Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Maxxis Tires/VP Racing Fuels Western 4 -Stroke Nat'ls Round 9: Thunder Valley Motocross Park Paul Carpenter I i) and Dustin Nelson 1 6) went one-two ov erall at the penu ltimate round of the AMA M anis Ti resNP Racing Fu e ls Westem Four-Stroke Natio nals In Lakewood, Co lorado. By D O N S C HN EID E R P H O T O S BY M XP H O T O G RA PHY LAKEWOOD, CO, AUG. 10 ~ a ul "Pit Bull " Carpenter was o n a l!( ro ll , as he had rec en tl y c ap t u re d five moto wins in a row and ca me to rou nd nin e of t he AMA Maxxi s Tires/ VP Rac ing Fuels Western Four-Stroke Nationals t ru ly foc used o n finis hing well. Co m ing into th e eve nt, he ma in tained a 4 2 - p o in t l e a d on Jaso n M c C orm i ck , 343 -30 I . M cC o rm i ck had a 12 -poin t lead on Brian "Spud" W alt e r s, wh o in tu rn wa s followe d ve ry close ly in points by Mike Corder and Du stin Nelson . When round nine was in the record books , Carpen t er had tw o m ore moto w ins t o his c r ed i t , a n d he l eft f or Washoug al N at ion al MX Park w ith a 54-point adva nta ge ove r M c Corm ick , w ho fi ni sh ed thi rd v ia 3-4 sc ores on t he da y , behind Du st in Nelson (4 -2 ). On hand we re Du k e an d Sonni e F in c h fr om AMA Pr o Ra c in g , J on at han B e a sl e y f r om B u d d s C re e k Ma ry lan d MX Park , and Surprise, A ri zo na ' s f ou r - stro k e t rack pro moters D an Math ews an d De l B ro w n , a nd with more t han 8000 spe ct at o rs and a no t her hi ghl y c o m p et it i ve fiel d of Pr o th ump er m ot o cr o s s ri de r s i n atten d an c e , roun d n in e m ar k ed t he l arg e s t sta n d -alo ne F o ur - S tr ok e Nat iona l eve nt since it ra n co m bined with t h e AMA 125 /25 0 c c N ati on a l Series in 1996 through 199 9 at Glen Helen , Ha ngtow n and Washou gal. A fter the q ua li fiers wer e run to nar row t he fi eld o f ri d er s t o 40 i n th e m ain m otos, it wa s th e 15 -y ea r -o ld ph enom from Bail ey , Colorad o. Matt Burris, wh o had ope ne d a lot of ey es o n t h is w e ek end. Aboard a K T M U S A /C h u c k S u n -b a ck e d 450 SX, Burris sta rt ed th e racing off rig ht in quali fi er o ne in which he nabb ed t he hol eshot and went o n to w in th e q ua lifier handil y, over National number four, Matt Karlsen , an d Califo rn ia hot shoe Scott Howe. stayi ng upright and m a inta in in g hi s c o m po su r e , he w atc h ed as W a lt er s a n d M cC o rm i c k na b be d the l e ad positi on s. Carpenter came dow n int o turn t wo in third , with Nels on , Atkins , Wood s, Morgan , Corde r, Cor ey Cope and Matt Ka rlsen in t he top 10 . M cC o rmick pr essured Wal t ers and mad e a p as s h a l f w a y t hr ough l ap t hr ee. N el son an d Woods were sta lk in g C a r p ent er , ca tc h i n g up a t a no t icea bl e rate. Bur ris, who started in 11th, was runn ing ins ide of Karls o n's roost as t h ey pi cked off Cope, M o r ga n a n d Co r der by l a p s e ve n . Up fr o n t , M c C o rm i c k re li nq uis hed the lead to Wa lte rs. On lap ni ne of 16, McCorm ick wa s smot he red by the Ca rpen t er- N elso n fr eig ht t ra in, a n d h e f oun d h ims e lf in f ourth. K arls en a l so w e n t b y M c C or m i c k , o n la p 12 . H ow ev er , M cC orm ic k came back and re passed Karl sen on lap 14. At the same ti m e, Ca rp enter and Nel son sped pa st Spud for th e lea d. Corder also m o ved back up ar ound Bu r r i s o n l a p 15 , and that's t he wa y th ey ende d up at th e c heck er s , w it h Ca rp e nter , Nels on , W alt ers , M c C orm i c k an d K a r l s e n co m p ri sing