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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128008
Motocross Round 1 0:Spring Creek Motocross Park AMAlMAZDA TRUCKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES i . By Dave Deringer Pho tos by Karl Ocke rt . MILLVILLE, MN, AUGUST 15 hile the 250cc Nati onal motos this yea r have been won by seven different rid ers, th e 12Scc N ati onals goi ng into Minnesot a ha ve only witnessed thr ee different winners. Th e na mes Ca rmichael, Vohland and Sellards have all been etched in the 1999 history books, and now it is time to en ter anot her, and that name belongs to no n e o ther t h a n De w itt, Michiga n's N ick Wey . The SplitFire /Pro Circuit / • Kawasaki/ I -800-COLLECT-backed 19vear-old, who is now in his second full ~eason of professional motocross racing, pu lled ou t his first-ever National overall victory at the very rough Spring Creek track. The 1998 AMA Rook ie of the Year , Wey took h is Kevin Strikwerda -tuned KXI25 to a deci sive win in the first moto after pa ssin g ea rly lead ers Tallon Vohland and Branden [essema n in the second half of the race. A hard-fought fifth in th e sec ond mot o wa s good en ough for Wey to sec u re th e top sp ot on the podium for the da y. "I've been working real hard for this, and I cou ldn't have d one it wi thout all the help from my spo nsors, family and fri en d s," Wey sa id . "I rea lly lik e th is track and the fans were grea t ou t here. I could n' t have asked for a better d ay. I wa s pu mped after the first moto, and I th in k I reall y d eserved that one. Fifth wa s good enoug h the second time out and it was a good d ay." Finis hi ng se co n d overall wa s Stepha ne Ron ca d a . T he Yama ha o f VI '" '" '" an N u; ::> g' < 10 Troy / Sinisa lo / Alpin est ar s-sp onsored p ilot ro de his number-22 machine to cons istent 3-4 finishes that earned him the second -highest spot on the pod ium . "I knew that I had to ge t seco nd in the seco nd moto and Nick wo uld have to get sixth or wo rse for me to win the overa ll," Ron cad a said . "I knew a lso that he was closing in fast, and I deci ded to tak e it easy a nd finis h it off smart instead of doing some thing stu pid." Rounding out the podium was a visibly upset Ricky Carmic hae l, who tried to remain calm an d collected . In the first moto . Ca rmichael went down on the sandy terrain twice on the opening lap . He soldiered on th roughout the moto, however, and worked u p to 10th p lace at the checkers, ending any cha nces for an overa ll wi n. With 23 all-time 12Scc wins u nder his belt, the bes t Carmichael can now do this year is tie the all-time 125cc record of 25 wins set by Mark Barnett. "I d on 't care a bo u t the reco rd, " Carmic hael sa id . "Well, I do care, bu t wh at I really wa nted was to wra p up the title tod ay with an ove rall win. I'll give th em both a sho t at th e next race and then ma ybe come back some day and go after that record ." The Spli tFire'/Pro Circuit/Kawasakifactory pil o t regained his co mposure a nd came out swinging in th e second moto, taking an imp ressive moto victory after finishi ng lap one in 13th position. Carm ichael passed every rid er ahead of him and th en proceed ed to pu ll away from the pack to take the checkers some eight second s ahead of second place. " It was a bad start again that cost me the win and the cha m pionship today," (Top) The start of Ihe firsl1 25cc National malo gels under way at Millville, Minnesota's Spring Creek MX Park. (Above) Nick Wey produced his first overall win of his career - a 1-5 was good enough 10 get Ihe job done . Carmichael said . "I wanted to come out of here w ith the cham pions hip toda y, but I'll have to go for it next week. If I d on't get any s ta rts th ere, I gu ess I' ll wait anot her week. Although someone else won the Na tional today, I'm glad it was my team mate Nick Wey." FMF/Thor/ Honda ' s Brock Sellards finished fourth with a 5-3 showing. Coming off his first overall wi n two weeks ea rlier at Washou gal, Sellards used his momentum and confidence to once again be a front-runner in the 125cc class. "I had to wo rk my way up through the pack in the first rnoto, and it took me abo ut thr ee or four laps before I figured out how to rid e again," Sellards said. " I thou ght that a few of those gu ys wou ld fade and I cou ld wi n the second mo to a nd it migh t w ork ou t, but some h ow Ricky's 10-1 was better." An up-and-d own d a y for Tallon Vo hla nd saw th e FMF /Th or /H ondasu pported rid er finish fifth. Vohland led the fir st rnot o fo r som e time b efo re bein g chased down by Wey, then had a mise rab le second rna to, crashing ea rly and fighti ng his way back to 12th. " I' v e bee n la yi n g i n bed fo r a mon th now, a nd I on ly got to train a cou ple of da ys this week on the bike, a n d th at hu rt s," Voh la nd sai d . "I ' rn go i ng o ut t o win t h o s e last t w o N ationals. I'm not givi ng any thing up a nd every bo dy w ill be watching, so I'll be on th e gas ." Team KTM's Kelly Smi th finish ed a quie t bu t s tro ng sixth after fin is hing ins ide the top 10 bo th tim es out. A 9-7 score has Smi th sitting Jied for 17th in poi nts with two rounds remaining. Earning the top priva teer award for the second time this year was Florid a's Pa u l Cu rrie. .The F&S Suzuki / Axo / Dunlop-backed rid er finished seventh overall via 8-11 mo to scores. "Millv ille is my favorite track and I really knew I'd do good her e," Curri e sa id w hile coll ecting hi s loot. "Things ha ve been going good lately. I've got to keep it up." Ei ghth wen t to Yam a ha o f Troy mount ed Casey -Johnson. Millv ille saw the return of Johnso n after a three- race layoff for a comp ressed back injury sustained at Red Bud . John son cras hed in the first moto, leaving him with a flapp ing and then missing fro nt fender, and he rode to a 23rd . The second mota was th e tota l opposite an d somew ha t of a surp ri se . John son ga ted we ll a nd ran . third early on, then caught and passed Sellards for second p lace and held that pos ition to the end . "I' ve b een off for fou r w eeks now