Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128109
A M AIC hevy T r u c k s U .S. 250cc Motocross C h a m p io n s h ip S e r ie s B y J ERRY ATHEY PH OTO S BY S T EVE B RUHN SOUTHWICK, MA, JUNE 10 i c k y C armi ch a el d es p e r a t el y wanted th e overall win at South wick . In the firs t three rou nd s of the 2001 o ut door series, the de fe ndi ng 25 0c c Na tio nal Champion has strug gl ed with first -moto c r a sh e s and , whil e he has c ome b ac k eac h t ime ou t to t ake the second- moto victo ry , h is first -moto grem lins ha ve kept the Che vy T ru c k s Kawasaki ri de r fro m st an ding up on th e podium's top ste p - and, so far, k ept him from the series po int s lead, as well. T hat all changed a t r o u n d four of the AMA /Ch ev y T ruck s 250cc U.S. Motocross Cha m p ionsh ip Series, hel d on a clear and breezy day at the brutally rough and sa ndy MX 3 3 8 circuit in Massachu setts. Ca rmi ch ael , a board h is Cha d Watts-tuned factory KX 250 , put in hi s best ride so fa r this year to t ake the overall vict or y with a commanding 11 p e r f o r m an c e . More im p o r t a ntly , Carmich ael 's w in , comb ined w ith the unfo r tun at e l uck suff er ed b y T eam Honda 's Seb asti en T ort elli at South - R 18 JUN E 20, 200 1 • c u e I e wi ck , puts the 21 -year -old F lor idian in a spot he had ye t to enj oy this year on to p of th e seri es' poi nts standings. Carm ich ael starte d the first moto in f o u rt h , b e h in d KTM 's d efending 50 0cc World Cha mpion J oel Smets , DG Y/ Yam aha' s Do ug Henry and PC W o r l d wid e / C e rn i c s . c o m ' s Joh n Dowd . Before th e ri ders com plete d the ir second fu l l lap , h owever , Carmi cha e l h ad a lready m o v ed aro und Do wd and Henry and was nip pi ng a t th e heels of Smets for the lead. Jus t a fe w l ap s l a t e r . Carm icha el stu ffed his way pas t the fa c to ry KTM pil ot and race d to t he decisi ve victo ry ov er Am so il /D r. Ma rt en s / J o u rne ys/ C o m p e ti tio n Ac c essori es ' M ik e LaRo c c o. In th e second outing , Carmichael did exact ly what he has done at every race so far in the series , he moved to t he front quickly, th is time by virtue of an ea rly -moto pass o n D owd , and sim ply vanished from his would -be competitors , fin is hi ng ou t the race w ith nearl y a 30 -seco nd lead. "I felt really good here t od ay ," said Ca r m i c h a el. " Eve ry b o dy 's k in d of been say ing ' Wh at ' s wrong ? What' s n eVIl's wro ng?' and I do n't think there's bee n any t h ing wron g . I th i n k I was j u st ha vin g a little bit of ba d luck. I really needed to come out her e an d show these guys tha t I haven 't forg ot how to win . I'm glad that I was able to do that today ." F in ish ing an ex t re m e l y p o p ul a r second overa ll to Carmichael was the hom etown fav ori t e, Dowd, fr om ~ear by Chicopee, Ma ssa ch usetts. Dowd, aboard his Ron Bushey -p repped KTM 520 SX , gated third in th e fir st moto, j us t b eh ind f ellow N e w -Engl a nd e r Henr y and Smets befo re being te m p o raril y dr opp ed t o si xth b y th e charging trio of Carmichael , LaRoc co and Tortell i. As the riders in front of him bega n to f ade, m o s t n ot ab ly Sm e t s a n d H enr y , D o wd staye d st ron g and at t he mot o 's ha lfwa y po int, m oved pa st T ortell i and ba ck into the top three for good. In the second moto, Dowd blasted to an awesome holeshot before being overt ak en by C armi ch ael a nd, later in the m oto, Team Yamaha 's T im F erry . "I' m p retty psyched , fo r sure," said Dowd . " I h aven 't been up the re y et th is y ear - ac t ua lly, in a w hile. The l a st f ew ye ar s ha v en' t b e en t h at gr e a t , so I ' m r e a ll y psyc h ed . It ' s a l wa y s g o o d to come h er e to my home track . Hopefully , I can keep a little m o me ntum going for the rest of th e races." Ro un d in g out the pod ium fo r the second time thi s year was th e to ughas -na ils L aRo c c o . LaRo cco ba ttled h is way to a hard -fought run ner -up fi nis h in mota o ne , pass ing D owd , Sm ets and Hen ry b efore ma king a late -race c h ar ge f or Carm i chael. LaRo cco started th e second moto in se venth and , a f te r pa ss ing Team Chevy T rucks Kawasaki 's Stephane Ron c ada and He nry earl y on , fo und himself al on e in fifth for th e duration of t h e moto , despite a short -live d charge from Smets just before the halfway point. " I fe lt all right," said La Rocco. "N ot as stro ng as I woul d have liked . I crashed a co up le of tim es p ractic ing this week and threw m y b ack ou t a little bit . In th e fi rst m oto , I felt pretty goo d fo r a wh ile , then my back ti ghtened up. I got ou t there in the sec ond moto and aft er about five la ps , I wen t int o su r v iva l mode. I w an te d t o go