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AMA/Yamaha/Maxxis Western Four-Stroke Nationals Round 7: Albany Motorsports Park STORY AND PHOTOS BY CLAY LIGHT ALBANY, OR, JULY 21 hite Brothers/American Honda/ Axo-backed Paul Carpenter was the dominant player at round seven of the AMA/Yamaha/Maxxis Western Four-Stroke National Series and had his best day thus far in the series. Carpenter must surely feel at home in the Pacific Northwest now, as the New Yorker's second overall win (his first came at Washougal) came via 1-1 placings. Things didn't go as well for Carpenter's teammate Spud Walters, the series' number-one rider, who came into this round with a commanding 45-point lead over Carpenter, 275230, but watched his advantage seriously slashed after going 31-2. However, Walters still maintains the points lead, 297 -280, over Carpenter. "I rode as hard as I could in both motos," Carpenter said. "Everything seemed to be working well for me until I hit lapped riders in the first moto and got a bit out of sync. I had a good pace going in moto two and everything worked out well for me. It feels good to get it (the second win], even though you have to feel bad for Spud in moto one, even though you can never count him out, as was evident by his moto-two finish." Washington's Brad Hagseth had a stellar day, placing second overall. Hagseth took advantage of Walters' seized motor late in moto one to finish second, and then progressed through the field to trail Carpenter and Walters in moto two. Oregon's Tiger Lacey scored his career-best Four-Stroke National finish, using consistent 3-4 performances to net the final rostrum position. Paul Carpenter nailed down his second overall win of the Westem Four-Stroke Nationals at round seven with a double-moto sweep. He now trails the series points leader, Spud Walters, 297-280. The series' number-two rider, Yamaha-mounted Nathan Woods, and Colorado's Matt Karlsen, who sat fourth and fifth, respectively, in the points coming into the Albany round, didn't have memorable days. Woods suffered a broken rear wheel in moto one and went 34-6, while a first-turn pileup in moto one and a poor start in moto two saw Karlsen finishing 12-8. Carpenter grabbed the lead at the start of the first 40-rider moto, trailed by Woods, Walters, Idaho's Robb Floth, Hagseth and KTM's Jimmy LaMastus as the field funneled into turn one. As Carpenter's lead increased, Walters displaced Woods on lap two and set out after his teammate. About the same time, Hagseth got around Floth for fourth. Hagseth clicked off a successive string of nearly perfect laps to pace the leaders, Carpenter, Walters and Woods. Carpenter had lapped riders to contend with early on; this allowed Walters to slash into the diminutive speedster's lead, and by the midway point he had Carpenter in his sights. Lacey and the series' numberthree rider, Ryan Terlecki, and another Northwesterner, Rory Sullivan, settled into the top six as the laps were winding down. All of those riders, though, got a bit of a break, as WaIters' CRF450R seized up with merely a few laps remaining. Meanwhile, Carpenter, who at one time held only a scant three-second lead, saw his cushion increase to an eventual 28-second advantage on Hagseth. Carpenter maintained that lead to the finish. Lacey finished third, some 12 seconds behind Hagseth but a similar margin of distance ahead of Terlecki, the fourth-placed finisher, and Sullivan. LaMastus finished sixth, while Oregon's Tony Graves, KTMmounted Ryan Dudek, Frankie Mecono and Derek Mahoney rounded out the top 10. The fast-starting KTM of Idaho's Chaun McAlister darted to the front of the pack in moto two, although when the field crested turn one, Carpenter was well in command. McAlister maintained second for many laps, but the veteran rider would drop three positions before it was over and finish an eventual fifth. By lap three, Carpenter had amassed a large lead over McAlister, while LaMastus, Hagseth, Walters, Dudek, Floth and Jeremy Israel maintained the rest of the top positions. One lap later, Carpenter's lead was 12 seconds. This same lap saw McAlister losing ground to first Hagseth, then Walters, and finally Lacey, as LaMastus had dropped off the pace. While Carpenter pulled away, Waiters rode a determined race. Walters got around Hagseth and then attempted to narrow the gap to Carpenter, but from that point it was all about survival to Walters. Hagseth's mission was much the same: Stick with Walters and garner what would eventually be a second-place finish overall by trailing both of the Honda riders but finishing ahead of the Herb's Cycle Town/Maxxis/Answerbacked Lacey. Once again, Lacey couldn't slice into Hagseth's advantage, although he did post several of the moto's fastest laps times and went 3-4 on the day to net third overall, behind Carpenter and Lynnwood Motoplex/ Dr. D/Silkolene/BBR/Axo-supported Hagseth. McAlister clung to fifth place late in the moto after a duel with Woods, although Woods, who started the moto in 15th, nearly tangled with a lapped rider and backed off the pace, finishing ahead of Israel, Karlsen, Sullivan and Sinisalo/Smith/ Dunlop-backed Terlecki, who placed fourth overall with his unusually high 4-10 finishes. Sullivan (5-9) was fifth overall. eN Albany MotDrsparts Park Albany, Oregan Results: July 21, 2002 (Raund 7 af 10] O/A: 1. Paul Carpenter (Han); 2. Brad Hagseth (Yam); 3. Tiger Lacey (Yam); 4. Ryan Terlecki (Yam); 5. Ror)' Sullivan (KTM); 6. Chaun McAlister (KTM): 7. Jimmy laMastus (KTM): 8. Spud Walters (Hon): 9. Matt Karlsen (Yam); 10. Ryan Dudek (KTM): J 1. Tony Graves (Hon); 12. Jeremy Israel (Yam); 13. Derek Mahoney (Han); 14. Nathan Woods (Yam): 15. Frankie Mecono (Yam); 16. Erik Anderson (Hon); 17. Michael Stanton (Hon); 18. Kelly Andris (Hon); 19. Brandon Thomas (Hon); 20. Beau Boynton (Yam). AMA WESTERN FOUR-STROKE NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After round 7 or 10 rounds): 1. Spud Walters (297/4 wins); 2. Paul Carpenter (280/2 wins); 3. Dustin Nelson (205); 4. Mett Karlsen (188); 5. Nathan Woods (178); 6. Chaun McAlister (147); 7. Brandon Thomas (98); 8. Frenkie Mecono (93); 9. Ryan Dudek (91); 10. Lonce Smail (87): II. (TIE) Erik Anderson/Brad Hagseth (78); 13. Tim Weigand (74): 14. Ty Carson (61); 15. Rory Sullivan (60); 16. Carter Gurnee (58); 17. TIger Locey (51); 18. (TIE) Rich Taylor/Billy Mercier (50); 20. (TIE) Robb Floth/Daniel Bleir (48). (Left) Washington's Brad Hagseth put in his best perfonnance of the series so far, going 2-3 for second overall at Albany Motorsports Park while on a break from the Canadian National Series. (Right) Idaho's Chaun McAlister (23) was a front-runner in both motos in Albany, Oregon, as was Tiger Lacey (221), who filled the final spot on the podium via a 3-4 score, his careerbest Four-Stroke Nationals finish. cue I e n e _ OS • AUGUST 7,2002 59