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/128011
Final round: Steel City Raceway AMAlMAZDA TRUCKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES , professio nal moto on exactly a year ago. "I go t off to two good s ta rts today a nd rod e o kay," sai d johnson . " I lik e th is tr ack . The Coombs family al ways do a good job . Hopefull y I'll be mo re of a threat for the ou tdoors nex t year." Also rid in g out of t he Ya m aha of Troy se m i was Ca mbridge, Eng la nd's Carl N u nn . The 20-yea r-o ld G.P. regular, w ho is spo nso red by Yamaha in the United Kingd om , ma de his seco nd -ever American appeara nce a good o ne, finis hi ng s ixt h overall. u nn was somewha t pl ea sed w ith h is co ns is te n t 8-6 sco res on an unfamiliar track, and said that racing in America cou ld be a po ssibility in the fu tu re. ':1 had two so lid rides a nd did n 't cras h a ll weekend , b ut rod e a li tt le ten se," Nunn exp lained. "I just kept safe and if I cou ld have rela xed a little more I think I cou ld h a v e h ad so me be tter results. The track wa s d ifficult . It is a lot d iffer en t than what we run in Eu ro pe and it has a lot more lines. I watched the other guys to see w hat they were doing and picked my line s wisely. I'd like to come back so meday." Sp litFire / P ro Ci rc ut t z Kawa saki' s Nick Wey rod e to seven th ov erall with a 9-8 score . A naggin g wrist injury wa s th e o n ly th in g th at reall y slo w ed the Michigan-based teenager , and after wi nning o ne round severa l weeks ea rlier, Wey was no t extreme ly happy with his results. Em est o Fonseca finished eighth overall a fter finis hi ng a n im press ive fourth in molo o ne. A crash ear ly in the seco nd mo to pl a ced th e 1999 125cc Eastern Regio nal Supercross cha mpio n back in 17th at moto's end . Fonseca's Yamaha of Troy team ma te, Ca sey Lytle, fini s hed n inth 0 4-9) in wh a t wa s hi s la st r id e for t he T ro y squad . Lytle signed a contract with the FMF /Honda tea m a we ek earlier and By Dave Deringer Photos by Karl Ockert DELMONT, r A, SEPT. 5 t was a fit ti ng way to end a s tella r ca ree r for 19- y ear-old Rick y Ca rmic hae l. Th e Spl it Fire / Pro Circu it / Ka wa saki / Fox-s p o ns o red rid er rode to a p erfect victory by winnin g both mo tos and takin g the ove ra ll win at th e fin al r ound of th e 1999 A MA / Mazd a Trucks 125cc Na tional Cha mpio ns hip Mot ocross Se ries at S tee l City Racew ay. In fro nt o f 18,639 mot ocross-lo vin g fa ns , Ca rm ichael rode th e fin a l 125cc race of his you ng caree r like it wa s his first, and he added one more check rna rk to his lon g list of wins. In d oing so, 'he tied the all-tim e win record of 25 career 125cc wins set by Mark Barnett back in the ea rly 1980s. The win also ma rked his first-e\'~r win, o u t of three atte mpts, at the Steel City facility. "Withou t all the help of my sp onsors, famil y a n d me chani c Chad Watts , I co u ld n ' t h ave had th is care er ," Carmichael said at the 'end of the day. "Chad has kept this bike running good many ti mes, 25 times for su re, and it feels good to be up there with Barnett. I g uess I'll hang with him up there for a while and maybe after my 250cc career I'll come back out a nd go for another ' wi n on the 125." Carmicha el w ill now move to th e 250cc class full time, sta rting wit h supercross in january 2000, th en to the outdoors next May. "I'm read y fo r the 250s," Carmichael ad ded la ter . "I' m goi ng to pu t a lot of time and effort into it and hop efull y get the sa me results." Getting to stand o n the seco nd- hig hest step on the pod iu m was a revitali zed Yamaha of Troy / Sin isalo/Oa kley-p ilo t Step hane Ronca d a. Th e Men ifee, California resid ent rode from the heart, finishing third in the first moto and taking the runner -up sp o t to Carmicha el the seco nd tim