- 10 Time: 5 min., 25.480 sec. ~egion but cannot receive points. However. the rider is eligible for purse -This pretty much JUSt happened so Kawasaki hasn't had the time to com", up. with. a rl1placement yet." Tyrner said.. Turner ~dded that he h'!Sn't !'fficially le.1t Kawasaki yet, so he doesn't·kno\i'(for sure if he:I!· manage the Kawasaki.t.ea") a·t next week) round in Sl1attle. -It's up· to Kawasaki," ·Turner s~id. Team rider ...... Emig.'isn't happy to'see Turner .go. "I'm really, bummed that-he's leaving,". Emig ·said after his Phoenix win, "But he'.s gotta do what.he's gona do. I re.ally wantEld to .win one of ·these two races (Phoenix and Seattle) for him, because· we really do have a great team thisyear:and Roy's.the one who put it all together. He's just ·the coolest guy, and me ·and my'mechanic (Jere·my Albrecht> - we ·get alOng whh him just great, just like everybody else on the team. I'm sad that he's leaVing, bu"t I'm· happy to ·win the race for him tonight. io show that he did put together another good team this year an9 that we were the right choice. . . 'Fomia ven·ue. Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona Results: January 25, 1997 (Round 3 of 15) money. Schnell failed to qualify for the main event. were spent mana·ging Kawasa· ki's motocross and s.upercross mined who (5uz); 10. Bader Manneh (Yam); 11. Travis Preston (Yam); 12. Greg Schnell (Yam); 13. Tony Ama.radio (Yam); 14. Dean Matson (Yam); 15. Isaiah Johnson (Kaw); 16. Carter Gurnee (Yam); 17. Brian Sweany II (Yam); 18. Donald Upton (Yam); 19. Cory Keeney (Yam); 20. Casey Lytle (Hon). Time: 5 min.• 34.770 sec. 125 HEAT 2 (6 laps.. 1-9 transfer to main): 1. Kevin Windham (Yam); 2. athan Ramsey (Suz); 3. Pedro Gonzalez (J(aw); 4. Brian Deegan ($uz) 5. Stephane Roncada (Hon); 6. Chris Wheeler (Suz)-; 7. David Vuillemin (Yam); 8. Jeff Pestana (Kaw); 9. Tyler Evans (Suz); 10. Travis Hodges (Kaw); ·11. Jiri Dostal (Suz) 12 Tom Clowers Jr. (Yam); 13. Jeff Willoh (Yam); 14. Jason Partridge (Suz); 15. Spud Walters (Yam); 16. Steve Mdrich (Suz); 17. Heath Voss (Hon); 18. Erick VaUejo (Kaw); 19. Shane Slather (Yam); 20. James Povolny Jr. .. Speaking of the Chap~rrallYamaha tea';;, Ghtg Schn~11 ';'~de hi; '97 supercross del;>ut ·at Phoeriix. Schnell-broke his arm last 'year a~ the. St. . ·Louis Supe~cross and .basically used .the Phoenix· race as a warm~p fo~ the opening round· of the 125co East Coast Series on February 15. Any rider not in the top ·10 in ·his respective ·region can compete in the .other Briefl race teams. "B.asically, Rock Shox gave me an offer I just couldn't refuse." Turner said. "This will be a b;g c.hange for me, but I·m looking fo""ard to· it." Turner will work at the company's facility in Santa Cruz, California. It has yet to· be deter- land and Chris Wheeler rounded out the top 10 overall. Casey Johnson also had a terrible start when he and Rusty Holland got together in the first turn and rounded the first lap in 20th, but he would make up almost half that by placing 11 tho Deegan just couldn't get going after a midpack start and finished up in 12th. Gonzalez, who was an early front-runner, crashed on the ninth lap and recorded a 21st-place finish. t"N . . . ChaparrallYam~ha's Phil Lawrence sat out the ·PhqenJ~ Supercr;'ss because of an injured thumb. .Lawrence. tore a ligaml10t in his thumb at the Chaparral Supercross event at Glen Heren