Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

R n 9: Washougal M tocro ou d o ssPark AMAlMAZDA TRUCKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES (Above) FMFlHonda's Chris Gos selaar (68) and Broc k Sellards (27) led the 4G-manfield to the first turn in the opening moto at Washougal Motocross Park. Gosselaar fell back to 17th in the moto, 20th on the day, but Sellards prevailed. (Left) Brock Sellards too k the overall win at Washougal just by the hair of his chin . Se llards ' first -moto win and secondmoto third-place finish edged out Ricky Carmichael 's score by one point. By Dave Deringer Photos by Doug Karcher ~ ~ u; :::I g> <[ 26 WASHOUGAL, WA,AUG.I t was just a matter of rime until FMF /Thor /Honda's Brock Sellards took home his first National overa ll win, and wi th ·the way he has been riding la tely, it was no surprise th a t he did so at round n ine of the AMA/Mazda Trucks Natio nal 125cc MX series at Wash ouga l. Washington. Sellards showed all of his com petitors a nd th e est imat ed 15,000 fans th e fast way around the track in mota one as he took a decisive wi n nea rly wi re to wire. The 19-year-o ld Ohio-native took advanta g e of a p o o r s ta r t b y h is n em es is , Kaw asaki-mounted Ricky Ca r michael, an d pulled away from the pack early on, but as th e laps closed, so d id Carmichael. The tw o raced in unison the final lap and Sellards crossed the finish line just ah ead of Carmichael. "I' ve w anted to beat him befor e th e se aso n w as o ver and I knew I would have to push it," Sellards said after the victory. "I go t the win an d th at's all I car e about, not how far ahead I was or anything." In the second mota, Sellards again ran in front for nearly the entire mota, but was passed by a hard-charging and determined Carmichael on the final lap for second, only for Carmichael to find out that there wa s anot her rider in fro nt of him . With the AMA's scoring system by mo ta poin ts, Sella rds' 1-3 fin is hes earned him 45 points for the d ay while Ca rmic hael's 2-2 eq ualed 44 points. Sellards' one extra point gave him his firs tever 125cc Na tional Motocross overall w in . "I've b een m a kin g th e podium so much lately and to finally get the win I wa nted is a dream come tru e," Sellards said of the da y' s eve nts . "I hung it out in the first mota and it paid off, beca use if I d idn't win that one, I probabl y wo uldn' t have taken th e overa ll." Sellards also ad de d, "I was letting it all hang out in the s econ d m ot a too, a n d w hen h e (Carmi chael) came up to challenge me, I figured I better back it off a bit. I tried to hang with him, but I knew I still had the overa ll so I chilled out the last half a lap." Carm ichael was in shock. Th e SplitFire /Pro Circ u it / Kawasaki/ 1-800-Co l' le ct -s p o n s o red 125cc s pecia lis t w as un a w are o f ra ce lead er Ja s on McC ormi ck and th o u gh t that he had wo n the overa ll with the completed pass o n Se lla r ds in th e seco n d m ota . He believed that he had finish ed 2-1, while in actuality , he had a 2-2 sco re that d id not beat Sellards' 1-3. "I crossed the line with my han d in the air and th e number one fin ger and my mechanic C ha d (Watts) shook his head no," Carmichael sai d of the confusion . "I was like, 'Wh at d o you mean, no? I won the mota: and he sa id, 'No I didn't - McCormick .won, yo u got second .:" Ca rmichael wanted to win Washouga l for severa l reasons. He currently has 23 125cc all-time wins, a nd wan ts to break Mark Barnett's record of 25, b ut only has three races left to do so . Ca rmichael expected to wi n Washouga l. Millville and Binghamton in the n ext few weeks and was planni ng on riding a 250cc at the final round of th e year at Steel City. Now, the Flori da-based rid er will have to com pe te on a 125cc at all of the r em a in ing rounds if h e plan s to break the record . "I guess I ru ined th a t id e a .to o," Carmichael sa id fro m the po dium at the conclusion of the day. "I really wa n ted . to ride the 250cc to see how