e out. Th e Frenchman was happy with his d ay and finish ed out the seaso n on a s trong note, making notic e to all tha t he s ho ul d be a ma jor contender in the Y2K ou tdoor series. "I jus t sig ned with Troy two weeks ago a nd every thi ng is working rea lly good righ t no w ," Ron cad a said . "M y confidence is way up right now a nd I d woul d 've like to wi n another moto this yea r, bu t I'll try aga in. Th e team really helps me eyery way th ey ca n, and I'm going to train real ha rd this winter 10 try :::i to win th e 125cc East Super cross a nd !II 12Sec outdoor next Year." Finishing a car';er-bes t th ird ov erall wa s Prima l Im p u lse Suzuki /Bill ' s III Pipes /Shift-supported David Ping re e. .. Coming off a stro ng th ird- p lace moto ~ -finish the week earlier at Binghamton , __ Pin gree ga ted well in both mo te s, nailing th e hol es hot in th e firs t moto and nearl y rep eating that performance in the seco nd . Pingr ee held on for a best- ev er second -p la ce result the fir st time o ut ~ and rode to a ha rd -foug ht fifth in moto I (Above) Ricky Carm ic hael ended his outdoor series in the same fash ion that he started It, with two moto win s. Steel City mar ked the last 125cc race for the th ree-time cham pi on. (Right) Aft er finis hing fifth last weekend, David Pin gree mounted a ser ious attack for the lead in both motos, ultimately fini shing third on the day. At the start of moto one Pingree led Ernesto Fonseca (100), Casey Johnson (16) and Carm icha el (1) into th e first turn . I i i! a .! E ., g. en 30 tw o. " Every wee k I feel s tron g er a nd stronger, and unfortunately this seas o n is over, but I'll ju st try to carry th at momentum through the off-season and bring it into next ye a r," Pi n gree . ex plai ned of h i s recen t s uccess. " I worked ha rd all yea r and it was a cou ple of stu pid little injuries tha t kept me ou t of the points." Fo u rth ov e ra ll w e nt to th e eve rde te rmin ed Tall o n Vohl and . Th e FMF / Ho nda / Tho r-backed rid er ' s 5-3 score was not his best performan ce of the year, but he clos ed his season o n a hi gh no te a n d vows to r e turn eve n stro nger next year as a member of Mitch Payton' s powerful Pro Circuit squad. "I wa sn 't real happy w ith the wa y I rod e tod ay," Vohland said. "I wa nted to give Rick y a run for the mon ey, but I tried my best . I'll come back next year an d Ricky will be ou t of the class. He's a tou gh gu y and a good champion , but I hope next year th at I'm the cha mpion. "I had a good yea r and couldn' t hav e do ne it without the suppo rt of my learn. I'd like to thank FMF and Mike Showa and all of the team's sponsors," continu ed Vohl and . "Also , a ll' of m y fa ns. They sup po rted me a ll year and that is really coo l." _ Ya ma ha of Troy ' s Ca sey j o hns on round ed ou t the top five for the .day as he rod e to an uneven ]0-4 finish. jo hnso n wa s a fron t-runner early in the first moto bu t su ffered a nast y get-off. After rem ounting and putting on a cha rge, he cou ld on ly mus ter u p a 10th. Joh nson ga ted well the second time out, made a few pa sses and fini shed fou rth on th e sa me trac k that he won his first-eve r had good thi ngs to say abou t his current ride. en "I'v e be with Tro v for the las t four years a nd I'm lea ving o n good terms. I'm rea lly close with Eric (Kehoe) and everything is coo l. They helped me since I was an in termediat e an d it's just time to move on." P rim al Impul se Suzu ki's Bra n den jesseman fin ish ed 10th overa ll (18-7) , wh ile Mo to Planet / Al Lane Yama ha 's Ma tt Wa lke r finish ed eleve nth, ea rning top p riva tee r hon o rs. R&S Kawasaki /J Brid ge sto ne' s Ryan Cla rk and FMF / Honda ' s Dann y Smith were next, and Smith's tea m mate, Brock Sell ards, finished 14 th after go ing 6-3 4. Sellards ' sixth -p lace fi nish in m o to one was