Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Western Four-Stroke Nationals Round 4: Cedar Raceway By D IC K G O O D W IN P HO T O S BY EVENT P HO T O S LAs VEGA S CEDAR CITY, trr, MAY 27 .,J ou don 't ha ve to guess when it's t!? tim e for the Ya ma ha- sp o nso red AMA Western Four-Stroke Nationa l Motocro ss Pro Series to ge t und e r wa y , Th e a we s o m e , t hu n d e ro u s s ound o f a b ig gate full of F o u rStroke Natio nal Pros blasting off the line can be hea rd - and appreciated from miles away . It is truly the "th under of the gods ." And if thunde r needs lightning, then National FourStroke Pro number two , Spud Wa iters, was certainly happy to oblige, rolling out the big blue four -stroke Yamaha "potato gun" to shoot down the opposition on his way to the over1111 title . Of course, any respectable storm needs a buildup, lind th is one had it 1111: the recovering NlIthan "Big Dog" Woods; a big-t ime newcomer to the series , "Fa cto ry Phil" Lawrence; the alwa ys dangerous Cra ig Dav is; se rious youngster Ty Carson; the "Elko Flash," Husaberg USA's Ryan Terlec ki; top contenders T im Beatty a nd Kip Sa ndell ; and local fast gu y Sam Mortensen . Wh ite Broth e rs / Ya m a ha /Shoe i/ VP/ Axo/Smith -backed Wa lters stood like a co lo s s us abo ve all , aw a iting battle. However, all conten ders would ha ve to dea l with KTM Ca nada/Thor/ Ma xx is Ti re s /M ax im a -spo n s o red Jimmy LaMastus , the poi nts leader after three rounds . Race o ne exploded with Pro Circuit/Scott/EVS -ba cked Carson do ing th e "turn and burn" aro und the big tree to lead th e thundering herd o ut 70 JULY 1 1, 2001 • c u e I EO n _ s -. ':.. _ _ ·_':.1 .· ,111 ..• •.,. ... (Left) Flrst-moto winner Nathan " Big Dog" Woods placed second overall In Cedar City, Utah. jAbove) Points leader Jlmlll)' LaMastus (6 ) l e ads fellow KTM pilots Craig Davis (4) and Ty Carson (288) and Yamaha riders Nathan Woods (5) , Josh Kellogg (29) and Sam Mortenson (117) and the rest of the Four-5troke Pro pack. jAbo....) Spud Walters won the second moto and the overall at round four of the ANA Western Four-5troke Nationals at Cedar Raceway. o nt o the cours e . LaMa stus po unced im me di a tel y, t aki ng the lea d a nd leaving Carson to deal with the ha rdcha rg ing Woo ds . S ho c k Therap y/ Goat /One/ Wisec o/ R&D' s Brian Sweany fro m Pa lmdale , Ca lifo rn ia , a nd Moto Pro /App lied/SoCa l/ ALF Racing 's Tim Beatty we re righ t up there , mixing it up with the leaders . Walters was buried midpack , but Miss ion Yamahll /VOV Zippa /Dutton Motorsports ' Lawrence had e ve n worse luc k , going down in th e first few turns and remounting "last but not de ad ." In th e early go ing , it wa s a ll LaMastus , a s the KTM sta r wa s sprinting to put as much distance on the field as poss ib le . Wa lte rs was working toward the front, passing riders with regularity la p after lap, while Lawrence was just beginning an eye opening charge that would ta ke him th rou gh the bu lk of the fie ld by mo to's en d. In second place, Woods seemingl y feeling no ill effects from a bad leg bruise tha t had left him with virt ua lly ze ro rid ing tim e s ince the last rac e - wa s s lo wly re elin g in laMastus , who then mad e the sma ll mistake that would have a big effect on his day , coming up sho rt on the huge "triple -up tabletop" (wh ic h th e top contenders were a ll jumping) and dro pping ba c k to th ird . He retoo k second almost immediate ly, but the damag e wa s do n e , a s Woods wa s tearing up the tra ck out in front and loo ked unbeatable at this po int. ,- .... Wa lters co ntinued his climb up the lee de rboard , p as s ing Sw e an y an d Be atty an d th e n zapping Ca rson in the rhythm section to take over third . Walte rs continued his assault, pu lling up behind the inju red LaMastus on lap 16 and outjumping him after the finish -line ta bletop to claim second. Now th e finishing order was se t, with Woods winning big, followed by Walters, laMastus, Carson and the a mazing Lawrence, who had worked his way all the way up to fifth from his dead-last start. laMastus wasn't go ing to go away with o ut a fight . The p o ints leader thundered out in fro nt of Colorado Powe rs po rts / T ro y Le e /Ren thal backe d Josh Kellogg and Wood s to sta rt the second half. Walte rs gat ed fifth. Wood s battled his way into se cond while laMastus turned it up , op ening a lead as he had in race one. While Woods hung tough to ke ep him in sight, the ba ttle for th ird between Kellogg, Pro Vans/Vicke ry Motorsports/ Enzo-sponsored Sa ndell and Wa lte rs was a dandy , with Walters eventually emerging from the scra p with third place in hand . LaMastus wa s flying out front, while Woods had his hands full with the charging Walters . On lap seven , Walters passed the Big Dog in the west-s ide section of the track - his favorite place to pass. Then Waiters d rew up to LaMastus a nd they engaged in a hot duel for the lea d and the overall. Walters was on a mission , and was helped by the fact th at laMastus had tweaked his wrist in mo to one. As the second moto neared its concl usio n, Walters made on e final pass, this one on laMastus in the same section that he had used to dispatch Woods , to take over the lea d . Woods himself was com ing on strong in the fina l laps, dropping the wounded laMastus one more place and setting the finish ing order as Walters, Woods, LaMastus, Lawrence and Sandell. Wa lters ' second -moto v ictory ea rned him the overall AMA Western Fou r-St roke Nat ion al Motocross crown for the Cedar City round , while Woods' late -race heroics nailed down second overall, ah ea d of LaMa stus, Lawrence and Sandell. CIII Cellar"""" Cellar CitJ, IIlaII llaalls: Mar27, 2101 I........ 41 4 ·STRK PRO: I. Spud Wa ~ers (Yam) ; 2. Netnen Wood s (Yam); 3 . Jimm y laMastu s (KTM) ; 4 . Phil La wre ncefva m) : 5 . K ip Sa nde ll (V ern ) ; 6 . Ryan Te rlecki (Hbg) ; 7. Brio n Sweany (Yo m) ; 8. Cra ig Davis (KTM ); 9. TIm Beatty (Yom) ; 10. Mat Bateman (Yam) . AMA WESTERN FoaR·ST ROK E NATI ONAL MOTOCROSS SERI ES POIN TS STANDINGS (A ft er 4 or 12 round s) : I. Jimmy LaMastus (178/1 win): 2. Nethen Wood s (16 2/1 win ); 3. Sp ud Welters ( 155/2 wins); 4. Ryan Terlecki ( 127); 5. Kip Sandell (126); 6. Todd Downs (83); 7. Craig Davis (79 ); 8. T im Beatty ( 78); 9 . Brian Swean y (75) ; 10 . Matt Karlsen (70) ; I I. Ty Carson (69); 12. Josh Kellogg (63 ); 13. Mat Bateman (57); 14. TomSharp (40) ; 15 . Nick Ba in bridge (3 6) ; 16 . Cart er Gurn ee (35) ; 17. Phil Lawrence (34) ; 18. Greg Schnell (32); 19. Andy An aya ( 2 8) ; 20. (T IE ) D .J . Sweany/ Mark Till ey/Jason Matthews (26) .

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