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/127840
• (Left) Team ThorlPrimal ImpluselBiII's Pipes' Buddy Antunez (19) holeshot the second ;ZSOCc mota. He held on to finish sixth in the moto and eighth overall for the day, also earning top privateer honors. (Below) Team Suzuki of TroylFox's Jeremy McGrath (2) leads Team Yamaha's John Dowd (14) during the second 250cc moto. Dowdpassed McGrath but still finished t'rfth overall behind McGrath in fourth. I'm just trying not to let those guys out front get too far ahead. I don't feel like I'm 100 percent right now. I haven't been riding due to the injuries and I got some terrible blisters in the second moto that slowed me. I don't feel like I'm really ready, but I'm trying to hang in there the best I can." Henry holeshot the first moto and held on for fourth, but went off the track at the start of moto two and could only climb as high as 12th - he ended up sixth overall. Team Honda of Troy/Sinisalo's Larry Ward finished seventh overall (97), Antunez earned top privateer honors in eighth (13-6), Team Kawasaki/Thor's Ryan Hughes rode to a fairly uneventful ninth overall (11-8) and Manchester Honda Racing/ AXO's Damon Bradshaw finished 10th (8-11). For the third consecutive AMA 125cc National in a row, Team Pro Circuit/ SplitFire/Kawasaki's phenom Ricky Carmkhael refused to release his stranglehold on the senes. In a total declaration of dominance, Carmichael again stamped his name on the day's proceedings, ripping off two highly impressive moto wins and sailing home some 20 seconds ahead of the pack in both motos. Carmichael's wins, combined with Emig's, gave Kawasaki four moto wins for the day and two overall victories. . However, Carmichael's day wasn't a complete romp. The Havana, Florida, resident experienced a bit of good fortune on his way to the top step of the podium. In the first moto, a fast-starting Kevin Windham, who had blitzed to a 12-second lead by lap three, collected one of the many rocks that littered the track, smashing the exhaust pipe on his factory-prepared YZ125 and sending him off to the side of the track for repairs. Upon inheriting the lead, Carmichael rode his Chad Watts-tuned KX125 to the vif:tory. Carmichael's runaway win in moto two capped off his perfect day and gave him his fifth consecutive 125cc moto victory of the series. "I felt good," Carmichael said. "I didn't get such a good start in the first moto, but I hung tough and paced myself. I was worried about Windham in the first moto but he had a bike problem and I don't know what happened, but he got the holeshot and was able to pull away and I was trying to keep·him in sight. "The track was good, especially the uphills, but the downhills were too rough," Carmichael continued. "It was another perfect day. Hopefully, it will keep going this way." Finishing second overall in the finest performance of his young career was Carmichael's teammate Casey Johnson. After following Carmichael for. most of the first moto, Johnson was passed by Team Honda's Scott Sheak but held on, undaunted, to finish third. Johnson followed up his first moto with a hardfought fourth in moto two to solidify his second-place overall finish for the day. "I'm real happy," Johnson said. "I wanted to come here and reach my goal of getting on the podium, and ~t happened. I put in two good weekends now. I did well at Hangtown last weekend, and I got second this weekend, so I'm gradually going forward, and things are looking good for me. "I'll just take it one weekend at a time," Johnson added. "Carmichael's pretty much spanking everybody. Some people will come and say, 'He's beating you dude.' But I say he's beating everybody, not just me. The team is doing well. We're all working so hard, and I want to keep putting good motos in. I'll be right up there." Third overall went to Sheak, who carded 2-5 moto scores. But those results do not truly show the magnitude of Sheak's afternoon. Coming from way back in both motos - a bad start in moto one and an off-track excursion in moto two - Sheak showed the speed and form that may have threatened the Carmichael juggernaut. "It was too bad," Sheak said. "I would've been right there with Ricky, and I think that it would've been a really good race. I really could've run with him today with better luck." Fourth overall went to the afternoon's hard-luck story - Windham. "I felt so comfortable out there," Windham said while soaking his feet in ice water to relieve the stifling midday heat. '1 had 12 seccmds by the third lap. Then it happened, and I thought, 'Here comes that bad luck again...''' Windham would charge back from a very poor start in moto two to claim the runner-up position behind his nemesis Carmichael. Still, Windham remained somewhat philosophical about the points situation. "It's a long series, but I've been putting in the effort and time," Windham said. '1'm not going to get down, because if the cards don't fall your way, they don't fall your way." FIfth overall went to Team Suzuki's Tim Ferry - his best finish of the outdoor season - with 5-6 moto scores. "Yeah, I'm happy with where I ended up," Ferry said. "1 fell at the midpoint and kind of lost my rhythm once I fell. I fell pretty hard. But fifth overall is not that bad. I got a lot of points this weekend. I liked the event a lot, and the track was rough and there were a lot of spectators, so that was pretty cool. I'm looking forward to going back East and getting in some wet dirt; some laclcy dirt." Michael Craig of Team Honda of Troy had a quiet day, placing sixth overall (4-10), while Pro Circuit/SplitFire/ Kawasaki's Craig Decker was seventh (6-8), and Honda of Troy's Stephane Roncada was eighth (8-7). Rounding out the top 10 was Michael Brandes of Team Chaparral/Yamaha, who rode to 7-11 motos. 250cc NATIONAL Henry used the long start straight to his advantage and jumped out to an early lead in the first 250cc moto, followed closely by Emig, Lusk, McGrath, Dowd, Yamaha of Japan/Holley Racing's Takeshi Kiokeda, YZ-mounted Jeff Tilton, Ward and Antunez. Henry and Emig waged a positionswapping battle for the first few laps before Emig was finally able to make a pass stick on lap four to break away and start to get comfortable. "Me and Doug's battle reminded me when we were on 125s and fighting for that championship," Emig said of the duel. "I give Doug a lot of credit. He's doing an aweSome job considering what he's been through (Henry suffered a broken baclc in 1994). There are a couple of riders I have a lot of respect for and Doug is definitely one of them." While Emig and Henry settled things for the lead, McGrath was trailing closely with Dowd, Albertyn, Bradshaw and Lusk holding fourth through seventh, respectively. Albertyn worked his way around Dowd by outbraking him on the t-.. 0\ 0\ ,......