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/128004
maybe I' ll catc h up with h im , but th e
ma in goal now is to catch up to Brock .
I'll be pushing hard the next cou ple of
weeks to ma ke u p poin ts on him."
Putting in hi s best rid e of th e ou tdoor seaso n for fifth overall was Team
Yama ha of Troy' s Cas ey Lytle , After
finish ing 10th in th e first mot o, Lytl e
put in a stro ng second-m ot o ride th at
saw him run as high as fourth before
su rr endering to th e cha rging Sell ards
just before th e h a lf w a y mark of th e
mo ta . Determined to no t let a good finish slip from his gras p, the Ca lifornian
put his head down and stayed with the
lead pa ck for the duration of the mota,
finishi ng fifth .
"I felt good towards the end of the
first mot o," sai d Lytle. "Bu t it wa s too
little, too lat e . I b asicall y ca rri ed m y
m om entum fro m th e en d of th e fir st
mot a all th e way through th e second
one . I got a goo d sta rt. It wa s a littl e bit
muddy ou t th ere again in th e beginnin g of the second mot o, but I was ab le
to pu t tog et h er a st r on g r id e . I s t ill
seem to slack a little bit in the middl e of
the race, then I co me back at the en d . I
jus t need to get rid of that slack in the
middle and I think I ca n get up th er e
pret ty good . Th is is th e beginnin g o f
m y good tra ck s - h er e th rou g h Millv ill e, I s h o u ld d o well. I fe el rea lly
co m for tab le o n th os e tr ack s - th ey 're
my style."
N ex t in line for s ix th overa ll was
Team SplitFire /Pro Circu it / Kawasaki's
Nick Wey, who went 4-13, followed by
Yamaha of Tro y's Ernesto Fonseca (117), who fell victim to arm p ump after
running as hig h as second in moto one.
Eig ht h o ve r a ll wen t to Se ll a r d 's
FMF/ Hon da teamm at e Danny Sm it h
with his 8-11 sco re. Second-mot a runner-up McCormick finis hed ni nth overall (34-2), followed by Team Mota Planet / Al Lane Yama ha /Fox's Matt Walker,
who earned top pri vateer hon ors for his
3-19, 10th-overa ll rid e.
Carmi chael' s incredible performa nce,
combine d with FMF / H onda rider Tallon Voh lan d 's un fortun a te crash a nd
resulting inju ry (See "Briefly..."), gives
the defending cha mpion a seem ingly
insurmo u ntabl e point to ta l of 322.
Des pi te n o t sco ri n g a ny p oi nts a t
Unadilla, Vohla nd remains the ru nneru p with 253 poi nts, testimony to h is
st ro ng sh ow in g thus far in the se ries.
Sella rd s sits so lid ly in third with 228
points , fo llowed b y Brandes, w ho
moves back into fourth wi th 198 poin ts.
Wey rou nds out the current top five in
the stan di ngs wi th 192 points.
MOT01
Ramsey bl asted fro m th e con cre te
Unad illa sta rting pad to take th e firstmota holesh ot, followed by Ca rm ichael,
Fonseca , Sellards and Lytl e. As the ride rs em erged fro m Una d ill a 's G ravity
Cav ity for the first time, it was still Ramse y, followed by Carmich ael, Fonseca,
Wa lker and Sellards. Tra gedy struck
early in the race, as title contend er Vohland, w h o had ga ted p oorl y and wa s '
charging thro u gh the pa ck, cra shed vio- .
lently after a' blind drop-off and, w hile
a tte m p ting to remount, w a s s tr uck
repe atedl y by onco ming racers u nti l he
lay motionl ess fo r a brief, h eart -stop- ,
ping mom ent. By the start of the second
lap, Ca rmic hael had already moved into
the lead, and he immediat ely bega n to
d is tance h im self fro m h is pursu ers Ramsey, Fonseca, Brandes and Walker .
" I go t a p retty 'd ecen t sta rt, " sa id
Carmichael. " N ot exa ctly th e kin d of
sta rt I wa nted , bu t I was abl e to mov e
up quickly. I passed my teammate and
got into the lead on the first lap. Then I
pulled ou t a lead, got a little breathing
roo m and staye d a t a steady pa ce for the
res t of the mota ."
Pu tting in an impres si ve string of
consist en t lap s in th e tw o-minute-12(Above) Nathan Ramsey reached the
podium following two consisten t rides.
(Left) Michae l Brande s was in contention
for the overa ll win, but a sma ll crash in the
se cond moto put an end to that. He still
rode well, finishin g s econd in the first
moto and s ixth in the second.
ard s in third. Ramsey and Lytle rounded ou t the top five.
'That was one of the most fun races
I've ever had ," said Carmichael shortly
after the com p letion of the moto. "I've
always wanted to com e from last to first,
eN
and now I ha ve,"
Unadilla Valley Spo rts Center
Edmeston, New York
Results: J uly 18, 1999 (Round 7 of 12)
seco nd ran ge, Carmicha el continued to
p a d hi s n o w- 10-s e co nd a dva n tage .
Bra ndes , eag er to keep the lea d e r in
sight, moved around Ramsey an d th e
fading Fonseca for second.
