Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Billy Payne (53) topped Keith Johnson and Camien Plotts in the 125cc Pro Sport class. (Above) Plolts came back to take top honors in the 250cc Pro Sport class. . . en en en 26 in ' that class went to Texa n Mark Thompson . Buckelew' s erro r in the 125cc A class w ould prov e ve ry cos tly, as h e was go ing int o the final 125cc A Sport moto w it h a 1-1, havin g taken advantage of the firs t-mo te, first-lap cras hes of AMA Pro Nationa l regu lars Mat t Walker an d Ryan Cla rk. Wal ker cra sh ed ou t of the entire week in the same whoo p section th at cos t Bu ck el e w h is t it le , whi le Cla rk's cr as h cos t h im a d ozen spots. But whe n Buckelew dropped ou t, it was Pa yne w ho step ped into th e br eech to clinch his fourth AMA title in as many year s: "I kn ew I didn't have to win the last mote going in, but I really wanted to get a 125cc mot o w in ," sa id Payn e a fte rward . "I go t th e h ol eshot a n d I was do ing fin e, but th en I threw my front wheel ove r a rut in the back an d we nt d own. After tha t, I just ba sicall y rod e around and thought about the title." Finishing second to Payn e's steady 23- 2 w a s Keith John s on , t he A lb uqu erqu e , N e w Mex ico , n e igh b or of Buckelew an d Clar k. Johnson ran 11-2-1 for the week aboa rd a No Fear-backed Yam aha, while Plotts finish ed 6-6-3. . "I felt really bad for my cous in Justin Buckelew for ge tting hurt out there, and before that last mo to he told me I had better g o o u t th ere a n d w in it or h e would diso wn me," sa id Johnson after w innin g th e la st m oto . " I kn o w h e w ould h a ve li k ed t o h a v e be en ou t th ere, bu t I wa s stoked to d o it in his honor ." "I was just ha vin g a heck of a time aIL w eek on m y 125," sai d Plotts lat er . "I d on 't kn ow why, but I was wa tchi ng Travis Pastran a go throu gh th e turns and I was like, 'Ma n, I go tta go thr ough the turns like thatl '" Plotts' sta r turn wo u ld co me in the 250cc Pro Sport class, w here h is 1-6-2 effor t ea rned him his second Lo re tta Lynn's title, his first coming way back in . 1992 . Plot ts to o k ·ad v ant a g e o f a n unlu cky br eak for Payne, who was in the d river's sea t for th e overall going in to the final mot o, Payne cras hed wi th Johnso n on the hairpin turn jus t befo re the "Te n Co mma nd ments" whoop section - the sa me corne r where then fu tu re s ta rs Dam on Bra ds haw a nd Jeff Emig crashed together a dozen years ago wit h a championshi p on the line. Payne could o nly recover to the six th spo t, w hile Plo tts ro de a n exc iti ng fin al m ot o to secu re seco nd, and th e title. Clark was third overa ll via his 10-2-3 score . "I go t a prett y decent start but everyone went into the Ten Co mma nd me nts a littl e hot and I was able to go aro und it," said Plotts in the wi nner's circle. "I wa s flowin g out front but then I land ed . off a tabl etop and wen t right int o a big mudhole. I go t u p, brush ed myself off, and I was determined to win , so I we nt back after it and go t second to win the champio nship." "I lost a lot of sleep over this champions hip last nigh t because I never came in here and wo n two before," said Pay ne after his final-mot e fall. "I go t the start but I had a four-strok e (Johnson) righ t insi de of me a nd he squeezed me off and there was nothing I could d o. I go t rammed after that by abo u t four guys, s ta rte d ou t wa y in th e back a n d jus t couldn' t make up the spo ts. I tried really hard but I ran out of time." "ploi ts wen t down right befor e the tabl et op, but I d on 't know w ha t happ en ed ," sa id third - m ot e win ne r Jeff Northrop. "I was like, 'O kay, I' ll ta ke this spo t.' I just rode my own race after that and go t the win." H oweve r, Jeff G ibson' s p oor first mot o (12th) cost h im a ny sho t at th e overall. Th e' Bobby Bonds-vs .i Rya n Mo rais battles highlight ed the 125cc Schoo lboy races, w it h eac h rid er wi nnin g a titl e . Bu t the t wo