Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ray Jr. (Hon). Margin of Victory: 22.348 sec. HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1-4 transfer): I. Ricky Co!!rmichael (Han); 2. Heath Voss (Yam); 3. Larry W~rd (Han); 4. Greg Schnell (Yam); 5. Jemes Povolny Jr. (Han); 6. Michael Blose (Yem); 7. Ted Cempbel1 (Han); 8. Isaiah Johnson (Kew); 9. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam); 10. Clerk Stiles (Han): II. Clinton Shealy III (Suz); 12. Emesto Fonseca (Hon); 13. Jason Smith (Han); 14. Kris Papworth (Kaw); 15. Ronnie Clark (Suz); 16. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 17. Brandon Butler (Suz); 18. Kenny Bartram (KTM); 19. Race TIme: 5 min.. 39.435 sec. Margin of Victory: 3.254 sec. SEMI 2 (6 laps, 1-5 transfer): 1. Ernesto Fonseca (Han); 2. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 3. James Povolny Jr. (Han); 4. Clark Stiles (Han); 5. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam); 6. Ted Campbell (Hon); 7. Michael Blose (Yam); 8. Isaiah Johnson (Kaw); 9. Kris Papworth (Kaw); 10. Clinton Sheely III (Suz); 11. Ronnie Clark (Suz); 12. Jason Smith (Han); 13. Brandon Butler (Suz); 14. Kenny Bartram (KTM); 15. Matt Shue (KTM); 20. Bradley Ripple (Su,). Matt Shue (KTM); 16. Bradley Ripple (KTM). Race Time: 7 min.. 32.110 sec. Margin of Victory: l.1 04 sec. SEMI 1 (6 laps, 1-5 transfer): 1. Ryan Clark (Yam); 2. Casey Lytle (Yam); 3. Jason Thomas (Han); 4. Tyler Evans (Suz); 5. Brian Mason (Yam); 6. Joseph Oehlhof (Han); 7. Josh Demuth (Yam); 8. Doug DeHaan (Han); 9. Zeb Armstrong (Hon); 10. Karsten Butler (Suz); 11. Mark Wundrack (Yam): 12. Scott Davis (Suz); 13. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 14. Jacob Martin (Yam); 15. Hans Neel (KTM); 16. Eddie Race Time: 5 min.. 25.242 sec. Margin of Victory: 15.521 sec. Lee (6 laps, 1·2 transfer): 1. Josh Demuth (Yam); 2. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 3. Joseph Oehlhof (Han); 4. Ted Campbell (Hon); 5. Michael Blose (Yam); 6. Kris Papworth (Kaw); 7. Doug DeHaan (Hon); 8. Clinton Shealy III (Suz); 9. Zeb Armstrong (Han); 10. Klirsten Butler (Suz); 11. Ronnie Clark (Suz); 12. Isaillh Johnson (Kaw); 13. Jason Smith (Hon); 14. Bradley Ripple (Suz): 15. BRIEFLY••• SoBe Suzuki team manager Roger DeCoster probably couldn't believe his eyes when he saw yet another one of his 250cc riders, this time Sean Hamblin, lying on the track after suffering a bad fall in the second 250cc heat race. Hamblin lay on the track. motionless. for several minutes before being carried away via backboard. Surprisingly, Hamblin returned for the semis, where he finished second, qualifying for the main event. But after the semi, Hamblin decided that his body had had enough and sat out the main event. reducing the field to just 1g riders. "I came up short with the front wheel down and kind of bit me in my ass, but I'm all right." Hamblin said. "The wind was knocked out of me, so I couldn't talk to anybody, and they thought that I was knocked out because I had my eyes closed so I could just gather my thoughts and everything. They started strapping me down to a backboard, which you can't blame them: they want to take every precaution. In the semi. I started getting light-headed and dizzy - I hit my head pretty good to where I think I've got a slight concussion. I hit my stomach pretty good, as well, and they were thinking that maybe bruised my liver, so... Anytime I had a real good jar to my stomach, it didn't feel good. I knew I couldn't hang on for 20 laps, and I didn't want to go out there and ride half-ass. I didn't want to hurt myself anymore. I'll be in Salt Lake." Kevin Windham came to Dallas to size up the riders he'll soon be racing against again in the upcoming AMA/Chevy Trucks National Motocross Championship Series that gets under way next month. As reported last week, Windham is working out a deal with Factory Connection and will work out of his own rig for the 250cc Nationals. He'lI also get a lot of back· ing through the factory Honda race team. "I'll be riding a full works Honda 450," Windham said. "I'm healthy and feeling good and want to start racing again." Windham will be heading out West soon to test with the factory Honda team in California. Believe it or not, Windham is still the last rider to beat Ricky Carmichael outdoors. That happened in 2001. when Windham beat Carmichael in both motos at Washougal