Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Jeremy McGrath (1) had a tough time getting around Feny. By the time he did, Cannlchael was already long gone. to the flag. As usual, LaRocco got a wretched start - 12th after the first lap • then rode like a demon to catch up. He would finish sixth. "I didn't give myself a chance," LaRocco said. Team Suzuki's Kevin Windham was the last rider LaRocco passed, Windham finishing alone after a disappointing second half of the race. "Just kind of halfway through the race, 1 started getting frustrated and wasn't looking far enough ahead I think, so that was probably my big problem for tonight," Windham said. Thousand Oaks Yamaha's Robbie Reynard said he got winded in the second half of the race on his way to eighth. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada finished a disappointing ninth and left the track almost immediately. Fellow Frenchman David Vuillemin, of the Yamaha team, ended up 10th on what promised to be a much better day. Vuillemin has only recently been .able to train fulltime, while recovering from the broken ribs he suffered just before the San Diego Supercross. Vuillemin was in sixth place when he crashed on the 10th lap, dropping to 10th, where he'd finish. "The track was very rutted, but it was the same for everybody," Vuillemin said. "I could not stay in front." With his fourth win of the season, Carmichael was able to stay in front of McGrath in the championship chase. After six of 16 rounds, Carmichael leads McGrath 142 to 136. LaRocco remains third in points at 111. "RC's on a roll right now," McGrath said. "I'm going to try to gather some confidence during the week off. Six points is a little bit, it's not a lot. There's still a lot of races to go. We're having a great series. I hope to mix it up with him in the next few races, get that points [chase] a little closer back to even." Carmichael had proven his mastery of the dome over the course of the night. The 20-lap main event was no different. The first order of business was the $1000 SFX Holeshot Award, which he pocketed. Winning that went a long way to ensuring a much larger payday that would come about 17 minutes later. "You know, when you get a good start, it makes it a lot easier and this track is hard to pass on, and if you got stuck behind somebody you kind of had to be really aggressive," Carmichael said. "Luckily I got a good start." Once Carmichael got out front it was expected that McGrath would make a run at him. It never happened because McGrath couldn't get around Ferry. So while McGrath was poking and probing for an opening, that times 20 and you have the margin of victory, 12.200 seconds. Carmichael wasn't aware that he was the only rider completing all three triples along one long side of the dome field, but he knew it would matter. "I kept doing it because everyone else was doing it," Carmichael thought, but they weren't. He was the only one who did it con· sistently. "It's something we talked about," Oakley's Johnny O'Mara, an advisor to Carmichael, said. "It would be pivotal." There was one hiccup. About halfway into the race Carmichael bobbled through a whoop section, setting the rear of the KX250 swinging back and forth like a pendulum. "Where the ruts were, I took a new line on the rhythm lane and it didn't work out to my advantage," Carmichael said. "I was turning good lap times all night and I made that one mistake at like halfway and regrouped and turned my normal lap times." That behind him, Carmichael had no trouble racing with a big lead. "Sometimes it's like the laps go by so fast. It's over quickly," he said. For him, it was. Carmichael was making time. How much time? Lusk had another strong ride, capping off the night on the podium next to Cannichael and McGrath. His average lap time was 0.6 seconds faster than McGrath's. Multiply cue I • n • _ s • FEBRUARY 21,2001 7

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