Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA 1 25cc Western Regional Supercross Series Round 7: Texas Stadium (Left) Despite a sore knee, Travis Preston finished second. A bad start prevented him from getting away with Stewart. (Right) Matt Walker rode a hard-fought race and got on the podium in third. Walker and Preston had a bit of a "cautious" laugh when Walker directed to Preston: "I even sent him a birthday card," during the eight weeks they had to "cool off" while the 125cc Eastern Region title chase was on. Walker, his Pro-Circuit teammate Eric Sorby, and Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Preston had several run-ins during the West Region series, some of which led to fines and a stern talking to from AMA director of competition Duke Finch. Still, the two rode outstanding races - along with MotoworidRacing.com Suzuki's Andrew Short - and even came together at one point, which no doubt had raised eyebrows in their respective camps, along with those of the AMA officials. "I got out pretty clean, was riding all right, but Travis [Preston] and I came together, and he bent my rear brake [lever] up," Walker said. "[I] rode a little tight after that, and we went back and forth a little bit. It was good racing." Walker noted that "I like to run my brake lever really low," so when it was bent up considerably in the "meeting" with Preston, Walker had to adjust his riding style. He added that he's "not making any excuses about it. My first 10 laps were great; my last five laps were horrible. And that's my fault." Preston, last year's 125cc Western Region champ, summed up his season. "Overall, I thought I rode a lot better than I did last year, was getting better starts, just riding better in general," Preston said. "But I had some bad luck in two races, both of which I was set to finish on the podium. So 14 APRIL 23, 2003' c u e I e the points would have been a lot closer." Right out of the gate, Red Bull KTM's Billy Laninovich would give the orange bike company its only highlight of the evening when he pulled the SXGP.com holes hot in fine fashion before crashing out of the lead pack. Three turns into the race, Stewart had all but checked out, with Short, Preston and Walker in a heated battle for the remaining podium spots. Further back but engaged in some good racing as well were Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Chris Gosselaar, along with Boost Mobile/ Yamaha/Troy Racing's Josh Hansen and Speedy Yamaha's Steve Mertens. With Short holding on to fourth, Gosselaar, Hansen and Mertens made up the top seven spots, respectively. Jeremy Chaussee scored his first top-10 finish of the year, placing eighth at Dallas, with MotoXXX's Troy Adams ninth. 3D Racing's holeshotartist Tiger Lacey rounded out the top 10. eN Te.a. Stadium Irving, Te.as Re.ults: April 12, 2003 IRound 7J HEAT 1 (6 laps. 1-9 transfer): I. Eric Sorby (Kaw); 2. Trelvis Preston (Han); 3. Andrew Short (Suz): 4. Troy Adams (Yam); 5. Josh Hansen (Yam); 6. Jeff Gibson (Suz); 7. Ty Conner (Hon); 8. Tiger Lacey (Yam): 9. Adam Cini (Yam); 10. Tom Parsons (YlIIm); 11. Bradley Ripple (Suz); 12. HZlns Neel (KTM); 13. Manuel Font (Hen); 14. Robert Merritt (Yam); 15. Kyle Abney (Yam); 16. Chris Welchko (Yam); 17. Scott Trimble (Yam); 18. Tommy HZlrrison (Suz); 19. MattShue (KTM). Race Time: 6 min .. 16.769 sec. Margin of Victory: 1.085 sec. HEAT 2 (6 laps, 1·9 transfer): 1. James Stewart Jr. (Kaw); 2. Matt Walker (Kaw); 3. Billy uminovich (KTM); 4. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 5. Steve Mertens (Yam); 6. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 7. Shane Bess (Su:o:); 8. Christopher Gosselaar (Hon); 9. Jacob Martin (Yam); 10. Jerrad Fisher (Yam); 1 I. Brendan Butler (SUI); 12. Chad Cook (Kaw); 13. Cassidy Anderson (Yam); 14. Taylor Watts (Yam); 15. Ross Garcia (Hon); 16. Tiffer Wright (Yam); 17. Scott Davis (Suz); 18. Jason Murrell (Yam); 19. Edgardo Rojas (Yam). Race Time: 6 min., 12.520 sec. Margin of Victory: 20.240 sec. LCQ (4 laps, 1-4 transfer): 1. Scott Davis (Suz): 2. Hans Neel (KTM); 3. Edgardo Rojas (Yam); 4. n e _ s Brandon Butler (Suz); 5. Bradley Ripple (SUI); 6. Jerrad Fisher (Yam); 7. Taylor Watts (Yam); 8. Chad Cook (Kaw); 9. Tom Parsons (Yern); 10. Jason Murrell (Yam); 11. Ross Garcia (Hon); 12. Cassidy Anderson (Yam); 13. Manuel Font (Hon); 14. Tommy Harrison (Suz); 15. Kyle Abney (YlI:m); 16. Chris Welchko (Yam); 17. Tiffer Wright (Yam); 18. Robert Merritt (Yam); 19. Scott Trimble (Yam); 20. Matt Shue (KTM). Race Time: 4 min., 3.576 sec. M.argin of Victory: 2.956 sec. MAIN EVENT (15 laps): I. James Stewart Jr. (Kaw); 2. Travis Preston (Hon); 3. Matt Walker (Kaw); 4. Andrew Short (SUI); 5. Christopher Gosselaar (Hon); 6. Josh HZlnsen (Yam); 7. Steve Mertens (Yam); 8. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 9. Troy Adams (Yam); 10. Tiger Lllcey (Yam); 1 I. Billy Laninovich (KTM); 12. Eric Sorby (Kaw); 13. Jeff Gibson (Suz); 14. Hans Neel (KTM); 15. Adam Cini (Yllm); 16. Jacob Mllrtin (Yam); 17. Ty Conner (Hon); 18. Brandon Butler (Suz); 19. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 20. Edgardo Rojas (Yam); 21. Shane Bess (SUl); 22. Scott Davis (SUl). Race Time: 14 min., I 1.026 sec. Margin of Victory: 18.132 sec. AMA 125cc WESTERN REGIONAL SUPERCROSS SERIES (After 7 of 8 rounds): 1. James Stewart Jr. (172/6 wins)-; 2. Travis Preston (138/1 win); 3. (TIE) Andrew Short/Matt Walker (110); 5. Billy Laninovich (101); 6. (TIE) Danny Smith/Christopher Gosselaar/Eric Sorby (al); 9. Josh Hansen (76); 10. Sean Hamblin (65); 11. Tiger Lacey (57); 12. (TIE) Steve Mertens/David Pingree (43); 14. Craig Anderson (42); 15. Josh Woods (37); 16. Tyler Evans (33): 17. Travis Elliott (32); 18. Troy Adams (30); 19. Kevin Johnson (29); 20. (TIE) Shane Bess/Akira Narila (25). my Own Race: 125cc 1] ®~ Billy Laninovich 11th The KTM flyer pulled the holeshot but then got tied up, went down and got up to almost make the top JO. Laninovich trails Andrew Short and Matt Walker by nine points for the third and fmal overall podium spot in the championship. "I was concentrating on the gate, which was all I needed to do," LaniC\ivich said. "I was in the hunt for third pla.ce, and I think [Matt] Walker got second, and he was one point behind me, and Andrew [Short] was one point in front of me, so I blew it. I lost a lot of money. And I lost the race because of the crash. It was on the first lap, right when the pack took off. I don't know if somebody hit me or I hit a square edge, but it just highsided me." @® Josh Hansen 6th Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing's Josh Hansen was flying all night. He nearly won his heat race, but a minor fall while leading put an end to that. Hansen qualified via a fifth-place finish for the main, where he finished sixth. "I pulled out a pretty decent .tart and moved through the pack really good," Hansen said. "I was running fifth for most of the race, but I kind of ran into a lapper Shane Bess - and ran into the bales. [Chris] Gosselaar got past me, and I ended up sixth. But I rode good; I was leading my heat race when I crashed, so my speed's up there for sure. I need to get a start and pull it together. Each weekend has always been an improvement, so there's no doubt in my mind that things are just going to get beller." 7lfJ) 71 Kevin Johnson @fJ) 1] Scott Davis 19th After injuring his knee the week before, Star Racing's Kevin Johnson showed up at Dallas and rode well but was cut down by bad luck. Johnson qualified for the main event after finishing fourth in his heat race, but while fifth in the main behind Stewart, Short, Preston and Walker, the fuel line fell off his bike, putting him out for the evening. DNF Scott Davis of the Racerhouse.com/SRT team had a busy night - perhaps too busy. He rode both the 125 and 250cc classes; he made the J 25cc main but not the 250cc main. In the 125cc final, Davis eventually pulled out. "Too tired," Davis admitted. "I just petered out, but I've been sick for the last three weeks."

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