Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1999 12 15

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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AMA Western Four-Stroke National MX Series, Final Round ing in to lap nin e. At this point, Ne lson crashed . He got back up a littl e shaken bu t pressed on to fini sh th e moto in 10th. Wood s made a pass on Schnell a few turns lat er. Schnell go t a b etter drive th rough the long w hoop sectio n and took back third . Th eir battle brought them clos er to the tw o lead ers , Myer s and Ca m pbell. With 'o n ly tw o lap s rem ainin g , Schn ell turned it up a not ch and repassed Woods. Schnell then li terally fl ew ove r M y ers in th e middl e o f a mon go tabletop jump. Wood s followed in Schn ell' s wake, ge tting pas t My ers soo n after. Schn ell reall y went ball istic as h e landed off a tabletop and sped down the inside of a left-hand sweeper. Ca mpbell went a little w ide as Schnell made the perfect insid e/ou tside block-pass for the lead. "It really caught me by surprise, as I really didn't know he w as tha t clos e," said Campbell. By Don Schneider PHOENIX, AZ, OCT. 31 eammat es Greg Sc h nell and Du s tin Ne lso n, b o th a board Motowor ld of EI Cajon Yama ha YZ400Fs, provid ed the thrills at the final round of th e AM A Yam aha /Ma xxis Tires Western Four-Stroke Na tiona l MX Seri es, held at Speed world Motocro ss Park. Schnell won the fina l with an outstand in g 2-1 vi ctory in fro n t of 35 25 sp ectators, and Nelson ca ptu red his firs t AMA Western Four-Strok e N at ional title with a 1-10 score. "I love it that I finished the season off with a win on th e four -stroke," sa id Schnell. "It wa s fun ." "I'm stoked," Nelson said of his title w in. "It' s bee n a long tim e coming, and I su re cou ld n' t have d on e it w ith ou t all my sponsors this year." As the gate dropped for mo to one , Scott Myers, Ted Campbell and Patrick McMullen led the rest of the field into turn one by a few bik e len gths. Teamma tes Na th an Woo ds and Beau Baron mo tored in fou rth and fifth , respectively, just ahea d of Nelson, Gr ayson Hart, Justin McM urrich, Schnell and Jimmy LaMastus. D.J. Umphres was 11th , with Ry an Mo rt en s e n , Ry a n Leac h an d Robert Naughton close behind . Coming in to a left-hander a thi rd of the way aro und the track, Campbell went down. "It was silly of me, " said a discouraged Ca mpbell. "The corner was dryslick on the ins ide and I just washed out. It took way too long to get it fired up. By then, I was way back." Myers was right there to cap ita lize on the err or. "Ma n, it was handed to me on a silver platter," Myers sai d . "I was already committed to take the out side berm anyway . I k n ew I needed th e poi nts on Woods, and it was grea t to be in the lead that early." McMullen , Wood s, Baro n and Hart were all caugh t u p toget her , tr yi ng to avoi d the down ed bike and rid er. Ne lson wen t to the ou tside and was behind Myer s in no tim e. Woods was the nex t to p a s s th e ruc k us, w it h Sc h nell , McMu llen, LaMa stus and Baron in tow . N el s on pa ssed My ers for the lea d tw o tu rns b ef o re th e e nd of la p one . Na ughto n and Leach had passed four rid ers and were sit ting in 10th and 'l l th, just behind Umphres. LaMastus mov ed past McMullen at the start of lap two for the fifth spot and then blew past Schnell a few turns la ter. Then he passed Wood s at the end of lap th ree to take the third pos ition. Up front, Nelson and Myers we re close to eight seconds ahead of LaM astus. On lap six, Schne ll passed Wood s for four th. Leach was also on the gas; on the same lap, he had thum ped all the way up to jus t behind McMu llen in the sixth spot, with Baron, Naughton and Cam pbe ll just ahea d of Umphres in 10th. Woods wen t down wi th a washed-out front end and rejoined the race a few positions back. Lap seven went Schn ell's way . "I was really feeling good out there," Schnell said . "This outdoor seri es is way bett er than indoors. The roos t wasn't too bad, eithe r, tha nks to m y Thor u nderthe-shirt Batman chest protector. I could stay close to those guys . I've bee n wo rking ha rd on long motos, an d it all pa id off w hen it coun ted today . I cou ld see Events riI (Above) Dustin Nelson won the first mot o but crashed - tw ice - in the second moto . His 1-10 sco re st ill gave him his first AMA Western Fou r-Stro ke Nat ional MX ti tl e. (Left ) With a 2·1 tally, Greg Schnell won the final roun d of the series, hel d in Phoenix, Arizon a. (Right) Nathan Woods finished fifth on the day and placed thi rd overall in the ser ies. LaMastus makin g so me mistakes, goi ng a little wide in corners. I just waited for a cha nce and took him. Myers was jus t ahea d and I just focu sed ." With thr ee laps remai ning , Ca mpbell had picked off Naughton and Baron . He flew past Leach for the sixth position as the white flag