Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events , : al SI n • By Clay Li ght ALBANY, OR, SEPT. 5 it h o u t a d ou b t, Yama ha rid er Du stin Nelson fe e ls ri gh t a t hom e on the supercross track at the Alba ny Motor sports Pa rk . For th e seco nd year in a row, Ne lson has left his mark here with a w in in the' AMA Weste rn Fo ur-S tro ke Nat ional Mot ocro ss Series. Nelson scored his firs t wi n thus far in the seven-race series wit h his 1-1 sweep, and the racer from El Cajon, California, left the Pacific Northwes t w ith the class points lead in hand; Ne lso n' s 159-p oint tall y leads Scott Mye rs ' 148point tabulation , w hich lef t the leader coming int o the Alban y rou nd, Na tha n Wood s, a d istant third at 143. Nelso n earned $1350 fro m the $5000 purse by scoring the o ve ra ll win, first d omin ating th e o pe n ing 25-minuteplu s-tw a -lap s mo to - a wi re-to-wire performance - a nd then coming back in the second mota to overtake the winner of the Washouga l round , Brian "S p u d " Walte rs, to finali z e hi s d oub le moto romp . Wal ters fini shed second overall v ia 2-2 p erformanc e s, b eatin g local favorite Ryan Leach, whose ~~3 placi ngs netted h im the final podiu m po sitio n in his series debu t, Last year, Wood s ga ve Yamaha its first rno to victory in wh at was up until that point an KTM/Husab er g-domina ted series, and he finished ou t th is d ay in a disappointing seven th overa ll. Wood s crashed w hile running in third in moto one, and th en he ca me up short off a ju m p in mo to two, m an gling a s hif t lever. Woods ended up wi th 12-4 p lacings . Walt ers, N e lson and H u sab erg mo un ted Jim my LaM as tus ju m ped out fro nt of the firs t moto, but a ga te ma lfunction left several riders stra nd ed and the race was quickly red -flagged . Nelson gra bbed the ho leshot in mo to on e , a lso p ic k in g up th e a dd ition al holeshot mon ey funded by Dunr ite, followed closely by Lalvlastus , Wood s and Mye rs. Walters was qu ick to move into second, a nd he hou nd ed Nelson from that poi nt , wit h LaMastus in close proxim ity. Ne lso n, riding the Motowo rld of EI Ca jon / FMF / Enzo/ Pirelli-backed Yama h a , and W h il e Brot h ers /Yama ha / O' N ea l-sup p ort ed Wa lte rs b ro ke free from Pr em ier Motorsports' LaMastus, leaving the Ida ho rid er w ith his hands fu ll, as bo th Mye rs a nd Wo od s w e re gu nni ng fr o m behind . La M a stu s, though , lost the posit ion w hen the carburetor on his 2000 Husa berg fell off. Wood s and Myers continued to d o ba ttle over the final rostrum pos ition . Severa l la ps la ter, Wo od s took a soil sa m p le a nd d rop ped off the lea d la p. Leach forged forwa rd , w hich shook u p the order, as Leach carved from a n initial 13th place to settle into third . Woods ' tit le ho pes _ e re lo o k in g w more di m, although he finished in 12th W • p lace a fter re-ent eri ng th e race in 20th afte r his cras h. "I crashed while ru nning third - that stinks ," Wood s said . "By the time I go t go ing again, the lead ers had a lre ady la p ped m e, so I was n' t sure how far back I was. This is so disa ppointing ." Bu t for Ne lso n, w ho sei zed the opportu nity to take th e po ints lead , it was a sweet first-mo ta victory, as he led Walt ers to the finish by six seconds. "That's the way to d o it," exclaimed Nelson. "Get ou t fron t early a nd keep it there. I need ed to d o that to beat Spud . Heis tough to ge t aro u nd on a track like (Ab ove) At the Al ban y round of th e AMANama hal Maxxis Wes tern Fou r-St ro ke Nat ional Motoc ross Series, Dustin Nelson (3) won th e ove rall w ith 1-1 fi nish es. Mor e importa ntly, Nelson . took the po ints lead. (Left) Spud Walters (75) led a port ion of m oto two b ut faded to fi nish second overall vi a hi s 2-2 perfo rma nces at Albany Mot orsports Park in Oregon. this. At first I was pissed off when I saw the red flags waving (on the initial start) wh ile (I wa s) in second, but af ter lead ing the rest ar t, I thou ght , 'Ma n, this is g reatl' " Walters finis hed second , followed by Lea ch, Myers, Bea u Baro n, Cliff Cook, Jesse Allen , Josh Ch isu m, Roby Leach a n d KT M r id e r G rayso n H art, w ho rou nded ou t the top 10. Walters gra bbed ho leshot hon ors in the seco nd moto . Ne lson , LaMastus and Wood s were clingin g to his rear wheel at the head of the 20-rider field . Walt ers' s tro ng s ta rting performa nce ena bled him to open u p a n ice lead ea rl y on, alt hough N elso n quickly regained his com posure and chased d own Wa lters. "1 w as right on hi m (Walte rs) for a couple of .laps, but then 1 lost grou nd ," Ne lso n sai