Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127951
MOTOCROSS, Round6: Red Bud Track and Trail AMA/MAlDA.TRUCK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 1 25cc¥XS R S F - - - - -.....:.:..-.-- - - - - - - - - - - - -E IE - -- - - ------.J es. "He just inched aw ay a little ea ch lap, but I was trying my best." H onda of Tr oy / Sin isa lo/ Dunlop ba cked Mik e Brown kept th e momentum rolling from hi s second overall at Bud d s Creek two weeks ago and took third overa ll with a 3-3: After holding second for the majority of the first mo to, Brown slid ou t and went down with a little over a lap remaining . Brown qu ickly remounted and fini s hed third af ter Dowd moved by. "1 got good starts and I d idn't get tired," Brown said abou t his stro ng outings . "1 had a few little probl em s, but 1 felt good . I hop e I can keep do ing it." Carmichael' s Spli tFire / Pro Circuit / Ka w asaki tea mm at e Casey j ohns on crossed the finish line in fourth in both mot os for fourth overall. " It s eem s lik e I' m co ns is te n tly fou r th ," sa id Jo hnson, w ho fi n is h ed fourth a t th e tw o p re viou s even ts a t Budds Creek an d Southwick. "We have tw o weeks off and I'm going to train my ass off so I can stand on the podi um and spray some cha m pag ne at Unadilla." Ro unding o u t th e top fiv e w as FMF/Honda -mounted Jason McCormick. The Washington state native was up front for most of the day, finishing wi th a 5-10 moto tally. "I've b een train ing w ith the rm al und er wear , so I ca n keep go ing in the heat," McCormick exp la ined abou t his performan ce. "1 made a few mis takes In th e second moto, bu t it w as n ' t a bad day ." By Daile Deringer Photos by Kinney Jones BUCHANAN, MI, JULY5 0r the fourth time this year, Tea m Spli tFire / Pro Circuit /Kawas aki' s Ricky Carmic hael smo ked his competiti on in both 125cc National mot os to take the overall win. This time it was at the 25th running of the Red Bud Na tion-' al Mot ocross. After pulling two stro ng . starts, Ca rmichael had littl e passing to [p 12 do , bu t he did it quickly, sho wi ng the 21,300 fans in attendance why he carries the number -one plate. "My Kawasaki 125 ran gre at all d ay and 1 feel grea t," Ca rmichael said of his wi n. "I' m jus t trainin g hard and I'm in better sha pe this year th an I was la st year, and hopefully it wi ll all payoff." Fini shin g second to Ca rmichael in both motos was Team Yama ha 's John Dowd. Com in g in to Red Bu d, Do wd had a o ne- po in t a dva ntage ove r Defen ding 125cc National Champion Ricky Carmichael keeps on roiling as he turned in a perfect 1-1 to win the class at Red Bud. . Carm ic hael, bu t h e will . h ead in t o Una dill a in two weeks five points back in seco nd pla ce. . "1 felt good ou t there, actually; he jus t beat me tod ay, tha t' s all," commented Dowd regarding his second-place finish - MOTO ONE It w a s Jo h n s o n w ho g ra bbe d th e holeshot w hen the ga te d ropped in the fir st m ot o, fo llowed b y Carm ich ae l; Bro wn, Dow d and Team Stiffie's Shau n Pero lio. Honda of Troy' s Stephans Roncada and Stiffie's Brian Deegan, along with several priva teers, went down in a heap . Ca rm ichael quic kly mov ed by Johnson , who b obbled on th e second lap whil e tryin g to share a rut wit h Dowd , a n d se t sail a s Brow n, Pe ro li o a nd McC orm ick a lso took a dva n tage of Johnson 's slip-u p. Chaparra l Yamaha's Jimmy Bu tton was in six th a n d o n a charge after having been the recip ient of a mediocre start. Ca r m ichae l h ad a se ve n-sec o n d advantage over Brown at the 10-minute m ark , w h ile Dowd m o v ed by McCormick for third . [ohnson regain ed his form and was in fifth , gunning for McCormick, w hile Perolio an d Button were dicing for sixth an d seventh . For the next several laps, thin gs were s tea dy a s Ca rmichael was d oin g his th in g out fr ont, with Brown h old in g d own seco n d . Dowd 'w a s re elin g in Brown bu t had so me gro und to cover, .and Johnson was comfortable in fourth. O n the other end of the track, Primal Impulse /Bill' s Pipes / Su zu ki' s Buddy Antunez was ge tting checked ou t by the med ics a fte r hi s throttle ' ap paren tly stuck on the face of a jum p, sen ding him tumbling do wn the track. W it h th e tw o-la p b oard o u t, Ca r m ic hael s ta rted ha v in g fun ov er some of the massive jumps, while Dowd chased after Brown, still within striki ng distance of seco nd . As Brown round ed the Monza Wall , his bike slid out, violentl y throwing him from his mount and tweaking the bars in the' process. Dowd easily pa ssed the downed rider and procee de d to fini sh seco n d behind t h e incredibl e Kawa saki s pee ds te r, Carmichael. "That was a little bit"of a gift from Mike there, but I'll take it," Dowd said about Brown's fall. "1 had a tou gh time