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/127957
MOTOCROSS 1998 AMA AMATEUR NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS F-- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - ----' By Davey Coombs HURRICANEMILLS, TN, AUG. 3-8 a m Sp litFire/ Pro Circu it's Nic k We y and Hond a of Troy-ba cked Ma tt Walk er were amon g four riders w ho sha red the fou r premi er class cha m pio ns h ips a t th e AM A Ama teur Na tio na l Mot ocro ss C ha m pi o n s hi p Final s at Loretta Lynn 's Ranch in Tennessee . We y won the debut 12Scc Pro Sp or t cla ss a boa rd a Kawasak i, w hile Wa lke r won th e 12Scc A class on his Honda . The 250cc A class was cap tu red b y Tea m Green ' s Bill y Payn e, while Geo rgia 's Shae Bentley top ped the 250cc Pro Sport di vision . " It's not as w ell as I wanted to do h er e, but I ju s t di d n ' t ge t all of the breaks:' said Michigan 's Wey, who is a regu lar on the AMA 12Scc Pro Na tional .cir cui t this year. Wey was ex pec ted to do minate his tw o classes at what would be his last visit to Lorett a Lyn n's before emba rki ng on a fu ll-time professio nal career. However, he fell on the first lap twice - once in the 12Scc Pro Spo rt class and once in the 250cc Pro Spo rt class and could only recover to thi rd and seven th, respectively. That mea nt that the IS-yea r -old was a ble to acq u ire th e 125cc title wi th a thr ee-m oto score of 12-2, ed ging Bentley, wh o ran 4-3-1, and Ca li fo rni a 's Jiri Do stal (6-6-3). Fo x / FM F / H amm e rh e ad / Bal ze e backed Ben tley took advan tage of Wey's 2S0cc Pro Sp ort fall to card a 3-1-3 Na tio na l title . Th e Suzu k i- mou n te d Dostal wa s righ t behind him a gain, with a 2-2-4 runner -up finish. KTM 's Kelly Smith was third with a 6-6-1, while Wey ran 1-7- 5 fo r four th. Wey ' s p rimary com petition was supposed to have been Ce rnic' s Racing Su zuki rid er Bra nden [essernan, bu t after [esseman finished a close seco nd in the firs t 12Scc Pro Sport moto, he crashed while leadi ng the first 2S0cc Pro Sp ort moto an d inju red his wrist. He called it a week at that point, d efl atin g th e highl y an tici pa ted Weyvs .-Jessem an d ue l. However, ano ther Easterner su rprising ly filled the void. "I came here kn owing th at I cou ld wi n if I just put my head down and rod e my hard est: ' said Geo rgia's Matt Walker, who is also backed by Axo, Oakley a nd Pro Circu it. "There' s a lot of fast g uys h er e, bu t th e y co un t a ll thr ee mo tes , and you'v e got to give it 100 percen t the who le time to ge t a title." Walk er did jus t that in th e h igh ly co m petitive 12Scc A class. (The difference between the "A" and "Pro Sport" classes is tha t Pro Sport rid ers h ave qualified for Nationals and /o r Supercross eve nts.) Wa lker ra n 4-1-1 to better Pavne's 1-4- 2 a nd Cos ta Rican he ro E r~esto Fons eca' s 2-2-4 . Walker also gra bbed a moto win in the 12Scc Pro Spo rt class but ended up fifth overall. His West Coast rival Payne go t himself • a big trophy as we ll wit h a 1-1-2 score in the 250cc A class, tak ing the title ahea d of up-and -coming. New Yor ker Paul Carpe n te r (2- 2-4) a n d fe llow Tea m Green favorite Jeff Gibson of Ohio (8-43). It was Pay ne's second tit le in as manv vears, Foi the 17th straigh t yea r, the AMA Ama teu r Na tio nal Fina ls w er e held at the middle of the Tennessee ranch home of Lore tta Lynn, the cou ntry-a nd- western-m us ic lege nd imm or tali zed in th e m ovi e "Coa l Miner' s Da u g ht er. " The ~ II'S Kawasaki's Nick Wey (67) was one of the big winners at the GNC Amateur National Championship Final at Loretta Lynn's . Wey topped the 125cc Pro Sport class.