Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS AMA/MAlDA TRUCK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES Rou 5: Budds CreekM nd XPark (Left) Mike LaRocco put his Factory Connection/Jack in the Box Honda Into fourth place. He turned up the hea t in the second moto and made a run at Henry late in the race. ous m oto. Not too far behi nd the lead duo were laRocco and Pichon. A ways back came Ernig, followed by Crine and Ward . Slowly moving up after a 15thplace start was Albertyn. Windham fina lly couldn 't take t he pressu re a ny longer a n d gave u p h i s point posi tion to Henry on the eigh t h l ap. Two la ps l a t er LaRocco got him, and two l a p s after that Pichon a lso moved a ro und the t ir in g Wi n d ha m . That made t he ru nni ng order H e nry , La Rocco, Pichon and Windham . E mig w as far enough back t h a t Wi n d ha m didn' t have to worry abou t the d ef en di n g cha m p, wh o was safely a hea d of Ward and Alber tyn. With only a few la ps to go, laRocco was with i n striking distan ce of H enry b ut o nly i f Henry m ad e a b ig mistake. Tha t, u nfortunately fo r LaRocco, would never happen . "I kn ew he was there," H enry sa id of the persis tent la Rocco. "But I ju st tried not th i n k i n g abou t him, just th e track." A t the finish , it was Henry ta king th e win with ab o u t five second s to spare o v er laRocco, who h ad abou t seven seco n ds o n Pichon. Next was Windham, all al o ne in fou rth , f ollowed by Emi g, Ward, Albertyn and Ro y, who were all fa irly sp r ead out as they took th e ch ecker ed fl ag . Lawrence en d ed up ninth, while Crine fini shed 10th. " I w as on a mission to put ev eryt h i ng behin d me," H enry sa i d o f co m i n g ba ck to Budds Creek and winning. " 1 had SO many p eople pulling for me and supporting me, and tha t really helped those la~t five laps." n Budds Creek MX Park B udds Creek, Maryland Results: J un e 21, 1998 (Round 5 of 12) MOTO 1: 1. Kevin Windham (Yam) ; 2. Doug Henry (Ya m ); 3. Micka el Pichon (Suz); 4. Ezra Lusk (Hu n); 5. " We just had a major meeting just a few minutes ago with the FIM and 'some industry people. and we 're trying to get the America n te ams to comm it," said Beasley . "W e "re going to run the G mnd . Prix here on Sept ember 12, 1999. It' s something we're only planJu st when it appeared that Team Honda' s Ezra Lusk was fully .ning on doi ng every tw o years . Hop efully. we 're \loi ng to find heale d from his pre viou s inj uries . he suff ered a new inj ury at . so meone on the W est Coast to promot e it every seco nd year that we're not running here at Budds C reek. We are very happy to Budd s Cr eek that will most likely put him out of action indefinite ly. finally be able to ' bring Grand Prix motocross back to Am erica. " Initial report s indicate that Lusk broke the large bone in his left Next year Will also mark the 10th anniversary of professional co rnforearm about tw o ' inches above his w rist. The 'injury occ urred petit ion at Budds Creek . w he n he go t caug ht up in a fi rst -t urn , second-moto pi le- up . According to sources in the team; Lusk said that w hen he go t up After leading four laps of the first 125cc rnoto , M i c h ae l B r a n from that crash his anm felt numb and he res umed racing , but des decided to sit o~t the secon d moto with an already -injured when he landed off a big jump about a lap later, he felt a snap ~nd thumb. "It hurt so much , I did alii could muster up," Brandes said. a sharp pain. It 'is belie ved that he may have only crac ked the bo ne in his arm in the crash. but broke it ent irely when he landed Since 1996 , the yea r in which the B u d d s Creek course was off the jump. Lusk was taken to a hospital for X-rays before the first run in reverse . the racing has altemated directions each year. race was over . " He was in a lot · a lot - of pain. " reporte d a Team Beasley was more than willing to describe how the decision came Honda member. about. "The main reason w e turned the track around was to give Earl y repo rt s f rom t he Hon da of Tr oy pits _"'~"T'.,....r-=.".",,"==.