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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128157
Chad Reed got his first outdoor National win and with it took over the 125ce clan series points lead. Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing's Reed finally found his way to the front in both motos on a near-perfect High Point track for a 1-1 overall win. It was the first U.S. National win of his career, as well as the first time an Australian has ever won an AMA National. As for the other three frontrunners, KTM Red Bull's Langston didn't even show up in Pennsylvania after undergoing knee surgery in California on Friday afternoon; Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Stewart badly twisted his knee in a Saturday practice crash and struggled to fourth in the first moto at High Point and then suffered a seized engine the second time out; and Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks' Brown went down hard in the second moto in Pennsylvania. "Outdoors doesn't come so natural to me," said Reed, who dominated the 125cc East Region SX Series by winning six of seven rounds. "I have to work a little bit harder at it. But I just did the best that I could, scored as many points as possible, and now I have a 10-point lead in the standings." He currently has 125 points. Reed spent much of the first moto chasing Brown, and he finally got by him on the 10th of 15 laps, quickly pulling away to a safe lead and cruising to the first AMA moto win of his career. In the second moto, Reed took the holeshot and rode to the win uncontested in his finest showing of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Nationals, so far. Second on the day went to local hero Branden Jesseman, a Blimpie Suzuki rider from Fombell, Pennsylvania, who carded a 5-2 finish. "I wasn't very happy with how I rode the first moto," said Jesseman, who had fallen in three of the first four motos of the series but still managed to come into the third round ranked 10th in points. "I got off to a good start and got up to fifth pretty fast, but I was kind of stuck in a rut. I couldn't pick up the pace, and I felt like I was going slow. So we switched a few things around on the bike, my coach Gary Semics helped me refocus, and I came out swinging in the second moto. I passed Brown and I was catching Reed, so I felt much better in the second moto." Third place overall was Frenchman Eric Sorby, by virtue of a 6-3 day. It was the Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks rider's first podium finish in the AMA Nationals. In the first moto, he got a bad start and passed his way up to sixth after battles with Blimpie Suzuki's Danny Smith and fellow Frenchman Steve Boniface, of Red Bull KTM. The second moto was much smoother, as Sorby started in third and managed to pass Brown on the fifth lap for second. He was then passed by Jesseman on the seventh lap, and by Stewart on the eighth, but reclaimed his spot in the top three when Stewart posted a DNF. Phenom Stewart had dominated the first two rounds of the series, coming into the High Point National with a 20-point lead. However, a practice crash just before the uphill triple during practice on Saturday resulted in an injured knee, making his participation in Sunday's race somewhat questionable. After an abbreviated practice session on Sunday, Stewart iced his knee and decided to give it a try. In a valiant effort, he managed to finish fourth in the first moto. His second-moto start was poor, and he was in ninth place at the end of the first lap, but he rapidly charged to the front of the pack. On the third lap, he passed Blimpie Suzuki's Buddy Antunez, Moto XXX/DGY rider Larry Ward, Jesseman and Team Honda's Emesto Fonseca, and he appeared to be on his way to a podium finish on the day. However, a cracked radiator suffered in a collision off the start with Danny Smith and Red Bull KTM rider Steve Boniface caused his coolant to leak out, and his bike finally stopped running on the ninth lap. The secondmoto DNF relegated Stewart to 12th overall on the day, and it also cost him his points lead. He is currently second with 115. Brown also had a catastrophic day, crashing out of the second moto on the last lap wi'lile attempting to catch leader Reed. A win in that moto, after Brown's first-moto runner-up finish, would have scored him the overall win, but instead he was left with a knee injUry and a 36-point deficit in points. The defending champ was already dealing with a toe injury, and the extent of his knee injury is unknown at this point. Larry Ward (10) and Eric Sorby (917) mixed it up for a while. Sorby ended up third overall, while Ward had his best ride of the series so far, finishing fifth overall. a U Die n e _ S • JUNE 5, 2002 23