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MOTOCROSS KAWASAKI RACE OF CHAMPIONS f',------ - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - ---' U and es By Chr is Collom Photos by Karl Ockert ENGLISHTOWN, NT, OCT. 4 k nea r ly a ny m ot ocro ss ra cer what he thinks of a mud race and ha nces are he will say something like, "It's mind over matt er," or, " If you co nvi nce yo u rse lf that you ' re ha vin g fu n, then you ar e." Thi s is the attitud e th at rid er s and fans alike ad opted for th e 22nd a n n ual Kawa saki Ra ce of Cha mp ions a t Racewa y Park as stead y rain po ured on the pr oceedi ngs for most of the d ay. Th e s p ir its of th e fans an d rid e rs s tayed h igh - es p ecially' a t th e Team Kawa saki semi, which was anchored at the fro n t of the Raceway Park s tag ing a rea . Show in g up for Team Kawasak i were newly con tr acted Da mon Huffman ; Jeff Emig, who a lso jus t inked a co n t rac t w i th Ka w a s a k i; a n d Ry an Hugh es, who w ill not re tu rn to the team next yea r. Two- ti m e l2Scc atio nal Ch a m pio n Rick y Ca r michael w a sn't present for the event. In ad d itio n to the facto ry Kawasaki team, Pro Circ uit Kawasaki rider Nic k Wey showed up, as d id Pro Circu it' s new est add ition, Shae Bentley. The local co ntingen t consisted of Barry Cars ten, Ty Wallace, Brian Carro l, Joel Den gler an d Bru ce Stra tton, to name a few of Raceway Par k's Na tional-caliber rid ers . On the track, the 250cc Pro-class win went to Hughes with a 1-1 score. Hughes wa s fo llo wed home by his teamma te Huffman, who went 2-2. The 125cc Procla ss hon or s w en t to Wey, via his 1-2 mot o sco res, and Bentley na iled down second with a 3-1 tally. Ra cew a y Pa r k tra ck d es ig n er Ja y Irw in a nd hi s s ta ff d id a grea t job of prepping the track. The d esign incor pora ted seve ra l tab leto p / trip le co mbination jumps lace d together with rough sa nd sectio ns . So me 90 truckloa d s of cla y a nd 40 tru ckl oad s of sand were ~ ,......, C'l l-< Cl) .o o ...... u o 28 (Above) Ryan Hughes mastered the mud wi th 1-1 moto scores in the 250cc Pro class . (Right) Damo n Huffman was second overall after trailing Hughes in both moto s. u se d to refa ce the tra ck p ri or to th e even t. Unfortu nat ely, the u nruly Jer sey wea ther turned the day in to a mu d race, wi th the track wo rking into a very ru tted and challeng ing course. The first 250cc Pro race saw New Jersey 's ow n Jim Mcllv an e d ial the power to the gro und to nail the holesh ot. Mcllvan e is Ra ce wa y Park's res id en t holeshot a rtis t, and week in a nd week ou t he runs his Hond a u p fron t after grea t starts. Early on the first lap , both Hu gh es and Crine were quick to pass Mcllva ne. Ty Wa llace and Dave Krat z, meanwhile, rou nded out the top five. Hughes and Cri ne, bot h w inne rs of th eir qualifie rs , beg an to pull a go od lead over third -placed Wallace. Huff- man, however, was coming through the pack afte r a p oor s tar t; he held d own sixth pla ce. "You just have to psyche yourself up for a mud ra ce, " s a id Hu gh es la te r . "This will be my last appearan ce here at the Kawasaki Race of Cha mp ions. I've enjoyed each of the seven times I've ridd en here. Next year; I'll have to miss the