--_ the nat ional rider s som e variety," explained Beasley. " The change in direction also co inreveal that Mike Craig has broken his femur cided wi th Doug Henry 's return to racing. and as a result of his second-mo to ge t-off. " He I thought it would be nice for Doug if he didn't came off the finish-line drop-off jump and landhave to look at that hill - since it was only his ed in a hole, " said Honda of Troy mechanic third race since ret urni ng (Henry suff ered a Ma rshal Plumb. " He jus t cartwhee led and landbroken back in a c ras h at Budds Creek in ed at the bottom." C raig's bike hit the ground 1995). I thought it would be nice for him and so hard that It cru mpled the front wheel (right> and a new wheel had to be installed just so the would also be a great change for the riders." This sentiment was echoed by such riders as bike cou ld be ridden back to the pits . Craig the curren t 125cc poin ts leader John D owd. was airlifted to a nearby hospital. " I think this track is pretty good either way, " said D owd . " In either direct ion there 's still a An o th er ride r who had a miserable d ay at lo t o f off-ca mber t urns and plenty o f neat Budd s Creek was FMF Honda rider D a n n y Smith. His day began with a hard get -off duruphill s and downhills . " D efending 125 c c Nat ional. Champ ion Rick y Carm ichael shared ing the first 125cc practice sessio n, then his Dowd 's opinion of the reversed Budds Creek bike seized in his first qualifier, Smith's team managed to replace the engine with only a few course. ·" 1 like it. " he afte r practice on Saturday. " It seems pretty much the same in either minutes to .spare befo re his final' consolation race , where he wo uld finish third and qualify direction, I think. But. I do like it. so hopefully for the day's main 125cc' proqrarn. In the first I can pull out a win tomorrow and get .back in the points chase. " . . 125cc National moto, Smith finis hed 14th . but in the sec ond, rider landed on him and broke his left leg just below his knee , Team Ho nd a' s Stev e L amson has be en sidelined indefinitely w ith a serious shoulder Mark you r calendars : Budds Creek Promoter injury that he reaggravated in the first 125cc moto at Southwick. " Steve had major surgery J o nat ha n B e a s l ey has announced that Budds' Creek will host a round of the 25 0cc M onday night : said Team Honda consultant W orldM'X Championship in the fall of ·1999 . Jeff Stanton "He broke the same collarbone Briefl a 8 ••• Greg Albertyn (5oz); 6. Mike L.1Rocco(Hon); 7. Michael C raig (Hen ): 8. j ean -Seb a stie n Roy (Ka w): 9. Pedro Gonza lez ( Kew) : 10 . Kevin C ri n e (Ka w) : 11. Ph il Law re nce (Kaw): 12. Ja son Th omas (K aw): 13. Hea th Voss IH on ) : 14 . Je ff Dement ( Yd m); 15 . Anthony Ama radio (Yam); 16. Takeshi Ko ikeda (Yam) ; 17. Jatne!i cki (Suz]: 19. Lan ce Smail Evan s, (Ka w ), 18. Ryan Ter le (KTM); 20. O it! Palme r (Kol w ); 21. Ty WaIL1C'e (Ya m ); 22 Matt Shut' (Suz) : 23. Brad Ha gseth (Ya m); 24 . Brian Stone (Ka w ): 25. Bruce Stra tto n (Suz) : 2b. Mike Katin (Ya m); 27. Todd Del-loop (Y.lIm); 28. J.1.. OOn Fink (Ka w); " 29. Ch a d wic k Shepa rd tSuz); 30. Eric Reill y (Suz); 31. Charles Duna wa y .(Hon ); 32. Kenneth Ion es CHon); 33. Brian Ca rro ll tSuz); 34. Jeff Emi,:; (Kaw); 35. Larry Ward (Suz); 36. Bill Schl.lg (Yarn): 37. Tyler Evans (Suz) ; 38. y Josh Demuth (Hen): 39. Ted Ca m pbe ll (Suz): 40 . Jim N eese (Hbg). MOTO 2: 1. Doug Hen ry (Yam); 2. Mike laRocco (H e n) : 3. Mtckn el Pich on (Ya m) ; 25. . Brian Ston e (Kaw): 26. G ift Pal mer (Ka....