Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THQ World Supercross GP Series/AMA Supercross Series Round 10/B: Georgia Dome 2. Chad Reed (Yam); 3. David Vuillemin (Yam); 4, Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 5. Tim Ferry (Yam); 6. Nicholas Wey (Yam): 7. Sean H8mblln (Suz); 8. Mike l.2IRocco (Hon); 9. Andrew Shan (Suz); 10. Danny wins); 2. Chad Reed (168/2 wins); 3. David Vuillemin Race Time: 5 min., 18.279 sec. Margin of victory: 2.306 sec. LCQ (6 laps, 1·2 transfer): I. l.l!rry Ward (Hon); 2. Trevis Preston (Hon): 3. Greg Schnell (Yam); 4. James Povolny (Hon): 5. Doug Dehaan (Hon): 6. Jason Thomas (Hon); 7. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 8. Scott Davis (Suz); 9. Chase Reed (KTM); 10. Brandon Butler (Suz); 11. Scott Metz (Suz); 12. Hans Neel (KTM); 13. Kris Swaney (Hon); 14. Cory Young (Yam); 15. Whispem Smith (Hon); 16. Forrest Butler (Suz). Race Time: 5 min., 16.705 sec. Race TIme: 17 min.• 15.180 sec. Margin of victory: 6.227 sec. Margin of victory: .865 sec. AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS Ferry (200); 4. Mike LoRocco (136); 5. Heath Voss (Arter 8 of 16 rounds): 1. Ricky Carmichael (185/5 (125); 6. (TIE) Keith Johnson/Sebastien Tortelli 250 MAIN (20 laps): 1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); Smith (Suz); 11. Keith Johnson (Yam); 12. Heath Voss (Yam); 13. Travis Preston (Hon); 14. Tyler Evans (Suz); 15. Joseph Oehlhor (Yam); 16. Larry Ward (Hon); 17. Clark Stiles (Hon); 18. Ryan Clark (Yam); 19. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 20. Damon Huffman (Hon). Upcoming Rounds: Round 11 /g - Indianapolis, Indiana, March 1 Round 10- Daytona Beach, Florida, March 8 The black and red Synergy Racing Technologies semi has been a fixture in road race paddocks for a few years. Now that team co-owner Glenn DeKoven has changed his focus somewhat. it's showing up in the supercross pits. "We're trying to help the riders who can't go racing," DeKoven said of his supercross effort. "We're doing a Big Brother mentoring program. We want to help develop kids. The hard part is getting support." DeKoven and partner Daryl Saldana put together the program after the third Anaheim race. the fifth round of the AMA Supercross Series. Their current rider roster inciudes Kelly Smith and Charlie Dagner in the 125cc East Regional series, and Brian Mason, Zeb Armstrong and Scott Davis in the 250cc class. Much of the funding comes out of the owners' pockets, with Racerhouse.com pitching in. The website. due to go online soon. will give amateur racers a chance to build their own websites. They also receive product support from NuTec fuels and Yoshimura exhaust systems. "We want to take the pressure of getting to the races off the riders," DeKoven said. "We take care of some of the living expenses. Everybody's got their budgets done. It's impossible to get money out of them. Everybody's making a sacrifice." DeKoven said all the riders brought their own mechanics and motorcycles. SRT hasn't completely abandoned road racing. Canadian Andrew Nelson will race the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and, possibly, selected AMA evenls on SRT Hondas, both a CBR600RR and a CBR954RR. The team will have its stock 600 and 954 at Daytona for the Formula USA/Championship Cup Series weekend. staying through Bike Week for the Pro Honda Oils Supersport event. The plan, at this point. is to race in the West Coast AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike rounds at California Speedway, Infineon Speedway. and Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Team Racerhouse.com·s Charlie Dagner won the $250 Asterisk Medic Card for finishing fifth in the 125cc LCO. the first rider not to transfer. "The money's aiways good; I just wish I was in the main," Dagner said. .Justin Summers of Milton, Florida, won the three-lap KTM .Junior Supercross Challenge in a southern sweep. Summers beat Lovely, Kentucky's Taylor Perry by 3.198 seconds with Max Tannenbaum. of lilburn. Georgia, third. How did the 50cc speedster's lap times stack up? Summers' average lap time of 1:28.851 was about half as fast as the 50.466 average turned in by Honda's Ricky Carmichael in his heat. Larry Ward's mechanic Allan Brown won the S250 Motorcycle Mechanics Institute Top Tech Award for replacing the engine in Ward's MotoXXX Honda CRF450R between the semi and the LCO. Ward said the Honda broke a center case on the start line of the semi. "You've got to do what it takes to make the main event," Brown said. Ward kidded Brown by saying, "I won'l let him date my sister, but I'll let him work on my motorcycle," to which Brown replied, "I wouldn't date his sister because her name's George." After the team changed the motor, Ward was asked if any more work was done before the main. "We just had to find out where the three or four bolts we had went. " Larry Ward then went on to take the $1500 SXGP.com Holeshot Award in the 250cc main. "That was a box-stock CRF450R that just pulled that holeshot." he said, though he later said it had a small bit of tuning. There was no shortage of track time for bike and rider. Ward had to transfer off the LCO. "i actually put on my best race of the year so far." Ward said. "I was a little tired. I did a lot of laps