Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

uphill s ta rt. Things woul d ge t worse wh en th e Kawa saki rid er reach ed th e first tum midpa ck and went d own in a pileup that also included Brown, Primal Impulse/ Suzuki's To ny .Lorusso, pri vateer Joe O eh lh o f, a nd KTM-ba ck ed David Kra tz. Up fro nt, Dowd pulled the holes hot on his Yamaha, followed by Reyn ard , Spli t Fire / Pro C irc uit's ic k We y, FMF/Honda' s Brock Sellards, and Johnso n. Reynard seemed tense rid ing near the front and lost several spots on the opening lap. Meanwhile, both Wey 'and Johnson moved forward and, for part of the lap , Wey was in the lead before his old er teammate, Johnson, moved up to take over the lead before the end of the first lap. Johns on w a s putt in g on th e sa me earl y cha rge that he had last weekend at Broome-Tioga, wh er e he sp lit from the pack ea rly a nd a p pe a red to be on his way to h is firs t-ever mot o win before Reyn ard reeled him in. This time Johnso n was hoping to get away an d stay aw ay. "I got a good start and we nt to the fro nt an d jus t p in ned it," sai d Joh nson of h is s trategy . "I knew th a t some of those gu ys might be coming up later, but I w a s go ing to charge the whole time and see what happened: ' One rider wh o would not be coming was Carmich a el. The ch amp wou ld comp lete the firs t lap in 20th place and the seco n d lap in 14th. Carm icha el wou ld move forw ard a few more spots be fore an oth er cras h w ould ruin hi s hopes of making it all the wa y in to overall contention. He would finish the moto in 10th place. After falling back as far as sixth, Reyna rd started moving forward after 10 minutes. Wey, Ramsey , Sellards and Honda of Troy / Axo /Oakley-backed priva teer Matt Walk er were his first victims. By th e tim e the rac e rea ched the halfway mark, Reyn a rd w as ba ck up into second, havi ng passed Dowd when the veter an made a mista ke in a fast, sweep ing section . Dowd also left th e door open to Ra msey, who has been on a roll lately himself. For the res t of the mot o, Dowd and Ra msey would d uel for the fina l podium spo t. In the end, Dowd wou ld emerge victorious from their pitched battle. "I trie d really hard th e whole tim e because I wanted to be on the podium," sa id Dowd. "I really wicked it up when I saw that time wa s running out. athan and 1 had a good race:' "I' ve been working a ll yea r long to ge t up on the podium, but John just beat me ou t there at the end," said Rarnsev, who finished the seaso n 10th over all in the final rankings. "I' m reall y proud of how hard I rod e that moto, but it would have been much better if I had stayed ahead of John : ' Behind the Dow d / Ramsev duel rode Wey with a solid fifth-p lace ride, followed by Chapa rral Ya maha ride r Jimmy Butt on a nd Mike Brown, who came fro m the sa me pileup that snagged Carmic hael. Hon da of Troy's Ste phane Ron cad a was eig ht h, olee n Yamaha's Tim Ferry was ninth, a nd Ca rmic hael was 10th. johnson 's lead wa s about 12 seconds when Rey nard broke ba ck into second , and, just as he did at Broome-Tioga, the Suzuki rid er went about chipping away at the lead by two or three seconds a lap . When the white flag waved, he was right on Johnson 's back fender. Urged on by th e cro w d , Re ynard m ade his move through a jump-filled sweeper, snagging th e lead from Johnson w ith half a lap to go . But" rather than go away ag a in wit ho u t a figh t, Jo hnson