Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA C hevy Tru c k s 1 2 5cc U .S . M oto c r o s s C h ampion sh ip S eries R o u n d 5: B udds C r e e k Mot ocros s P a r k Because of the heavy rains on Sat urday. all Pro practices and qualifi e rs were-canceled. On Sunday morning. a long series of qualifiers was held. Three heats and three co nsolatio n races were held for each division of classes , 125cc and 250cc. Plano Honda's Scot t Sheak and Paul Cu rrie and Yamaha of Troy 's J ust in Buckelew each wo n a t hree- lap heat race , while Team Honda's Ezra Lusk, Fast by Ferracci Husqvarna's Travis Preston and Thousand Oaks Yamaha's Robbie Reynard were the 250 cc heat winners . Kawasaki privateer Ryan J ones, KTM Red Bull' s Kelly Smith and Thousand Oaks' Jacob Mart in each won a 125cc consolation, w hile E-Z W ider' s Scott Carter , Suzuki privateer Bruce Stratton and Planet Honda's Jeramias Israel each wo n a 250cc co nsolation. N otable non-qualifiers were Yamaha of Troy' s Nick W ey and SoCal' s Jimmy Wi lson . Both Mic higan riders missed qualifying by one position , but the series heads to their home track of Red Bud in two week s. M aking a retu rn to racing at Budds Creek was Yamaha privateer Robbie Horton . The national number 55 rider has been missing since the opening Supercross in Anaheim bac k in January with a knee injury and decided it was time to ride again. " I'm on my ow n again, and amjust trying to get back into it. - Horton said after the first 250cc qualifier, in w hich he finished third. " I've only ridden two local races lately , so we 'll see . - Horton rod e to 38 -40 moto scores in the 250cc motos. In attendance at Budds Creek, but not riding, was KTM Red Bull's Grant Langston. The winner of the first two rounds at Glen Helen and Hangtown was all bandaged up and said, " I reinjured my injured shoulder, and I'm not going to ride anymore. I'm going down to Florida to see Dr . Augustine on M onday and see w hat has to be done. There 's nothing wo rse than gett ing hurt w hile leading a championship, but that is all a part of racing. Injuries will always set yo u back a bit. and this one is really going to do that. " Langston was celebra ting - well, not really celebrating - his 19th birthday on Sunday at the track. Don 't loo k for Langsto n to be back on the track for some time. His return wo uld be toward the end of the series if he co mes back at all. As they are every wee k, the U.S . Smokeless Tobacco privateer a w ards were give n out at the end of the day . M oto XXX's Lanry Wa rd and E-Z Wider's Keith J ohnson were the top two recipients in the 125cc class, while Joh n Dowd and Robbie Reynard were the top two privateer finishers in the 250cc class. W ard wen t 2-2 for seco nd overall and $ 1000 in the 125cc class. with J ohnson going 11-23 for 15th overall and $5 00 . Dowd rode his KTM to a 8-5 sixth overa ll and $ 1000 in the 250 cc class , and Reynard too k second 250cc privateer and $500 with his 9-7 seve nth overall. Wi th his overall win at Budds Creek. Ricky Carmichael now beco mes the record holder for most wins at the facility with four. N ext in line is two-ti me AMA National C hampion Steve Lamson, with three overall wins. Canmichael won' in 1997, '98 (125cc) , 200 0 and, of co urse, 2001 . Lamson won three co nsecutive overalls - 1994. '95 and '96 as a member of Team Honda. Speaking of Lamson, the Fast by Ferracci Husqvarna rider was a bsent at Budds Creek . lamson, who is nursing a cracked rib susta ined earlier in the season at Hangtown . atte mpted to ride last weeke nd at Southwick , but dropped out early In the first moto due to the pain. Another Fast by Ferracci Husqvama rider , C h ris Gos s e la a r , was happy to find out that he had qualified at Budd s Creek, even though he initially thought that he had not . Gosselaar finished third in his 125cc consolation race afte r battling with South bay M otorsport s/Pro Circult/T roy Lee Designs-backed Suzuki rider Erick Vallejo for what he thought was the final transfer spot. Mu ch to his delight , Go sselaar later discovered that, since there were only nine of the top 10 seeded riders on hand (KTM 's Gra nt Langsto n sat out the race) and his conso lation race was the fastest of the day, the AMA qualified three riders , not two, from his race. Making an appearance at Budds Creek was French 250 cc GP rider Pierrick Paget. Paget. who wears number 21 in the 250cc W orld M X Ch amp ionship s, is fr om Legna, France . The Elf/UFO/Michelin-backed