Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

have t o wa it. I' ve had a long and good ca reer; I ca n't compla in. · T eam KTM Red Bull's Brock Sellards was next. Sellards was a front runner all day, as well , and with the absence of his teammate Langston , Sellards is helping keep the Austrian manufacturer in the limelight. A pair of t hrees comprised Sell ard s' moto sc o res, an d he filled o ut the podium in th ird , also . Sellards has finished on the pod iu m in his last three m ot o s, a n d he m o v e s i nto f o urth i n t he s ta n d ings going in to the popu l ar Inde pe nd ence Day rac e at Red Bud in two week s. " I ' v e b e en g et t ing some good sta rts and hav e been p icki ng u p m y co nfi de nce as I go," said Sellard s at the end of the day . "I've al ways done well here, and it's m y fav orite N ati on al of th e year. I felt pretty good today. I have a pretty good cushion in the point s, but I rea lIy want to break into th e to p three bad ." Wi th Langston possibly out for the season, Sell ard s seems to be taking over where the World champ left off. " It ' s unfortuna te that Grant is hurt be ca u se thi s is exactly the k ind of track that he likes," Sell ards said. "In these ruts, h e wo u ld have been so fast here. But you k no w , I'm j ust real ly c o ncen t rati ng o n myself, a n d I want to keep it up ." Fin i sh ing a n u n d es irab le f o u r t h was T eam Suz uk i 's T rav is Pastran a. "I' ve won a m oto , and I've won an overall befo re, but thi s is the best wa y t o do it: Brown commented of h is do ub le-moto ove rall w in . " I th ink I might have won last week if I didn 't go down also, so I feel like I'm there. " I didn 't think that I was goi ng to mak e it to the front in that second moto ," he la ter added. " La r r y was gone and I had a crash , and I just did m y best and rode as hard as I could and ended up c atchi ng him. I've never gone 1- 1 before, so I'm happy.· F inish ing second overall w ith a consist ent and strong 2-2 was Moto XXX /Atom ic 22 / DGY' s Larry Ward . The 31 -y ear-ol d , now in his 14th ye ar of professional motocross racing , got two fabul o us starts and led a majority of the sec o n d moto ; he looked t o have th e o ve r a ll locked up b ef o re bein g overtaken by a hard-charging Bro wn in the closing lap s. Wa rd was hap p y and co nten t w ith his d ay , and he is also beco mi ng a f acto r in the 125cc war. " Tod a y w as a good d ay ," Ward rem ark ed after th e seco nd moto. "My bi k e was runn ing well , but Mik e was riding b etter. The trac k was perf ect today , too , and the crowd was g reat. I w as close to w in n in g it, bu t I guess I' ll The current 125cc National Cha mpi on and po ints leader j ust had one of those less -than -stella r days , and unfortunately , it was in front of his home -state crowd , which included an overwhelming number of h is fr iends and family . Pastrana gated around 12th in the first moto an d put on one of his famous and fun-to -watch come -from behind rides to work up to fourth by th e mote 's end. A first- tu m cras h in m o to two saw Pastrana sta rt t oward th e end of th e pac k , but once again , t h e n ev er - s a y -d i e t e en ag e r fro m nearb y Annap oli s raced all th e wa y to t he c hec k e r s a n d f i n i sh e d a resp ectable fift h . After a rou g h day o n th e track and a bu sy day off it, to o, Pas tran a w as as frien d l y as ever at the en d o f the day, saying , "It was a rou gh da y . It's wei rd, I tr ied so hard today , and nothin g reall y happened. In front o f a hometown cro wd and friends and family, I' m d isappoint ed. I got off to two not-so -g reat starts and actually went down o n the secon d one. I've worked a lo t less before at the races and had much better luck . Sometimes you w in and don't eve n put out half of the energy. What th e heck?" "There's no poi nt lead that is too big: Pastrana later added . "Brownie is really picking it up, and he 's goi ng to kee p it hon est . It's a sh am e that Lang ston got hurt because I was real - Iy looking fo rw ard to battling w ith hi m more. I' m sure it will go down to the w ire. I c an' t seem to get away fro m that. " Plano Honda 's Scott Sheak rode to a strong finish , taking fifth o vera ll. Th i s wa s Sheak 's be s t r ide s ince returnin g to the States after a disappointing time on the GP sc ene over seas la st year and early th is year. The N e w Yor k n at i ve , w h o now c all s Southern Ca liforn ia ho m e, rode to a 9-4 score . Sheak is totall y happy to be back in his homeland and have a great sponsor th at bel ieves in hi m . He no w ho lds eighth in the points going into th e heart of th e series . "I ' m gettin g th ere," Sheak said at the end of th e day. " It seem s lik e I' ve been in every p il e-up th is year, and I've had a lot of bad luck. Today went al rig ht. " A nd what does Sheak ha ve to say about his return to America after rac ing overseas? "I' m so ha p py. I rea lly m i s se d it. I have so man y fr iends he re , and it' s suc h a better environm ent . The USA rules." A rn so i l / D r. Martens/Journeys / Competiti o n Accessories rider Branden Jessernan had one of his better ri d es of the season as he f inish ed si xt h overall with a consi stent 6 -6 . Beh in d Jessernan for most of the da y w as Pro Circu it / K aw asak i/ Sp litFire's ro okie Bobby Bonds. The Bakersfield, Californ ia, resident went 7 -7 fo r sev- IAbove left) Winner M ike Bro wn reeled off his first 1-1 sweep In a 125ec National. He 's second In points but still a ways be hind Travis Pastrana. (Ri ght) Lany Ward w a s on the ga s a1 Budds Creek. He rolled a pa ir of twos for second overall. cue. e n e _ s • JUNE 27. 200 1 21

• Cover