d of his ea rly -race fa lteri ng. "Th en I go t in m y groove a nd ca ught him, figu ring I'd better d o it quick or it was all over with." O nce around Walters, Nelson, with the lead in hand , we nt on to open up a lO-second lead over the fadi ng Walt ers, while behi nd the d u o the re wa s a ba ttle be tw ee n Woods and Lea ch , th e la tt er initially starting off fifth and then picking off Myers for fourt h and setting his sig hts on Woods. Wood s came up s h o rt ona ju m p , slightly dam ag ing his machi ne, and in the alt ercation his shift lever had been bent so bad ly that he was left stranded in fourth gea r. Th is a llowed Lea ch to ove rtake the wounded Woods for third , but Leach would have to make u p so me 20 seconds to move into second, a positio n to whi ch Wa lters clu ng d espite nursing a hurting knee. "I cras hed hard in p racti ce ye sterd a y," Wa lt ers s a id. " I knew th at I cou ld n ' t s ta y a t D us tin 's p a ce, so I ba cked off a nd was just g lad to leave this place healthy, with second." Nelso n's d ou bl e mot o sw eep at the completion earned the rider his first win of the yea r a fter p laci ng fift h a t Glen Helen and then adding a pa ir of runnerup pe rformanc es a t Boise an d Washougal, taking an l l-poi nt lead into the next round . Walters, Leach Woods, Myers a nd 18-year-old Baron filled ou t the top six in th e mot o, followed by Hart, Cook, RobyLea ch an d Hu s ab erg -m ou nte d Mike Smith, w ho we re tightly bunched and round ed ou t the top 10. For Lalvlastus, it was a day he'd just as soo n forge t, as the Lew iston, Id ah o, rid er, who had co me into th e Alba nv ro und looking to bre ak his stri ng of bad lu ck, had a double-DNF day wh ile running as high as third in bo th motos. " We t ri ed an a fter ma r ke t ca r b." Chuck Sun, the KTM/Husaberg mana ger, said. " It kept working its way loose, so we' ll go back to usin g the stock carb, that's for sure ." . Don Schneid er, th e AMA / Wes tern Fou r-Stroke Nation al Series coord inator, judged the series thus far a success . "It just keep s ge tting be tter and be tter," Sch neider sa id . "I' rn reall y happy with the .w ay it has p ro gressed. We're looking for ad d itional tracks and sponsors fo r th e yea r 200 0 to co n tinue it s eN ph enom enal su ccess." Alba ny Mot orsports Park Albany , Orego n Resu lts: September 5, 1999 (Roun d 4 of 7) MOTO ONE: 1. D u stin Ne lso n (Yam) : 2. S p ud wal te rs (Ya m); 3. Rya n Leach (Yarn) : 4. Scott Myer s ' (Ya m); 5. Beau Baron (Yam); 6. C liff C oo k (Yam); 7. JesSE' Alle n (Yam ); 8 . Joh n C hisum (Ya m ); 9. Ro b y Leach (Yam) ; 10. Grayson Ha rt (KTM); 11. Mike Smith (Hbg ): 12. Nat ha n Woods (Ya m ); 13. Rick Hansen (Yam) ; 14. ja son Pa rks (Y.1 m); 15. Eric Clev eland (Ya r n): 16. Stcn Rasm usse n (Ya m); 17. De rek Cu rrie (Yam) ; 18. Jim my LaM,"Istu s (Hbg): 19. Leon Ca p ps (Y.1m) 20. John Beal ; (Yam ). M O T O T WO: 1. Dustin Ne lson (Ya m) ; 2. Sp u d w al ters (Yam): 3. Ryan Leach (Ya m); 4. Nat ha n W('IlX , b (Yam); 5. Sco t! Mye rs (Ya m); 6. Beau ELm,., (Ya m); 7. Grayso n Ha rt (KTM) ; 8. C li ff Co o k (Ya m ); 9. Rob y Leach (Yam); 10. Mikp Sm ith (Hb g); 11. John C hisum . (Ya m); 12. Jesse Allen (Yam): 13. Sten Rasm ussen (Ya m); 14. jason Pa rks (Yam) : 15. Eric Cle velan d (Ya m); 16. Le Capps (Yam): 17. De rek Curr ie (Ya m); Hi. Jim my on Lalvtas tu s (H b g): 19. Rick Hansen (Yam); 20. Joh n Beill (Y am ). O /A : 1. Dus tin Nelso n (Yam) ; 2. Sp ud wal ters (Ya m); 3. Ryan Leach (Yam) ; 4. Scott Mye rs (Yam) ; 5. Beau Ba ro n (Ya m ); 6. C liff Co o k (Ya m ); 7. Nat han Woods (Ya rn) : S. G rayson Ha rt (KTM); 9. Roby Leach (Ya m); 10. John Ch isu m (Yam) ; 11. Jt.'SSt' Allen {Yarn): 12. Mike Sm ith (H bg): 13. Jason Parks (Yarn): 14. Sten Rasmussen (Ya m ); 15, Er ic Clev ela nd (Ya m); 16. Rick Han sen (Yam ); 17. Derek Curri e (Y."Im ); 18. Leon Ca p ~ (Ya m ); 19: Jim my La fvlastus (H bg): 20 . Joh n Bea l (Ya m) . AMA/Weste rn Fo u r-S tr o ke Nation a l M o to cross Se ries Poi n ts S tand ing s (A ft er 4 o f 1 ro un d s): I. Dustin Nel son (159/ 1 win) ; 2. Sco tt MypfS (148 / 1); 3. Nathan Woods (43 ); 4. Spud walters (94/1); 5. Grayson Hart (85); 6. Beau Baron (78); 7. Tod d Downs (69); 8. Jimm y L,"IMastu s (66); 9. Josh Chisum (65); 10. Ryan Leach (57); 11. Juhn Bcal (45); 12. (TI E) Stcn Rasm ussen /Damon Bradshaw (44 / 1); 14. Rob y Leach (40); 15. (T IE) Pilll ! Wi n n /Rich Tayl or / Robb Plot h (38); 18. Byron Nelson (35); 19. Corey Bauder (34); 20. Robb Manning (31). '" S iii 111 1 II. • .. ~ ~ .. ., ., ' m · en ~ Q) ..c E Q) C. Q) en 49

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