Honda rider transferred directl y into the Nationa l with a sixth-place finish in his Sunday qualifier. Paget suffered a poo r start in the first 250cc moto and moved up to 26th before dro pping out of the race just befo re the halfway mark. He fared bett er in the second mot e, starting jus t outside of the top 20 and actua lly held a point s-paying position - 17th - for several laps before droppi ng back and eventually out of the race with just a few laps to go . Paget' s best finish in the W orld Champion ships this year was a 17th-place finish at the seasonopening Grand Prix of Spain. Carmichael' s overall w in at Budds Creek wa s his 36th career victory in AMA National Motocross. That leaves him just one race shy of tying Bob Hannah's all-time National wins record of 37. Anot her record that Canmichael is looking towa rd is Jere my McGrath's 199 6 record of 21 com bined Supercross/ M otocross wins. Carmich ael needs to win five of the remaining seven Nationals to tie the record. W e're not sure the last time that two brothers both qualified for a AMA National M otocross, but we're pretty sure it doesn 't happen too often. At Budds Creek, .Joe and C hris Schue ler, fro m nearby Fallston . Maryland. each made the cut in their respective classes. Joe. aboard a Diamond Motorsports/SFM Cu stom PaintiBell/ EVS/Renthal-backed Yamaha. finished fift h in his Sunday 125c c qualifier , while younge r broth er Chris. aboard a JT M ot orsport s/Fast M ann Racing/ M X BonzlThor/Bridgestone-backed Yamaha, finished fourth in his Sunday 250cc qualifier. Budds Creek has a history of fast local riders (just ask Travis Pastra na), and this year's race was no exception. National number 66 , Kevin C rine. from nearby M echanicsville, Maryland. piloted his Shenandoah Honda/RRP/Spectro/Smith / Azonic/ Sunstar-backed C R to fourt h in his Sunday qualifier . Cri ne put in a strong ride for 13th in the first 250 cc National mote. but. unfortunately. crashed out of the second race. An other M aryland hero , Nat ional number 69 . Tom Welc h , from C harlotte Hall, returned to action at Budds C reek . W elch suffe red a serio us knee injury at the High Point National and was thought to be out for the seaso n. Amazingly . the Bumpstiks/ Free State Cycle/FMF/Renthalbacked Suzuki rider showe d up at Budds Creek ready to ride. " I actua lly feel pretty good . - said W elch shortly after finishing sixth in his Sunday 125cc qualifier. "O ne doctor said I wasn't going to be able to race for eight months and another doctor said. 'go ahead and race' . I just got a brace from CTi - they hooked me up real good - and my knee seems to be holding together. I have a littl e bit of the jitte rs fro m having it pop a couple of times this morning. but ot her than that . I feel pretty good - I felt fast out there. Hopefully. I can go out there. get good starts and score some points. " Unfortu nately, W elch's brave effo rt was un-rewarde d, as he was the victim of bad luck - in the form of other riders' crashes that forced him out into the deep mud lining the edges of the track - in each of the National motos. 20 .JUNE 27, 2001 • c ue I e n e _ so B y D A VE D ERIN GER P HOTOS BY S TEVE BRUHN BUDDS CREEK, JI\D, JUNE 17 ft e r a two -y ear st int on th e G ran d Prix m o to c r o ss s c en e over sea s , Pro Circuit/Kawa sa ki/SplitF ire 's Mik e Bro wn h a s s o m e wha t un e xp e c tedl y esta b lis hed h im s e lf bac k her e in Am er ican m oto cr os s as o n e of t h e bi gg est p la yers in t h e g am e _ Abo ard a Steve Henderson tuned KX125 , Brown wo n both moto s a t round five of the 12 5cc Nationa l MX Ser ies , at on e of th e most po pu la r sto ps o n t he ci rc uit - J onathan Be as le y ' s famou s Budd s Cr e e k Motocross Pa rk , A In front of a hea lth y cro wd o n a warm and sunny day in So u t hern Mary la nd , th e 28 -year-old Bro wn took command of t he first m o t o ea rly o n and convi ncing ly ran away wit h hi s s e con d moto w in o f the yea r. With a n ot -as-hot start in m oto t wo , Br ow n took h is time , made his wa y 1'0 th e front a nd ra n down t he le ad er , Lar ry Ward , to ta ke his th ird m oto win o ut of the la s t fo ur m otos held , and o nly the seco n d -ever overall w in o f h is ca reer. Brown al so took ad vantage o f a n inj ure d a n d s id e lin ed Grant Langston to m ove ba c k into s eco nd plac e in th e hotly co ntested 125 cc cl ass po ints sta ndi ng s,

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