Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS AMA/MAlDA TRUCK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES Broome-Tioga Sports Center B inghamton, New Yo rk Results: August 30 , 1998 (A fter 11 of 12 rounds) MO TO 1: 1. Doug Henry (Yam); 2. Mickael Pichon (Suz); 3. Greg Albertyn (Suz); 4. Ryan Hughes (Kaw ); 5. Mike I....a.Rocco IH on) : b. Phil Lawrence (Kaw); 7. Larry War d < Sux) ; 8. jean-Seb asti en Rov ( Ka w); 9. Tak eshi Koikeda (Yam); 10. Jeff Dement (Ya'm); 11. Josh Demuth (Ke w ): 12 Heath Voss (Hen) : 13. Keith Johnson U (aw); 14. Paul Ca rpenter (Ka w) : 15 . Jason Thomas ()(a w) ; 16. Ty Wa llace (Yam); 17. Ryan Terl ec ki (Suz) ; 18. Cliff Palme r (K.1w); 19. Ryan Clark (Ka w); 20. Blair Mo rgan (Kaw ): 21. Kelly Smith (KTM); 22. Kevi n Crine (Kaw), 23. Richard Ta ylor (Suz ); 24. Jason Fren eti c (Ka w ); .25. Brad Hagseth (Yam ); 26. Jimmy Wilson lSuz ); 27. Mik e Kati n Jr. (Ya m); 28. Dav ey Yezek Jr. (Suz) ; 29. Ma rco Dube (Su z): 30. Keith Troccoli (ya m); 31. Dan Moore (suz); 32. Ma rk David Cult on (Yam); 33. Michael Jon es ()(aw ); 34. Kurt McMillen (Yam); 35. Tom Welch (Suz); 36 . COry Bauder (Yam ); 37 . Eric Reill y (Suz); 38. Le e Ros ht"n- Jr . (Suz ); 39. Bra d w ool se y (Kaw): 40. Doug Dubach (Yam) . MOTO 2: 1. Larry Ward (Suz ); 2. Mike LaRocco C o n); 3. Greg Albertyn (Suz ); 4. Dou g Henry (Yam); 5. H Mickael Pichon (Suz ); 6. Rya n H u ghes (Kaw); 7. Keith John son (Kaw): 8. Rya n Terlecki (Suz): 9. Te kesh! Koike da (Ya m) : 10. Ph il Lawre n ce (Kaw); t 1. Jo sh Dem u th (Kaw ): 12. Cliff Palme r (Kaw); 13. Kelly Smith (JaM); 14. Ican -Sebast ien Roy (Kaw) : 15. Ryan Cla rk (Ka w): 16. Ma rco Dube (Suz); 17. Mike Kahn Jr. (Yam); 18. Dan Moore (5uz); 19. Hea th Voss (Ha n); 20. Richa rd Tay lor (Suz); 21. Jaso n Thomas (Kaw); 22. Davey Yezek Jr . (Suz) : 23. Blair Morgan (Ka w): 24. Brad Woolsey Briefl fI'------ -------~ (K~w)'; 25~ 'L~ Res t!...n Jr . (5uz); 26. Kurt McM ill e n (Ya m ); 27 . Ke ith T rocco li (Ya m ); 28 . Ji m my Wil!'oO n 29. Micha t"1 Jones (Ka w); 30. Cory Bauder (Yam); 31. Mark Da vid Cu lton (Yam); 32. Brad Hagseeh (Yam); 33. Jason Frenette (Kaw); 34. Pau l Carpenter (Ka w): 35. Kevin Crine (Ka w); 36. Tom Welch (Su2); 37. Eric Reillv (Suz); 38. Jett Dement (Yam); 39 Ty Wa llare (Yam); 016. . Doug Dubach (Ya m) . OIk 1. Dou g Henry (Yam); 2. Greg Albertyn (Suz); 3. Larry Wa rd (502); 4. Mike LaRocco (Han); S. Mickael Pichon (Suz ); &. Ryan Hu ghes (Ka w ): 7. Phil Law re nce (Kaw); 8. Takeshi Koikeda (Ya m); 9. Keith Johnso n IKa w ): 10. Josh Demuth (Kaw); 11. jea n-Sebastien Roy CKaw); 12. Ryan Terlecki (502); 13. Gift Palmer (Kaw); 14. Heath Voss (Ho n); 15. je ff Dement (Yam); 16. Kelly Sm ith (KTM); 17. Ryan Clark (I(aw); 18. Paul Ca rpen ter (Kew): 19. Jason Thoma s (Kaw); 20. Ma rco Dube (Suz); 21. Ty Wallace (Yam); 22. Mike Katin Ir. (Yam); 23. Dan MCIOf'e' (Suz); 24. Richard Taylor (Suz); 25. Blair Mor gan (Kaw). AMA/MA ZDA TRUCK N ATI O N AL C'S H IP 250« MX SE R IES POINT STANDINGS (Aftor 11 o f 12 ro unds), "I. Dou g Henry (4-16); 2. Greg Albertyn (383); 3. Michel Pichon (355); 4. Jt"ff Emig (353); 5. Mike laRocco (352); b. Ezra Lusk (329); 7. Larry Ward (291); 8. Kevin Windham (243); 9. jean-Sebastien Ro v (73); 10. Ryan Hu gh es (146); 11. Je ff Dem en t (31);. 12. H eath Vo ss ( 29); 13. Jeremy McGra th (121 ); 14. Takeshi Koikeda ( 19); 15. Michael Craig ( 09); 16. Lance Sma il (08); 17. Jos h Demuth (95); 18. Phil Lawr ence (82); 19. To ny Ama radio (75); 20. Doug Dubach (74). "Clinc hed Championship ($02); Upc omin g Round: R o u n d 12 - D elm o n t , P en n s y lv an i a , Sept emb er 6 ••• .Jeff E':"ig' s two-year reign as 250cc Nat ional M X Champ ion came to a clos e this weekend wi th Do ug Henry' s ti tle -clinc hinq wi n. Emig . however, pret ty much' co nce de d his title wh en he opted to sit out B inghamton and next w eekend' s S teel C ity