Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

mota third-place finis her Deng ler lined up on the o ther side of the d ogh ouse . The gate dropped an d Emig seemed electric as his Kawasaki jumped off the line for th e hol es hot. He wa s followed by Dengl er and another En glishtown local, Rich Zupko. . "Everyone kn ows that 1 usua lly get pretty good sta rts , and I got one in this mot a ," Emig sa id . "I wa s getting ner vous beca use some of the lappers wan ted to rac e with th e cha m p, but I felt good and was able to get out front an d get out of the way ." Roy a lso go t a good start and quickly moved int o third , followed by Hu gh es, Zupk o and Crine. Hu gh es immed iately began to put press ure on Roy and Dengler. Roy tri ed to make an ea rly move o n Dengl er, b ut Den gl er wa s a b le to pass Roy back and hold him off a bit lon ger. W h il e thi s batt le wa s go i ng o n , Hu gh es wa s busy sett ing up both Roy an d Dengler . H e th en mad e his pass heading up Raceway Park's highl y photo g ra p hed ma n-mad e m ounta in , the Staircase. Emig was uut fro nt doing his thing, basicall y chec king ou t, an d now H ughes was in se co nd . Sheak, again, was fighting back from a po or start in seventh place. "I s pent so me time over in Europe this past winter and I think I was getting a li ttle bu rn ed ou t. I' ve been working reall y hard to put the fun back in to my racin g. 1 think that having fun will help . I'm go ing to take the winter off this yea r and co me ou t stro ng in 1998," Hugh es said. Back on the track, Roy made a move on Dengler before the Staircase to take third, and Stratton motored by Sheak to take seven th away . Th e o rder a t this point was Emig, Hugh es, Roy, Dengler, Crine, Wallace and Stratton . Sheak started to fall off the pace. "1 haven't been on a 250 all year," sa id Sheak . "It's a lot of fun, though. I'd like to th an k Woodbridge Powersports for len d ing me the bike." At about the halfway point, Cri ne ran into trouble a nd d ropped back, relinquishin g fifth to Wallace, who im med iately went a fter and passed Deng ler for fourth. The local crow ed insp ired Dengler and he tu rned it on to grab fourth back from Wallace. All of th is was basically acade m ic , beca use the fa ct ory Kawasaki rid ers we re p ulling th e field by about 20 seconds. Emi g th en be g an to s ty le fo r th e crowd , layi ng hi s gree n m a ch ine o u t ove r the tri p le. Hughes was no threat , a n d Roy was cruis ing a round a bou t eight seconds behind Hughes . Last year a t th e Ka w asaki Ra ce o f C ha m p io ns, Ro y gave Emi g a run fo r hi s m o ney, a lmost bea ti ng him in the fi rst mota. This year was a different story, however, and the first through thir d positio ns were basically se t. "After an inju ry-rid dled se ason, it's nice to do well her e a t Englishtown," said Roy. Having problems in the back section of the track while dicing with Wallace, Dengler fell off the pace and Stratton began co m ing on s tro ng , su ckin g up Deng ler and passi ng Walla ce for fourth. Carsten was in sixth. O n the last lap, Hughe s tried to d o Emig like Emig did him in the first mota - follow him around and then pounce on the last lap. Hughes wound his KX up a n d stuck a w heel in on Emi g in th e popular switchback section, bu t Emig lived up to his repu tation as the hardest rider to pa ss and slammed the door on Hughes to win the mota . "My favo rite parts of the track a re , . Carm ichael wa s having his problem s. We y w a s h an g in g toug h i n second . Mi tch Payton has already signed this kid to the P ro Circuit /Split Fire / Kawasaki team for next season. " 1 wa s pretty ex ci ted with m y holesh ot . Usually I don't get such good s ta r ts," Wey said. "Dam on got by m e ea rly a nd I tried to pass him back as soo n as it happened, but I couldn't pull it off. 1 go t a litt le nervous and 1 think it made me tired. I know that I'm in shape . It was all nerves." Shea k moved his Ho nda into th ird , followed by Clowe rs and Carsten. These rid ers were a pproxi mately eight sec on ds off the leading pace. Aft er about six la p s, Carmic hael had a lr ea d y worked his way back into the top 10, but Huffman wa s out of reach - eve n for the 125cc Na tio nal Cham pion . Ca rsten began w o rk in g o n Sheak an d