Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

High Point ationals). I'm happy that I could back my words up, but I kind of regret saying what I did." Carmichael vowed to "blow those guys away" at the next race in the series, which turned out to be Budds Creek. ''I'm glad 1 went 1-1 and got my points lead back, but 1 still should not have said that," Carmichael said. There was no question that Carmichael was the fastest rider on the track in Maryland, but he was again helped by the misfortune of some of his primary competition. Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham suffered his third firstmota mechanical failure of the series'his second while leading - when he snapped a chain just before the halfway point. One lap later, Team Honda's Scott Sheak, running a close second to Carmichael at the time, saw his motor go sour just 50 yards up the track from where Windham's ride was aborted. Also capitalizing on those failures (along with the winner) was Kawasaki's Damon Huffman, who put in his best outdoor effort of the season and finished a strong 3-2 for second overall. Rounding out the podium was Carmichael's Pro Circult/SplitFire/Kawasaki teammate Casey Johnson (2-7). Suzuki's Tim Ferry (4-6) and Honda of Troy's Mike Craig (5-5) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Carmichael's win boosted his points lead from two on Sheak (DNF-14) to 45, a 43-p0int advancement in one day, 211 to 166. The veteran Craig is third with 155, followed by his Honda of Troy teammate Stephane Roncada (137) and the trouble-plagued Windham (35). Emig's lead in the 250cc points chase was boosted by just three on McGrath (219 to 178) for a 41-point cushion after five rounds. Yamaha's Dowd is third with 162, going into his favorite event (Southwick), followed by Lusk (142) and Honda of Troy's Larry Ward (39), who had an unfortunate DNF-7 day at Budds Creek. The day's event was clouded by the second career-threa tening crash tha t Yamaha's Doug Henry has suffered at the Maryland track. In 1995, Henry had a back-breaking crash off of a steep, downhill ski jump. that cost him nearly a year in rehab. This time, Henry crashlanded on the face of an uphill double jump called "Big Gulp" when his YZM400F was said to have stalled midflight. Henry broke both arms on impact, and was immediately transferred to a local hospital for surgery on the more seriously injured right arm. The Budds Creek track, built and managed by Jonathan Beasley, was in superb condition for Sunday's National after two days of rain played havoc with the amateur racing programs. The ground was soft and rutted up quickly, which made for more lines than usual on the otherwise hard-t~pass-ontrack. '1 thought the track was great today, and so was the crowd," Carmichael said of the approximately 15,000 fans that came out to watch the races on a perfect, cloudless day. "You could tell that they're into the racing, because they cheered the whole time." . 250cc NATIONAL McGrath grabbed his first outdoor holeshot of the year and set about the task of attacking a drying Budds Creek track. In his wake were Lusk, LaRocco, Hughes, Thor/Primal Impulse/Bill's "'Pi pes/Paint Can-backed Budd y Antunez, and privateer Jason McCormick. A huge pileup and gridlock in the tight first turn left Emig, Henry, Dowd, (Left) After a minor setback at the previous Mount Morris National, Team Pro Circuit! SplltFlrelKawasakl's Rick Carmichael rebounded with a pair of wins in the 125cc class. (Below) Defending 250Cc champ Jeff Emig had yet another solid performance, with second overall. and Manchester Honda/ AXO /Scottbacked Damon Bradshaw all sitting in the first turn. Emig and Henry would continue, while Bradshaw, coming off his startling win at Mount Morris three weeks ago, would ride straight to the pits with two bent brake discs and a destroyed chain guard. "I got together with Henry when I kind of moved over too much, and caught his fork guard with my footpeg, which consequently knocked him over into everyone else," Emig said. "Once I got to the first corner, everything was clogged, and 1 knew I was going down." McGrath would lead the first five laps, with Lusk tucked in behind him, then LaRocco and Hughes in tight formation. Ward was fifth, then it was a . considerable ways back to the sixth_place rider. But Ward would abandon the race before the end with a blown engine, as would the ill-fated Henry, whose bike may have been damaged in the first-turn crash. "I wanted to just ride behind Jeremy (McGrath) for a little bit, but he started making mistakes," Lusk said of the early mota. "Our lap times were dropping off, and 1 knew I needed to do something before everybody started closing in on us. I got by him, picked up the pace, and pulled a little bit of a lead." "We've been doing a lot of testing, and we've got some new suspension that works really well, so I was feeling pretty good. out there," McGrath said of his early lead, which was the first time he has led an outdoor National this year. "Lusk started hounding me pretty good, and that started to make me a little nervous. Lusk went by, then so did LaRocco and Hughes. Then I loosened up and passed Hughes back for third, so 1 thought it was a pretty good mota." . "About halfway through, I got a little tight," Lusk said. "I just wasn't riding my bes.t. But the last six or seven laps, I really loosened up, and the last lap was probably one of my best laps of the day." Lusk finished ahead of LaRocco with a few bike lengths between them; then came a very close McGrath and Hughes. Emig recovered from nearly dead-last to fifth, but wasn't disappointed. As a matter of fact, he seemed genuinely pleased with his ride. "Races like tha t are so much fun, because you get to pass a whole bunch of people," Emig said. "I was coming up through passing guys everywhere, just having fun and making some cool moves. That was the most fun I've had in a while." At the start of the second mota, quick-starting privateer McCormick squirted au t of the inside of the first turn ahead of everyone, though Lusk would have the lead by the second turn. "Jason (McCormick) and I were going down the hill side by side, and 1 just had a little more drive going into the comer at the bottom," Lusk said. "I wasn't thinking about anything or anyone at that point - I just wanted to ride my own race." "That was about the best 1 rode in a while," LaRocco said. "We've been working hard, doing a lot of testing and stuff. It felt good to be running up front, that's for sure." Lusk led McCormick at the end of the first lap, but McCormick fell and would have to settle for 18th. Dowd, McGrath, Antunez, Emig and Hughes filled out the next few positions, with Bradshaw, Ward and Henry all a little further back. LaRocco also got a bad start, ruining his best chance of the '97 series for an overall win. Lusk led for five laps at a good pace, then Emig came at him quickly. "I was looking straight ahead for 15

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