Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Naughton, followed by KTM ride r Steve Drew. Na u gh to n, o n his Premier Motorsports' Husaberg, got th ings started with the holeshot in the first moto, but his moment of glory would be just tha t a moment. Within a few laps, Smail was ou t in front and pulling away. " I ha v e to th an k m y girlfriend, Amb er, for th a t holeshot," Naugh ton sa id . " We w ent up to staging an d noti ced the w atered concrete pad. She ran down to th e trail er and came back with a towel and dried it up as we did our parade lap. I simply hooked up and didn't back off as I flat-tracked it around the right-hander." Smail didn't like be ing in second and quickly did something about it. "After the first tum, we wen t do wn the o ver hea d -br id ge straightaway," Smail said . "Naughto n splash ed through some nasty, muddy san d, and I got it all over my gogg les. I was pulling the Roll-Offs like a crazy man. I quickl y decided I d idn 't want any part of that. I wicked it up and took him heading out of the turn-three chicane: ' ~ Kalos quickly took care of Na ughton as we ll, settling into Second place and trying to keep pace with the new leader, Smail. But he cou ld n't. Instead, Smail stretched out his lead to ab out si x se conds b y th e h alf w ay po int, and he continued to build on tha t lap after lap. By the time the checkered flag came out, Smail had increased his lead to over 10 seconds as he thundered across the finish line. Honda-mounted Spud Walters had a good ride - at least for a whil e. Earlier in the ra ce, W alters pushed hi s XR440 around Naughton for thi rd and actually reeled in Kalos and his FC501 Husaberg. Walte rs kept threatening an d at times .showed Kalos his front wheel. Unfortunately for Walters, his strong ride came to an end when he endoed his Honda in a whoop sectio n, putting him ou t of the hunt. He would finish ninth. H u s ab e r g rider Shawn H ighland looked as th o ugh he would rid e to a third -pl ace finish in th e moto, but an untimely crash wo uld cancel all that. "I was coming up to the jump down the start chu te, wh en eithe r I go t a rm pum p and twisted th e th rottle to the stops or it stuck wide open," Highland said of his cras h. " All I can remem ber is t h at I went in to o rb it a few ti m e s. I la nd ed o n m y feet a nd ro lle d, but I cou ldn't get the bike fired for a cou ple (Above left) Mike Healey took third ove rall after posting 3-4 moto scores. (Above right) Steve Drew went 5-7 l or Ilfth ove rall . (Bel ow) (Left t o right) Small, Kalos and Healey . laps. Man, I had this one in the books, I th ough t: ' H ighland ended up finishin g 15th. When Hig hland crashed , KTM rid er Steve Drew inherited third, but it seemed as though nobody wanted that po sition, as Drew hit the dirt when he washed out at th e bottom of a san dy downhill. Suddenly, Naughton found h imsel f running in th ird, but he had a rapidly closing Healey to worry abo ut. Late in the race, Healey powered his IMS-tun ed XR440 Honda aro und Nau ghton' s Husab erg and set tled int o the th ir d-place position. Healey foun d this position to his liking. as he stay ed u pri ght to the checkered. Naughton held on to fourth, foll ow ed by Drew, H ond a ri der Tim Sharp, KTM-mounted Du stin Bloomfield, and ATK's Scott Myers, who had a ride he would just as soon forget. "We changed motors last night after the practice session; then the rear shock jus t w ou ld n't work properly ," Myers said . Soon it w as time to do it all over again, and when the gate dropped for the s tar t o f th e second m ota , it was H ighland, th is tim e, nailing th e holeshot, follo wed by Wa lters, Bloomfield, Kales, Smail and Myers, but all thi s would change be fore th e firs t lap was over. Upon com ple ting the first circuit, it wa s H ighland still leading. but Kalos had moved into second and Smail third, a n d Smail w as su rp ri se d to se e th at Highl and was ou t in fron t. "Ma n, I d on't kn ow what was up with Highland. As I was pushing Kale s, I look ed up and I cou ld n' t believe he was that far out there," Smail said. "He must've been riding a bullet. I concent rated h ard a nd ca rve d it up behind Kalos and then we reeled in Highl and at the top of the sand hill." Halfway into lap three, Hi ghlan d saw both Kalos an d Smail ride right by him in the sand. "I gave it 110 percent out there, but that hill was pretty unforgivin g," H ighland said. "Th ose guys really hauled d own it, and as 1 glanced over jo see them go by, I thought, 'Stay in control: " Kalos and Smail started to slowly pull away from Highland, while Walters waged wa r with Healey, as di d Dr ew with Bloomfield, Naughton and Myers. Up fron t, Smail hounded Kalos and handed hi m second th ro ug h a wh oop section on lap four. Smail didn 't let up at all after that and built up an eight-second cushion over Kalos by the halfway mark. H ighland, meanwhile, was cruisin g all alone in third, whil e Hea ley had control of fourth - but not by much, as WaIters was nipping at his heels. Bloomfield had p roblems when he stalled his bike at the bott om of the sand hill just as Na ughton and Drew were comi ng. They bumped into eac h other while tryirig to avoid the stalled Bloomfield and, su ddenly, it was a race to get th eir bikes sta rted. Bloomfield got hi s bike go ing first and got back to business, with Naughton close behind. Drew finally got his machine running, but not before Sharp went past. Smail was still on th e move as he stretched out his lead to 10 seconds and held it there to the checkered flag. Kalos took second, followed by Highland. "I just love this sandy track and it's suited to my style," Smail said. "I won both mo tos last year and again this year. I have all the faith in the world in my mechanic, Tom Moen, an d my KTM." Kalos crossed the line with 15 secoo ds to spare ove r Hi ghland, w hile Healey w as foll owed across th e finish line in fourth by a close-following WaIters. N aughton held d own th e six thplace sp ot ahead of Drew, Bloomfield and Myers. ." Owyhee Motocross Park Boise, Idaho Rasults: July 20, 1997 (Round 7 018) MOTO 1: 1. Lance Smail (KTM) ; 2. Sha u n KaI09 (H bg ); 3. Mik e He a ley (Ho n); 4. Ro be rt Naughton (Hb g ); 5. Steve Drew (KTM ); 6. Tim Sha rp (Hon ); 7. Dustin Bloomfidd (KTM); 8. Scott Myers (ATK); 9. Spud Walters (Hon); 10. Mike Ha m ees s (H o n ); 11. Ted Skipper (Hbg); 12. Ben Shank (Hoo);: 13. Jason Lasete r (Kaw); 14. Scott Ho las (Hon) ; 15. Shawn High la nd (Hbg); 16. Mib Bur ke (Hbg). MOTO 2.: 1. Lane. Sm.l.1I (KTM); 2. Shaun Kales ~); 3. Shawn HI""loUld (Hbg ); 4. Mike Heal ey (lion);: 5. Spud Walwn (Hon); 6. Robert Nau gh ton (HbR); 7. ~ Drew (I

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