Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AI'v1A/EA Sports \Nestern Regional 1 2500 Super-cross Series Round 2 Edison International Field or Anaheim IF.II clrcl. By MATT FREEMAN PHOTOS BY KINNEY JONES he last time Tallon Vohland won a Supe~cross main event was on January 26,1991,10 the confines of the Houston Astrodome in front of 32,417 fans. Peak/Pro Circuit Honda-backed Jeremy McGrath finished runner-up to Factory Suzuki RM125-mounted Vohland that night. McGrath ended up winning the 125cc Western Regional Supercross crown that year, and then went on to... well, you know. What you may not know is that Vohland went on to Europe for most of the '90s in quest of a World Motocross Championship. In 1999 he returned to America to race, and at round two of the AMA/EA Sports Western Regional 125cc Supercross Series at Edison International Field of Anaheim in front of 45.050 fans, Tallon Vohland returned to the podium as a winner. "I'm kind of speechless. I wish everybody could feel the joy that I'm feeling right now: said SplitFire/Pro Circuit-Kawasaki's Vohland from atop the podium following his main-event win. "It's so incredible to go over to Europe for so many years and then after not racing Supercross for so long, to pull off a victory so soon in the season. For me, it's maybe the greatest goal I've ever accomplished, even though I've won some before. I don't know how to personally explain it. " Vohland's 1999 return to the American Supercross circuit was greeted with some skepticism and a series-ending injury, making his win at Edison Field that much sweeter for the 27 -year-old rider. "Last year, everybody was saying, 'Ah, Tallon Vohland can't ride Supercross anymore. He crashes. Those Europe guys can't ride it: I got hooked up T with a good team with some good outdoor results last year, and this year, with the new team, I've been working my butt off, and my mechanic's been working his butt off." Vohland definitely had to work his butt off in the I5-lap, 22-rider main event, but years of racing experience also played a large part in the victory. As the drag race down the starting grid approached the first turn, it appeared as though last week's winner, David Pingree, was headed for the holeshot. However, Pingree was not the only rider who thought he was leading the charge for the white chalk line that lay on the other side of the first turn. Before his Primal Impulse Suzuki reached the line, he was taken out by FMF/Honda's Casey Lytle, who was also bidding for the lead. "Lytle came in hot on the inside of me and didn't let off," explained Pingree. "I don't know what was running through his head. If he would have just rolled off, we would have been one and two, but he didn't, so we both went down just before the holeshot line." Both Pingree and Lytle had won their respective heat races earlier in the night, so a main-event battle between the two was expected, but it wasn't going to happen on the ground and Lytle knew it, taking full responsibility for the calamity that took out its fair share of riders. "l was trying to get to the first turn before Ping, and I ran a little hot and took us both out: confessed Lytle. "Dumb move on my part." Motoworld Yamaha's Greg Schnell, who finished third in round one, got hung up in the Lytle/Pingree crash, as did Yamaha of Troy's Justin Buckelew. Schnell was just as displeased with Lytle's actions as was Pingree. "Lytle came in and cleaned me and Ping out, totally: said Schnell. "There was no need for it, but I guess he's in the points too. I got up dead last." With some of the fastest riders in the main picking themselves off the stadium floor, SplitFire/Pro Circuit-Kawasaki's Billy Payne found himself in the lead, followed closely by Factory Connection/ Amsoil/Honda-mounted Chris Gosselaar, Vohland, Primal Impulse Suzuki's Robbie Horton and FMF/Honda's Danny Smith. But it didn't take long for that running order to deteriorate, as the Anaheim track continued to claim more victims. Gosselaar, who was actually credited with the holeshot honors after all was said and done, was among the first to run into problems - a crash sending him all the way to the back of the pack. Gosselaar's misfortune was Vohland's fortune, but only momentarily, as he, too, had problems, bobbling in the whoops and giving up second place to Smith, who had charged by Horton on the second lap. Smith's rise to the lead pack was aided by the fact that he was the first rider in the main event to attempt a massive quad jump. Running in second place and making time on race leader Payne, Smith continued to hit the jump lap after lap, while Payne did not attempt it until lap six. Still in the lead two laps later, Payne bailed and returned to his team's semi prematurely, shaken up and scratched from the crash. With his mind already set on passing Payne, Smith had no problem taking over the lead. A steady Vohland and Horton followed. Smith enjoyed the lead for two laps until sliding out and handing the honors over to Vohland as he pushed his bike up the following jump. It was then that Vohland knew what he had to do. "When Danny went down I said, 'Give it everything you got.' Not that I wasn't trying before that, but I just wanted to make sure I gave it 100 percent. I figured after he went down, he was going to be tired for a lit-. tie bit, so I wanted to get as big of a lead as I could. The last two laps, he started really closing in on me." Smith definitely regained some of the time he had lost to Vohland, and on the last lap the FMF/Honda rider was well within striking distance of the lead that Vohland was enjoying. The quad jump that Vohland had been avoiding all night was one of the last obstacles on the track before the finish-line jump, and Smith knew it. On the last lap Vohland once again played it safe and Smith went big, gaining the ground that he needed to make a last-turn pass on Vohland. As the two riders entered the last turn, it could easily have gone either way. "I went in high on the berm and then cut in underneath him," said Vohland. "I knew he was going to try to cut me off. I probably should have just went in low and protected the inside line, but I didn't want to get hung up in there. I rode a really smart race, and when the opportunity came to me, I gave it everything I had." Everything Vohland had was more than Smith could handle, and on this nail-biting night, Smith knew it. "I just came up a little short," said Smith. "Tallon was riding real fast and I was pulling him every time (over the quad). I tried to get him in the last corner, but he's a smart rider. It just wasn't in the cards for me tonight. " Third-placed Horton enjoyed a trouble-free ride all the way to the finish. even though he was being followed by his teammate, Pingree, who had made an amazing climb from near last to fourth. "A few people were going down, and there were so many mistakes going on out there," said Horton, who is new to the Primal Impulse Suzuki team this year. "The main thing I was concentrating on was trying to stay smooth and ride my own race. It got a cue Contil/lled on page 10 I e n e vv s JANUARY 26, 2000 9

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