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AMA EA Sports 1 25cc Western Regional Supercross Series Round S: Reliant Astrodome (RIght) Things haven't been going so well this season for Pro Circuit/Chevy Trucks Kawasaki, but Matt Walker made team manager Mitch Parton happy with an unexpected win. (Above) The race of the night was for second place. with Travis Preston (29) ultimately securing the position. Here. Preston battles with Frenchman Erie Sorby (917). Danny Smith (37) and Chris Gosselaar (90). By CHRIS JONNUM PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN HoaSTON,TX,MAR.23 M att Walker is accustomed to climbing onto the podium for post-race interviews, so in a way, Houston was no big deal for the Pro Circuit/Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider. The only difference was that this time, Walker was on the box to collect not the Asterisk Medic card, which goes to the top 125cc rider not to qualify, but rather the main-event trophy. To the surprise of many, Walker lived up to his name and flatout walked away from the pack, posting the premier win of his career. "It's funny," said a talkative Walker afterward. "I haven't qualified for the last two rounds because of bad luck. I was real disappointed in myself. I've got the best team out there behind me. When I don't do as expected and go into a decompression like I did, I just went home to Georgia and really trained hard. I teamed up with Ezra [Lusk], and we've really been putting in a lot of laps. It's finally paying off." Whereas the 125cc Eastern Region Series has turned into a predictable rout by Australian Chad Reed, and the 250cc class has featured fivestraight wins by Ricky Carmichael, the 125cc Western Region Series, which in Houston ended a sevenweek break (only to be followed by another one-month pause), continues to offer a surprising amount of errat- ie, exciting action, with five different winners through the first six rounds. Many thought that James Stewart would dominate the series, and there's little argument that the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider boasts the most raw speed, but he has continued to be thwarted by impatience and bad luck. In the Astrodome, Stewart tweaked his foot in a practice crash, and although he easily won his heat race, yet another early main-event crash proved too much for him to make up. Stewart finished 10th on the day, losing valuable points to series rival Travis Preston, who now only trails by 10 points. "The race was pretty weird," understated Preston. Preston himself suffered a serious practice crash, but the Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Competition Accessories rider still managed to win his heat race and come out on top of a racelong main-event battle between severa! riders over second place. In third was yet another surprise, in the form of Eric Sorby. The Frenchman is a brand-new recruit of Pro Circuit/ Chevy Trucks Kawasaki, and he proved in his initial U.S. SX that he has what it takes to perform Stateside. "My last SX was Bercy,"said Sorby, who plans on riding the remainder of both the Western and Eastern Regions, as well as the outdoor series. "!'m happy with the bike - it's very fast. [The U.S. riders] are very fast. I'm riding more next week for the next race." Fourth went to Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Trooy Racing's Ivan Tedesco, with Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Competition Accessories' Chris Gosselaar recovering from an early crash to complete the top five. "Eric [Sorby] and I both are on the same page," Walker said. "I don't know if you know this, but we were !eft without a ride this year. Mitch [Payton] was nice enough to say, 'You can come ride on my team - just perform.' So him and I both have a lot of pressure on us to do good, because nobody wanted us in September. When nobody wants you, it just lights that fire." MAIN Sorby got his American career off to a good start - literally - with the holeshot, with Preston, Blimpie Suzuki's Danny Smith, Gosselaar and Walker following. Stewart went down a couple of turns in when he hit a rider who fell in front of him, and Gosselaar slid out in a corner on lap two. Walker zapped Sorby on lap three, leaving his new cohort to fend off the advances of Smith. The two were going at it hard, with Smith getting by for one lap before Sorby went back around. Before long, Preston joined the fierce battle for second, and MotoworidRacing.com