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AMA Western Four-Stroke National MX Series Round 3 : Verde Valley Motorplex (Leftl Natha n Woods fl ew straight t o th e top of the podium at rou nd three of the AMA Western FourStroke National Series. (Below) Jimmy laMastus (6 1 controls the moto-one holeshot, over Josh Kellogg (29), Craig Davis (41. Woods (5) and the rest of the pack at Verde Valley Motorplex In Cottonwood. Arizona . H e c o u l d only w at ch a s LaMastus pulled away to a lea d of se v eral sec on d s . A f t er a f e w laps, Woods see med t o co me i nt o h i s own as his lap times came down and LaMastus settled into a more susta inabl e pac e . D u r i n g lap fiv e, Woods found th e o pe n in g he was hoping f or and made the pass for th e lead . Woods maintained a m ini mum fo ur-se cond lead all th e wa y to the check ered Bv Wood s began the second m oto just b ehi n d Ke ll ogg i n fou rth , but he passed Kellogg before the end of lap one , while LaMastus and Walters pulled away in first and second. Wai t ers made an uncharacteristic mis take during lap five and went down. "I could tell Woods was coming , so I really wanted to get past J im m y and pull away ," Walters said. "I ran right into Jimmy 's rea r tire and fell. This just hasn 't been my day. I fell in th e fir st turn to st art moto one and had to c harge ha rd t o finish fifth , th en t o handica p m y s elf i n t he seco nd moto.... I'm still happy w ith the way I rode - exclud ing the fall s. I felt good all da y , so I'm ready for round fo ur. " Woods passed LaMastus for the lead on lap six an d thundered away t o a sizab l e lead. After h is cras h in th e second moto, Walters was once again on the charge , working hard to get past Davis in the tight back sec tion on lap six , then passing Kellogg on la p eight. Walters passed a very J OHN N V WHIT EBO O T S COTTONWOOD, AZ, APR. 8 athan Woods used h is Yamaha Po w erh ou se/Tro y Lee /I ndepend ent Ra c e S h op Su sp e ns ion /To a st Mot o rsp ort s-b ack ed YZ426F to posi ti on him sel f at o p of th e pod ium at r ound thr e e of t h e AMA Yamah a Western Four-Stroke Nati onal Ser ies, sp o ns o re d by M axim a Raci n g O ils , Sp y Eyes, Pow er -Start Systems, B ig Gun Exhau st , Kod ak Sp orts Pho tog raph y Ev ent Pho t os , Jak- B a k z a nd Hooters Resta urants, w ith rid er supp o rt f ro m Facto ry R&D an d W h it e Brot hers . J imm y L aM ast u s secured both hole shot s ab o ard h is KT M Canad a/ Th or/Wh it e B r o th e r s - b a c k e d KTM 520 and la id d o wn so m e aw es om e lap times as he pu lled away to co m fo rt able lead s. "M y Maxxis tires hoo k ed up g reat off th e li ne . and m y KTM powered m e aro und th e first turn and into the lead in both m o t o s , " LaMastus said . " I really w a n t e d to win both motos today , but Na tha n reall y ha d a handle o n the t rack a n d was r iding great today . I'm still very ha ppy w ith th e t w o se conds , a nd in keepi ng the po ints lead. " Woods p u t in very solid p erfo rmances in both motos, coming out of the first turn with top-five starts and charg ing his way to th e front. In moto on e , Woods found himself in second after dispatch ing Josh Ke llogg and Cra ig Davis after the second corner. 