Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128153
BY CHRIS JONNUM PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN SALT lAKE CI1Y, UT, APR. 27 '1f ravis Preston won by nearly half o an hour in Salt Lake City. Sure, the Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Journeys/ Competition Accessories rider finished a distant second in the 125cc West series finale, but that was easily enough to sew up the title over racewinner James Stewart Jr. - and to become the first Honda rider since 1996 to win a title in supercross or motocross racing. Just a bit later that night, Ricky Carmichael followed him up with a 250cc title for Honda. "The 125cc team really stepped it up for Honda," Carmichael said. "They've been out there testing just as much as the 250cc guys were. Their bike's pretty good - I had the chance to ride one after Houston. Honda's working hard." Of course there was also a bit of luck involved, as inopportune crashes by Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider James Stewart Jr. helped Preston go from being down quite a ways in the points to being 10 points up after the penultimate round in Texas. "I was a complete head case after Dallas," Preston said. "But I tried to go about it like I do every week - do the same routine. I rode really slow and sucked in practice, but in my heat race, ( rode a little bit better - the track was really good for how much rain we got. I got a good start in the main and just rode my own race.'" That race seemed to be a different one from that of Stewart, who recovered well from the disappointment of basically giving the title away via mistakes in previous rounds, posting a near-spotless turn-one-to-finish win that was more important than it may seem on face value. The Floridian was deservedly happy with his third victory of the series since it indicated that he may well have matured and become better prepared to face what will surely be titanic battles in the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout and 125cc Chevy Trucks National Championship Motocross Series. "I just put it all behind me and came out and rode," Stewart said. "I knew [Preston] was going to be tough. They guy's awesome; he's real consistent, and it seemed like that was my problem this year. I mean. he deserves to win it; he rode the best out of all of us. I just had to come from Dallas with my head up. I was bummed out, but I'm still happy. I won the last race. It's a bummer 1 didn't win the championship, but hey, if I didn't win it, I'm glad he did." Also recovering well in Salt Lake was Danny Smith, who didn't qualify for the main event last week in Dallas, but who made the podium in Utah, and even gave Preston a good fight for second. "We've been working hard, but our results haven't been that great," said the Blimpie Suzuki rider. "It's something to build on. I think I rode well." A couple of winners of earlier rounds came next. FollOWing an upand-down ride in the 15-lap main, Red Bull KTM's David Pingree garnered fourth, with Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks rider Matt Walker finishing fifth. Sixth went to Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing's Ivan Tedesco, and the top 10 were rounded out by Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Journeys/Factory Connection's Chris Gosselaar, Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks' Eric Sorby, Shark Plano Honda's Travis Elliott and LCRRacing.com's Keith R. Johnson. MAIN The PowerAde holeshot technically went to Smith, but that was about the only flaw in Stewart's night. He was into the lead by the time he exited turn one, and he rode rapidly - but more importantly, in control - at the point position from there on out. Precue I e ston advanced to second in the whoops on lap one, though Stewart didn't realize that. "( was real happy the first couple of laps, because ( didn't see him," Stewart laughed. "Then I came around and ( saw him and was like, 'Oh, okay; go on with your race.'" Smith actually lost another position when Pingree banged by for third. Smith pinched him off on the second lap, however, and the top three positions were set. Not that Smith didn't try to improve his lot: Preston knew he could let Stewart go and ride safely to the title, but Smith had no such considerations. With Pingree behind him, he went to work on Preston at about the halfway flags, by which point Stewart had nearly half a lap on second. Smith tried for several laps to get by, but finally backed off with a few laps remaining. "I kind of stuck with my game plan," Smith said. "I'm happy that I didn't go outside of my boundary, so to speak." As it turned out, the push was actually a favor to Preston. "The race actually went really fast," Preston said. "1 heard someone right behind me, so I just kept charging and trying to go as fast as I could." n e _ so • MAY 8, 2002 13