-I. AMA/ MAZ DA T RUC K N AT IONA L C'S H IP 250" MX SERIES P O INT STAN DINGS IAft" 5 of 12 rou nds): 1. Doug He nry (201/2 wins); 2. G~ Al bertyn (173) ; 3. Mike Lagoeeo (170); 4. Mickae l Pichon 068 /1 ); 5. Ez ra Lu sk 05; /1); 6. Kev in wt ndha m (56); 7. Jeremy McG ra th 0 21/ 1); 8. Ie ff Emig (119); 9. Larry Ward (1 12); 10. M ike C rai g (09 ); 11 . (T IE) H e a th Voss IJea n-5.,>obastit'11 Roy (66) ; 13. Doug Dubach (61); 14. Lan ce Smail (54 ); 15. Phil UWTt'11C'e' (42); 16. Tak es hi Koi ked a (39); 1 ~ ja so n Th Orn.1S (36 ); 18. Jeff Dement (35); 19. (TIE) An thony Amaradio/Ty ler Evans / Ke ith Johnson (3 0). Upc oming Rounds: Round 6 - Buchanan, Michigan, July 5 Round 7 - Unadilla, New York, July 19 that he bro ke seve ral month s ago . The bone has never healed properly so they had to go in. cut both ends off and attac h them wi th a plate. There is also som e muscle and ligament damage . They did a lot of wo rk, almost two hours worth of surgery. Jhe doctor said he will fully .recover but Stev e will, most likely, miss the rest of the year . " Lamson took the overall w in at Budds Creek in 1994 . '95 and '96. Last year, he finished second to Carmichael. With Lamson 's injury and the expiratio n of his Honda co ntract at the end of the year comes much specu lation as to the tw o-time 125 cc N ational C hampion 's future at Team Honda. Alth ough Stanton openly admitted to scouting several new prospect s, the six-time N ational Champion was quick to recognize the possibility of Honda's rewa rding Lamson for the success that he has brough t them in rece nt years. " W e actually have a broad range of riders that we 're currently looking at and , obvio usly, Ste ve 's in there, " Stanton said. " He' s done an out standing job for us in the past. It' s really too early to tell. At this point. we 're still talking to a lot of different people. " During Saturday' s prac tice, Team Hon da technicians installed a tric k cowling device on the radiato r of Ezra Lusk' s facto ryprepped Ho nda CR250 . The device , which appeared to be made from rive ted-together radiator-guard sec tions. was intended to provide additi o nal airflow in th e extreme Bud ds C reek heat and humi dity. " It' s just to try to get a littl e mor e airflow t hroug h the radiat or: said Ho nda's Cliff W hit e aft er the firs l Saturday prac tice session. ' " It's a pretty w arm and humid day and we 're going to try to cool the bi ke down a little bit. At the mom ent. It' S running a little hott er than we would like it to . If the ambie nt temperature is as high tomorrow as It is today. w e 'll prob ably run .it . W e 'l l see wha t affect it has w hen Ezra goes ou t for the second prac t ice. " The cowling remained on Ezra's bike for Sunday' s Nat ional. Ricky Carmichael' s tuner Chad Watts shed some light on his rider' s first mechanically induced DNF. suffered in the first moto at Southwick . " Although we detuned the bikes a little bit for that race because of the conditions, ""'!e were sti ll running too much compression. too much horsepower," W att s said. "We probably should have backed it down a little bit , but in practice we had no problems as the bike was running really cool. In the first moto, it just ate the head gasket. It' s unfortunate and' just one of those freak things . At Southwick, we detuned the bike even more fo r the second moto, but here at Budd s C reek we 're ru nning the . same setu p we always have. No changes. " O bviously. 'none were needed . as Canmichael raced to a perfect ' -1 finish in Sunday' s National.

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