Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Ricky Carmichael Injured his shoulder In practice, crashed In the first moto and could only muster an eighth-place finish. The second moto was all his, and his 8-1 was good enough to steal third overall and maintain his points lead. (Right) Team Pro ClrcultlSplltFlrelKawasakl rider Casey Johnson looks to be healed from his serious ankle injury, just missing out on the final podium position with a 3-4 moto score. (Below) The start of the second moto was chaos. Robbie Reynard (21) and John Dowd (9) eject themselves as Jeff Wllloh prepares to launch into a chain-link fence pinned wide open. Team Chaparral/Yamaha's Jimmy Button was having a rough lime working his way up from a bad start when his bike seized on the fourth lap, relegating him to the pits. "I crashed trying to pass someone on the second lap;" Button said. "Then I got pushed over off a jump and crashed, and then my bike seized." A broken spark plug was later diagnosed to have caused the engine to seize. From there on out, Dowd moved out to a 10-second lead over Lamson and never looked back. Lamson, on the other hand, could never quite shake Johnson from about the halfway point on, but he managed to beat him to the checkers by a scant one second. Reynard was mired in the pack at the beginning, rounding the first lap in 19th, but he came back through the pack nicely to snag fourth from Brandes with two . laps to go. Behind Brandes, Team FMF /Honda's Jason McCormick rode well to finish sixth in front of Ferry. Carmichael managed to get through 30 riders to nab an incredible eighth, Demuth held his own to garner ninth, and Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki's Nicholas Wey fell back to 10th from eighth on the first lap. ''I'm at like 75 percent right now and the main th ing is to get points," Carmichael said after the mota. "I've never not been in the lead of this series not since Ga)nesville of last year - until now." MOTOTWO For being at "75 percent" and looking pretty miserable in the Pro Circuit semi before the second mota, Carmichael came out swinging in the second mota and muscled his way to the holeshot over Ferry, Honda of Troy's Casey Lytle, Lamson, Willoh, Button and the rest of the pack. Behind them, carnage reigned. Dowd and many others cartwheeled across the track, but the wildest part happened when Willoh arid his bike, which was seemingly stuck wide open, went straight off the track, as the course turned 90 degrees to the right. Willoh flew straight off the track and straight into a 6-foot-high chain-link fence, bouncing back like a pinball and sending fans leaning on that fence flying' backward into others. Reportedly, no one was seriously injured. While Dowd picked his bike up to begin the long haul toward the front of the racing order, WilIoh, Reynard and a few other riders exited the track and retired for the day. Up front, Carmichael was leading Lamson, Button, Ferry, Team Honda of Troy's Stephane Roncada (who pulled off in the first mota after a charge forward from a bad start), Sheak, Brown and Lytle. There was simply no stopping Carmfchael and he blazed off to the win by 12 seconds over Lamson when the checkered flag came out. ):..amson rode well to claim second and the overall with it. Button hopped his way into third early on, with Johnson and Roncada following his lead and, while Button and Johnson held formation to take third and fourth by the end, Roncada wasn't so lucky. Dowd made a valiant effort to come through the pack, climbing right past Roncada to fifth with only a few laps remaining. But time ran out for Dowd and he settled for the fifth spot on a day that could have seen him take the overall and the points lead, had he had just a little better luck. One rider who left the track ra ther ominously was Team FMF /Honda's Jason McCormick. The Washington native was running 15th late in the mote when he rolled into the mechanics' area and literally fell from his bike, holding his side. Back injuries were suspected and he left the track taped down to a backboard. Roncada stayed close to Dowd and got sixth. Brown finished seventh about 15 seconds behind'Roncada, followed by Sheak in eighth, Brandes in ninth and Lytle in 10th. (N Prairie CIty SVRA Park Sacramento, California Results: May 17, 1998 (Round 2 of 12) 125 MOTO 1, 1. John Dowd (Yam); 2. Steve Lamson (Hon): 3. Casey Johnson (Kaw); 4. Robbie Reynard (Suz); 5. Michael Brandes (Suz); 6. Jason McCormick (Hon); 7. Tim Ferry (Yam); 8. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 9. Josh Demuth (Kaw); 10. Nicholas Wey (Kaw); 11. Scott Sheak (Hon); 12. Danny Smith (Han); 13. Shaun PeroHo (Suz); 14,. Casey Lytle (Han); 15. Mike Brown (Han); 16. David Pingree (Han); 17. Brian Deegan (Kaw); 18. Robbie Skaggs (Yam); 19. Jeff WUloh (Suz); 20. Travis Preston (SU%); 21. Rusty HoUand (Han); 22. Greg Schnell (Yam); 23. Jiri Dostal (Suz); 24. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 25. Brock Sellards (Han); 26. Ryan Huffman (Suz); 27. Robbie Horton (KTM); 28. Charlie Bogard (Suz); 29. Ryan Clark; 30. Nathan Ramsey (Kaw); 31. Chris Wheeler (Suz); 32. Brad Woolsey (Kaw); 33. Jimmy Wilson (Suz); 34. Akira Narita (Hon); 35. Stephane Roncada (Han); 36. Barry Carsten (Suz); 37. Jimmy Button (Yam); 38. Jerry Aleman (Suz); 39. Mark TUley (Suz); 40. Steve Andrich (Yam). Time: 34 min.. 14.430 sec. 125 MOTO Z, 1. Ricky Camtichael (Kaw~ 2. Steve Lamson (Han); 3. Jimmy Button (Yam); 4. Casey Johnson (Kaw); 5. John Dowd (Yam); 6. Stephane Roncada (Hon); 7. Mike Brown (Han); 8. Scott Sheak (Hon); 9. Michael Br"'des (Suz); 10. Casey Lytle (Han); 11. Josh Demuth (Kaw); 12. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 13. Brian Deegan (Kaw); 14. Nathan Ramsey (Kaw); 15. Danny Smith (Han); 16. Tim Ferry (Yam); 17. Jiri Dostal (Suz); 18. Akira Nanta (Hon); 19. Nicholas Wey (Kaw); 20. Travis Preston (Suz); 21. Robbie Horton (KTM~ 22. Brock Sellards (Han); 23. Robbie Skaggs (Yam); 24. Ryan Huffman (Suz); 25. Chris Wheeler (Suz); 26. Barry Carsten (Suz); 27. Brad Woolsey (Kaw); 28. Rusty Holland (Han); 29. Jerry Aleman (Sux); 30. Jimmy Wilson (Suz); 31. Ryan Oark; 32. Jason McCormick (Hon); 33. Shaun Perotio (Suz); 34. David Pingree (Han); 3S. Greg Schnell (Yam); 36. Robbie Reynard (Suz); 37. Charlle Bogard (Suz); 38. Jeff Willoh (Suz); 39. Mark TUley (Suz); 40. Steve Andrich (Yam). Time: 34 min.• 49.740 sec. O/A: 1. Steve Lamson (Han); 2. John Dowd (Yam); 3. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 4. Casey Johnson (Kaw); S. Michael Brandes (Sux); 6. Scott Sheak (Han); 7. Josh Demuth (Kaw); 8. Jimmy Button (Yam); 9. Mike Brown (Hon); 10. Tun Ferry (Yam); 11. Casey Lytle (Hon); 12. Robbie Re~ard (Suz); 13. Stephane Roncada (Han); 14. Danny Smith (Han); 15. Jason McCormick (Han); 16. Nicholas Wey (Kaw); 17. Brian Deegan (Kaw); 18. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 19. Shaun PeroUo (Sux); 20. Nathan Ramsey (Kaw); 21. David Pingree (Hon); 22. Jiri ~"1:aJ (Suz); 23. Akira Narita (Han); 24. Robbie Skaggs (Yam); 25. Travis Preston (Suz); 26. Jeff Wilioh (Suz). AMA MAZOA TRUCK NATlONAL 0iAMl'10NSHlP 12See MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 2 of 12 rounds), 1. Rick Carmichael (88/1 win); 2. John Qowd. (85); 3. Steve Lamson (79/1~ 4. Casey Johnson (70); S. Jimmy Button (56); 6. (TIE) David Pingtee/Stephane Roncada (40); 8. Casey Lytle (38); 9. (TIE) Nicholas Wey/Mike Brown (34); 11. Robbie Reynard (31); 12. (TIE) Michael Brandes/Scott Sheak (28); 14,(TlE) Brian Deejl;an/Buddy Antunez (26); 16. Josh Demuth (22); 17. Natlian Ramsey (21); 18. Tim Ferry (20); 19. Jm Dostal (17); 20. (TIE) Jason McCormick/Travis Preston/Danny Smith (15). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, May 24 Round 4 - Southwick, Massachusetts, June 16

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