58 MAY 9 , 2001 • c ue I e fa st K ip Sand ell o n lap 10 for th ird, but by then Wood s and LaMastus were long gone. Sandell would hang tough and finish fourth , just ahead of Todd Downs . Schnell took advantage of a break in the 125cc West Supercross season to bri ng h is thumper to the eve nt in prepa rati on for the upc om in g A M A O utd oor N at ional series. Sc hne ll kept his Mot ow o rl d of EI Cahon /Answer/ Dun lop YZ250F on the rev limiter all day en route to his fo urth -overall score . Schn ell wo rke d h i s way up from m idpack sta rt s in both motos, c om ing acro ss fo u r t h in moto o n e and sev enth in moto tw o. "I really had to work hard to pass the 426s out th ere," Schnell reported. "T he y pull so hard down the straights . In the first moto, the track still had a lot of ra ils and soft berms , so I was abl e to carry a lot m ore speed out of th e corners th an the second moto. " It was reall y tough that second moto; there weren 't a lot of places I could make time on the bigger bikes . This track is a lot li k e Carlsbad: very har d -p ac k ed and sl ippery when it's dry . I'm still happ y with the fourth overall , cons id ering we still have the Su perc ross setup on the bike. This th ing w ill be rocket-fast when we get to Glen Helen ." eN VerdeValley Motorplex Cottonwood, Arizona Results: April 8, 2001 (Round 3 01 121 O /A: 1. Ne t he n Wo od s ( Ya m ); 2. J imm y flag , with LaMastus fi nishing a solid seco nd and Ryan T erleck i bringing the Husaberg ac ro ss in th ird , well ahead of Greg Schnell and Spud Walters. " I was able to c at c h b ac k up to J im m y , and I set hi m up coming into the last turn before the fin ish l ine," Woods said after the first moto. " He d rove deep into the sandy berm and I was able to rai l the ins ide groove and beat him to the fi nish li ne. He tried to com e back by overjumping the b ig table top head ing into the canyons section, bu t I hel d it on lo nger and shut him ou t with co ntrol of the inside l ine . I kn ew I had to g et a w ay to m ainta in th e lead , so I turned it up a notch and pulled awa y . I fel t r eall y st ron g all m oto , so I'm hoping fo r good th ings in the second rnoto ." n eVIl' S (Be low) Greg Schnell (3 0) barely held off Matt Kartsen (940) to finish seventh in m oto two for fourth ove ra ll ; Kartsen pla ced seventh overall . laMastus ( KT M) ; 3 . Spud We lters ( Yam) ; 4 . Greg Schnell (Vam): 5. Kip Sendell (Yem): 6. Josh Kellogg (Yam ); 7. Matt Karlson (Yam ); 8 . Craig Davis (KTM ); 9 . Car ter Gurn ee { Hus} : 10 . M att hew Batem an ( Vam ): 1 1. Ch ri s Spren k el (Ya m ) : 12 . N i ck Bainbridge (Yam); 13 . Tim Sharp (YllI m): 14. Nick Bea ver (Ya m}: 15. Ryan Te rle cki (Hbg): 16. D .J. Sweany (Vam ): 17. Don Bainbridge (Vam): 18. Todd Dow n s ( KT M) : 19. T y Ca rson ( KTM): 20. Ja son Matth ews (KTM). AMA VA M A H A WES T ER N FOU R · ST R OKE NATIONAL MOTOCR OSS CH A M PI O NSH I P POINTS STAND INGS ( A fter 3 of 12 rounds) : 1. J immy LaMa stus ( 14 8/1 win); 2. Na than Woods (115/1): 3 . Spud Walters ( 108/1 ): 4. Ryan Te rleck i (98): 5. Kip Sandell (95); 6. Matt Karl son (70 ): 7. T o dd Down s (69): 8 . T im Beatt y (65) : 9 . J o sh Kell ogg (60) : 10 . Craig Davis (53 ): I I. Ty Carson (5 1): 12. Brian Sweany (48 ): 13. Nick Bainbrid ge (46) ; 14 . (TIE) Matt Bateman/Tim Sharp (40): 16. Carter Gu rnee (35 ); 17. (T IE) Ma rk TlIIey/ J ason Ma tt hew s (26) : 19 . Andy Anaya ( 20): 20 . Do n Bainbridg e (1 8) .