Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS AMA 1251250cc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MOTOCROSS SERIES °Rg Creek Motocross Park tw o w e eks ea rlier. In fact , Dowd 's mecha nic, Brian Berry , kept signaling to h is rid er to "Remember Unadilla ," w here Do wd y came up a bike len gth short. Em ig rod e we ll a t the front, taking advantage of a grea t line th at allowed him to ju m p a n uphill trip le whi le Dowd could o nly dou ble up it, thus losing a second a lap on the hill. However, Dowd would make that second up half a lap later with a faster path around the sa ndy bottom that includes the monster whoop section tha t has claimed so many top riders over the years. At a ny rat e, the tw o lead ers s tayed close th rou ghout the midd le and late la ps, bu t when the white flag came out, Emig looked like he had enough of an a dva ntage to wi n - he al m ost d id n' t. Dowd railed the enti re last lap and came SN into the final U turn with an actua l shot at the win. He waited throu gh the first left rather than try a torpedo move that might have d ropped them bo th, but he blasted around Emig in the last turn and side the leader, came out almost right be but the checkered flag fell before the next tum an d Emig crested the last little hump just a wheel up on the Yam aha rider. "I can't believe how d ose that w as! Do wd mu st be read y to kill me," sai d Emig of his friend Dowd , who has narrowly lost to Emig tw ice in three weeks . "I could just feel him b a ck th ere , a n d I kn ew he w asn' t going to give up. He almost got me in the last turn agai n! I was Hu gh es woul d lose tha t battle, as well. "I jus t really d o n' t kn ow wha t m y problem is," sa id the Ca lifornian. "I start out dead-last and ride great the whole moto, and then when I start u p fro nt I ca n't rid e a t all . I'm doing eve ry thing right , training hard and trying to co ncent rate - it's just one of those things tha t happen in racing, I guess." Hughes would finish fifth in the m ot o, while La Rocco w oul d bel",r Albertyn for third. "I just didn' l get the start I wanted and I didn't ha ve a chance to ride with those h 'UYs (Dowd and Emig )," laRocco said lat er. "I think I rode well all day, bu t you have to get a start on this track if you w ant to be up there at the end ." That left Emig and Dowd to duel for the wi n, much like the y had at Unadilla thin k in g af te r Unadilla it cou ld n' t get a ny closer , b ut somehow it di d ." "Just a little short again: ' said a frustrated but plea sedwi th-th e - eff ort Dowd . "Jeff was rid ing well but I d idn' t wa nt to jus t give up . Th ere w ere a few tim es ' w he n I th ou ght I mi ght hav e had a lin e on th e in side here and there bu t, th er e was reall y no room unless I nailed him, a nd a t th e e n d I s ta r ted th fnk in g about it! I'll just have to keep working and ma yb e one of th ese will go my way." 12Scc NATIONAL The first 12See molo featured an eventful first lap as Huffman rounded the fast right-ha nded tum with his third strai ght holesh ot . Sheak, Ferry, Ca rmichael and Spli tFire / Pro Circuit's David Pingree were all followi ng. Lamson and Windham got out of the gate midpack, while Robbie Reynard, one of the pre-race favorites, was towards the very back of the pack. Huffman boggled his wa y back to fourth right away, but new leader Sheak went ba ck even fur ther after he crashed a couple of turns later . So for the first four laps of the race, fellow Floridians and so me times practice partners Ferry and Carmichael led the way. Ferry's time out fro nt was limited, as th e ha rd -char ging Carmichael fou nd a faster path a round the pl ush Millville track and took ove r the lead in the back section. It might have had some thing to do wi th Ferry's loss of his clutch lever . "I go t too close to a marker in the back and sna pped it right off: ' sa id the 12Scc East Regional SX Cha mp. "Believe me, it was tou gh to stay up there wit h tho se g uys without a clutch o n a track like this." Ferry foug ht hard to kee p as many po ints as po ssible and was able to sa lvage sixth by the time it was all over . Ca rm ichael started pulling away up front, while Windham an d the Frenchman Pichon hooked up to start carving thei r way throu gh the fro nt -runners in tand em . By the time th e y got u p to Ferry, he was on his way backwards with the clutch problem, so the y made s hor t wo rk of the Suzuki : bu t Carmichael was alrea dy go ne. HI wasn 't .ridi ng ve ry well at th e beginning, an d I le t both Sheak a nd Ferry pass me before Sheak fell do wn, an d th e n I se ttled d o wn: ' said Ca rmichael in the win ner 's ci rcle. "1 really lik e the tra ck and, o nce I got a nice rhythm goi ng, I felt g reat. I ju st stay ed comfo rtable and tried not to get too tired or any thing. It really feels good to win again." In th e end, th e cruising Ca rm ichael held a s hor t, co mfor ta ble lead on the Windham -P ichon du el fo r se co n d . Windham held off the stubborn Pichon for seco nd, w hile the Hondas of Lamson and Sheak were fourth and ruth. "I've go t to get a better start: ' gru mbl ed Windham in th e winner' s circle. "Th e s tarts ar e just killing me. I had a good pace, and I stayed right with Ricky o nce I got up there. I gu ess a two is as good as a o ne in the first moto, as far as . the overall goes, so I just need to worry abo ut getting up there at the start."

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