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(Left) Casey Lytle (33) got the holeshot In the 125cc main but lost the lead to eventual winner Nathan Ramsey (25) heading Into the second turn. (Below) Casey Johnson (16) passes Michael Brandes en route to a second-place finish. Johnson, going for his third straight win, nearly passed Ramsey on the last lap. Toyota TrucksIThorlParts Unlim~ed AMA Western Regional 125cc Supercross Series Round 3: Bank One Ballpark Ramsey's first By Eric Johnson Photos by Kinney Jones PHOENIX, AZ, JAN. 23 na battle of the factory satellite 125cc support teams - which saw three different manufacturers repre-. sen ted on the victory podium - it was first-time winner Nathan Ramsey. of the SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki race team who stood out above all the others. Before a standing-room-only crowd, Ramsey ripped off an impressive gateto-flag win. However, it didn't come easily, as the pilot from Corona, California, was forced to defend his position in the last two laps after a last-gasp charge by two-time winner Casey Johnson of the Yamaha of Troy team. Placing third on the evening was Primal Impulse/Suzuki rider Michael Brandes, while Casey Lytle charged his Yamaha of Troy-supported YZ125 through the field for fourth. Isaiah Johnson, a ProAm rider from Albuquerque, New Mexico, put in an impressive ride for fifth. "Man, I can't even begin to explain how good this feels," said Ramsey in the Pro Circuit pits following the race. "It's what I've been working for, and it's been my dream to be a winner, and I've been working for years to try and do it. "You know, everybody has been behind me, patting me on the back every weekend," Ramsey added. "It might've been a bad weekend, but they were always saying, 'You.can do it.' Everybody has been helping me and keeping my confidence up: all the guys at Pro Circuit; my mechanic, John Mitchell; my fiancee - she's always behind me; my parents. I put my faith in God and have asked Him to lift some of I the pressure off me, and He does. I can't be happier." While Casey Johnson has been the man in the AMA Western Regional 125cc wars through the first two rounds of the series, winning at both Anaheim and San Diego, he came up short after a crowd-pleasing charge which began on the penultimate lap. "The race went pretty good, but I made a lot of mistakes while trying to catch Ramsey," Johnson said. "I wasn't riding like my usual self, because I was a little tight and wasn't being very smooth. I started making passes towards the end, but it was a little too late. If I wouldn't have had those few lapses in the two last laps, I might've caught him." Michael Brandes had a somewhat quiet - albeit consistent - night at the Ballpark. After finding his way into the third-place position, the Primal 1mpulse/Suzuki/Bill's Pipes/Shiftbacked racer rode around all alone for most of the main. "I got off to a good start," Brandes explained. "I was right behind Ramsey and began to move through right away and make up some time. However, I dropped off a little bit as the race went on. I ga ve it everything I had, and I'm pleased to be in the top three, which is a good result for the overall series. I'm really concentrating on being consistent in the series, trying to be in first or second at every event, and now I'm going to concentrate on getting my first win. I am definitely going out to win races, and I'm as motivated as anyone else. That's my goal: to win races." After being runner-up to teammate Casey Johnson in the first two rounds of the West series, holeshot artist Casey Lytle placed fourth at Phoenix, his race ultimately sabotaged by a minor miscue after the first turn. "The race wasn't what I wanted it to be," Lytle said. "I got the holes hot, but I tangled with Ramsey when he hit my bars and that caused me to stumble in the whoops, and that basically blew my race. I was not as comfortable as I wanted to be after tha t, and it threw my lines off. It was still a pretty consistent race, but I would rather have been on the podium. I made a few mistakes and I couldn't really close in on Brandes." With Seattle, Washington, the next stop on the series, Johnson leads the title chase with 72 points. Tail-gunning teammate Lytle is in second with 62, while Brandes is third with 56. Ramsey, still shaking off the effects of an 18thplace finish at Anaheim, is fourth with 48. HEATS Lytle raised the curtain on the 125cc program Saturday night with the holeshot. Following in his tire tracks were Brandes, Ramsey, Reynard Racing pilot Dennis Owens and Ryan Clark. Sailing alone out front, Lytle soon opened up approXimately three seconds of breathing room over Brande and Ramsey. They rode in that order up to the white flag, when Ramsey made a last-second lunge at Brandes, passing him over the double immediately pre'ceding the checkered nag. Oark placed fourth, while Kawasaki of Mexico/DHL rider Erick Vallejo came home fifth. Three Yamaha-mounted privateers Daniel Blair, Isaiah Johnson and Andy Harrington - led the charge both into and out of the first turn in heat two. Bouncing and ricocheting off the obstacles while out in front, the three riders held sway over.factory satellite riders David Pingree of Primal Impulse and Scott Sheak of Pro Circuit. Two laps in, a fast-closing Casey Johnson, who had come from a relatively poor starting position, found his way into the lead when Harrington got sideways in the air over an infield double jump. Meanwhile, both Pingree and Sheak were sent to the silty Phoenix dirt after colliding over a double. '1 thought I was going to die," Pingree later said. "I hit the jump arid saw him ceme up short. From that point, all I could see were his engine cases coming at me. It was close." At tile checkers, it was Casey Johnson with the win, followed by Isaiah Johnson, Andy Harrington and Husqvarna-mounted 125cc World Motocross Champion Alessio Chiodi. Pingree made up for his close brush with Scott Sheak's Kawasaki engine cases in his heat race by riding a smooth and controlled moto to win the lastchance qualifier. Placing second was Moto XXX/THOR/Pro Circuit rider Travis Preston, who, through a slick move, relegated Tuning By Travis' .. 0> g: ~ 9