Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

• (Right) Honda of Troy's Mike .Brown found his way ont o the podium with a 4-3 tally. (Far right) Local favorite Jason McCormick (32), here lead ing Reynard , came within a lap of a podium finish. He st ili went 3-4 for fourth overall. cl oser to hi s seco nd strai g h t 125cc Na tio na l C hamp ionship. Carmichael picked up 22 more points on the vet era n Yam ah a rider, leav ing him w ith a total of 407 poi nts a nd a le ad o f 55 po ints w ith just six motos to go in the series . Dowd , in turn, appears to ha ve a lock o n second place in th e stand ings with a 56-po int cushion on third-r an ked john son , 352-296. Fourth in points is Brown (258), while Rey na rd is tied for fif th w ith Team Ch aparral' s jimmy Button at 239 ap iece. "I d on 't really know what happened today, beca use I felt fast, but I just didn't ge t a ny results," sa id the 32-yea r-o ld Do wd , w h o wa s bed e vil ed by tr affic and spills in both motos. Wh en th e ga te fell for the first mo ta , 16-y ear-o ld C h ris to p he r G os se la ar , armed wi th injured Honda factory rider Steve La mso n 's C R12S (Gossclaa rs fathe r is La mso n's form er m echanic and the curre n t w re nc h fo r Honda's Ez ra Lusk) , pulled the h o le s h ot fr o m t he inside. Unfort u na tely, the A MA Pro Racing d ebutant ran off th e track af te r being passed by McCormick and fin ished ou t of the points, but Gosselaa r still served not ice that he has sk ills. Local rid ers alw ays p ick u p the pace when the ational circuit visits the track on w hich they gr ew up, and Washougal was no d ifferen t, as McCormick blasted aw ay with the ea rly lead on lap one of the openi ng moto . Casey johnso n , Ya ma ha -mou nted G reg Sch nell, Bro w n and Mot o- XXX' er Pau l C urrie we re in ho t pursuit, w hile the Suzuki-mou nted Reyn ard rod e ju.st ins ide the top 10. " I ca me around in a bo ut eig hth, bu t th e re w as a big p il eup , and I jus t cou ld n' t avoid it," sa id Dowd . "Everyo ne in fro n t of me w add ed , a nd I had now here to go, so it too k me a few minut es to get my bike ou t of it, so it kind of scre wed things u p for me." Th os e al so invol ved in the pi leup in clud ed Team Stiffie 's Bri an Deegan, Mot a XXX's Michael Brand es, Hon d a of Troy's Ste p ha ne Ro ncad a , and SplitFire / Pro-Circu it's Nick Wev. U p fr on t, C a rmi ch a e( m a d e s ho rt wor k of McC o r m ick a nd pointed the n u m ber-o ne Kaw asaki ioward hi s 13th win in 17 m ot os to d a te in the 1998 series. " I was ju st feelin g good out there, and the bike wa s hooking u p great . The race was just about pe rfect," sa id the 18year-old Florid ian in the winner' s circle. "jas o n was rid ing s trong early , and I knew if I cou ld get around him an d get awa y, I would be fine. By the tim e Reynard m ad e it to second , I was pretty mu ch go ne and jus t cruising ." Reyn ard had made a brilli ant cha rge to mo ve in to seco nd with 10 minu tes to go, but it w as too little, too la te w hen it ca me to ca tc h i ng C a r mic h ae l. McCormick rod e hard throughout for a well-earned third, while Brown charged across the line in fourth, ahead of johnso n. Sp litfiire /Pro-Circui r/ Kawa saki rider N a than Ramsey fin is he d a so lid sixth o ve ra ll, w hile H ond a o f Troy' s Casey Lyt le was se ve nth. Th e unlucky Dowd was eigh th, w h ile fell ow Yam a ha rid er Jim my. Button wa s ninth . Roun di ng out the top 10 wa s local Su zuki hero Ryan Huffman . When the ga te dropped for the second 125cc