I would do on it outdoors. Now I' ll probably have to wa it until next yea r." Going 5-1 on the day for th ird overall was Pla ne t Ho n da /Pro Gri p 's Jaso n McCormick. The Va nco uver, Washington, home-trac k hero thrill ed th e crowd w ith a co me-f ro m -be hi n d ride in the firs t mo ta to finish fifth . To cap things off, McCormick took the lead on the first lap of the second mota and was cheered on by his adoring fans all the way to the finish, ne ver being head ed , ca p turing . his firs t-ever 125cc mot a wi n . "I co ul d n't have d one it in a bet ter pl ace tha n my hom e tr ack of Wash ou- . ga l;' McCormick sa id of hi s best ever mot a rid e. 'This is a dream come tru e and it gives m e a lot of confiden ce and m omentum going in to th e final three ro u nds. I'm on cloud nine righ t now, I can' t believe it." Fourth ove rall w ent to the Yamaha of Troy's St ephane Roncada, Fres h off . h is fir st-ever mota wi n a w eek earlier at Troy, Ohio, Ronc da seems to have pulled ou t th e talent that earned him his su p po rt rid e several yea rs ago, fini shing a stro ng third in mo ta one . A six th in mot a tw o also has th e Fre nc h ma n cli m bing th e ladd er in points as he moved into 11th w ith three ro u nds rem ainin g. _ " I am very h appy w it h m y ride:' Roncada s ta te d. " I w ent d own in that first mota and sa lvaged a podium so it was okay." P ri ma l Impuls e Suz u ki / Bi ll's Pipes/Shift-su p ported Michael Brande s mad e for th e top finishing Suzuki on the d ay as h e rod e to a 7-4 sc o re for fifth overa ll. Bra ndes battled up front in bo th motos, only to drop a few posit ion s just b efore the e n d of th e fir st m ota . A . strong fourth in mot a tw o ke ep s Brandes in fourth in the points standi ngs as th e series winds down. "I go t a h orribl e st ar t in th a t fir st m ota a nd was wo rking up w hen w e w ere all fr ei ght-train ing th er e for a while," Brand es s ai d o f his seve n th' place first-mot a score. "I got a decent start the second time and got by Tallon (Vohland ), then battled with Nick (Wey) for a whi le , th en w a s runnin g th ird w he n Ricky go t by. Yeah, it was an allright da y." Making a return to ra cing afte r an in jury- indu ced w e ek layo ff was FMF/Hond a' s Tallon Vohland. The 27.yea r-o ld Ca lifo rnian w ante d to race so he would not lose any more positions in the final stand ings. The so re bu t tou gh Vohland rode to 6-8 finishes for a sixt h overa ll , a n d WaS so mew ha t sa tisfied w ith his perform an ce. " A t th e b eginnin g o f th e mo tes, 1. rode p retty good, bu t everythi ng started to ge t sore in the lat er stages:' sa id Vohlan d . "A ny thing can ha ppen to anybody and I jus t wa n t t o b e o u t th ere if it does." Spli tFire /Pro Ci rcu it /Kawasaki's Na than Ramsey finished seventh overa ll with an uneven 4-13 rid e, w illie his tea mmate, Scott Sheak, w ho returned to the track for the firs t time since an ugly crash at Sou thwick ove r a month ago, finished eighth overall via 8-9 scores. Yamaha of Troy's Ernes to Fon seca ro de to ni n th overa ll and Prima l Impulse Suzuki's David Pingree ro unded out the top ten . Ca rmichael only lost one point to Sellards on th e day and has a commanding 98-poin t lead, 413-3 15, going in to Millville, Minnesota. Sellards gai ne d another 17 on his tea m mate Vohland in third, and he now has 281. Brandes, Weyand Ramsey hold fo urth, fif th , an d six th, respectively, with 249-235 and 216. MOT01 Sellards and his FMF / H ond a-teamma te Chris Gosselaar rounded the firs t turn si de-by -si d e as th e 38 o the r 125cc rid ers filed in behind . For th e second year in a ro w, it was. Cosselaar who w as le a ding early a t Wa shoug al , but this time he led a little longer. . The teenager held the point for nearly thre e lap s until h e lo st it in the famous whoop se ction. "I pumped up real fast and got out of shape in the whoops:' Gosselaar said. "It was kind of slippery going in and I

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