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/127962
MOTOCROSS Final round: Lake Whitney MX Park AMA WESTERN NATIONAL FOUR·STROKE MX SERIES By Mark Kariya WHITNEY, IX.SEPT. 6 (Above) Dustin Nelson picked up his second overall win in the series with a 2-1 in Texas. It als o marked his lirst moto win a nd locked up third in series points . "I definitely was n't the fastest guy out there, bul it ended up working out for me," he adm itted. (Left) The on ly Texan con testing the entire series , Todd Downs put In his best perform ance of the series in front of friends and family, go ing 3·3 for se cond ove rall. Buoyed by tha t, he 's now plann ing on heading to the AMA Eas tern Four-Stroke National Se ries . or onl y the seco nd time in th e A M A Wes tern Ia ti o n a l FourStroke MX Series, a Yam a ha ra cer st ood a top th e podium . Not o n ly th at, YZ4 00F-mounted rid ers to ok the fi rst four spots 'overa ll w ith Motoworld of EI Ca jon (C alifo rnia)- bac ked Dustin elson not ch in g his second se ries ov e rall win (and first victory in a rnoto) via a 2-1 da y. With their '99- series pl ates alrea dy secu red , new th ree -time series cha m p Lance S mail and run n er- u p G reg Schne ll passed on the fina l ro u nd of the fo u r-s t ro ke se r ies in fa v or of th e AM A/ Maz d a Truck Na tional finale in Pen nsylva nia. Ho w e ver, tha t di dn ' t th ro w the thumpe r fina l w id e open, becau se new and hea vy-duty ta lent participated a t th e w onderful -but-h ot La ke W hitney M X Pa r k facili ty. In ad d ition to some q u ick local s, G P hea vy weig ht s Daryll King and Jack Ma rt e ns s how ed u p to m a in tain s h a r p n e ss a s th e M X d es ation s approa ches a t the e nd o f the m onth. T o no o ne's s u rp r ise, Kin g a nd Ma rtens da sh ed to the fro nt o ff the start in mota o ne on the ir big-bore '99 Hu sq va rnas, with Texas ve t rider Dean Lane tagging along thanks to a grea t sta rt on his Cycle Town Hu saberg FC600. Th e Racer' s Edge Yamaha rid er Scott Mye rs e nded up o n th e grou nd in turn o ne after inadve rt en tly tangling with Nelson, the seco nd m ota in a row he' d crashed in turn one. . It appeared that the New Zealander o n hi s se m i-works TC 630 a nd th e Belg ian o n a mostly st ock TC610 were simply pla y-riding while the America n co nting en t w en t w ild behind the m . elson w as d eterm ined to ca tch the GP rid ers, however, and sha d owed Martens aft er a few laps. King di scovered his bike co ped w ith the Texas hea t worse than he d id. "T he sta rt w as perfect," King sa id . "I was ju st crui si ng a ro u nd r idi ng a t a good fu n speed . Then the bike s ta rt ed ru n n in g a lit tle b it rou g h, mi ss in g. It w a s o nly o n o n e p art o f t he tr a ck . I thoug h t the spa rk-p lug ca p w as jumping off and on ." It go t worse a nd worse before he also picked up a flat rear lire. Th at d id it, and Brief/~_ .. _ In addition to Lance S ma il and Greg Schne ll. two other series regulars didn't show at Whitney . though injuries were the reason . Robert N aughton remained at home in Arizona recuperating from a tom leg muscle suffered in a practice crash at the previous race . while J im my laMastus reportedly stayed in Idahowitha broken ankle. Texan Dean Lane on riding with Da ry ll King and Jac ky Ma rt e ns , "I hey didn't see m to be lightning last: they just never made a mistake - that's the part that was so incredible. just very smooth. I got to stay with them a co. pie laps. I'd make a little bobble here or a little mistake there. and they would gain a bike length. The n I'd catch back up. I'd make another bobble. and they'd gaina bike length. then they'd gainiwo bike lengths. then they were gone.Ki ng's bike wasn't the full-on factory TC630 he used in this year's GPs . Husqvama asked Cycle Town 01 Lancaster. Texas. to help out so the crew there uncrated a pair of '99 TC610s . King used his wo rks engine, titanium exhaust. carbon -fibe r rear fend er an'd sidepa nels . and factory suspe nsion. Martens kept his bike close to stoc k. except lor his own Sachs shock. titanium exhaust and a 'gg Husky 610 high-compression piston kit. Though he's a Texan. Corpus Christi's Todd Downs didn't consider Whitney lamiliar territory: "I've raced here about lour times . It's not really a home track for me. We're about eight hours from here. six or eight hours. SO It'S not really a home track. but I've been here a handlul 01 times. It's a real last track; it's not hard to get the rhythm down on it It's pretty much all wide· open. but Ido favor longer and roughe r tracks. That seems to be more what I do well on." How hot was it? Acc ording to several sources, the temperature peaked at 106 degr ees · in the shade. Later in the afternoon. direct sun on one thermometer p u s ~d the needle well past the 34 120-degree maximu m. .