moto, Lytl e eru pted fro m the inside section of the starting gate for the holesho t. It was, in his words, "the first National holeshot of my en tire ca ree r." Unfo rtu na telv for Lvt le, Carmichael an d Reynard also got starts, a nd the two zip ped pa st Lytle and the battle for ove ra ll was on. lt appeared that they would be joined by Brown, but the Hond a of Troy rider fell an d lost his chance to be part of the ea rly ba tt le for the lead . "Me and McCormick got together on th e firs t la p , a nd I just wen t d o w n ," Brown sa id a fterward . " It p ut me back pretty far , bu t I wasn 't going to g ive up, beca use I rid e good from the back of the pack . I knew it would be hard to ca tch u p, but I really d idn' t have 'a nything to lose, so off I w en t." While Brown w as sta rting ov er fro m ou tside the top 10, McCor mick was left in cha rge of th ird p lace aga in in th e early stag es. As for early series fav orites Dowd and Bu tton , bo th Yamaha rid ers failed to get good starts, continu ing runs of misfo rtune for both of the m. "I made it up to fifth kind of ea rly in the race, bu t th en I hi t a we t s p o t o r so met hi ng in the wh oops a n d w ent d own ," Dow d exp la ine d . " I had parts good han g ing off my bike after that , and the fro nt end w as off a nd that too k so me tim e ge tting u sed to as well. I nev er stopped tryi ng to move up , but I ra n o ut of time." Up fron t, Carmichael w as ha vi ng a hard time sha king Reyn ard . A fter th ree laps , Rey nard was s till s ta lki ng the Ka w a s aki rider a n d , a s th e y ca me through th e st ad iu m whoops th e next time around, Reynard blitzed the washboard s and actuallv sna tche d the lead from the nearly in~incible Ca rmichae l fo r the second ti m e in the la st month. But unli ke the first mo to at Unadilla - in which Reyn ard passed and pulled away fro m Carmichael - Reyna rd ' s lead a t Was hougal woul d n o t la st. As he led Carmichael into the following corner, Reyn ard see med to get on the gas a little too ea rly and the bike slid out on him. In no tim e at all, Carmichael w as back in the lead and back in con trol. "I k ne w he w as ri ding fas ter th a n m e th rough the w hoops, so I wasn't too u p s et a bo u t him pas sing m e th e re," said Carm ichael of Reynard 's stri ke for th e lead . "But b efor e I eve n had a cha nce to think abo u t wha t I was going to do , h e w en t d own a nd I was b y myself . Afte r tha t, I pu t som e good laps in, rod e so me good . lin es and just too k it to th e flag ," ''' I had just passed Ricky, and I w ent into th e next co rn er a li ttle too hard ," Reyn ard said . "The whe ~ l s w en t o u t from u nd er m e, because th e d irt w as rea lly loose in the co rn er. I go t ri g h t back up, but my ha nd lebars were ben t a litt le bit, and my fron t-bra ke lever was sticki ng u p a litt le. I wou ld go int o corners a nd try to hit the brake, but the way I wou ld have to bend my wrist, the throttle woul d co me o n a lit tle , and I al most crashe d a few tim es . I was o u t there thinking, 'Ho w d oes Shae Ben tley rid e wi th hi s cl u tc h le ver sticki ng straight up like that?'" Ca rmic hael's lead continu ed to grow by about a seco nd pe r lap unt il he pu t it on cruise con trol wi th a I fl-seco nd lea d late in the race. Reyn ard finished second and admitted to being ham pered by the minor d amage d on e to his bike in th e slide-ou t. He also see med to ha ve lost a little wi nd o ut of his em otio nal sa ils. M uc h to the d elig ht of the partisa