even tua lly go t by fo r th ird , an d Ca rm ic hael m ov ed in to fif th . As the lapS dwi ndled , Ca r micha el came on s tro nger a nd eve n tua lly wo rked hi s .. " the start a nd the checkered flag . I had a little run from Ryan at the end , but I jus t used my head and everything went my way," Emig sa id. Hugh es finis hed second, followed by Roy, Stra tto n, Ca rsten, Kratz and Wal lace. Rick y Ca r mic h ael, with hi s new number-on e plate, lined up in th e first 12-lap m ota of the 12Sec class wit h the con fiden ce o f a cha m p io n . Joining Carmichael wa s Team Kawasaki 125cc fact ory en try Huffman. When th e gate dropped, it wa s Carmicha el vaulting his Pro Circuit Kawasaki into the lead, followed by To mmy Clo we rs, Sheak and Huffman. . Sheak wasted no time in passi ng Clowers r igh t in fron t of th e gra nd stands . Hu ffma n also bega n stalking the Suzu ki rid er. Lorusso was in fifth, and Ca rmichael was already abo ut six sec on dsout. "We we n t o ut righ t after th e track was watered , so it wa s s lick in so me spots, so I used my head and rod e like I . di d all year," Carmic hae l said. H uffman mad e his move in the back sec tion of the track to take th ird . This mota was beginning to look much like a 12Sec Nationa l: Carmic hael leadi ng, followed by Sheak and Hu ffman. "I didn' t ge t a very good jump off the ga te, so I ha d to play so me ca tch-u p . Once I go t going, 1 felt pretty good. The tra ck here is nice a nd rough, bu t yo u gotta be carefu l wi th the lappers," Huffman sa id . H uffman then made a run on Sheak for second place and passed him on th e st raightaway leading up the Staircase jump. Team Green rider Nick Wey picked his wa y past Carsten, Lorusso and Clowers to move into th e fou rth spo t. After a few more lap s, how ever, Wey began to fade, getting pa ssed back by both Lorusso and Carsten. By the whi te -flag lap, Carmichael wa s ou t front, s ho wing th e crowd hi s d rain plug, whipping it ha rd off almost every jump. H uff ma n wa s about eigh t seconds off Carmichael's pace, followed by Shea k and Lorusso. Wey, Carm icha el and Sheak we re lined up in prime holesh ot positi on as (Above) Newly crowned 12SCc National MX Champlon Ricky Carm ic hael took second to Huffman. (Right) Ryan Hughes gav.e Emlg a run for his money In both 250Cc motos; Hughes ended up taking . runner-up honors. the riders ~nd mecha nics began to make their way to th e ga te fo r the second 12Sec go-aroun d . The chute opened and Carmicha el la unched his Pro Ci rcuittuned Kawasaki off th e line and d own the start straight into th e first turn, tak ing out himself and Suz uki rider Lorusso . " A fte r the first tu rn, 1 ca ught a wh eelie and fell, so I had to play some catch -up," Ca rmi chael said . " It w a s good passing practice, though, in case 1 cras h in the Nati o nals." We y was in the lead, fo llo w ed by Clowers, Sheak a nd H uffman. Carmichael got up okay, bu t dead las t. Huffma n quick ly worked p a s t bo th Sheak and Clowers and sta rted going aft er Wey . Huffman got by Wey in the straight after the start with a shee r horsepowe r pass and began to pull away. Huffman was in position to take th e overa ll, while way pa st bo th Shea k and Carsten to get into a podium posi tion o n the whit eflag lap. "This was my last 12Sec race eve r, SO it was good to end it with a win; Hu ffman said . "Ricky made it a litt le easier on me 6y falli ng, but that's raci ng . For '98 I'm goi ng to be a 250 rider full time, r u n ni ng the 250 Supercross and 250 Nationals. I've d one a lot of winning on the 125, but i really think that I' m get'" ting a little big for it.". Kawasaki Race of Champions Englishtown, New Jersey Results: October 4-5,1997 ISO EX: I. Jeff Emig (Ka w ); 2. Ryan Hu ghes (Ka w ); 3.1ed n·Stobasrun Roy (Suz); 4. Barry Carsten (Suz); 5. Dave Krdtz (5u1;); 6. 10li'1 Dengjee (Suz ); 7. Ty w ana ce (Hon); 8. Ton y Lorusso (Suz); 9. Blair Morgan (Ka w ); to. Scott Sheak (Hon ) r-, 0\ 0\ ...... N' N ... Q) .0 o ..... u 125 PRO: 1. Da mon H uffm..n (Ke w): 2. Rick y C.u m ichMo (K.1w); 3. N ick Wey (Kilw ); 4. Barry c..rs.t~ l (Suz); 5. Scot t Shea k (Hon); 6. Ton y Lo ru sso (Sud; 7. o Dav e Kratz (Su z ); 8. Bru ce Str a tton (Suz); 9. Pa u l Carpenter (J

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