lonight." The Racer X $750 Gas Card wenl to Greg Schnell, the thirdplace finisher in the 250cc LCO. "I held Travis [Preston] off for a couple of laps, and he jusl got by me," Schnell said. As much as Team SoBe Suzuki's Danny Hamblin liked finishing seventh in Georgia, he was really thinking farther south. "I feel that it was a good slepping stone, work for it next week [in Indianapolis] and really look forward to Daytona; that's where I think Travis Elliott (right) was taken from the track following a final-lap get off over the finish-line jump - the end result being a broken leg. Team ECC Suzuki's Tyler Evans slept through last week's Minneapolis Supercross, the race where he was to make his 250cc debut. A plate of bad pasta on Friday night landed him in the hospital on an IV drip. "I got sick Friday night," he said. "Four o'clock rolled around, and I was hurting pretty bad, and then I ended up sleeping. I ended up sleeping through the whole day and night, woke up Sunday morning and flew home." Even though there's still plenty of racing left. it's a lock that a Yamaha will win the inaugural THO World Supercross GP title. Yamahas occupy the top three spots after 10 of 17 rounds. Chad Reed leads teammate David Vuillemin 229 to 213, with Tim Ferry third at 200. n 16. James Povolny Jr. (18); 17. Ted Campbell (15); 18. Joaquim Rodriguez (14); 19. (TIE) Pierrick Paget/Manuel Rivas (12). "They were battling it out at my house." "He has an awesome place down there," Brown said . Ricky Carmichael's fifth win of the season was also his 31st 250cc SX win, second on the all-time list to Jeremy McGrath's 85. Carmichael is inching up on McGrath in one category. The win was his 85th all-time AMA win, four shy of McGrath's 89. The morning after the supercross, a number of the Pro riders drove up 1-75 for a benefit race at Diamondback Sports Center. The S5000 event was a benefit for DeCoster's Kids, a drug prevention program in the Southeast. "The profits from the race go to the fund," Team SoBe Suzuki team manager Roger DeCoster said. DeCoster said his involvement was in helping provide Suzuki RM motocrossers and going to high schools. "We get the kids attention by bringing bikes out to the school and having them jump over police cars." DeCoster said. More information is available at www.decosterskids.com. I e (229/3 wins); 2. David Vuil1emin (213/1 win); 3. Tim Boost Mobile YamahalTroy Racing's Brock Sellards stretched Yamaha's 125cc East Regional win streak to five. The run (at least one win per season) began in 1999 with Emesto Fonseca, followed by Stephane Roncada (2000>, Nate Ramsey (2001> and Chad Reed (2002). Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's .James Stewart .Jr_ was up from Haines City, Florida, for the Atlanta race, doing commentary work on the ESPN2 telecast. Stewart is the latest motocrosser to be featured in ESPN the MagaZine: A feature article on the Florida teenager appeared in the current Issue under the headline - Bubbalicious. - Chris Palmer, who penned the article along with previous pieces on Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael, calls him the future of the sport. cue 17. Ivan Tedesco (36); 18. Brock Sellards (32); 19. Paul Carpenter (22); 20. Michael Brown (19). THQ WORLD SUPERCROSS GP POINT STANDINGS (After 10 of 17 rounds): I. Chad Reed 14. Jeremy McGr&th (29); 15. Steve Boniface (26); TeamRacerHouse.com Suzuki's Kelly Smith won the $1000 SXGP.com Holeshot Award in the 125cc East Regional, his second consecutive holeshot award. He finished eighth in the main. Being from Bainbridge, Georgia, meant that Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk had a heavy promotional week prior to the Atlanta race. Lusk was featured on the local CBS affiliate, WCGL. on Thursday, along with numerous radio interviews. There was also a story about him in the Atlanta Joumal-Constitution. Because he had so many fans, he extended his autograph session by half an hour and gave away 50 tickets to friends and family. The downside is that he was fighting some bad juju - no rider from Georgia has ever won a 250cc Supercross in his home state. The race was the first ever attended by his four-week-old son. Hayden, under the watchful eye of Lusk's wife, Jennifer. Ezra's younger brother, Shane, scored his first East Regional points with a 14th-place finish on his Honda of Houston mount. MARCH 5. 2003' Michael Byrne/Heath Voss (75); 10. Mike lllRocco (73); 11. Stephane Roncada (70); 12. Sebastien Tortelli (63); 13. Keith Johnson (59); 14. Lorry Ward (58); 15. Damon Huffman (43); 16. Ryan Clark (40); (121): 8. Ryan Clark (110): 9. Damon Huffman (109); 10. Grant Langston (76); 11. Erick Vallejo (53); 12. Andrew Short (48); 13. Joe Oehlhof (32); I've got a little more for everybody," he said. "That's where I excel, a little more outdoor-style tracks." BRIEFLY. •• 12 (147); 4. Tim Ferry (130); 5. Ezra Lusk (122/1 win); 6. Nick Wey (83); 7. Emesto Fonseca (77); 8. (TIE) The Georgia Dome crowd was slightly off last year. but last year was a record. The crowd of 69.475 that packed the Atlanta facility was the largest of the 2002 supercross season. This year's event drew 63,749. With Carmichael's win, Honda tied Yamaha with the most wins in Atlanta at nine each. The winningest rider in Atlanta is Jeremy McGrath with five wins, three on a Yamaha, two on a Honda. McGrath and Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw each won three consecutive years in Atlanta on Yamahas, a streak Carmichael matched with his third consecutive win this year. There was time to be made up in a triple jump near the finish line. Yamaha's Chad Reed did it in practice and was thinking about doing it in his heat. "Then [Ricky] Carmichael did it in his heat race. and I thought. 