AMA/Chevy Trucks U. S. Motocross Championship Series
Round 8: Washougal Motocross Park
(Above) Shae Bentley (104) gets a
good jump at the start of the 125cc
National on one of the most scenic
tracks In the U.S.
(Left) .James Stewart .Jr. didn't win
both 125cc motos, but he did nab his
seventh win of the year with a 3-1.
By DOUG KARCHER
PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN
WASHOUGAL, WA, JUl. 28
IViY7 ith overall victories in all but
\!.J'C.l two of the Nationals so far in his
young career, and a healthy advantage in the points chase, rookie
James Stewart Jr. has become
accustomed to bUjlding good leads
on his competition, but veteran Larry
Ward had an even bigger lead on the
Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider in the
first moto at Washougal - a lead of 14
years, to be precise. Ward put all of
his experience to good use in that initial outing, taking the moto win on his
Moto XXX/Yoshimura YZ250F and
earning some re~pect from the
youngster. But not too much, as
Stewart returned to win moto two and
take the overall.
"Maybe James will come down
with something, like Slow-down-itis,"
joked Ward, who has raced at
Washougal 16 times. "James thinks
he's real funny, saying the first
National I rode at Washougal, he
wasn't even born yet. It's just fun this
year. I'm proud of myself to still be
racing. I've raced with some really
good guys. I've been on the podium
with Johnny O'Mara, Mike LaRocco,
Damon Bradshaw, Jean-Michel
Bayle, Jeff Stanton, Travis Pastrana,
and now James Stewart."
28
AUGUST 7,
2002'
eye
••
Between Stewart and Ward in age
and on the track - was Branden
Jesseman, who finished second both
times out but was limited to third by
the AMA's method of using championship points to determine an overall
placing. The Blimpie Suzuki rider is
inching closer and closer to Stewart's
pace, and he held him off for quite
some time while leading moto two.
"I just keep working at it, and
eventually it's going to happen,"
Jesseman said. "I saw James coming
up through the pack, and as soon as I
saw him, I thought, 'I've got to sprint,'
and then I started making HttJe mistakes here and there. I should have
tried to be a little more ca 1m and try
to hit my lines."
At least Jesseman had the satisfaction of advancing to second in the
points standings, as Chad Reed had
n
__ s
a terrible day in Washington, crashing out of moto one and struggling
with a broken exhaust header in the
second race. Jesseman is 84 points
