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/127960
M9Z~£fl£g~ CHAMPIONSHlp f Final round: Steel City Raceway 125cc M XSERIES tracks , b u t by th e time it was over, he was pleased with a seco nd- place tro phy. "Th is tra ck ha s be en fu nny to me over the years, like ha ving good finis hes on bad d ays and bad rides w hen I feel really good, " sai d Dowd of his past perfo r ma nces o n th e Stee l C ity ci rc ui t. "Today, I rod e okay and I ended up second overall, whi ch is good for me here . I d on' t kn ow what it is abo ut this place. Thos e ot her guys were really going fast , so I'm happy to finish where I d id and ge t through thera ce healt hy, because we have a pretty im po rta n t race coming u p." Dow d was referring to the MX des Na tions, where he will be rid ing in the 250cc class. Third ov erall went to SplitFire /Pro Circui t/Kawasaki's Casey Johnson, the Yamaha of Troy-bo un d Californian who hand ed his tea m a goi ng-away present when he won the first moto on Sunday. "I've been working hard all year lon g to d o th is, and it' s like a d ream come true," sa id Johnson in the first -moto winner' s circle. "I really want to thank Mitch Payton , Jim Perry and Bones from Pro Ci rc uit a nd m y mecha nic, Dav e Finn ey, for givi ng me grea t su pport all yea r long. This was a great way to repay them for all their help and su ppo rt." Finishing a season-bes t fourt h overall was ye t a no the r Sp li tFire / Pro Circuit rider , Na tha n Ramsey. The a fore me ntioned Carmichael rounded ou t the top five overall. In the fin al point s ta nd ings for the AM A /M a zd a Tru ck 125cc N a ti o n a l Champions hips, Carm ichae l finished up his second ' full se ason of profes siona l racing with 525 p oi nt s a nd a seco nd title. Dowd ends the seaso n as the vicechampion with 477 points, followed by Joh nson and hi s 407-p oint ta lly: Reynard 's seaso n to tal was 371 points, edging out Honda of Tro y' s Mike Brow\! and his 356 points. . Wh en the first mot o lit off the ga te just afte r Marcia Boyesen, th e wife of eng ineeri ng legend Eyvan d Boyesen, sang the nation al an the m, Carmichael a p p e a re d to m iss a s h if t, lo sing the advantage of the far-inside gate on the By Davey Coombs . Photos by Kinney Johnson DEL'vIONT, PA, SEPT. 6 n t he las t d a y of Robbie Reynard's resurgen t summer Na tiona l season, th e Pri mal Im pulse / Suz uki /Sco tt i Answer / Du n lopb a c ked Okla ho ma n fi nally p u t two motos together to w in hi s first 125cc Na tional eve nt in mor e than thr ee yea rs. Reyn ard racked up 2-1 moto finis hes on his Rob "Factory" Wal ters-tuned Suz uki to end the AMA/ Mazda Natio na l MX Champ ions hip Series on a winning note. "I've worked hard all yea r lon g to pu t two together and tod ay I finally did it, " sa id Reyn ard . "I' rn really h a ppy wi th the way the su m mer ended, but I rea llv wis h tha t it wo uld have happened a Iitile soo ner. I never stopped working ha rd and this is a good way to end a season." . All summer long, Reynard has been on the fast track back into a factory big rig after spending the last three se~sons wit h satellite team s fo r Su zuki and Honda. But his sensati onal moto wins at Unadilla, Millville and Broome-Tioga we re all offset lioy poo r starts in the other mo tos . This time Reyna rd put together two solid starts on wha t has proved to be his bes t track - of his five career 125cc Na tio na l wi ns, th e 21-year-old former child p rodigy has wo n three of them at Steel C ity. ow Reynard is hea di ng back to a fu ll-facto ry rid e wit h Ame rican Suz u ki, end ing his thr ee-year journey back to the big rig with an overall o ® win. 20 Ha ving alre ady cli nch ed th e series title, 125cc class kin g Ricky Carmichael was set to use th e Steel Cit y race as a test sessio n for hi s Mot ocross d es Natio ns bik e . However, aft er feeling th a t th e pump -ga s bik e wa s a littl e d own on power during Saturday's practice sess ion, Ca rmic hael went back to his regular Ll.S, race eng ine. Unfortuna tely, Carmichael was involved in a hu ge firs tturn p ile-up 'in th e opening mot o a nd . could only mu ster a 10th-place finis h. Wit h not hing left to lose, Carmicha el went in to the second -mo to showdown wi th Reynard determined to p rove that he still contro ls the class, After a good , clean start for bot h riders, the battle was on . How ever, Carmicha el jus t d idn' t ha ve his "A ga me" at Steel City, and the Sp litFi re/ Pro Ci rcuit / Kawasaki rid er lost the race straight up to Reynard . " I o n ly rod e o nce thi s past week because of a hurricane d own in the Gulf (of Mexico), and I just go t bea t today," sa id Ca rmichael after the seco nd moto. " Robb ie kicked my butt in the sefond mot o and that was pretty mu ch it. I wo n the cha mp ions hip, and I feel really good a bo u t th e wh ole yea r, bu t tod a y just d idn't work ou t. 1 will tell yo u that it onl y m ak es m e hu ngrier to ge t over ther e to the Mot ocross des Nations and win . I'm not going to slack off, and I'm going to give 110 percent over there." . Finishing second overall a t Steel CIty w it h 3-3 scores wa s Team Ya ma ha / Fox / Bridges to ne's John Do wd , w ho also finished second overall in the series behi nd Ca r m ic hae l. The 33 -yea r-old Dowd ad mit ted before the day started tha t Ste el Cit y was not one o~ his bes t • (Above) Robbie Reynard used his late-season momentum to carry him to the overall victory at the series finale at Stee l City , a place where he has wo n three times. (Right) John Dowd (9) snared the first-moto holeshot ahead of Robbie Reynard (21), Nick Wey (67), Mike Brown (100) and Ricky Carmichael (1). Dowd went 3-3 for second overall..