Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

THQ World Supercross GP SeriesiAMA Supercross Series Final Round: Sam Boyd Stadium BRIEFLY••• Attendance at the series finale was said to be 37,312, There was an Oscar De La Hoya fight that same nighl, and the supercross was broadcast via next-day coverage on ABC Sports, MotoworldRacing,com's Daryl Hurley got the $250 Asterisk Medic Card for finishing fifth in the 125cc LCQ, while Subway's Ted Campbell got the $750 bonus for being awarded the Racer X Gas Card after finishing third in the 250cc LCQ, Chad Reed and James Stewart Jr, earned their respective SXGP,com Holeshot Awards, with Reed getting $1500 for the 250cc holes hot and Stewart getting $1000 for his early 125cc lead, The Boost MobilelYamaha/Troy Racing team of Josh Hansen, Ivan Tedesco and Brock Sellards all had their state flags repre· sented in the numbers on the back of their jerseys, Because of weather issues, there was no practice on Friday, "I don't think it was very tough [to learn the trackl," Emesto Fonse· ca said, "The track was pretty simple, and everybody was doing the same obstacles, I think that's pretty good when you have good riders and not-so-good riders to see who can get used to the track qUicker and who has better skills, " Sam Boyd Stadium, He'll be retiring at the end of the year, "It's mixed emotions," he said, "You know, I'm happy to be out of the pressure of it all, but I'm going to miss it a lot. Twelve years is a long time to be doing this, so I'm definitely going to miss it. " Before the races, Finch called Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed into his motorhome for a chat, "It's not as bad as people make it out to be; they just wanted to see a good race, and there's TV, and keep it professional and all thaI," Carmichael said, "Duke had a couple sets of punching gloves, and we [Reed and CarmichaelJ went at il," Reed joked, Snocross Champion and former Canadian National Motocross Champion Blair Morgan raced the 250cc class on a VZ250, He didn't make the main, MotoXXX's Kyle Lewis (below) returned a race earlier than most thought he would "just to get some gates and just to have some fun," he said, "That's it. That's why I do it is just to have fun, so I just wanted to get a few gates and get ready for Glen Helen," Maybe not coincidentally, his return also put him back inside the top 20 in the SXGP World Points, earning him some money and dropping Doug DeHaan out of the cash, With his fall in the 125cc EastlWest Shootoul, James Stewart Jr, suffered a broken right clavicle and a concussion, Reported" Iy, he will sit out at least the first two rounds of the outdoor series, after which a decision will be made when to return based on how the series looks, If one rider is running away with il, he may return at round three, whereas if no one rider is dominating, he may wait until round four to return - depending on his healing progress, of course, Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Michael Byrne returned with a vengeance in Vegas, "My thumb's doing not too bad," he said, "I still have a little bit of soreness, but that's just going to take time, My strength is okay; I just want to get through this weekend and not do anything silly, Next week's what's important, and I just wanted to use this weekend to get behind the gate again, I'm trying to get back into it again because I haven't ridden any supercross since Atlanta, This is just a fun race for me to get back on a bike and get back to racing again," He charged to third in the 125cc main event. Yamaha's Timmy Fenry dyed his red hair black before Salt Lake City, "I'm trying to change my image a little bil," he said with a laugh, "It's something I did a few years back, and I had some time off and nothing else to do, so I figured I'd do it. When I'm racing, I don't really have time to get a haircul, so I had some time off and I figured I'd try something, Everyone seems to like il, so I'm just going to run it," MotoXXX's Larry Ward had some interesting words regarding the fact that he's the top AMA privateer but wasn't eligible for the big payout that Keith R, Johnson got: "I really didn't realize when I was in Idaho in the mountains what I was missing by not going to those first two races," he said, "I would've ended up second or third in the championship - the World Championship - plus top privateer, but I'm racing still to have fun, Money's great, but I'm not doing too bad anyways, I'm all right. " The Las Vegas Supercross marked the first time that James Stewart Jr, was brought out to ride the parade lap with top 250cc riders Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed, The AMA's Duke Finch (below) worked his iast supercross at Considerlng .Josh Demuth did so well in Vegas, would he stay in Supercross or return to Arenacross? "I really enjoy riding Arenacross, so I'll at least stay