as a member of Team Suzuki. Whoopgate: The initial whoop pad that cut into the highly tacky Dallas soil was pretty radical. enough so that the call was made for the track designers to cut them down. "The whoops weren't that big, but they were a little on the steep side," said Dirt Wurx's Skippy Bradshaw, who plowed through them with a loader after the first practice session. "like riding into a wall. if you will. If they got on top. it was okay. But some of the guys were having a prob· lem getting on top." Bradshaw also pointed out that since the whoops were made of clay, they weren't breaking down as the practices went on. In fact, they were getting more peaked. and Clear Channel's Roy Jansen made the call to cut them down. A ripple effect went through the pits as to who this move would favor. as Ricky Carmichael was visibly haVing some difficulties in the section. But in the end, those concerns would fallon deaf ears. as Chad Reed proved he was fastest through the cut and uncut whoops. And since none of the team managers, mechanics and/or Clear Channel employees actually had to ride the whoops, an impartial participant - team ECC Suzuki's Tyler Evans· summed up the whole argument by saying, "Dude, they were pretty gnarly. " Travis Preston was still hobbling around from his knee injury at Pontiac. "I was pretty scared in Pontiac because I hit my knee pretty hard," Preston said. "I felt a bit better the next morning, went to the doctor and got an MRI. Found out I've got some minor stuff wrong with it [patella], got a cortisone shot to help with the pain, but nothing's tom - nothing's really bad. It's going to take some minor surgery at the end of the year. but the doctor said it can wait. The knee doesn't bother me at all on the track; it's just a little sore when I get off the track, but no big deal at all, really." Unbelievably, the Msilly season" has already begun. People are already talking about who's going to ride where and on what teams next year. This year's silly season should go down as one of the more interesting ones since only a few of the big-name Heath Voss (225); 4. Tim Ferry (216); 5. Keith Johnson (215); 6. Ryan Clark (201); 7. Mike Hans Neel (KTM); 16. Scott DllVis (Suz); 17. Mark Wundrack (Yllm); 18. Brandon Butler (Suz); 19. Kenny Bartram (KTM); 20. Jo!l!cob Martin (Yl!Im); 21. LaRocco (136); 8. Damon Huffman (124); 9. Sebastien Tortelli (121); 10. Grant umgston (76). Matt Shue (KTM); 22. Eddie Ray Jr. (Hon). AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS Race Time: 5 min.. 36.773 sec. Margin of Victory: 1.715 sec. (After 14 of 16 rounds): 1. Ricky Carmichael (323/7 wins); 2. Chad Reed (310/6 wins); 3. Ernesto Fonseca (185): 4. (TIE) David Vui1lemin/Nick Wey MAIN EVENT (20 laps); I. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 3. Erneslo Fonseca (Han); 4. Nick Wey (Yam); 5. Hellth Voss (Yam); 6. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 7. Larry Ward (Hon); 8. Brock Sellards (Yi!lm); 9. Casey Lytle (Yam); 10. Jason Thomas (Han); 11. Josh Demuth (Yam); 12. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 13. Greg Schnell (Yam): 14. Ryan Clark (Yllm); 15. Tyler Evans (Suz); 16. Brian Mason (Yam); 17. Clark Stiles (Han); 18. James Povolny Jr. (Han); 19. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam); 20. Sean Hamblin (Suz). Race Time: 18 min., 39.864 sec. Margin of Victory: 2.002 sec. (169); 6. Tim Ferry (163); 7. Heath Voss (155); 8. Ezra Lusk (149/1 win); 9. Larry Ward (139); 10. Keith R. Johnson (125); 11. Ryan Clark (98); 12. Seen Hamblin (86); 13. Michael Byrne (75); 14. Mike LaRocco (73); 15. Slephane Roncada (70); 16. Sebastien Tortelli (63): 17. Damon Huffman (55); 18. (TIE) Iven Tedesco/Greg Schnell (51); 20. Jason Thomas (49). Upcoming Rounds: Round 16/15 - Salt Lake City. Utah, April 26 Round 17/16 - Las Vegas, Nevada. May 4 THQ WORLD SUPERCROSS GP POINTS STANDINGS (After 15 of 17 rounds): I. Chad Reed (351/7 wins); 2. David Vuillemin (238/1 win); 3. players. such as Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart Jr., are in the middle of multiyear contracts. One of the first names we've heard come up already is Michael Byrne's. There're already rumors of Byrne talking with the Kawasaki factory team. More and more outside sponsors are trickling into the sport of supercross, which was clearly evident in front of the Lamont Rac· ing and Team Solitaire pits at