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Bikes of the National Four-stroke IfX
the bike popped out of gear," Kalos
said. "I couldn't hold it up and washed
out."
. Smail was right there to take advantage, scooted by the downed rider and
rode on to victory. Kalos got back up
quickly and still had plenty of breathing
room over third-place Davis.
The top three riders crossed the finis!:lline spread out, but the next four
were fairly close, with Walters leading
Healey and Ward past the checkers.'
ext Moto's Ray Crumb finished seventh, ahead of KTM rider Dustin Bloomfield, Roth and Dircks.
Smail and Kalos went into the first
turn at the start of the second moto sideby-side, but Kalos outbraked Smail and
slid into the lead, followed by Dircks,
Crumb, Walters and Roth. Way in the
back was Davis but he would quickly
move his Kawasaki toward the front
and would eventually finish fifth.
But all eyes were fixed on the battle
up front between leader Kalos and
Smail. The two riders mixed it up for a
number of laps until Smail really starting pressuring the Husaberg rider.
Approaching the sixth lap, Smail finally
saw his chance and successfully made
his move for the lead. Kalos tried to
hang with the new leader but just could
not do it. Smail went on to win with
breathing room over Kalos.
Despite pulling off the win, Smail
wasn't entirely pleased with his performance.
'1 was riding too stiff today," Smail
said. "I got arm pump, so I tried to calm
down and not hang on so tight. I closed
in on Shaun the first moto, then he went
down. The second moto was 'easier, I
was able to check out his lines for a couple of laps. Then I jast made my move
and went away for the win."
Walters moved into third place early
in the race and stayed there throughout
the moto, but Healey nearly got him at
the end. Fifth place went to Davis, followed by Crumb, Roth, Robert
Naughton, Dircks and Destry Abbott. t;N
Photos by
Kinney Jones
he AMA/
Maxima
Western
National
Championship
Four-Stroke
MX
Series recently got
under way in Arizona, and the pits
were overflowing
with some very tricklooking thumpers as
they have been all
season long. By the
time you read this,
four rounds will have
'already been run. We
thought we'd give
you a close-up look at
some of the workslike machinery being
ridden by some of the
series top riders.
t;N
(Above) Lance Smail's Tom Moentuned factory KTM features an FMF
eXhaust, a lighter hand-formed
aluminum fuel tank and slimmer
250SX tank panels, side panels and
seal.
(Left) .Ty Davis' Kawasaki KLX300
has been bored and stroked to
365cc by Stroker Racing and
features Team Kawasaki Factory
race team graphics, an FMF
eXhaust, Acme-modified
suspension components and KX
sub-frame and panels.
Prairie City SVRA Park
S8cramento, California
Results: May 4, 1997 (Round 3 of 8)
MOTO 1: 1. Lance Smail (KTM); 2. Shaun Kalos
(Hbgl: 3. Ty.Davis (Kaw); 4. Spud Walters (Hon); S.
Mike Healey (H.on); 6. Gordon Ward (BBR); 7. Ray
Crumb {KTM}; 8. Dustin Bloomfield (KTM); 9. Brian
Roth (HbgJ; 10. Cary Dircks (Hbg); 11. Billy Binckley
(KTM); U. Destry Abbott (KTM); 13. aill Cook (HbgJ;
14. Kevin Knox (KTM); 15. Mike Ha.mness (Hon); ]6.
Scott Stillmock (Hon); 17. Kenny Olson (HbgJ; 18. Cary
Jones (Ron); 19. Chris Diqeen (Hon); 20. Rich
Thorwaldson (Hon); 21. Dustin Bloomfield (l