Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Suzuki RM Cup Challenge By JEFF KARDAS AND BRUCE BELL PHOTOS BY JEFF KARDAS The Expert classes at the RM Cup ended up being a showdown between Josh Woods (82) and Evan Laughrlclge (109). Each pocketed $3500 for their weekend's work after they spilt the 125 and 250cc Expert wins and second-place finishes, respectively. TROY, OHIO, SEPT. 7-8 igh heat and humidity greeted the 668 RM riders at Kenworthy's Motocross Park in Troy, Ohio, for the annual Suzuki RM Cup Challenge, and Evan Laughridge and Joshua Woods swapped the Expert-class victories - and the lion's share of the nearly S 11 0,000 purse - setting the tone for a weekend of hot (both literally and figuratively) racing. The Kenworthy's facility, site of round seven of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Nationals, is notorious for its hot, humid weather, and the RM Cup weekend was no exception. The unique racing format provided a long weekend of qualifying races, seating races (for gate pick in the final motos) and finals, and by the time said finols went off on Sunday afternoon, the fans were ready to watch some of the nation's best riders do battle. The highly anticipated 125cc Expert fInal was one of the first races to line up on Sunday, and it featured a lineup that read like an AMA H 38 SEPTEMBER 25, 2002' cue National roster. Expected to run up front were riders such as Escondido Cycle Center's Woods, newly crowned National Pro/Am champ Laughridge, amateur superstar and recent B-class grad Broc Hepler, Nevada's Derek Costella, the Michigan Mafia's Randy Valade, Arenacross star Jeff WilIoh, AMA Supercross and National MX regular Isaiah Johnson, veteran' Barry Carsten, and a slew of others . many of whom became RM riders just for this week· end. After some early battles with Laughridge and Hepler, it was Woods who eventually pulled away and put a I e n e vv s • couple of seconds on the pack. Even though Laughridge was able to close the gap a bit by the end of the moto, Woods absconded with the biggest paycheck, while Hepler, Costella and Valade rounded out the top fIve. However, the day's racing - and controversies - had just begun. As the 80cc (12-13) class raced toward the fIrst turn on the long start straight, a battle for the lead quickly ensued. Virginia's Zach Osborne ripped to the front of the pack, and he was caught in a four-way battle for the lead. It was Osborne, local favorite Zach Ames, Michigan's Corey Slavik and Californian Michael LaPaglia battling in front as they pulled away from the rest of the class. By lap four, LaPaglia had finally worked his way around Osborne and the others for the lead, only to see the race be red-flagged due to an injured rider on the course. After some debate, an unusual NASCAR-style restart was arranged, where the riders were lined up on the start straight in the order in which they were running when the red flag waved. Upon restarting, LaPaglia managed to hold on to the lead, while Ames and Slavik followed him, eventually finishing second and third, respectively. A postrace protest of LaPaglia's motor did not pan out, and it was later retracted, so the result stood. After watching Trevor Monk decimate the 80cc (7 -11) field, and Oregon's Adam Metzler clean up in the 250cc C class, what turned out to be the day's best race hit the track - the much-hyped showdown between phenom Davi Millsaps and Nevada's Kyle Partridge in the 125cc B final. Partridge pulled the early lead and started to gap the battle for second between Millsaps and Westerville, Ohio's Kyle Preston. Once Millsaps got away from Preston and caught Partridge, the duo pulled away, swapping the lead several times. However, Millsaps took the lead for the final time and went home the victor. Racing isn't just for the kids, though, as the Over 30 Vet A riders proved soon afterward. Early leaders (and locals) Chuck Reed and Mike Blair set a blistering early pace, while pre-race favorites Carsten and liVing legend Keith Bowen worked their way

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