Dallas. The two teams hooked up with Honeywell and North Texas Airco (NTA) to promote house· hold appliances, such as air conditioners and air-filtration sys· terns. NTA is a company in Texas that distributes the Honeywellbuilt products, and NTA owner Dennis Bond was excited to be a part of supercross. ~We're looking for a new way to promote our products," Bond said, "and supercross is a great way to do that. We're a new company and big Supercross fans: this is a good way to get some of our customers involved with the sport and promote our products in front of a younger crowd." Also on hand was regional Honeywell sales manager Ev Cade, who said that his company is glad to be a part of supercross and is hoping to attend a few more races down the road with Lamont Racing and Team Solitaire. Bond added. "We'd like to have a hospitality area next year and perhaps attend some big amateur races. as well." Speaking of Team Solitaire. one of its riders couldn't make it to Dallas. Erick Vallejo, who crashed the previous week at Pontiac and hit his head, still wasn't 100-percent ready to ride. "He's still feeling it." said team manager/star rider Ryan Clark. "He's hoping to be at Salt Lake in two weeks. " Team RacerHouse.com/SRT pretty much has its new team all set to go for the upcoming National MX Series. It's already locked in Brian Mason, James Povolny, Zeb Armstrong and Kelly Smith. there is still one position it's hoping to fill. One possible rider could be 2002 Costa Rican National MX Champion Edgardo Rojas, who returned to the Supercross Series at Dallas after riding Anaheim I and Phoenix. Rojas will finish out this year's SX series and is hoping to land a ride for the Nationals. A few other names that came up after speaking with Team Racerhouse.com/ SRT team manager Darrell Saldana were Casey Johnson and Michael Brandes, who are both looking for rides for the upcoming series. Despite having such a big presence in the Dallas pits with its two semi·haulers, the SoBe Suzuki team was represented by just one rider - Sean Hamblin. Sebastian Tortelli, Stephane Roncada and Travis Pastrana are still out because of injuries. as is 125cc rider Danny Smith, who filled in for the 250cc guys on an RM250 up until the last race, where he injured his knee. According to team manager Roger DeCoster, Tortelli was set to start riding Sunday, Aprii 13, and Roncada will get back on the bike 10 days later. Pastrana, however, says he's all healed and ready to go. DeCoster and Pastrana held a meeting late Saturday afternoon in the Dallas pits where they decided that Pastrana will wait until the opening round of the Nationals to make his return. "I suggested to Travis that he should wait until Glen Helen. and he accepted." DeCoster said. "He wanted to race [at Salt Lake City) real bad, but he's only been riding for two and a half weeks. I think it's good that he's waiting. because I think it shows that he's ready to take the outdoor series seriously." JeH Gibson was hanging out in the Team ECC/Suzuki pits and signing autographs, even though his racing days are numbered with the team. Gibson has a supercross·only contract with the team, but if he had finished in the top lOaf the Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross Series, that contract wouid have extended through the Nationals. Unfortunately. he finished 13th and is now looking for a ride outdoors. "I haven't gotten anything finalized yet. but I'm working on some things," said Gibson, who finished 13th in the 125cc main in Dallas. Obviously, the number 13 is bad luck for Gibson. Speaking of Team ECC, Tyler Evans will not be a part of the team for the outdoor series either. Apparently his deal with the team terminates at the end of the supercross series, and he will not be reinstated by the team for the Nationals. Another rider whose season will end after the supercross series is Casey Lytle. Lytle is currently pretty much working on his own but with the help of ReMax, Yamaha of Troy (who are hauling his bike to the races) and Sinisalo, among others. "I don't have anything going for the Nationals. mainly because I have a job during the week that I have to keep." Lytle said. "I'll use the time off to get something together for next year. full-time." Lytie finished an impressive ninth in the 250cc final. James "Bubba" Stewart Jr. was unbelievably fast at Dallas almost scary fast. The , 25cc·c1ass riders knew they were going to be battling for second place in the 125cc main after hearing how fast Stewart was after the two heat races. After Andrew Short won the first 125cc qualifier, Stewart went out and annihilated the second 125cc heat race. Stewart won easily, and his total race time was 27 seconds faster than Short's winning time. Also. his lap times were roughly the same as Chad Reed's practice times. FYI: Of the 40 riders who qualified in the 250cc class for the evening's program, 15 of them were aboard Yamahas (11 of them were in the first 250cc heat race). 