Ca rm ichael charged to the decisive
mota wi n, .fo llowed by a strong rid e
from Bran des for second.
"I go t off to a pretty good start and
was charging for ward," said Brandes.
"It was rea lly slick those first couple of
laps, so I think a few people were staying a littl e cautious, I was just chargin g
as much as I could to get up in the front
as quickly as possible beca use, once we
get sp read ou t, it's really tough to make
u p tim e."
Walke r hu ng tough for third .
"I felt rea lly go od ," said the Ge orgian. "I didn't get a good s ta r t, bu t I
pa ssed a bunch of gu ys in the first and
seco nd tu rns . I moved right on u p into
fourth, then I passed Ernie (Fonseca) for
th ird .. I was runnin g really good, but
then I messed up in the back and a few
gu ys go t by me. Luckily, I was ab le to
pass them right back."
Teamm at es We ya n d Ra ms ey fin ished fou rth and fifth, respectively. Sellar ds bat tled his way to sixth.
"The track was reall y muddy at the
beginning," explained Sellards. "I rod e
reall y tight for the firs t three laps and
go t passed by a couple of guys. Then I
moved back up during the race."
MOT02
Mic hael Craig p ilo ted hi s Pro AM
Powersport Kawasaki to the holesh ot in
mota two, followed by Ramsey, Brand es, Weyand Lytle . In unrelat ed inciden ts, both Yamaha of Tro y' s Stephane
Ron cada and Carmichael went down in
the first tum. Carmichael re-enter ed the
race in 35th place.
"I got off the gate good, then crashed
in the first turn and ha d to pla y ca tchup," said Ca rmichael.
By the seco nd lap , Brand es began to
hound Craig for the top spot but fell in
a slick turn while a ttempting a pass on
th e Ka w asaki rider, d ropping h im to
seventh.
"I tried to cut und erneath Cra ig back
in oneof the turns, b u t it was full o f
mud and my front end started to slide,"
s a id Brandes . "Th e re was no th in g I
could d o an d I we nt d own. By the time I
got u p and got goi ng, quite a few people
had gotten around me."
With Bra n des o u t of the pi ctu re ,
McCo rmick moved around Craig for the
le a d . M eanwhil e, C a r mi ch a el h a d
mounted an incred ible charge , movin g
rapid ly through the p ack and into secon d just af ter the halfway poin t of the
mota . With just a few minutes rem aining in the mota and the crowd chee ring
wildly, Ca rmic hael za pped th e Honda
ri d er fo r th e m ota win . McC ormick
cha rged in for second , followed by Sell-
MOTO 1: I. Ricky Ca rmichael (Ka w): 2. Mich ael
Brandes (Suz); 3. Matt Wa lker (Yam); 4. N ick Wey (Kaw);
5. Natha n Ramse y (Ka w ): 6. Brock Se lla rds (Hen): 7.
Steph an e Ronca d a (Ya m ); 8. Danny Sm it h (He n): 9.
Casey Lytle (Yam ); 10. Keith Johnso n (Yam); 11. Em es to
Fonseca (Yam); 12. Paul Currie (Suz) : 13. Bud d y Antunez
(Suz) : 14. Travi s Pres ton (Suz ); 15. Rusty Ho lland (Han);
16 . Da vid Pi n gree (Suz ); 17. Michael Cra ig (Ka w ): 18.
Bra nd en [essem en (Suz) : 19. ja so n Th om as (Ya m); 20.
Tom welch (Suz ); 21. Jam es Povoln y (Yam); 22. Dam len
Plotts (Yam ); 23. Rand y Valad eIkaw): 24. Robbie Hort on
(Yam ); 25. Kei th John so n (Yam ); 26. M ichael Tread well
(Ya m ); 27. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 28. Ca rlo Coen (Yam );
29. Steve Andrich (l-lon): 30. Ja:;(10 Boron (Yam); 31. Tony
Lorusso (Suz) ; 32. Matt Sb ue (Suz ): 3.. Chris C osselaa r
1.
(H on ); 34. Jaso n McCo nnick (H a n); 35. Kenny Bartr am
(Ya m); 36. Ma rk Tilley (Kl'M ); 37. Cory Baud er (Yam); 38.
Tallon Vohla nd (Ha n); 39. David Kratz (Yam); 40. Scott
Ca rter (Yam).
MOT O 2: 1. Ri ck y Ca rmic hael (Kaw ): 2. Jaso n
McC ormick (H e n ): 3. Brock Se llards (Ha n); 4. Nathan
Ra mse y (Ka w). 5. Casey Ly tle (Yam ); 6. Micha el Craig
(Ka w): 7. Emesto Fon se ca (Ya m) ; 8. Budd y An tu ne z
(Suz); 9. Tra vis Preston (Suz) ; 10. Micha el Brandes (Suz) ;
11. Dannv Smith (H on): 12 Micha el Treadwill (Yam) ; 13.
Nic k We;. (Ka w); 14. Jason Th omas (Yam); 15. Damien
Plotts (Ya m ); 16. To m We lch ISuz) : 17. Da vid Pingree