went right back at Reyn ard a nd used a slick outsid e-in blo ck-p a ss in th e follow in g off-cam bered , downhill sweeper. "As soo n as h e p a s s ed m e , I to ld myself that there was only half a lap to go, and then 1 put my head back down and we nt after him," sai d Johnso n. "He left the door open a little bit and I go t back in th er e. After tha t 1 jus t held on and rode as fast as 1cou ld:' "Casey w as rid in g r eally well th e whol e mot o , a nd I tried as ha rd a s 1 could to ge t him, all the way across the finish line," said Reyn ard lat er .· "I wa s riding really tight a t the beginning o f th e moto, but once I s ta rted to loo sen up, 1 reeled him in. He mad e a goo d, aggressive move on me, and 1 give him credit for that." Dowd ag ain pulled th e ho leshot in th e seco n d mot o, but Reynard a nd Carmichael also go t good starts, setting the stage for an other showdown of the su m me r's fastest 12Sec pilots. Re yn a rd to ok over th e lead from Do wd in t h e b a ck section, b ut Ca rmichael was goi ng backw ard . He los t third to Ram sey and was nearly passed by Honda of Troy's Stephane Roncada befo re settling down. "I was having a little bit of trouble at the sta rt of the second mo to when I should have been going right after Robbie," said Carmichael later. Reynard was not pulling away from Dowd , but the lack of earl y pr essure by Carmichael gave the Su zuki rid er a chance to settle down and relax. "I didn't rid e as tight at the beginning that time, but when Rick y did come up, I s tarted to get a little tense," admitted Reynard . "I knew that if I just rod e my own race and didn't worry too mu ch about him, it would b e o kay, because I wa s not going to get tired. I' ve been traini ng really hard all su m me r, and I just don't get tired ou t there any mo re. 1 also want to thank John Dowd for giv ing me room on the inside of the first tu m to get through without going down, because he could have shu t me off hard, but he doesn't ride like that." Reynard wo u ld need every bit of s treng th he had fro m the third lap on , because o n ce Carm ic ha e l displaced Dowd , he went right aft er th e lead in g Suzuki and pulled up to his back wheel. H ow ever, Carmi cha el n ever mad e a pass on Reynard, and the highly anticipated battle w ould prove to be anticlimactic. As the laps clicked off, Reynard and Carmicha el rod e in forma tion, with Reynard at the poin t. The longer he stay ed ahead o f Carmichael. the fas ter he seemed to ge t, w it h h is co n fidence bu ildi ng along the way. After 25 minut es, Carmichael w as losi ng g ro u n d, a nd in the end he let t he Su zuki ge t more than 10 seconds ahead of him. "I just didn't have a good day, and 1 didn' t ride my best, bu t I was tr ying' really hard," said the disappointed and ever-co mpetitive Carmichael. " It was a good yea r for me and my team, bu t 1 wou ld ha ve reall y liked to have won tod ay." Dowd was a lonely thi rd , followed by Bro wn and Ramsey. Ro ncad a was ne xt; the n ca me Wey, But ton , rookie 4:\ Shae Bentley, and Sellards . Steel City Raceway Delmont, Pennsylvania Results: September 6, 1998 (Fina l rou nd s) MOTO 1: 1. Ca se y Jo hnso n (Kaw ): 2. Robbie Reynard ($u z); 3. John Dowd (Ya m); 4. Na tha n Ramsey (K.1w ); 5. N icholas Wey (Kawk 6. Jimm y Butto n (Yam); 7. Michael Brown IHo n): 8. Stephane Roncad a (Ho n); 9. Timmy Ferry (Ya m ); 10. Ricky Carmichael {Kaw}; 11. Derrick Shae 8t.-ntlcy (Kaw l; 12. Brock s-.