came ou t. As th e che cke rs waved for N elson, the cro w d watched in amazement as, so me 15 seconds back, Schnell worked past Myer s aft er the sta rt-straight section for seco nd place. LaM astus crossed the line in fourth, wi th Campbell finishing in fron t of Woods . M cMu ll e n , Naugh to n, Lea ch and Ba ron filled ou t the top 10 positions. . The mo te-tw o holesh ot belonged to Ne lso n, a few feet ahead of LaM astu s, Schne ll and Mye rs . In turn tw o, LaMastus railed the ou tside and almos t w ent off the track as Myers ban zaied it up the inside for second . Jus t after Ne lson flew over the 110foo t u ph ill d oub le a n d into the back rive rbed , he slipped and fell for the first time in the entire series. He remounted at the very end of the pack and began a run tha t too k him a ll the w ay to fifth place befo re he took another soil sample. "I just slid ou t and couldn't believe it tha t firs t lap, " Nelson said . "T he n I cras hed later after making it up so far . I wan ted to wi n both mot os badly . Oh well - finishing fourt h overall isn't too bad, con s id e r in g I w ra pped u p the cham pio nshi p wi th tha t first-mo te win." Mye rs was a t th e rig h t place again, and he came ou t unscat hed and in the lea d . LaMastus tri ed in vai n to sweep a ro u nd Myers ear ly o n, to n o ava il. They had a few seco nds on Schnell, w ho ra n third, ahead Wood s and Ca m pbell. Ca m p bell s lid undernea th him on lap thr ee, with Naughton and Baron in close pursui t. Th ey w ere fo llowed by McMull en, Hart and Ryan Leach. On lap five, Schnell put it to LaMas tus for second . Then Campbell mu scled his way ins ide LaMa stus head ing down the longest stra ight section of the tra ck and in to the left sweeper tu rn for the third spo t. Nelso n motored arou nd Leach, Ha rt, McMu llen and Baro n on the next la p and fou nd him self in sixt h, only a couple of seco nds behind N augh to n. Up front, Schnell was huntin g down Myers . Jus t as the duo lan ded off a high -speed double and drove into a tight righ t-hand e r , Sch ne ll slid ou t. Myers was untouched and th u mp ed o n . Sch nell w a s up in a hu r r y , a nd Campbe ll , LaMastus a nd Woods were the onl y ones to ge t by . Cam p bell passed Myer s ju st be fore the gra ndstand area for the lead on lap seven. laMastus hu ng in third . Woo ds and Schnell began to p ick it up noticeab ly . O n lap e ig h t, bo t h Wood s and Schnell berserk ed it past LaMast us for third and fourth, respectively. Schnell block-passed Woo ds head ing past the finish-line area for th ird head- As they all came thu ndering past the checkered flag, Schnell took th e mot o w in , fo llo wed b y Ca mpbell , Woods, Myers and La Mas tu s. Na ugh to n fin ish ed sixth. Baron , Umphres , Hart and CI/I Ne lson rou nded out the top 10. Speedworld Motocross Park Phoen ix, Ar izona Resu lts: October 31, 1999 (Round 6 of 6) MOTa O NE : 1. Du stin N elso n (Yam); 2. Greg Schne ll (Yam); 3. Scott Myers (Yam ); 4. Jimmy LaMa stus (Hbg): 5. Ted Ca m p be ll (Yam ); 6. Natha n Woods (Ya m); 7. Patri ck McMullen (Yam); 8. Robert Naugh ton (Ya m); 9. Ryan Leac h (Yam) ; 10. Bea u Baron (Ya m ); 11. D.}. Umph res (Ya m); 12. Grayson Hart (KTM); 13. Ryan Mort en sen (Yam); 14. Justin McMurri ch (Yam); 15. Roby Leach (Yam). M O T O TWO: 1. G reg Sc h ne ll (Ya m) ; 2 . Ted Cnrnp bell (Yam) ; 3. Natha n Wood s (Yam ); 4. Sco tt Mye rs (Ya m) ; 5. Jimmy L1Mastu s ( Hbg): 6. Robert Na ugh ton (Yam); 7. Beau Baron (Yam); 8. D.J. Umphres (Ya m ); 9. G ra ys on Hart (KTM ); 10 . Du stin N elso n (Ya m) ; II. Ryan Morten sen (Yam ); 12. Ryan Lea ch (Ya m) ; 13 . Patrick McMu ll en (Ya m) ; 14 . Ju s t in McMu rrich (Yam); 15. Roby Leach (Yam). O/A: I. Greg Schnell (Ya m); 2. Ted. Ca mpbell (Yam ); 3. Scott Myers (Yam); 4. Dus tin Ne lson (Yam); 5. Nathan Woods (Ya m); 6. Jim my LaMas tus (Hb g ): 7. Robert Naughton (Yam); 8. Beau Baro n (Yam); 9. D.J. Umphres (Yam); 10. Grayso n Hart (KTM) ; 11. Ryan Leach (Yam); 12. Pa tr ick McMull en (Ya m ); 13. Ryan Mo rten se n (Yam); 14. Jus tin McMu rrich (Yam); 15. Roby Leach (Yam). AMA YAMA HAlMAXX IS TI RES WESTERN FOU R· STRO KE NATI ONAL SERIES POI NT STAND INGS (AFTER 6 OF 6 RO UND S): 1. Du stin Nelson (237/1 w in); 2 Sco tt Myers (216/1); 3. Na tha n Wtxld s (216); 4. Spu d Walters (144 /2); 5. Grayson Ha rt ( 30); 6. Be;)U Baro n ( 27); 7. Ryan Leach (l08); 8. Jimmy LaMas tus (100); 9. Josh Ch isu m (88); 10. Todd Dow ns (69); 11. Roby Lea ch (63); 12. Robert Na ug h to n (58 ); 13. Cr t's Schnell (47 /l); 14. Sten Rasmussen (45); 15. Joh n Bcal (45); 16. Damo n Brad shaw (44/ 1); 17. Derek Currie (41); 18. Josh Kellogg (40 ); 19. Ted Ca mpbell (38); 20. Pa ul Winn (38); 21. Rich Taylor (38); 22. Robb Roth (38); 23. Byro n Ne lso n (35); 24. Co ry Baud e r (34); 25 . Robb Mann ing (30. 0> 0> 0> on ., ., <> ., ~ ~ .c E o 33

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