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Southwestern Region Round One: SpeedWorld MX By Mark Kariya PHOENIX, AZ, MAR. 21 ony Amaradio hasn't had the best of luck in the AMA/Toyota Trucks U.s. Supercross Series, and he didn't want that to follow him into the AMA/Mazda Trucks National MX Series in a few months, so he began preparing for the outdoor campaign early by heading to SpeedWorld MX and the Southwestern Region kickoff to -the Sound of Thunder Four-Stroke MX Series. A 1-2 overall win on his Dave Mathieson-prepped, Xtreme/Team Alba/ DSP-backed Yamalla YZ400F confirmed the wisdom of his decision. "I'm glad, because the supercrosses haven't gone so well, and it's nice to start fresh," he said. "I'm really happy." Another supercross refugee, Dustin Nelson, rode two strong and speedy motos on his Motoworld 01 EI Cajon/FMF/Enzo Racing/Pirelli/ THOR-sponsored Yamaha for second overall..A fa]] in the first mota found him with a lot of ground to make up, and he passed enough for third before storming to a wire-to-wire win in the second mota. Third overall went to local favorite Robert Naughton on his Maxxis/YSA/ Northland Motorsports/Pro Action/ PJ1/Xtreme Yamaha. With three-time AMA Western National Four-Stroke MX Champion Lance Smail concentrating on supercross and arenacross this year, lots of new faces will show up on the podium. In addition, the Sound of Thunder series sports a different format than the AMA series. Riders will have only the three races in one of three regions Southwestern, Central States and Pacific Northwest - to compete in for points that qualify them for the finale at Donner, California, in September. Those who wish can compete in other regions; they just won't earn points. Nearly $450,000 in series contingencies is up for grabs, accordi.ng to series marketing director Mike Young Sr. After the parade lap, Premier Motorsports Husaberg racer Jimmy LaMastus took his spot on the gate but, to his chagrin, his bike died. Kicking it produced nothing but panic, so he ran back to his pit for his race bike from last year. However, LaMastus was unable to get it running after flooding it, and the gate finally dropped without him. In the meantime, lots -of Yamahas overheated on the line, Amaradio's among them. "Coolant spj]]ed all over the (concrete start pad), which is typical- I knew better, but it just caught me off guard," Amaradio revealed. "So the start wasn't exactly what I wanted. My mechanic threw dirt on it, but I still spun and got sideways." On the other hand, Naughton gated well, with TRE Yamaha-mounted Billy Mercier, Nelson and Vertemati-mounted Gordon Ward up there as well. "I about got the holeshot, but I backed off a little too much and Mercier swept around me," Naughton said. Nelson wasn't about to wait around, .and a few turns later he also made a bid .for the lead - though it didn't work as he'd planned. "I got a little jumpy," he admitted. "I . wanted to try to get in the lead and pull away right away. I tried to pass Mercier for the lead on the outside but just slipped out in the mud when I got to the corner. I actually picked my bike up and. somebody clipped me, and I launched back into Amaradio. I had a bad first lap, for sure. After that, I just tried to put my head down and charge. That's all you can do - see where you end up." T (Above) Tony Amaradio shook off his supercross blues and took the win at the opening Southwestern Region round of the Sound of Thunder Four-Stroke MX Series with his 1-2 day at SpeedWorld MX. (Right) Dustin Nelson came out of the first turn of the second moto in front and s!ayed there to the finish; combined with his moto-one third, he earned second overall. Here, Gordon Ward (19), Tony Amaradio (41), third-overall Robert Naughton (6), Billy Mercier (501,>, Craig Davis (711) and Beau Baron (114) give chase. Naughton got aroulld Mercier for the lead on the third lap, though Mercier hung tough. "I haven't raced for a few weeks, so I was a little nervous and got some arm pump, and Naughton passed me," Mercier said. Amaradio lurked a short distance back in third. That's how the order stood for much of the mota, though Nelson was up to fourth before half of the 25-minute mota was in the books. "I knew at the start there were only five guys ahead of me," Amaradio said of his patience riding in back of the others, "so at 25 minutes (for the mota), I can get a guy every five minutes. I just took my time and tried to get smooth lines and not get tired." Things got really interesting the last couple of laps, as Amaradio finally decided to charge. "About three-quarters of the way," Naughton reported, "Tony got by Billy, and I was getting a little tired, but I was trying to concentrate on my own lines and not worry about second place. When I thought about (Amaradio) back there, I botched some corners, so I started thinking about what I was doing. The turns in the back I was struggling with all mota; that's where he passed me. He passed me the second-to-last lap there, but I got him over the double, then he passed me there on the last la p, then doubled the jump so I couldn't do it. He rode a good mota. I'm not disappointed with second. I gave it everything I had." Nelson charged hard the entire mota and was rewarded with third (which he got on the last lap), followed by Mercier and Craig Davis. Mota two found Naughton again getting a good jump out of the gate, followed closely by" Nelson, Davis and Amaradio. LaMastus tried a banzai pass around the far outside that ended up with him on the deck in a heap and out of the race. This time, Nelson made no mistakes. "It's a lot easier when you get the holl'shot and don't faII down on the first lap," he noted. "I went pretty hard right at the very beginning, trying to open it up in the first few laps. My dad was giving me the pit board, and I got (my lead) up to about 10 seconds. I thought that was plenty, and I just backed down and started cruising - kept it at nine or 10 seconds the whole race. It felt real good and almost felt too easy; it was nice." Amaradio passed Naughton for second by the second lap. "I was a little tight in the beginning," Naughton explained. "I didn't put up much of a fight against Tony because I wasn't riding very good." But then, when he got in front, I loosened up and started putting in good laps, and we stayed about the same (distance apart). I'm sure he was being a little conservative because he had the win in the bag." Amaradio was unable to put a dent in Nelson's lead. "I couldn't get into a rhythm," he lamenated. '1 couldn't make the bike work to my advantage. For some reason I felt a little weak the second mota. It's really good for me, though; I need to feel weak, and I need to push it as hard as I can. I can practice all the time, but a race situation, riding hard, is exactly what I needed. There's some stuff that we noticed on tlle bike that we can make it better, but there was nothing wrong with it. It was all me. I'm happy I didn't crash the second mota." Davis~proved on his fir t-moto finish by one spOt for fourth, with Mercier fifth. "I got a flat tire about halfway, and I just tried to finish the race at that point," Mercier explained. CN SpeedWorld MX Phoenix, Arizona Results: Ma'rch 21, 1999 (Round 1 of 3) 4-STROKE OPEN PRO: 1. Tony Amaradio (Yam); 2. Dustin Nelson (Yam); 3. Robert Naughton (Yam); 4. Craig Davis (Yam); S. 6ilJy Mercier (Yam); 6. Ben Shank (Yam); 7. Willie Surratt (Yam);' 8. Orey Dircks (Yam); 9. Sam Weinbach (Vam); 10. Gary Trachy (Vam). Upcoming Rounds: Central States Region - Round 1 - Lake Whitney, Texas, March 28 Southwestern Region: Round 2 - San Bernardino, California, April 18 .~ Q. « 35