12 were on Hondas, seven on Suzukis, three on KTMs. and just two were on Kawasakis. ITimes have certainly changed when you see more 250cc KTMs than Kawasakis at a supercrossJ In the 250cc main event. Yamaha was again prominent. Of the 15 Yamahas that made the evening's program. 12 of them made it to the main event. as did six Hondas. two Suzukis (though Sean Hamblin didn't ride) and no Kawasakis or KTMs. Coincidentally. of the Big Four Japanese manufacturers, Yamaha stands a chance of being the one left out of winning an AMA Supercross Championship this year. Suzuki won with Branden Jesseman in the East Coast 125cc Series. Kawasaki just won with James Stewart Jr. in the West Coast 125cc Series, and Honda is sitting pretty for the 250cc title with Ricky Carmichael. However. Yamaha did already clinch the THQ World Supercross GP Series with Chad Reed. Before the Dallas attendance was even announced. no one needed to be told that the crowd count was way down compared to previous supercross rounds. Last week at Pontiac. Michigan. the crowd was noticeably sparse as well. but bad weather was blamed for that. The same. however, could not be said at Dallas, as the weather was all but perfect for racing. Some blame the war in Iraq as the reason for smalier crowds. while others blame a thin field of racers. Only three "factory" riders started the Dallas main event. Not only was the attendance down at Dallas, so was the rider turnout. There were so few 125cc riders that they didn't run any 125cc preliminary races earlier in the day. Just enough 250cc riders showed up to constitute 250cc preliminary races. though. During the post·race press conference, Ricky Carmichael clarified something he said on the podium. Carmichael said that he underestimated Chad Reed. the reason for his shrinking points lead. "I wouldn't say I underestimated," Carmichael said. "I did say that on the podium. but now that I've had a chance to think about it, I got that 25-point lead and figured I could just cruise on in and slacked off a little bit. You have to give it 110 percent. and I think maybe I've been giving it 100 percent. and it caught up with me. I'll tum it around." Speaking of the press conference, James Stewart Jr. even participated and asked a few questions of his own. His first ques· tion was for Ricky Carmichael: "What advice would you give a 125cc rider who is going to move up to the 250cc class?" Carmichael laughed but wouldn't give out any secrets to the soon-to-be 250cc rider. Later on. Stewart asked Chad Reed, "Winning the 125cc East Coast last year [Reed won the title in '021, what's the biggest difference you've seen between the 125cc and 250cc class in supercross?" Reed answered: "Fun. The 250cc class is a lot more fun. There are more guys who can go fast." Billy Laninovich and Larry Ward were the reCipients of this week's SXGP.com Holeshot Awards at Dallas. Laninovich, on his Red Bull KTM 125 SX, took the 125cc holeshot, while Larry Ward. on the Mota XXXlYoshimura Honda CRF450R. did the deed in the 250cc main. Pro-Circuit/Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks' Matt Walker will battle Andrew Short for the third and final podium spot in the 125cc Western Region in two weeks in Salt Lake Cily, though he doesn't seem to be that concerned about it. "I haven't been riding supercross at all - I've been out in California riding outdoors. So this podium's good for me. But really. I'm just using this for training for the outdoors. I'm in third in the points Wed with Andrew ShortJ. and that's kind of where Kawasaki wants me to be. Top three was my goal, and to be in third at the end of the night was my goal. I'll be trying to get my fitness level up here each and every race before the Nationals. " cue I e n e _ OS APRIL 23.2003 11

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