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AMA Chevy Trucks 1 25cc National Championship Motocross Series Round 5: High Point Raceway my Own Race: 125 ®71 Suzuki's Smith came into round three in Danny Smith B~mpie fourth place, only seven points behind Chad -Reed. He appeared to be on his way to another solid day after finishing seventh in the first mota, but then a crash in the second mota ruined his day. "The first mota was okay: Smith said. "I got a bad start, and there were a lot of guys going fast, so it was hard to pass them. On the second mota, I actually came out of the start okay, but then I crashed after the first comer and knocked the wind out of myself. So I waited for a minute before getting back up, then rode as hard as I could - I used the mota for training, I guess - and I managed to get a couple points out of it. But that's how it goes. Everybody has a bad mota every now and then." Smith is now fifth in the points standings with 84, trailing Ernesto Fonseca (87) and Mike Brown (89). ~~ Emesto Fonseca Despite finishing fourth on the day and moving up two spots in points, Team Honda's Fonseca was pretty upset after crashing on the final lap of the second mota, thus giving away his podium finish to Eric Sorby. Adding insult to injury was the fact that the crash was basically caused by a lapse in concentration. "I just went into the wrong line and fell," he said. "It was kind of hard to get going again after that. I just made a mistake. I mean, I had it. It was in the bag, and I blew it." 1I @ Larry Ward The first two rounds of the series were not kind to Mota XXX/DGY's Ward. In fact, his dismal finishes almost had him calling it quits. "After the last two weekends I've had, I really didn't even want to come this weekend," Ward said. "I considered staying home." Ward decided to give High Point a try, however, and at first it seemed like another bad day. He got the 32nd pick on the gate for his heat race and was only able to work his way up to ninth, resulting in a pretty poor pick on the gate in the main program. "I was pretty happy though, because I ended up getting a decent start," he said. "I didn't ride good, but I rode a lot better than I did the first two weekends. In the second mota, I got the best start I've ever had in my life. Everything happened perfectly, from the way I took off, to the way I shifted, where I was - everything was perfect. I couldn't have gotten a much better holeshot, I don't think." Ward finished fifth on the day and is looking forward to racing at Southwick. @~ Josh Demuth Shogun Motorsports/Yamaha's Demuth finished as the second-best privateer on the day as well as the second-best Arenacross Champion on the day, being bested by one spot by Buddy Antunez. "Thanks to my mechanic, Jack Yost, and the guys at Shogun Motorsports, we rode pretty well today," Demuth said. "I got a pretty decent start in the first mota and battled with Larry Ward all day, and then got a real good start in the second mota. I almost got the holeshot, but then I had some problems and got passed by a few riders. But I ended up seventh for the day, so I was real happy. I'm looking forward to Southwick." Demuth plans on racing the rest of the outdoor series before defending his Arenacross crown against a list of challengers that may include a returning Buddy Antunez. (Above) Branden Jesseman was flying at High Point. He took fifth in the first mota and followed that up with a second in the second mota for second overall. (Below) James Stewart Jr. held the points lead going into the High Point race, but an injured knee suffered during Saturday's practice held him back on Sunday, as did a damaged radiator that prevented him from finishing the second mota. ®@ Steve Boniface been kind so far to The outdoor series has not Red Bull KTM pilot Boniface. After gathering only four points in the first two rounds, the Frenchman came into High Point Raceway looking to regain the success he had in the EA Sports Supercross Series. His first-mota finish wasn't bad - 10th place - but it all went wrong in mota 2. "In the second mota, I crashed after the start with Danny Smith, and then I had an ignition problem with my bike, so I DNFed," he said. Boniface is 23rd in points with 15. Fonseca seemed destined to a podium finish on the day before a second-moto crash played the spoiler. After being passed early by Stewart, the Costa Rican charged hard and passed him back, finishing the moto in third place. His second moto was just as solid, putting him in third place near the end, when an inopportune mistake resulted in a crash on the final lap. Fonseca remounted uninjured but only managed to salvage an 24 JUNE 5, 2002' cue I e eighth-place finish in the moto, placing him fourth overall on the day. Ward had his best race of the series, getting two great starts and finishing the day with an 11-5 tally. He was the top privateer in the class. Casey Johnson, of Plano Honda, finished sixth with a 9-9, and Arenacross Champions Buddy Antunez and Josh Demuth finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Brown was ninth despite his second-moto DNF, n e _ s and Australian Michael Byrne rounded out the top 10 on his Amsoil/Dr. Ma rtens/ J ou rney s/Competition Accessories Honda. Missing the race altogether was Langston, who is dealing with a bum knee of his own. Langston had surgery before the season started and was able