Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128197
THQ World Supercross GP Series/AMA Supercross Series Round 4/2: Bank One Ballpark Expectant lather Ezra Lusk gets his lirst win in almest leur .,ears By STEVE Kawasaki rider said. "I just come out and do what I know to do. I ride all week, train hard and then come out and ride like that." He looked like a completely new rider - or maybe the old Ezra Lusk of a few years ago - at Bank One Ballpark. Last week at Anaheim, he almost didn't make the main and finished near the tail end of the top 10 after many of the riders in front of him crashed out - but at Phoenix he literally won everything. He won the fastest heat race after stuffing Chad Reed just before the finish, got the first gate pick for the main and made good on the pick, passing Yamaha's Reed again on the 16th of 20 laps for the lead and the win. "Me and my mechanic, Randy, were sitting there, coming up to the Cox PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN PHOENIX, AZ, JAN, 11 !: zra Lusk has been a fan favorite G at stadiums across the country since even before he challenged Jeremy McGrath's dominance in the late 1990s, but wins have been hard to come by for the Georgia native sinc_e his last win at the Indianapolis Supercross in April of 1999. That was his last of five wins that season, which was a career best, and many assumed he'd be the heir to McGrath's throne soon thereafter. However, it wasn't to be. "My wife is going to have a baby any day now, and that's got so much pressure on me that the racing kind of comes easy," the Chevy Trucks 8 JANUARY 22, 2003' ... Y ... • e ne""s starting line, and I was first pick - last week I was almost last pick," Lusk said from the podium. "So it's a change. It's a rollercoaster ride, this motocross racing. But if you keep your head in it, stay positive and have a good team behind you and keep the faith out there, you'll be there. " Reed's second-place finish actually extended both of his series points leads, in the THQ World Supercross GP and AMA Supercross Series standings, as his top rivals coming in, Ricky Carmichael (in the AMA series) and David Vuillemin (in the World series) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. "I love racing in the U.S.; it's been my dream for a long time," the likable Australian said. "It's just great to Ezra Lusk (11) leads the charge at the start of his heat race ahead of Mike LaRocco (5). Mike Brown (3). David Vuillemin (behind Brown) and Paul Carpenter (behind LaRocco). He won the heat and the main event, his first since Indy in 1999. be here. These people are all human, and they can all be beaten - they're not invincible, so ... I just want to do the best I can." MAIN EVENT Reed grabbed another holeshot in the main event, with Lusk and Honda's Carmichael right behind. So Be Suzuki's Travis Pastrana landed into the face of a jump before one of the track's two big triples and crossed the track as he saved it, just missing