Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

A MA C h e vy Truck s Nat iona l M o t ocross S e r ie s R o u n d 4 : MX 338 B y D A VE D ERINGER PHOTOS BY S TEVE B RU HN SOUTHWICK, MA, JUN. 10 n a bea utiful day in south- central Ma s s a chu s etts , Te a m Su zu ki' s Travis Pa stra na ca me aw a y with his second consecutive ove ra ll win, m a king up for his s low sta rt to th e series by mo ving into th e lea d in th e points sta nding s . Abo ard a Le e McColl u m-t u ned RM125, Pastrana work ed hard all day to co m e through the pack and score two s tr o ng moto finishes . With a n 1 1th-place s tart in the firs t moto , Pastrana loo ked to maybe salvage a top -five ride , but with a few m istakes being made by his competitors, Pastrana managed to work up to a distant second -pla ce finish by the e nd. The sec ond moto was a total th riller, as the c ha m p started in 14th a nd s lowly worked to the fron t. It did not look like Pastrana even had a ch an ce a t th e o verall , but w ith two lap s rema ining , he clo sed in on KTM Red Bull's Broc k S e llard s fo r t he m oto win. With half a la p of th e race to go, Pastra na m ad e the pa s s and too k a narrow win for his second overall vic to ry of the se ries . And in tru e Pastra na fas hio n, he did all of this with a slig ht concussion sustained on Saturd a y. Hea d ing into his homes tate of Mary land next week , Pas tra na is once again on top of the motocross world. "I d idn ' t eve n thi nk t ha t I ha d a c ha nce to ca tch Brock , a nd I d on 't O 22 JUNE 20, 2001 • cue I e thin k he d id e ither, so that probably he lpe d a little bit," Pastrana sa id from the winner's circl e. "I tr ied my hardest a nd ga ve it e veryth ing I had. I've got to g ive c re dit to Gra nt La ng sto n fo r even r id in g . He h a s a sep a ra te d shoulde r, a nd he was flying o ut there . He definitely ge ts th e awa rd." S econd o vera ll in the rough and de ep sand of Sou thw ick was Pro Clrc uit / Ka wa s ak i/ S pli t F ir e 's Mi ke Brown . Th e Tenn ess e e na tive to o k his first Ameri can moto win si nc e 1995 in the first 125cc moto o f the da y, and he d id it in style an d co nvincing fashion as he won by ov er 30 seconds. The second moto started off m iserably for Brown, as he c ra s hed just several feet out of th e g at e a nd was left pick ing up his bike in 40th position . He was on th e gas qu ic kly and picking off riders at an a larming ra te, but before he complet ed one full la p , Brown was back down on t he gr o und a n d had to s t a rt all ove r ag a in . Th e ne ve r-s a y -d ie , h a rd charging Brown go t up a nd got on the g a s o n e mo r e t im e , and by t he mo to 's en d, Brown had pu lled off an a mazing ninth -p la ce ride . His 1-9 ride was so mehow good enough for sec o n d ove ra ll, a n d Bro wn must n ot ha ve tho ug ht th a t he finished that we ll, be ca use he was nowhere to be seen at the trophy p rese ntation a t the end of the day. After the first moto , he did say, " It ' s be en sinc e a moto win at Washougal a lon g time ago that I've n _ s won one of these . I've been there all the time, second-second -second, a nd I know tha t I've been ove rdue for on e . I've hea rd a lot a bo ut who was go ing to win this race , a nd I just stayed a nd t ra ined with Ric k y Ca rmi ch a el a ll wee k, a nd I got the job don e." Yam ah a of Troy's Nath a n Ra mse y to ok t he fi nal pod ium pos it io n . A ho lesh ot in t h e firs t m ot o and a stro ng r id e n ett ed th e fri endly thumper ride r a fourth-place ride , an d a nothe r stro ng start and ride in moto two pl a c e d h im fift h . Ram s ey wa s ha pp y a nd sa id, "I made a few m is takes and fell a couple of