Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THQ U.S. Open within striking distance, and Reed began rushing his passes in an attempt to keep Carmichael at bay. The race heated up as the two caught up to a pack including Blackfoot Honda's Damon Huffman, Fonseca and Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk. Reed made it through them in a matter of a few laps somewhat cleanly, but as Carmichael tried to keep Reed in sight, Lusk became one of the casualties. "He just made an aggressive move and took me out," Lusk said of his encounter with Carmichael. "It's basic. Typical." Red Bull KTM's Grant Langston became another casualty on the 14th of 20 laps, as he found himself sandwiched between the two with an ailing motorcycle. "I lost my clutch about five laps before that, so I was just riding," Langston said. "This track's so tight; I stalled twice before that. On this track, you clutch it a lot, and they caught up to me. I guess they were battling, so I bobbled in a turn, and they both pulled alongside me after the turn, and I had nowhere to go - I was sandwiched in." Carmichael got a few runs up the inside of Reed, only to have Reed to dive back underneath and hold his position. Carmichael resorted to brake-checking Reed quite spectacularly and finally made the pass by physically forcing Reed almost off the track for fifth place. "It was good racing," Carmichael said of the battle. "There was no hard feelings between me and him." Reed agreed: "It was a lot of fun. A lot of people think there's a bit of bad blood between me and Carmichael, but when you have a tight track and this many guys that can do well, you've got to do something to pass the guys. But there's no bad blood. I spoke to him, and tomorrow night's going to be no different, whether he's in front of me or behind me." LaRocco was followed home rather unceremoniously by Yamaha's Tim Ferry and his Amsoil teammate Michael Byrne, who both had rather quiet races - especially compared to the prize fight between Reed and Carmichael. Then came surprising first-time 250cc competitor Ivan Tedesco, followed at a distance by Carmichael and Reed, respectively. When the field was staged at the gate for the second main event on Saturday night, Reed was left without one. His bike had broken while running second to Carmichael in his earlier heat race, leaving him to go through the last-chance qualifier. That meant he had to start from behind the first row of bikes. Reed would not elaborate about what had broken on his bike: "No, I'm not saying what it was." "The biggest thing for me is getting a good start - I feel like I'm riding This aggressive move by Cannichael (4) was the only way he could make a pass stick on Reed (22) as they moved through the pack together on Friday. The,.. we,.. no hard feelings between the two. It was the best race of the weekend, and It was ultimately for fifth place. 20 OCTOBER 23, 2002' cue • • n __ s good - and then just let the rest happen," LaRocco said as the second night's main approached. laRocco isn't exactly known for his starts - well, at least good starts - so it was somewhat of a surprise when he rounded tum one with the lead at the start of Saturday's main. Carmichael pressured him right away and made the pass on the second lap. As far as Carmichael was concerned, that was that. "I got a good start, got by Mike, and just pulled away," Carmichael said. "The rest is history." LaRocco knew he didn't have to beat Carmichael in the race to win the event overall, but he wasn't satisfied. "Honestly, I wanted to beat Ricky, and last night he kind of gave it to me, and tonight 1 was too tense to do it," LaRocco said. "I got half done what I wanted to