Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA Eastern Four-Stroke National Motocross Series, Final Round (Len) Jim Neese put together 3-1 moto scores to win the final round of the AMA Eastern Four-Stroke National Motocross series at the camp Coker PAX t ra ck in South Caro li na. (Below) Facto ry KTM rider Ketth Bowe n on ly needed to pl ace n int h or better In one of the two motos to clinch the series champio ns hip . A r unner-up finish in moto one secured the title. By Mitchell Roop SOCIETY HILL, SC, NOV.2 eith Bowen arrived at Cam p Coker needin g only a ninth-place finis h in o ne of tw o motos to secure the AM A Eas te rn Fou r-St rok e Na tio na l Motocross Series title. A fifth-place start in the first moto by Bowen left little suspense as to w ho wo u ld be champion , but ther e were still plenty of riders who wa n te d to make a final mark on the series for the yea r. Mark Musselman led moto one into the first turn , but Kelly Smith go t inside and quic kly moved in to first. Smith and his Husabcrg then proceeded to d isapp ear fr om the p a ck. By th e ha lf w ay po in t, Sm ith had a 10-second lead and looked like he had the first moto in the bag. At the end of the first lap, Todd DeHoop was in second, wi th Jim Neese and Musselman following. During the second lap, Neese moved DeHoop back to third , with Bowen moving up to pressure DeHoop. On the thind lap, Bowen moved his Silent Spo rt KTM into third , and the race order looked set for the moto, with Smith lead in g, followed by Neese, Bowen, Del-loop and Musselman. Smith' s secu re 10-second lead, however, only lasted to the halfway K r-, 0\ 0\ ...... 0\ ...... .... OJ E OJ ~ o z 28 point, w he n Nees e sta rted to close th e gap. When the crossed flags came ou t to mark the mid point of the mota , Neese and Bowen began to close in, leaving the rest of the pack behind him . Two laps fr om th e e n d, Smith slammed into the face of a wh oop at the scoring tow er, a llowing Neese to get close e nough to cha lle nge. Five bi ke lengths separat ed Sm ith a nd Ne ese as the white flag came into view at the end of the whoop section. Smith slowed to safely run the whoops a nd ta ke the white flag, making sure that he did not make the same mistake twice. As they began the last lap, Smit h and Neese w ere si de by s id e. Two tur ns la ter, Sm i th and N ee se over to o k a lapped rider, an d Smith decided to go inside , hesi tating slightly whil e wa iting for the lapper to clear the only line that had been used during the moto. Neese did not hesitate and, seei ng his oppo rtunity on the outsi de of the turn, mad e the move. But he got int o the deep, loose sand and dropped his bike. The crowd mo a n ed over th e rumbl e o f the thumpers as Neese hurriedly tried to get up bef or e Bowen go t by , but Neese could n' t and had to set tle for third . "I went outs ide (of Smith) , and I just lost the front end ," Neese said . "It wa s my last cha nce, and my arms we re pumped up really bad ." With the title deci ded , Bowen wa s read y to rid e the se cond moto " a n d ju s t ha ve fun." Smith lined up, ready to tu r n his fir st-moto s u cces s an d M ichigan sa nd-rid ing experience into an o vera ll vic tory in the South Carolina sa n d . Whe n the ga te dropped, Neese and his O 'Nea l / K i ngs p o r t Kaw asa ki -Hu sab erg thundered into the first turn wit h the lead . Behind him, there was chaos. " I ca me in hot a nd go t ta ng led with so me o th er r iders, " Smi th said late r, "and then the bike wouldn't start." The first-turn pileup put Smith, Musselman and Jeremy Shon ing on the grou nd at the s ta rt of the seco nd moto. As Sm ith kick ed his Hus- abe rg, Neese too k adva nt age of the gap that the pil eup had giv en him, immediat el y taking a fiv e-second lead over DeHoop and 1J0wen. Smi th finall y go t up and und er way a minute and a half behind the leaders, o r abou t 40 seconds aw ay from being a lap behind. A good overall finish did not look to be in Smith 's future for the day, but he really twis ted the thrott le ha rd as he sta rted his firs t lap . DeHoop held on to second for three laps befo re Bowen go t by to chase down Neese. Bowen crossed the gap between DeHoop a nd Neese in a lap a nd was ready to "just ha ve fun," kickin g sand in Neese's face. At th e h a lf w a y p o int , N e ese a nd Bow en w er e kickin g sa nd in each others ' faces. and Smith was recovering from the firs t-tum pileup to move in to 10th. Smith was on the gas , with plenty of momentum - and wi th several racers dose enough to overta ke. Smith would not be seeing Neese or Bowen, as their battle ca rried them far away from the rest of the pack. DeH oop was secure in third place an d unchalleng ed for the rest of the moto. Bowen led for three more laps before Neese rea sserted him self for the final two la ps and mad e a pass to tak e the mo to win and the overa ll victory . The 22 moto finishes of Bowen were good for second overall and more than enou gh fo r th e AMA Ea stern Four-Stroke National Motocross Series title. Smith's cha rge fro m dead la s t to fourth gave him thir d overall on the day. n Camp Coker Society Hili. South Carolina Results: November 2,1997 (Round 6 016) O /A:. 1. Jim X~ (!ilW; 2. Keith B....w en (KTM ); 3. Kelly Smi th (Kni); 4. Tuad Dd toop (I-Ibg ); 5. Larry Cessner (Hbg); 6. Chris K""u;

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