there another year," he said, "The plan is to win another championship with Shogun Motorsports and Yamaha, It's just a real good environment. I really enjoy it there, and I'm treated like family, and it's a way to support my family, so I guess it's hard to pass up when I'm in the limelight more there than I am here, It makes me feel good about what I'm doing," Fenry said he returned to get in race shape for Glen Helen, "That was the main reason for me to get back out here, to get back in shape and get over the virus that I got and get ready for the Nationals," he said, "The problem I'm having right now is that I'm over il, but I'm haVing a hard time recovering from hard work" outs, so it's taking me a long time to get back in shape, I'm not totally over il, but I'm better off than I was two months ago, If I hadn't taken that time off, I think I'd be like Pastrana last year and be totally buried right now, One day I'll sleep eight hours and I'll wake up feeling great. so I'll ride or I'll bicycle or whatever, and then that night I'll lay down and I won't wake up for 14 hours and get up at like noon the next day, I just have to be careful not to do too much," This was the first time since 1997 (Emig/McGrath) that the AMA Supercross title went down to the final race, Fly Racing brought out a whole bunch of new gear for Vegas, Branden Jesseman was decked out in shiny gold gear reminiscent of Elvis Presley, while Matthieu Lalloz's gear was a shimmering sliver color, Also, Team Subway was decked out in all-white gear at the event. similar to the gear David Vuillemin wore at Daytona, and I knocked myself out on my practice track, so I was real nervous I wouldn't be able to make these two rounds," he said, "I didn't say nothing to nobody, At Sait Lake last week, I was real, real dizzy, and tonight I still don't have all my balance back yel, but I was able to go out there and give myself a good finish and get second in that World Championship, ' Keith R . .Johnson, who did win the award, was happy, to say the least. "It feels good," he said, "So much pressure is gone. Well the season's over, so of course, but these last three weeks have been pretty tough on me. You're always, 'Don't get hurt practicing,' and, 'Don't do something stupid on the track,' and, 'Why risk doing this jump?' So I'm definitely glad it's over." ReMax Yamaha's Casey Lytle has to go back to work, "This is my last scheduled race of the year," he said, "I'm just going to try and get something going for next year and go at it full,bore without having to work during the week," When asked if he'd be at Glen Helen, he replied, "I might go out there to watch," Riverside Yamaha's Greg Schnell is splitting time between countries the rest of the year, "I'm riding eight of the Nationals," he said, "I'm doing the Canadian stuff for Riverside Yamaha, so whatever Nationals don't interfere, I'm riding those," Reed was complimentary of Carmichael following the race, "Ricky Carmichael." he said. "I see him as the best motocross racer in the world - last year he won 24 straight motos " and coming into my rookie season, I was just looking to race with him, and now that Jeremy retired, I wanted to be the next guy to take Ricky on." Schnell has plans for this off·season, "Next year, I'm going to step It up," he said, "In the off"season, I think I'm going to go to Rorida, It seems like the fast guys are there. I want to go ride with Ricky and stuff, and I've got a couple other things in the works, and hopefully next year I can get my act together, " Dirt Wurx signed a deal with CCE that will keep it as the official track builder throughout CCE's cument planned relationship with the AMA through 2009, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart both ran digital camo riding gear (right) at Sam Boyd Stadium, although Stewart didn't run it in the main. Carmichael and Emesto Fonseca both wore black armbands for fallen Honda rider Daijlro Kato, who was a Honda GP road racer who died after the opening round in Japan, In an interesting note, Carmichael won the championship and never won an SXGP"com Holeshot Award, Mach 1 Yamaha's Heath Voss gave credit for his second-place GP series finish to his friendship with Kent Howerton, who told him that what matters is being there in the end, Voss said that. unbeknownst to anyone else, all wasn't well at the last two rounds for him, "After Dallas, I was practicing at home, 24 MAY 14, 2003' cue I ... nu""s Carmichael's watching the up"and"comers. "You know, [Reedl and Bubba are kind of the new era of racing," he said, "I watch those guys, and it's good for me because I learn a lot. I think that there's Jeremy, and then I came along and stepped it up, and now Chad has stepped it up, and Bubba's next. I hate to see the guy after Bubba; that's going to be a frightening sight. "

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