-ILuds (Hun); 13. Ernesto Fonseca (Yam); 14, Ja!KJo McConnick (Ho o); 15. Matt Walker Uion); 16, Barry C a rsten (S uz); 17. Christopher Cosselaar (Ho n); 18. Robbie Ska ggs (Yam); (Above) A more consistent Casey Johnson won the first moto at Stee l City and f in ished out the year In th ird place. (Below, left to right) Johnson, Carmichael and Dowd celebrate on the Steel City rostrum. A 19. Jim N~~ (Suz); 20. Chris Wheeler (Suz): 21. Rusty ... Holland (He n): 22. Tom Welc h (Suz) : 23. Travis Pre ton (Suz); 2-1 . Sco tt Shenk (Hon). 25. Keith JOhn.. <;110 (Yam); 26. Ton y Lorusso (Suz) ; 27. Erick VaJ l~l (K., w); 28. Mich."1l'1 Young (H u n): 29 . Steve n He r man (Su z ); 30 . [oseph Ochlof (Hon); 3 1. M.nt.; Burkhart (Hon); 32. Hawk Whi te (S Ul ); 33. And y Harringt on (Ya m ); 34 . David Kra tz (KT M); 35. Travis Riley (Ka w): 36. Char lo Du naway (Kaw): 37. Jeffr e y Pestana (Ya m); 38. Ryan Huffman (Suz); 3Q. Paul Cu rn c (Kaw); 40. Steven Onh.ku (Yam) . "C. T ime: 3b min.• 5 t .-l7-t !M. M OT O 2: 1. Robbie Reyna rd (S uz}: 2 . Ri ck y Carmic hae l (Ka w ); 3. Jo hn Dowd (Yam) ; 4. Michael Bro wn (Han); 5. Na tha n Ram sey (Ka w ): 6. Stophane Roncada (Ho n): 7. N icho las Wc y (Kaw) : 8. J im m y Button (Yam); 9. Derrick Shae Bentley (Kaw): 10. Broc k Sella rd s (H on ): 11. Cas e y Joh nson (Kaw) : 12. C hr is whee ler (Su z); 13. C hristo p he r Go ssclaa r (Hon) : 14. Barry Ca rste n (Su:£); 15. Pa ul Cu rrie (Ka w ): 16. Tom Welch (5u :£) 17. Iaso n McConnick (H e n): 18. Timmy ; Fc. 'IT)' (V.l m) ; 19. Robbie Skaggs (Ya m); 20. David Kra tz (KTM ); 21. Em es to Fonseca (Ya m) ; 22. Eri ck Vall ejo (Ka .....); 23 . Kei th Johnson (Yam ); 24 . Michael Yo u ng (Ho n): 25. Charles Dunaway (Kaw ); 26. Stl"Vt'11 Herman (5 uz); 27. Ste ve n Onisko (Ya m); 28. Mark Burkhart (Hl)n); 29. Scutt Shc ak (Hon): 30. JOSl"Ph Q."hlof (He n): 31. Ryan Huffman (Suz) ; 32. Travis Preston (Suz); 33. H.1Wk W hite ISu z); 34. Tr a vis Riley ( Ka w ); 35. To ny Larusso (Sux); 36. Jim N~ (Suz); 37, And y Harrington (Ya m); 38. Je ffr t>y Pe s tana (Ya m ); 39. Ma tt Wa lke r (Han); 40. Rus tv Holland (Ha n). O /A : 1. Robbie Re yn ard (Kaw ); 2, Jo hn Dow d (Ya m) ; 3. Casey Joh nso n (Kaw): -to Nathdn Ram sey (KdW); 5, Rick v Ca rm ichael IKaw), 6. Michael Brow n Hi on ); 7. Nic h'olas Wey ( Kaw): 8. Ste p hane Ron cad a (Hoo); q . Jimm y Butt on (Yam); 10. Derri ck Shae Bent ley (Ka .....); It. Br ock Sellard s ( Hon): 12. Ti m my Ferry (Ya m); 13. C h ris to p her C osselaar (Hen): 14. Barry Ca rs te n (Suz ); 15. Jason McCormick (Hu n); 16. Chr is wheeler (Suz), 17. Ern es to Fo nseca (Y,lm); 18. Pa ul Cu rrie (Kaw): lQ. Matt Wa lker (Ho n): 20. To m Welch (Suz): 21. Robbi e Skaggs (Yam ); 22. Jim Nc. 'Sl' (StU); 23. 'l,. Da vid Kratz (KTM). AMAlMAZD A TRU CK NA110NAL OlAMPIONSIffi' U See MX SERIES RNAL POINT ST AND INGS (After 12 of 12 munds): 1. Ricky Carmichael <525 / 8 wins ); 2. John l Dowd (477/ 2); 3. Casey Jo hnso n (407) ; 4. Robbie Rl'YlolnJ (371/1); 5. Michael Brown 0 56); 6. Jimm y Button (329); 7. Stcphane Roncada (246); 8. TImmy Ferry (244); 9. Nicholas W''Y (238); 10. Natha n R.1m 'Y (204 ); 11. Scott Shcak (201); .... 12. Brock Sellard s (193); 13. Ca sey L}11e (135); 14. Ryan Hu ffman (33); 15. Jason McConnick (126); l b . Stevie' Lamson (116); 17. Travis Preston en); 18. PolulCurri e (65); 19. mE) Derrick Shae 1lentL.'YlJelf"'Y W dioh (64). a ~ 21

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