Raceway.in San Bernardino, California, back in December. Lawrence rode the previous ·two race·s in Los ~ngeles but had tmuble hanging on to the handlebars, so he decided to take the weekend off to let the thumb heaf. Lawrence will decide on Wednesday, January 29, whether or not he'll ride the Seattle .Supercros·s. There were no trophies handed out to the top three riders following the 125 and 250cc mains. The trophies. which are specially made for each event, were Mlost in the mail" and did.flot arrive in time. For the first time. the AMA used flip cards (right) to help the riders keep track as to what I'll' they are on. The "cour·· tesy" cards are dis. played each .lap - after ttie halfway pOirit • let. .ting them know exact. ly hOVi'many laps are . left in the race. The idea is to help the riders plan their late-race strategies, which _might produce closer finishes. . (SUz). 125 LeQ (4 laps, 1-4 trans(e.r to main): 1. Spud Waller.; (Suz); 2. Cory Keeney (Yam); 3. Trnvis Hodges (Kaw); 4. Jeff Willoh (Yam); 5. Jiri Dostal (Suz); 6. James Povolny Jr. (Suz); 7. Greg Schnell (Yam); 8. Travis Preston (Yam); 9. Carter Gurnee (Yam); 10. Dean Matson (Yam); 11. Erick Vallejo (Kaw); 12. Heath Voss (Hon); 13. Shane Slother (Yam); 14. Steve Andrich (Suz); 15. Brian Sweaney 11 (Yam); 16. Isaiah Johnson (Kaw); 17. Tony Amaradio (Yam); 18. Tom Clowers (Yam); 19, Bader Manneh (Yam); 20. Jason Partridge (Suz); 21 ..Casey Lytle (Hon). Time: 3 min., 50.710 sec. 125 MAIN (15 laps): ]. Kevin Windham (Yam); 2. Stephane Roncada (Hon); 3. Robbie ReynallCl (Han); 4. Mike Brandes (Yam); 5, Cory Keeney (Yam); 6. Craig Decker (Kaw); 7. Shaun Perolio (Hon); 8. Nathan Ramsey (Suz); 9. Rusty Holland (Kaw); 10. Chris Wheeler (Suz); 11. Casey Johnson (Kaw); 12. Brian Deegan (Suz); 13. David Vuillemin (Yam); 14. Travis Hodges (Kaw); 15. Terrance Malan (Suz); 16. Lex Malan (Suz); 17. Spud Walters (Yam); 18. Jeff Pestana (Kaw); 19. Grayson Good.man (Yam); 20. Jeff Willoh (Yam); 21. Pedro Gonzalez (Kaw); 22. Tyler Evans (Suz). Time: 13 min., 46.360 sec. Winner's nenge lap time: 55.090 sec. Ma.r:gi.n of victory: 3.007 sec. AMA WESTERN REGIONAL 125 SUPERCXOSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 3 of 9 rounds), 1. Kevin Windham (63~ wins); 2. Robb;e Reynard (60); 3. Craig Decker (49); 4. (TIE) David Vuillemin/Nathan Ramsey (46); 6. Casey Johnson (44); 7. Brian Deegan (34/1 win); 8. Shaun Perotio (33); 9. Chris Wheeler (30); 10. Casey Lytle (24); 11. Travis Preston (23); 12. Pedro Gonzalez (20); 13. Michael Brandes (8); 14. Cory Keeney (16); 15. (m) Travis Hodges/Rusty Holland (12); 17. (TIE) Jeff W;Uoh/Tom Oower.;/Erick Vallejo (9); 20. (TIE) Jeff Pestan.,/Lex Malan (8). 250 Heal 1 (8 laps, 1-4 tr.llnsfer 10 main): 1. Steve Lamson (Hon); 2. Mike Cr.llg (Hon); 3. Jeremy McGrath (Suz); 4. Ezra Lusk (Yam); 5. Greg A1bertyn (Suz); 6. M.ike laRocco (Suz); 7. Mike Kjedrowski (Han); 8. Jimmy Button (Yam); 9. Kyle Lewis (Suz); 10. Shaun Kalas (Yam); 11. Davey Yezek (Suz); 12. David Pingree (Kaw); 13. Chad Wollaston (Yam); 14. Tyson Kady (Suz); 15. Billy Binckley (Yam); 16. James Chamberlain (Hon); 17. David Castillo (Kaw); ]8. Jason McConnick (Yam); 19. Carter Gurnee (Yam); 20. Spud WaJters (Suz). Time: 7 min., 1.060 sec. 250 HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1.-4 transfer 10 main): 1. Jeff Emig O

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