times, but it ca me out all righ t. I'll just keep wor king o n it. " New England 's own Ke ith John s on , o f t h e E -Z-Wider/3 -D /Sout h S hore Moto rs po rt s squad , t o ok a strong fourth overall. In front of hu ndr ed s of friends and fans , Joh nson m otored to a solid th ird in moto on e o n the famili ar sand tr a ck. Afte r a third-p lace sta rt in moto two , J ohnson had ra c e-l o ng battl es wit h the likes of Pastran a , Huffman an d Ra m sey and he ld o n for a re s pec ta ble seventh. His 3 -7 score also gave him the honors of to p 125cc privateer. Johnson was ecstatic a bout hi s da y. "My go al was to get a good start and get top -five, a nd I did it," John s on said . "I k new t hat so me g uys wou ld fade, be c au s e th is t rack will whip you ." Se llards was ne xt. A la c k lus te r 10th in the first moto must have lit a s park un de r t he Ne w Philade lp hia , O h io , re s id e n t, as he grabbed the holeshot in moto two an d too k off. Se lla rds loo ked to hav e his first moto win of th e 200 1 season in the bag . but a teenager named Pastrana had someth ing to say a bout that. Se llards led every lap of the second moto except for the fi na l half of the last lap - the most im porta nt pa rt, obviously. He still finished a close second and was upbeat a bout his ride , as his 10 -2 show ing was good enough for fifth overall. "I got the holesh ot a nd d idn't ha ve to wo rr y a bou t an y roost a nd rod e well out front ," Sell ards co m me nte d. "I knew th at Tr avis was co m ing a nd I didn 't hav e mu ch for him on that last lap, so I tried to hold him up in a corner , but it d idn 't work . I put ev er ything I had into it. " Th e story o f th e day wa s s ixt h place fin is her Gr an t Langsto n , the 125 cc World Cha mpion of KTM Red Bu ll. Afte r inju ring hi s s hou ld e r o n Satu rd a y (see side ba r) , th e So uth Af ric a n sold iered o n to r id e both m otos and score an a m azing 9 -4 . He lo s t sever a l po ints to Pas tra na o ver th e cou rse of the day , but no t nearly as m a ny as he could have lost had he not ridde n a t all. Yama ha of Troy's Ernest o Fonseca finished seventh overall by riding to 6 -8 m o to scores. The Costa Rica n started up front in both motos, but a fall in mo to one and a few small mis ta kes in moto t wo he ld him from moving up the ladder further. Mo to wo rld Ra c ing .c om / Answer ba c ked Dam on Huffman was e ight h with a n u ne ve n 15 -3 day . The Ca lifo rnia n was in th e thick of th e ba ttles in the second moto a nd pulled off his sec o nd podium m oto fi nis h o f th e ea rly outd o or seaso n a fte r ba ttling with Fonseca , Ramse y, Langston and Johnson o n m ore than on e occasion each throughout the ra ce. "This is a good rebound race for me after a terribl e Mount Morris," Huffman • said from the podium. "I felt good in the first moto, but went down . I got a top-five start in the second one and managed to get th ird . I needed it." Moto XXX/DGY/Atomic 22 's Larry Ward was ninth with an 11 -6 ta lly , wh ile Yamah a of Tro y's Nick Wey rou nded out the top 10 by riding to 7 10 finis he s . Plan o Honda 's Paul Curr ie had an im pressive first-m ote finish of fifth, but a 17th the seco nd time out placed th e Flor idian at 11th ove rall. A no t h e r hom et own bo y , Wally Silva , ' rod e to 8- 15 finis hes fo r 12th overall. KTM Red Bull's Kelly Sm ith, Sm it h an d S uz uk i' s Dan n y Amsoil/ Dr. Ma rten s/J ou rne ys /C om pet itio n Ac ce ss o rie s rider Bra nd e n J es se m a n rou nde d out the top 15. MOTO 1 Ra msey, Langston and Kei th J ohnson led the st a rt of th e first moto with Brown, Cu rrie a nd Fo nseca fol-

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