n crowd, McCormick a ppeared headed to a not he r th ird -pl ace fin is h a nd th e last spot on the podiu m. However , the har d cha rg ing Bro wn, w ho clawed h is w ay bac k onto the pod ium fro m ou tsid e the top 10, d eflated the crowd 's excitement. He caug h t an d passed the FMF H onda rid er o n the last la p to kn ock th e popular McCormi ck off the third step . " I jus t d idn' t w ant to give up: ' said Brow n, w ho cha rged all th e way p ast th e ch eckered flag . " I th in k ( ca n still win a n overa ll if I just ge t some good s ta r ts, d o n 't fa ll a n d r id e li ke I d id today." " I tried as ha rd as I cou ld to hold the spo t, bu t M ike w as ridi ng har d , and I w as star ting to pump up: ' McCorm ick said. "One of m y goa ls th is year was to get in the top three or better here, but I guess I cam e up a little sho rt. I w as still reall y happy a bou t being up to wa rds th e front and givi ng th e crowd something to cheer ab out." Button a nd Do w d never see m ed to quit try ing to bette r thei r p o s iti o n s eit her and crossed th e line in fifth and s ixth, respect ively . Fin is hing sevent h was an out-of-syn c John so n, w ho ad mi tted to never fee ling com fortable o n the scenic track. The 19-year-o ld Lytle was eigh th, foll owed by FMF Honda rid er Sco tt Sheak and poo r-startin g oleen Yamah a rider Timmy Ferry. l:\ Washougal Motocross Park Wash ougal, Was hington Results: Augus t 2, 1998 (Round 9 of 12) M OTO 1: 1. Rick v Carmichael (Kc1W); 2. Robbie Reyna rd (Su z) : 3. Ia so n McCor mick (H u n); 4. Mike Br own ( H o nk 5. Case y John son ( K.1W ); 6. Nat ha n Ram se y (Ka w ): 7. Casey lytle (H o n ); 8. John Dowd (Ya m ); 9. Jimm y Button (Yam ); 10. Ryan Hu ffma n (Su z); 11. Tim Ferry (Yam ); 12. Sco tl Sheak (H c n j: 13. Greg Sc h nell (Yam); 14. Ni cholas We y (Ka w ): 15. T ravis Preston (S UL); 16. Jd f Willoh (Suz) ; I i . Brock Sella rd s (Hen): 18. Stephane Roncad a (Ho n ): 19. Pa u l C u rrie (K" W); 20. To ny Lorusso (Suz) : 21. Ch ris wheeler (5u z); 22. Steve An d rich (Ya m); 23. Aki ra Na r ita (He n): 24. Rya ll Clar k (K.,w); 25. Chris Co ssela a r (Ho n); 26. M ikl ' Youn g (Yam ); 27. Jos h Ta ra n tino (Ya m ): 28 . C had Wollas ton (Yam); 29. Ha m id Hegeman (SU7.); 30. Dax Kastrin (Suz) : 31. Keith Bowen (Su z): 32. Shawn Wanng (Yam): 33. la mes I'o voln y Jr. (KTM); 34. Robbie Skaggs (Yam); 35. Michael Bra ndes (Suz ); 36. Isa ia h Joh ns o n (Ka w ): 37. Sha un Perolio (Suz ); 38. Brian De..; an (K.1W); .r 39. Rus ty Holla nd (Hun); 40. Ryan Duff (Ho n). Ti me: 36 min., 27.520 sec. Ma rgi n of vi cto ry: 7.002 ~'C. MOTO 2: 1. Rick y Ca rm ichae l (K,lW); 2. Robbie Re yn ard (Su z ): 3. Milt., Brown ( H o n) : 4 . Jd~ o n McC (lrmid.. ( Hon) : 5. Jimmy Button (Ya m); 6. John Dowd (Yam ); 7. Ca sey jo hnso n (K.1W); 8. Casey Lytle (Ho n); 9. Scott Shea k (Ho n): 10. Tim F~IT)' (Ya m); 11. N ichola s w cy (Kaw ): 12. Ryan Huffman tSu z ): 13. Brock Sel la rd s (Hen) : 14. N a tha n Ramse y ( Ka w): 15. Jeff Will o h (Suz); 16. Ch ris w heeler (SUL.); 17. Stc p ha ne Ro ncad a (Hon) ; 18. Rus ty Holland (H em) ; l Q . Tr a vis P.... ston (I2S) ; 14, , Ryan Hu ffma n 01 7-); 15. Steve La mso n (116 /1); l b. [a so n McCormick n07}; 17, Michae l Brande, (63); HL Brian Deegan (b2); 10. Robbie Ska ggs (56); 20. Travis Pres ton (33)' Upcoming Rounds: Round 10 - Millville, Minnesota, August 16 Round 11 - Binghamton, New York, Augus130 A tj ~ M 00 0\ 0\ ,..... N' ,..... .... Ul :l on :l -< 11

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