Nationals wit h a ruptured ligament in his left thumb . Emig injured himself in practice two weeks ago at the M illville Nati onal in M in·ne sota when he hit a bump and rolled all 01 his weight over on his thumb . "I iced it down, used some anti-infiammatcrie and then he would jus t gri nned and beared it, " said Emig 01 the two mot win later that day. " Once I go t home , I kept icing It, but it wasn't getting any bett er. When I went to the doctor, he said my best bet was to have it operated on and start worrying about gett ing ready lo r next year." So. on Fnday, Emig had his thumb pinned . and he wi ll not race again until the Kawasaki Race 01 Champions at Englishtown, New Je rsey , in early October. Going info Binghamton , Emig had won lour 01 the last l ive Nat ionals and eight 01 the last 10 mot es , but he was still 50 poi nts behind the consistent Henry in the point sta ndings. Doug Henry also joki ngly said he was upset about the surprise wit hdrawal 01 red-hot J ell Emig l or the rest 01 the seaso n: " I really wanted to come here and beat him today, and all I've been thinking about when I'm training is beating 'J ell, " said Henry 01 his rival. " I wanted to beat him so bad here that I prob ably worked harde r m.,on Thursthan I have all seaso n to get ready for this race . ThE day afternoon. J eff 'calls my house 'o ut of nowhere and says . 'I' m not going to be there - congratulations, it looks like you 've got it (the title ) all wra pped up:' I was like: 'Oh, ma n, .why didn' t you call me last week and save me all 01 this extra work?' " Joi ning Emig on th e Side lines was TeamHonda's Ezra Lusk, who finally decid ed to quit trying to rush the healing 01 the arm he broke back in June. Lusk came back just tw o weeks alt er having a plate put in his arm but then sullered throug h an inlection. Alter a new plate was inserted. Lusk reinjured the arm when he crashed tw o week s ago while leading at Mil Mll e. Now he's staying on the sidelines until the Oct ober 10-1 1 U .S. Open o f Supercro ss in Las Vegas . B 8 ~ 00 0\ 0\ ,...... 0\ f- a; ..0 E a; ..... 0.. a; (J) 8 Doug Henry was an obvious c rowd favor ite at B inghamton. Henry d id not disappoin t. Lusk's injury briefly reo pened the debat e over wh o wa s going to ride the 250 lor Tearn USA at the Motocross des Nations in England next month. Yamaha's Kevin Windh am had ori ginally been slated to take the assiqnmen t, but his broke n leg at W ashougal meant that Lusk got th e Call. W hen Lusk and Honda decided it Was time to re st his fragile arm, it appeared that Emig would get called up. However, Emig had eye surgery scheduled l or mid-Se ptember and was injured himself. last week. So the AMA's Duke Finch called upo n 33 -ye ar-old J ohn D ow d, a me mber 01 last year's squad, to carry Old Glory alongside Nat ional MX Champ ions Doug Henry and RiCky Carmi chael. Dowd was thri lled to get the call. " I to ld D uke back in J uly that il anyth ing happened and he need ed me , I would love to go back and w in it this tim e, " said D owd, wh o had proble ms with a faulty ignit ion in Belgium last year . " II's like a dre am come true to go back, especially alongsi de Doug and Ricky. " Dowd will ride a VZ250 Yamaha, and tes ting is set to begin this week . Dowd will fly out to Calilornia lor two day s on .the bigg er bike bel ore co ming back eas t for the las t 125cc National at Steel City . II Dowd were so mehow unable to atte nd the M X des Nations, the next name on the lis t migh t have be en " Sbo w tirne " him se ll , .Jeremy McG r a t h . The fiv e-time AMA Supercr oss Champi on has been riding in C alilornia lor the last two week s alter Sitting out the ent ire summer with a broken wri st. M cGrath is neither in race shape nor up to speed at this point. but by late September he shou ld be in l ighting lorm. McG rat~ ' s first major race back will . be the Italian Fast Cross on Sept embe