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U.S. Women's Motocross League'AldA IdX Championship series, Round f • I By Matt Freeman SAN BERNARDINO, CA, MAY 9 en round one of the U,S, Women's League AMA MX Championship Series came to Glen Helen Raceway, no one quite expected Nevada's Sedanna Stillmock to take home the win. at that Stillmock does not possess the speed required to win a Women's National, but due to the recent downpour of rain, the Glen Helen circuit was embedded with deep, muddy ruts, a type of terrain that Stillmock does not encounter too much in her hometown of Fernley, evada. ''I'm not used to these ruts," said Stillmock, who rode a CR to a secondplace finish in the first mota and a win in the second. "We don't have ruts where I come from, so it was a little challenging, It's either hard-pack or sand in Nevada. The track is great, though. The jumps are all good and it's a lot of fun." The odds-on favorite going into the race was Team Green-backed Dee Wood. Wood made the trip from Texas to compete in round one, which was held in conjunction with the Chaparral Amateur Motocross Championships and the AMA National Motocross Series. Wood proved to be the woman to beat in the fiist mota when she got the holeshot and ran away unchallenged by the rest of the pack. "It w~t pretty good," said Wood after the first mota. "I don't know what ha ppened to everyone else. I got the holeshot and it worked real well because I didn't have problems with anyone else catching me:' The first mota saw Bonnie Warch and her YZl25 make it to the first turn in second, behind Wood. Warch's second-place jaunt did not last long, however, as Stillmock rocketed past her in pursuit of Wood. 1997 Series Champion Traci Fleming also made a move on Warch, moving into third early on. Another rider who was on the move toward the front of the pack was pro mountain-.bike downhill racer Michelle Bednar. '1 was in fourth or fifth and making time on the leaders, and then I crashed," said Bednar about her altercation with a lapped rider. 'There was no flagger out by the finish-line double, and a girl was down right in the middle. I landed right on her and when I got up, my shift lever was bent totally back. I had to ride the rest of the mota stuck in first gear. It could have hurt me really bad, and I'm going into my mountain-bike season. Hopefully, I'll pull off a b.etter second moto." Bednar's misfortune set her back to 10th place and secured a fourth-place first-mota finish for Wisconsin's Angie Keuntjes, with Warch eventually fading W to fifth. Fleming ran a strong third all mota. Up front, Wood held on to a comfortable lead, but back in second, Stillmock was familiarizing herself with the track, learning crucial lines for the everimportant second mota. Bednar's hopes of a better second mota came true when she took the holeshot in the talented field all the way to the first right-hand Sturn. Stillmock was the closest rider to Bednar's rear wheel, followed by Warch, Wood and the rest of the pack. Before the end of .lap one, Stillmock and Wood had jetted ahead of Bednar, who once again ran into problems with another rider. "I was in third and Traci Fleming and I were both coming around a turn and she fell into me," Bednar said. "She fell over in a rut and her bar just went right into me. I lost a couple of places there." Bednar and Fleming were not the . only riders to fall victim to the deep ruts. Wood was all over Stillmock, challenging for the lead, when she too fell over in a grooved turn. "I didn'.t get a very good start, but I caught up to second and passed Sedanna for the lead, and then she drove to the outside on a corner and passed me back," Wood said. "I thought I was going to have her again in this rutted section, but I went to the inside to a differen t line that I hadn't been taking aU day. I just got sideways in it and fell down. I got up right away and closed the gap on her, but I just couldn't make the pass." While Wood was making up precious time on Stillmock, Fleming was having more problems of her own. The Yamaha rider crashed in a sandy straightaway, injuring her arm and putting herself out of the race. Stillmock took the checkered flag, with a hard-charging Wood merely a second back. The second-mota win gave Stillmock the points needed for top honors. YZ-mounted Keun~es rode consistently in both matos, taking third in the second mota and third for the day. Fourth went to Minnesota's Shelly Kann, who rode her YZ to a 6-5 mota tally, and Jamie Pamintuan, the only Suzuki rider in the 29-rider field, rounded out the top five with an 8-4 score. Warch's eighth-place finish in mota two netted her sixth for the day. (Above) Sedanna Stillmock pulled the upset by winning the opening round of the Women's Outdoor MX Championship Series with a 2-1. (Above left) A consistent 4-3 earned Angie Keuntjes third overall. (Right) Dee Wood won the first moto, but a fall in the seCond moto relegated her to second in the moto and second overall. "I was third at the start," said the strong-starting Warch. "I ended up eighth. This one, though - those girls wanted it bad." CN Glen Helen Raceway San Bernardino, California Results: May 9, 1998 (Round 1 of 4) O/A: 1. Sedanna StiUmock (Hon); 2. Dee Wood (Kawl; 3. Angie Keuntjes (Yam); 4. Shelly Kann (Yam); 5. Jamie Pamintuan (Suz); 6. Bonnie Warch (Yarn); 7. Michelle Bednar (Hon); 8. Tiffany Reed (Hon); 9. Carol Williams (Yam); 10. Jennifer Caputo (Yam); 11. Susan Morgan (Yam); 12. Jenny Pray (Yam); 13. Shalie Thorwaldson (Hon); 14. Cindy Bartles (Yam); 15. Brockie Renker (Yam); 16. Jennifer Nelson (Kaw); 17. Nikki Frohlich (Hon); 18. Dawn Rogers (Yam); 19. Traci Fleming (Yam); 20. Candice Motshagen (Hon); 21. Kelly Renshaw; 22. Tina Handelin (Yam); 23. Amy Rogers (Yam); 24. Tiffany Holtman (Kaw); 25. Miche.lle Mancuso (Suz); 26. Layne Swanson (Han); 27. Debrah Bartles (Hon); 28. Amy Cartwright; 29. Vandy Lavelle (Han).