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/128231
AM AICh e vy T r u c k s 1 2 5cc U .S . Motocross Championshi p R o u n d 1 1 : Steel City MX P a r k B y J A SO N W EIGA N DT PH OT OS BY S T EVE B RU HN DELMONT,PA,AUG.3 1 i n n i n g th e A M A /C hevy T r u cks 12 5 c c U .S . Moto cro ss Champions hip see ms lik e a g rea t acc o mp lis hment. B ut fo r some reason , no o ne wan ts t o win it. W it h just on e round rem ain ing in what has become a dram at ic , wi de -o pe n series , th ree ri d ers - Red Bu ll KTM ri ders Grant L an g st o n and Ry a n H u g h e s a nd C h e v y Tr ucks K aw a s a k i ' s J am e s St ewart - sta nd a chance at collecting the championship . But each of th em has had his shar e of pr ob l em s throughout th e season. S t e w a rt , th e defend ing champ , m i ssed the first four roun ds with a brok en colla rbone. A t Steel City . he c o nti nue d h i s amazin g u n d efeat ed str eak with his seventh -stra igh t o ver all win and fourt eenth- straight m oto win . Bu t he still sits 30 points down on Lang ston with one race to go . " I' m p re t ty mu ch out of it ," sa id St ewart of h is titl e c h ance s. "I just want to win these last tw o m ot os next week . Th e fans are k eeping m e going right now ." Lang ston has held th e point s lead for a m onth now, but eve n tho ug h all of hi s co m peti tion has m issed races with inj ury , th e form er FIM 125c c W 32 S EPTEMBER 1 0, 2003' cue Worl d Motoc ross Ch am p i on c an' t close them out. He turne d in another m edi ocr e perfo rma nce at St eel City, co llec ting 8 -2 scores for fourth overall and los in g ground in the sta nd ings for the fourth -straight race. " Yo u know, t w o y ears ag o , I thought I was going to win a champi onship right here ," Lang st o n said, " b u t m y wh e e l brok e i n th e l a st moto. In racing, some th ing s are out of yo ur control. So I'm going to give it my best next week. Bu t the points are pretty close , and I don 't want to jinx myself." Closing quickly is Hughes, who collect ed 3 -4 scores for second o verall, putti n g h im se v en p oint s b eh ind Lan g st on . But Hughes m i ssed t w o opportunities to gain a few more points. "The da y didn 't go exactl y as I had plann ed," said th e vetera n from Cali forn ia. "The first m ot o, I ha d a li tt le prob lem with my thrott le, and it was sticking the whole time. The second m o t o, I c ras he d w ith a lap to go. I went over th e bars. I don 't know why I 'v e c r a s h e d th e last tw o seco n d m ot o s: it's not like I wa s doin g an y thing stupid . But hey , I had a bad day and I gained points, so it 's not bad." Hugh es' up -and -do wn day m im ics the seaso n of the thi rd -p laced rider at St eel City. Boost Mob ile/ Yam aha/ T roy Raci n g ride r Craig And erson. Ie ne_5O Ryan Hughes had a sticky throttle In mota one but still got third, and then he had a hard crash on the last lap of mota two that broke his bar mounts, among other things, and still finished fourth. He finished second overall. Ando turn ed tw o good st arts into a co nsistent 2 -5 d ay - hi s fi rst podium sin ce winn ing at Southwi ck , Ma ssa chusetts in J un e. " It ' s pr ett y unbeliev abl e ," sai d And er son . "Afte r th e win at South wi ck , it's j us t b een d ownh ill fro m th ere. In the past I' d get a good sta rt and the n go backwards, but today I hun g on and stayed in there. " Th e championship scene is set with the series ' f ina le tak ing p lace next weekend at Tro y , Oh io . Langston hol ds 380 p oints agai nst Hu g h es' 3 73, which means 3 -4 moto sc ores will give Langston the poi nts he need s to cl aim th e title if Hugh es goes 2- 2 (w h ich is t he b est ei ther rider can p rob ab ly expect wh en ma tch ed with Stew art ). Hughes needs help , but with the 125 cc ranks slowl y depleti ng due to inj ur y (former po ints lead er Mike Brow n is o ut wi t h an inj ury , as is 125cc E a st ern Reg i o n Sup er c ro ss Cha m p io n Bran d en J essem an ) th e numb er o f ride rs wh o ca n ge t i n between seems limit ed. Th en aga in , Langsto n has no t ha d a solid da y of racing in th e last three rounds. Ander son got o ne of th ose good st a r t s i n m o t o one, getti ng the hol eshot and immediately putting distance bet ween himself and the fie ld . St ewart woul d have to slice his way throu gh th e pack until he was able to t ak e the lead from Ando b efore the fir st lap was complete. "I was a little worr ied th at Craig would lead a la p on m e, " joked Stewart. "I c h arged p rett y hard that lap." Stewa rt th en ab solutel y ch ec k ed out li k e no on e else can, leaving the ti tle fig ht behind. Hug hes wo rked his way in to third with Amsoil / Cha parra l Hond a rider Michael Byrne chasi ng h im . B ut wh en the t hrottle started sticki ng on his KTM. Hughes couldn' t sha ke or ca tc h th e Aussies who were surroundin g him. Un ab le t o charg e the wh ol e way , he settled for third . A battl e raged for fift h between two 17-y ear - o ld s : Ry an Mill s , Byrn e 's team m ate, and B roc Hepl er , Suzuki's new est prospect. Hepl er to ok th e spot from M ill s m idway th rough , but Mil ls to ok it back with two laps left . " I t h ink th is took us ba ck to th e 199 8 Lor ett a Lynn 's Reg ionals here," sai d Hepl er. " We ba tt le d the sam e wa y . We 'v e been raci ng here since we were on 50s ." Langston did not have as mu ch fun. He gated just inside the top 20 , and accusations around th e pits cl aimed the Hughes actuall y cut in front of h i s champ io nsh ip riva l off t he li n e. La ng sto n slowly worked his way forward . until Moto XXX Yama ha rider Troy Adams got cross-rutted and crashed , collecti ng Langston in the m ess. "I had to p ass all of t ho se rid ers back : said Langston. "I just couldn't get a rhythm going. I didn't ride very well." He recovered fo r eig hth. In moto tw o , And erson grabbed anothe r great sta rt alongside Stewart! t "The guys in the pi ts wer e raggi ng on m e saying I co uldn' t pu ll a holeshot," St ew ar t sa id . "So I had to pull one ag ainst tho se four -stroke guys." With Bubba gone, A nd o and M ill s settled into the top -three spo ts . Just thre e poin ts separated Hughes