r 19. Back ing Team USA at the MX des Nations will be PACE Motor Sports . the primary promoters 01 the AMAfToyota Supercro ss Series. The Kevin W indha m / Yamaha breakup is not offi cial yet, as Yamaha is said to possess an expired letter-of -intent that might render his recent co ntrac t with Honda null and void. But all signs po int to WIndham being on a Honda next year. wearing No Fear clo thing alter lo ur years with Fox Racing. His Honda sta blemate Sebastien Tortelli will also be wearing No Fear, while team captain Ezra Lusk is said to be sti cking wi th Fox. FMF/ Honda team manager Bob Moore confirmed that American expatriate T a llon V ohland will retu rn to the U.S. 125cc Nat ion als lor the hlSt time since 1gOO as a member 01 the Honda satelhte leam . Vohl and has been racing in the 125 and 250cc W orld Championship Serie s since he last rode the AMA series back in 1990 . The Calilornia native joins Broc k Sellards and Donny Smith as confirmed members 01 the FMF / Honda squad. M oore was also hoping to bring two-time 125cc W orld Champion Ale ssio Chi odi over from Italy. but " Chico," as he is affectionately called, st ill has another year left on his Husqvarna co ntract . Robb ie R eynard 's late -season surge has taken him to three 125cc -moto wi ns but no overalls to date. However. Reynard was rewarded with a lull Suzuk i 250 ride next year , l or both indoors and out. Reynard was said to be high on Yamaha's shopping list, esp eci ally alter t he unexpected Win dh am divorce , but Su zuki made Reynard an offer he could ~ 't refuse. " The Suzuki is a great bike and . I think th at they have a great ' !'eam lined up for next year, " said the 2 1-year-old Reynard, who has spent the last three years in box vans alter b eing dropped Irom the Kawasaki lactory team at the end 01 the '95 seaso n. " Plus; I getto wo rk wi th Rog er DeC oster, which should be great l or me and my career . ' Alre ady set up in the S uzuki tr uck for 1999 are incumbents Greg A1b ertyn and Larry W ard. In o ther-1999 signings, Damon Huffman wiU be staying wi th Kaw asaki even alter a d isa st ro us 19 9 8 · se as on , wh ere he missed the entire outdoo r Nat ional Se ries wi th a broken femur . and M ike laRocco has reupped with Fact ory C onnectio n, J ack in the Bo x, O 'Neal, and Pirelli l or another season . la Rocco debuted some brea d -new O 'Neal ridi ng gea r from the compa ny's 1999 hne and almost seemed out 01 place as t he most lashionable rider on the ·trac k. When as ke d abou t the stylis h new -gear. the eve r-conse rvative laRocc o shrugged and said . ':1 gues s I'm a model now . " The lou r mos t significan t riders who still haven't sealed a deal lo r next yea r are Kawasaki' s Ryan Hughes , Suzu ki' s M ickael Picho n , Honda' s Steve Lamson , and Ch aparral Yam aha' s Ji mmy B utton . Hughes is said to have a_few options. one of which IS as the third memb er 01 Chaparral Yamaha. Pichon has been linked to American Honda as we ll as Suzuki, and he expects to make a decis ion this wee k. Lamson is said to be look ing closely at joining M ike laRocco on the Factory Con nect ion/Jack in the Box satelli te Honda team. And Butt on is happy with Chaparral and should have something worked out there soon . A nother sig nilicant pla y er who hasn ' t bee n able to s olidify a spo t nex t year is Honda 01 Tr oy' s M ike Brown . W it h the squad go ing to Ya ma ha and fu ll -t i me 12 5cc e qui p ment, Brow n is the od d man out be cau se he " poi nted out " 01 the 125cc " Regional - Superc ro ss clas s in the mid-1990s. (In the hard -to-fol low advance men t p o lic y 01 t he AMA ' s 12 5cc Supercro ss p rogram, th e likes 01 M ike Brown , Mi ke J one s , Tim Ferry and J erom y Bueh l have all "pointed out : yet J ohn D ow a, Ric ky C armic hae l. Steph ane Roncad a. and even vet er, an s su c h as Ta ll o n V ohl and an d Gu y ·C o op e r , as w ell as Wo ~l