'Well. there goes my secret,'" Reed said. Yamaha's David Vuillemin said he didn't do the Iriple and "that's why they made time on me. I didn't have the guts to do it in the race. Chad did it in practice a couple of times, and Ricky did it in the heat race. " Boost Mobile YamahalTroy Racing's Brock Sellards and Team Pro Circuit/Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Michael Brown gave a preview of the 125cc East Regional final several times during the week. The pair practiced at Ricky Carmichael's track during the week. "They have been staying at my house so I probably watched Ihe main event 20 times this week," Carmichael said. eVIl's Shane Lusk, the younger brother of Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk, made his first main event and finished a respectable 14th. Motocross legend David Bailey made a visit to the suburban Atlanta offices of Practice Track magazine for its "Speciai Edition" Atlanta Supercross version of the somewhat popular DMXS radio program. And just in case you weren't one of the eight listeners who tuned in around the world, Intemet radio pirates Joey Casey and Kevin Kelly got Bailey to tell some unreal stories, including his take on the legendary Jimmy Weinert/Bob Hannah paddle-tire race. The Friday program was an open house of sorts to show off the guys' new studio, something they seem to be very proud of, considering a year ago they used to just hold a microphone up to the telephone speaker. Kelly and Casey dumped about five large into what amounts to a custom soundproof box in the back of Kelly's trophy-engraving business. Also on hand was GNCC PR guy Jason Weigandt. reporting on the event for ESPN's "Motoworld." Making the trip to Atlanta for Thursday's Kawasaki press day was none other than 125cc Western division leader .James Stewart .Jr. He summed up what he saw in the 125cc main event: "It's good to see the speed that these guys are running. Brown looked good tonight - I actually thought he was going to win. Jesseman looks good and so does Brock [Sellardsl. There should be some good racing in Vegas." Stewart added that he's not going to be a stranger when it comes to keeping an eye on his competition. "I'll have a few months off before we race again, so I'll try and get to a couple more of these before Dallas. I need to try and keep in touch with what's going on on the track, and this is about as close as I can get until the West starts back up again. " Clear Channel Entertainment - Motor Sports moved Into the Georgia Dome a day early so that privateers could enjoy a day of practice on the highly technical Atlanta track. It reportedly costs $100,000 just to flick the stadium lights on, lease the heavy equipment. hire the ambulances, track crew, etc., a day early. Privateers were given an afternoon of unrestricted access to the Georgia Dome supercross track follOWing Thursday's press day in addition to two hours of practice track time on Friday. "Just showin' the love. ,. said Clear Channel's vice president of operations Roy Janson. Also, Clear Channel handed out the first half of its $100,000 Privateer Points Fund at Atlanta ($50,000>. Moto XXX's Larry Ward took home the lion's share, pocketing a cool $10,000 for his work through the first eight races. Speaking of the track, Dirt Wurx's Rich Winkler had this to say about the supercross track he and his crew sculpted with the bright-red Georgia clay: "This is by far the busiest track we've built all year," said Winkler, conceming the number of obstacles his crew carved into the highly moldable soil. "What appears to be the best angle on this lrack can evoive quickly into an entirely different line. The standard ways get chewed up, so as a resuit there are always more choices. ,. As for the difficulty level, one need look no further that the first 250cc practice round on Friday where pretty much every rider on the track was down on the ground at least once. According to Steve "TFS" Bruhn, the track conditions at the Georgia Dome are very similar to that at Paris' Bercy Supercross. Frenchman and Team Red Bull KTM's Steve Boniface agreed: "Yes. it's very tacky and after the first day gets really rutty. So it makes the race very difficult. much like Bercy." Chevy Trucks Kawasaki skipper Bruce Stjemstrom agreed and made this observation: "The West Coast guys are having some problems on this clay. Look at Michael Byrne. He's a great rider, but he's having a hard time catching up." Byrne would eventually battle back to fifth. In case you didn't notice it (as he may have been standing sideways) Parts Unlimited boss .Jeff Fox was down on the track at Atlanta. Fox has been on a tear as of late - at the gym - and has bumt off an amazing 80 pounds riding the lifeCycle.

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