Suzuki's Andrew Short and Tedesco joined in as well. With Walker now pulling away in front, the crowd's attention now turned to this incredible, multirider dice over the runner-up spot. "! got a sixth-place start and made a pretty bad mistake and got passed by a lot of people," Preston said. "I tried to start racing, and then I'd get stuffed. Then I'd stuff somebody. We were stuffing each other the whole time. Meanwhile, Walker just pulled away." Preston passed Smith for third on lap 10, then set his sights on Sorby, using his greater speed through the whoops to take him on lap 12. Despite periodically tripling the finCUD I • ish-line jump, however, he wasn't able to make much of a dent in Walker's lead, however, and he crossed the line nearly eight seconds backs, with Sorby just barely holding off Tedesco at the finish. During all this, Gosselaar had had more luck recovering from his fall than Stewart, whose foot was in pain from his practice crash. Though Gosselaar remounted behind the Kawasaki rider, he qUickly passed him and worked his way toward the front. Amazingly, when the checkered flag flew, he was right on Tedesco's tail in fifth. Short was sixth, followed by Red Bull KTM's Brock Sellards, Shark/ Plano Honda's Travis Elliott, Mach 1 Motorsports' Craig Decker and Stewart. eN Reliant IstnIdome Houston, Texas Results: Merdl 23, 2002 HEAT 1 (6 laps, 1-9 transfer): 1. Travis Preston (Hon): 2. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 3. Craig Decker (Yom); 4. Dllnny Smith (Suz); 5. Billy Payne (Hen); 6. Andrew Short (Kow); 7. D.v;d Pingree (KTM); 8. ISllieh Johnson (Yam); 9. Shane Bess (Suz): 10. Brandon Morgan (Hon); 11. Adem Mennenge (Hon); 12. Steve Mertens (Hus); 13. Jonathan Shimp (Vam); 14. Tim Weigand (Hon); 15. Turbo Reif (Suz); 16. Micheel Blose (Suz); 17. Tyson Taylor (Yam); 18. Paul Veracke (Hus); 19. Kevin Johnson (YlIm); 20. Billy Laninovlch (KTM). TIme: 6 mjn., 46.27 sees. HEAT 2 (6 laps, 1·9 transfer): 1, JlImes Stewart (KlIw); 2. Chris Gosselallr (Hon); 3. Brock Sellards (KTM); 4. Travis Elliott (Hon); 5. C.sey Lytle (Yam); 6. Er;c 50rby (Kaw); 7. Joseph Oehlhof (Yam); 8. Joshua Woods (Suz); 9. Jeff Gibson (Yam): 10, Keith Johnson (YlIm); 11. Mett Walker (Kaw); 12. Michael Koch (Yam); 13. Tony Graham (Hon); 14. Ch.d Cook (Yam); 15. Steven Eugenio (Suz); 16. Justin Buckelew (Suz); 17. Michael Young (Vern); 18. Ch.se Reed (Yam); 19. Erick V.lleJo (Su,): 20. Nick McBride (Yam). TIme: 6 min.• 40.95 sees. LCQ (4 laps, 1·4 trensfer): 1. MlItt Welker (KlIw); 2. Keith Johnson (Yam); 3. Erick Vallejo (Su,); 4. Turbo Re;f (Suz); 5. Kev;n Johnson (Yam); 6. Adam Mennenga (Hon); 7. Steve Mertens (Hus); 8. Micheel Young (Vern); 9. Michllel Blose (Suz); 10. Brandon Morgen (Hon); 11. Jonathan Shimp (Yam); 12. Steven Eugen;o (Suz); 13. Tyson T.ylor (Y.m); 14. Paul Veracka (Hus); 15. Chad Cook (Yam); 16. Tony Grahem (Hon); 17. Nick McBride (Yern); 18. Tim Weigand (Hon); 19. Michael Koch (Vam); 20. Justin Buckelew (Yam); 21. Chase Reed (Yam); 22. Billy Laninovich (KTM). TlITle: 4 min.. 30.24 sees. I'IAJN (15 laps): 1. Mott W.lker (Kow); 2. Tr.vls Preston (Hon); 3. Eric Sorby (K.w): 4. Ivan Tedesco (Hon); 5. Chris Gosseleer (Hon); 6. Andrew Short (Kaw); 7. Brock Sellards (KTM); 8. Travis Elliott (Hon); 9. Crllig Decker (Yem); 10. James Stewart (K.w); 11. Ke;th Johnson (Y.m); 12. Joseph Oehlhof (Yam): 13. D.nny Smith (Suz); 14. Joshu. Woods (Suz); 15. David Pingree (KTM); 16. Shane Bess (Sw:): 17. Erick VoJlejo (Suz): 18. Turbo Reif (Sw:): 19. Billy P.yne (Hon): 20. C.sey Lytle (Y.m): 21. Isol.h Johnson (5uz); 22. Jeff Gibson (Yam). TIme: 17 min., 4.23 sees. WInner's Average Lap: 1 min., 8.282 sees. Mergin of VIctory: 7.92 sees. AI'IA EA SPORTS 125cc WESTERN REGION S(JPERCROSS SERIES C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 8 Rounds): 1. James Stew.rt Jr. (115/2 wins); 2. Tr.vls Preston (105/1 win); 3. ItllIn Tedesco (100); 4. Christopher Gossel..r (92); 5. Brock Sellords (91/1 win); 6. Keith Johnson (69): 7. (TIE) David Pingree (68/1 w;n){Trav;s Elliott (68); 9. Rodr;g Th.in (64); 10. Cr.ig Decker (60); 11. (TIE) Erick V.llejo/Mlchael Br.ndes (46); 13. (TIE) Joseph Oehlhof (41)/M.tt W.lker (41/1 wln)/Kev;n Johnson (41): 16. Sh.ne Bess (33): 17. Andrew Short (30); 18. Justin Buckelew (27); 19. (TIE) Danny Smlth/BHly Laninovlch (26). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Dallas, Texas, April 20 Final Round - Salt Lake City, Utah, }\pril 27 n e _ s • APRIL 3, 2002 9