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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127948
MOTOCROSS AMA WESTERN FOUR·STROKE NATIONAL MX SERIES Round 4: Salt Lake City MX Park •• La By Don Schneider SALT LAKE CITY, UT, JUNE 7 regon's Lance Smail once again rode his Russ Fletcher-tuned Husaberg FCS01 to double moto wins - this time at the Salt Lake City MX Park - to record his fourth overall victory in the AMA Western National FourStroke MX Series. Smail has won every moto thus far. Smail's perfect r~cord puts him 32 points up on Motoworld of EI 'Cajonbacked Greg Schnell, who took second overall at Salt Lake, and 70 points ahead of third-placed Dustin Nelson, who fui.ished fourth. Yamaha rider Nathan Woods finished 'in between the Yamahas of Schnell and Nelson, while fifth place went to fellow Yamaha rider Rich Taylor, who was followed by Husabergmounted Jimmy LaMastus and Yamaha rider Robert Naughton. Rounding out the top 10 overall were. Billy Binckley, Scott Myers and Kipp Posey. Phoenix Premier Motorsports-backed LaMastus took the holeshot in moto one. "Man, Barry Noblitt and his crew have really got Andy (Anaya) and my bike pumped," LaMastus said of his quick getaway. "1 just love to be out front of Smail'and those guys." Schnell settled into second, and the two leaders quickly built up a five-bikelength advantage on Myers, Anaya, Smail, Naughton, Nelson, Posey, Taylor and Todd Downs. O Smail quickly carved past Anaya and pushed into third, as a long straight section was to Smail's liking. "We have a lot of ponies, and I put them to good use," Smail said. By half a lap, Smail had closed the gap on Schnell and almost made a pass coming out of a whoop section. Up front, LaMastus was throttling it up and holding on to his sizable lead as Schnell continued trying to hold of1 Smail. "1 knew [ had to settle down and . breathe," leader LaMastus said, "because I knew it would be tough to keep up the pace. I knew Smai~ was coming." (Above) Winner Lance Smail (1) leads runner. up Greg Schnell (85) at round four of the Western Four-Stroke Nationals in Utah. (Left) Jimmy laMastus thrilled the crowd en route to a fourth-place finish. (Right) Nathan Woods took third overall. 42 Schnell dived to the inside of a turn and Smail railed around the outside of. him, completing the pass into second w'hiIe heading into a whoop section. Shortly thereafter, Woods got around Myers for third. "1 just was going to play it safe in those long rhythm whoops," Myers said. "We were just not set up for that supercross stuff." Later, both Nelson and Taylor also slipped by Myers. By the fifth lap, it was still LaMastus leading the way comfortably over Smail. A little way back chased Schnell, Woods' and Nelson, then Taylor and Myers. LaMastus, however, lost his advantage over Smail, who soon narrowed the gap on the Yamaha rider and sped past, him for the lead. At this point, Anaya, who had crashed earlier, pulled off the track with a broken gas tank, and Nelson passed Woods for fourth. With three laps to go, Schnell caught up to and passed LaMastus. "1 really wanted to keep Smail in sight, but working on Jimmy just took me way too long," Schnell said. Things pretty much stayed the same until the finish except for Taylor, who washed out and stalled his motor just before the white flag.