Yarnahas we re n' t the only rid ers ga the ri ng a tten tio n fo r th emselves in this class of future stars. florida's Kyle Farnell ea rned a so lid mot o w in in the seco n d Modi fied m ot o to break up th e Yama ha stra ngleho ld on th e top s pot he re , and O k la ho m a's Chase Reed an d California's Billy Laninovich a lso ro de well th rou gh out th e week. . " I was n' t leav ing here without a cha mp ions hip!" sai d Morais after sp litting the School boys with Bonds. "I put 100 p er cent into th is yea r and I reall y wo rked hard." "If it was n ' t for bad s ta r ts in the Modified class I might hav e won there, too;' sa id Bonds a fte rw ard . " I really . want to thank my dad for makin g all of this possible and su ppo rting me here." Reed , 15, came back ou t .to top th e 250cc/Open B Stock class with a .3-1-2 tall y, bettering the 4-2-1 score of Co lorado's And rew Short. " I went out in m y fir st mo ta an d passed An drew Short, who I think is my biggest competition ou t here, and stayed ahea d of him ," sai d .Reed . "In th e second m o to, I go t th e wi n , a n d th en I knew in th e thi rd mot o I co u ld fin ish beh ind Short and still win , so I played it smart to get the title." Ben Riddl e is starting to make a lot of noise in the ama te u r ranks aboa rd his Team G ree n Kawasaki. Riddle won a title here in '98 as a Schoo lboy , bu t his two race wins this time around have put him high u p on the ama teur Nationa l map. "I feel pretty good about get ting two championships ou t there," sai d Riddle. "I worked really hard to ge t her e and I rod e hard this week and it all turned ou t well." Ridd le was followed by Ca lifornia's Jesse Ketcha m and Clin ton Shealy in the 250cc /Ope n B Modi fi ed cl ass a n d Michigan's Josh Woods and Oklahoma's Johnny Marley in the 125cc B Modifieds. TI,e 125cc B Stock class went to Californ ia ' s Sea n Hamb lin, w ho scored his first-ever AMA Nationa l title wi th a 2-41 rid e to top Marl ey a n d Kawasa kimounted Josh Woods. Kevin Wa lker, a well-known so u theas tern mot ocross star , was the class act of the Four-Strok e class, ree ling off three s traig ht mo to wins for the title, ahead of Flo rida-b red, Colo ra do-based Kevin . Fol ey. Wa lke r a lso beat a pair of fast KTMs in the Jun ior (Over 25) class p ilofed bv O hio's Mark Musselman and Ind iana's Larry Gessner. Foley ca me back a nd got him self a win in the Vet A (Ove r 30) class with a s teady 2-3-3 rid e. The mot o wi ns 'here we nt to Gess ne r, Colo rado's Bryan Curtis a nd Pe n nsy lvania's Da g Boyesen . Foley h ad a lso taken a dva n tage .of a bizarre first-mo te cras h by Bryan Emig, th e older b rother of Kaw asaki factory sta r Jeff Emig, that saw Emig cras h on th e appro ach of th e fini sh -lin e tunnel jump while all by himself out front. TI,e next rid er th rou gh, fell ow co n te nder Matth ew Crow n o f M ic higa n, ca me down on the bike, knocking both riders ou t of contention . In the Open B/C cla ss, Missouri's Jack Lambert scored himself a title with a 1-1-2 tally , w h ile Mich igan ' s Cra ig Pick e tt topp ed th e Sen io r A O ve r 40 aboa rd a Yama ha. The sap1e goes for Sout h Carolina's Steve Lewis, a form er fo ur-time Loretta Lynn's w inner who came back out this yea r for the Masters Ov er 50 class. In th e Women' s 125cc-cla ss s howd own b etw e en A me rica's bri ghtest you ng amateur s ta rs and the visiting Ba u fro m 'Ita ly, it w as th e Americans who go t the nod based on an excellent final moto by title w inner Jessica Patterso n . T he Florid ian trail ed pre- r a ce favo rite Bau, who had been shu t ou t oJ the wi nne r's circle all week lon g, until th e last corner, th en m uscled past the Europea n s tar to cla im her firs t AMA National Cha mp ionship. I "I just knew I could do it, and I wJs prayin g a nd waiti ng until so me thing happen ed ," sa id Patterson. "I saw the op portu nity in the comer before the firiish -line doubles an d I took it, and that

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