d M X Ch ampions' Al e ssio Chiodi and Se bas tien To rt elli , . wi ll. be el igi ble next year.l S o Brow n Yamaha 01 Tro y go es w ith Roncada, Lytle and C o sta Ric an rookie Erne st o as p iri ng Georg ia pil ot MaU Walker hel p in the 125cc East races . i s lelt w it hout a job. as Ca sey J ohn son , Ca sey Fon seca full time . Al so , sho uld be getting so me No wo rd yet on where Brown's injured teammate M ike C ra ig will end up next year . C raig broke his le mur at Budds Creek in June and wa s hoping to return by the end 01 the series. but he wa s not able to get bac k in shape and back up to speed soo n enough . The winners 01 this wee kend's Copenhagen Racing Priva t eer Chall enge were Tecate / Kawasaki 01 M exico ' s P hi l Law r en c e and Holley Racing Yamaha rider T ake shi Koikeda in the 250c c class, and Chaparral Yamaha rider .Jimmy Button and Noleen Yamaha's Tim F e r ry in the 125s . Lawrenc e ran 6· 10 l or seventh overall, w hile the Japanese Koikeda was 9·9 lo r eighth. Butt on po sted 5 -4 mot a finis hes lor hlth overall, whil e Ferry sco red 9-10 lor nint h overa ll. Local amateur hero Paul Carpenter made his pro fessio nal raeing debut on Sunday in the 250cc class. wi th mixed resu lts . Long considered an East Co ast secret . the vibrant Carpenter has been getling' good play recently as one 01 the co untry's top young upand-corners, Alter a bad start in the lirst 250cc mota, Carpenter '; fought lo r 14l h·place points. In the second race , he was the early victim ofa seized engine. ~ l had a great time. and I can't tell you how much I learned in just one race, " said the enthusiastic Car pen ter as he 'walked away irom the sec ond mot a . " I' m really happy to have li nally reac hed this level. and I am going to work as hard as I can to be a top pro . " W ith his Jeremy M cG rath-like build and Ryan Hughes -like aggressivene ss, Carpenter just might have the too ls it .takes. Belore the start 01 each 250cc·class mot a. a strange incident took place down on the starti ng line. As the SO-second card went up to start the ope ning mota, Mi ckael Pichon 's father dropped his son 's water bottle on the concrete starting pad, wetting down the mry and G reg Albertyn. Suzuki team starting slo ts 01 Doug HE manager Roger DeCoste r said it was a very embarrass ing accident l or M r. Pichon , but Albe rtyn and He nry were both a little milled by the timing - and by the possible damage such a spill might have caused . However, Henry got the holeshot and Alber · ty n wa s in the top l ive . Lat er . as the 250cc -c las s riders were preparing lor their parade lap, Hen ry stood at the sta rting gate without his bike . An eme rgency engine sw itch as a pre caution meant that he wa s not ready l or the mo to . The AMA did not immediately start the parade lap at 4 :20 as sched uled and wa ited approximately 10 m inute s whil e th e tr ack was be ing prepped . When they did finally start the parade lap, Henry ' s bike was still back in the pits . Finally, as the riders wer e returning to the start ing gate , Henry' s mechanic , Pete Ste inbrecher, raced into the starting area aboa rd the growling thumper . The mot a went all at 4 :44 · p.m.. 14 minute s la~e . Doug Henry squashed the rumor that he wa s co nsidering retiring at the end 01 the 199 8 seaso n. Henry has been the subjec t of reti rement buzz since mids ummer , mo st likely a resu lt of the fact that he hasn't signed on lor any 01 the postseason int ernational supercross event s, including the $ 250 ,000 U .S. Op en 01 SX in Las Vega s. When asked about his plans. Henry simply replied, " I have no plans 01 retiring, but I am looki ng l orw ard to the off- season." Also, CNN wa s on hand to film Henry ' s ntle-clinchinq Bing hamton victory. Henry wa s the subjec t 01 a CNN profile in January. w hich depic ted his reco~ery Irom injurie s to become a co ntender once again.

• Cover