do - I wanted to win the race, and I got good starts, and it really paid off for me." LaRocco kept Carmichael honest for much of the race, until his only real glitch of the weekend, when Reed began pressuring him past the halfway mark. "I was running the race cautious, and Chad Reed was behind me, and I was just setting up the things so I didn't make errors," LaRocco said. "He kind of bumped me right as I was taking off, and 1spun a little bit, and I landed just too far on a Tuff-Block. But I kept the thing running and got back on it. Fortunately, I was still ahead of Timmy, and it was really no problem. I mean, it was stressful, but it wasn't that big of a deal." "I had a good line in the back sections, and it was just a pass I needed to make," Reed said of the incident. Carmichael took the checkered flag with a comfortable four seconds on Reed, with LaRocco, Ferry and the highly impressive Tedesco rounding out the top five. Tim Ferry struggled In his heats but went 2-4 in the mains for third overall. He Is the first rider ever to finish on the podium at the U.s. Open on a fourstroke. LaRocco got to take home the lion's share of the $300,000 purse $100,000 - for his win. By virtue of his second-night win, Carmichael finished second, with Ferry third, Reed fourth and Tedesco fifth. Was LaRocco relieved it was over? nOh, yeah," said the champ. "You know, I don't really get nervous, but tonight I was feeling the weight." CN MBM 6r11nd IiIIniea ....na Las Ve._, NeVida • Resuhs: October 11-12,2DD2 Friday HEAT 1 (10 laps, 1-7 transfer): I. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 2. Chad Reed (Yam); 3. Michael Byrne (Hon); 4. Groot Langston (KTM); 5. RyllIn Clark (Vam): 6. Tim Ferry (Vam); 7. Nick Wey (Yam); 8. Travis Preston (Hon); 9. Jean·$ebllstien Roy (Hon); 10. Keith Johnson (Vam); 1 J. Darcy Lange (Kaw); 12. Kyle Lewis (Hon). HEAT 2 (10 laps. 1-7 transfer): I. Mike laRocco (Hon); 2. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 3. Emesto Fonseca (Hon); 4. Ezr8 Lusk (Kaw); 5. Damon Huffman (Hon); 6. Mike Brown (Kaw); 7. Heath Voss (Vam); 8. James Povolny Jr. (Hon); 9. Jeff Willoh (Suz); 10. Isaiah Johnson (Hon); 11. Tommy Holmaster (Vam); 12. Josh Demuth (Vam). LCQ (10 laps. 1-2 transfer): 1. Preston; 2. Demuth; 3. Roy; 4. Lenge; 5. K. Johnson; 6. Willoh; 7. Povolny; 8.1. Johnson; 9. Hofmaster; 10. Lewis. I'IA1N (20 laps): I. laRocco: 2. Ferry; 3. Byrne; 4. Tedesco; 5. Carmichael; 6. Reed; 7. Fonseca: 8. Clark; 9. Voss; 10. Lusk; 11. Preston; 12. Huffmen; 13. Demuth; 14. Langston; 15. Wey; 16. Brown. Saturday HEAT 1 (10 laps, 1-7 transfer): I. Carmichael; 2. Wey; 3. Langston; 4. Clark; 5. Ferry; 6. K. Johnson; 7. Preston; 8. Byrne; 9. Longe; 10. Roy; 11. Reed. HEAT 2 (IO laps, 1·7 transrer): l. Lusk; 2. Fonseca; 3. LaRocco; 4. Tedesco; 5. Brown; 6. Poyolny; 7. Demuth; 8. Voss; 9. I. Johnson; 10. Huffmllin. LCQ (10 laps, 1-2 transfer): 1. Preston; 2. Demuth; 3. Roy; 4. Lange; 5. K. Johnson; 6. Willoh; 7. Povolny; 8. I. Johnson; 9. Hofmaster; 10. Lewis. MAIN (20 laps): J. Carmichael; 2. Reed; 3. LoRocco; 4. Ferry; 5. Tedesco; 6. Fonseca; 7. Clark; 8. losk: 9. Langston; 10. Wey; 11. Demuth. O/A: 1. Mike LaRocco (45/1 Win); 2. Ricky Carmichaei (41/1 Win); 3. Tim Ferry (40); 4. Chad Reed (37); 5. Ivan Tedesco (34); 6. Emesto Fonseca (29); 7. Ryan Clark (27); 8. Ezra Lusk (24); 9. Michael Byrne (21); 10. Grant Langston (19): 11. Josh Demuth (18); 12. Nick Wey (17); 13. Travis Preston (15); 14. Heath Voss (14); 15. Damon Huffman (12): 16. Keith Johnson (11); 17. Mike Brown (11); 18. Darcy Lange (10); 19. James PoYolny Jr. (9); 20. lSl'iah Johnson (5); 21. JeanSebastien Roy (4); 22. Jeff Willoh (2); 23. Tommy Hofmaster (1).

• Cover