t he top five . Corder, Burris, W o od s , M o r g an and M eridi an , Idaho 's Robb Fl ot h rounded o ut t he top 10 . Th ere have been a t ota l o f n in e ride rs w ho hav e gra c ed the p od ium so far in thi s series: Carpenter , Wai t er s, McCormi ck, Ry an Hugh es, Cord er , Ne lson , Wood s, Ru st y Ho i lan d and Ch ris Wheel er. Four di fferent overa ll wi nn ers have grabbed t he top -pay in g spot and t he $7000 purse per round: Carpenter , W al t e rs, M cC ormick and Hugh es. The fina l e v en t at Wash oug a l National MX Park w ill see European Grand Pr ix a n d W o rld Sup er cr o ss co n te n de r Darry l A tkin s m ak e h is de b u t for C armi ch a el H ond a / CHM Sys t em P-4 R, co mi ng straigh t across " T he Pond " to " C o m e F e el The T hump " fo r himself. eN Atki ns , N el s on , Br an d on M org an , Na tha n Woods and Ko nnra d Kuest all ins ide the to p I I . W alt ers' bike c am e to a halt on la p f o ur with m ech ani cal gremlins , an d he would not finish . B urri s and Carpe nte r went at it fo r 14 of the 16 la ps befo re C arpen t er m ade t he p ass in Jason McCormick 1 E) 2 sped past early leader Spud Walters 1 during moto-two 2) action at Thunder Valley Motocross Park. Thunder Vall ey Motocross Park lakewood , Colorado August 10, 2003 [Round 9 of 10J O / A: I . Pa u l Carpenter: 2 . Dusti n Nel son; 3 . J ason McCormick : 4 . Matt Burris: 5 . Mike Co rde r: 6. Na th an Woods; 7 . Br and on Mo rgan: 8 . Do ug Leavitt; 9 . Robb F1ot h ; 10. Kon nrad Kuest: 11. Spud Walters : In th e seco n d qua l i fie r , D a nn y Ca rl so n of Fasst Co . topped two m ore C o l o rado r id e rs , D o ug L e avitt in second and Brad y Sharp in th ird , and sent th e c ro wd into a frenzy . T he field of riders we re lined up for m o t o one by Paul Wi n n , Mik e Sto ve nken and Ka ren K itts of Silve r th orne Pow ersports. W ith th e para de lap co m ple te d, th e st age wa s set for so me serio us ac t io n . Burris pull ed th e hol esh ot , with Ca rp enter , M cCo rm ick , Walter s, Sharp, Dann y Ca rlson , An dy 12. Scott Howe; 13. Matt Karl sen; 14 . Andy Atki ns: t he uphill sand section . M c Cormi c k wa s st eadfast in t h ird a ll t he wa y t o t he c hec ke rs . N els on c h a r g e d to fo u r t h , a n d Wo o ds fi n i sh e d f i f t h . M cCor m ic k ' s t e am m a t e Co r de r t h umped up to f inish seve nt h , me re inche s beh ind Leavi tt. M ot o t wo 's ho lesh ot was nearl y a mi sha p . C a rp enter m ad e it t o turn one first , bu t his fron t ti re was hed o ut i n t h e sa ndy berm , a nd h e b r i e fl y sto pped - and his bike was t hen hit fr om be hind b y an ot he r rid er. Bar ely cyc le n 15 . Aa ro n Hill : 16 . Dan n y Ca rlso n; 17 . Ry a n Roj ensk i; 18. Ca m eron Weaver: 19 . Corey Cop e; 20. Bea u J udge ; 2 1. Eric Rhot en : 22 . B ryan A lle n: 23 . Chr is Mo rg an: 24 . Kev in Town send; 25 . Greg Crate r: 26. To dd Horn in g: 27 . Ky le Cocn ; 28 . J u stin Mye rs : 29. Shan Wilson ; 30 . Ala n Ange lopu los : 3 1. Ne il Malson: 32 . Zack Wert z: 33 . Brady Sha rp : 34. Matt Mebane: 35 . Don Bums; 36 . Craig Hasto; 37 . Brya n Sabba ug h : 38 . Josh M ason ; 39. Taylor Watts; 40 . T im Ve lasq uez. AMA W ESTER N FO U R ·STR OK E NA TI O N A L MOTOCRO SS CHA MPIONSHIP S ERIE S PO INTS STAND IN GS ( A ft e r 9 o f 10 r oun d s ) : 1. Pau l Ca rpen ter (393/5 wi n s) ; 2 . Jas on McCormick (33911 w in ); 3 . Spud Wa lters (30911 wi n); 4 . Du sti n Nelson (267); 5. Mik e Corder (264 ); 6 . Natha n Woods (2 02 ); 7 . Brandon Mo rgan ( 182 ) ; 8 . Chri s Wh eeler (148); 9 . Robb Flath ( 128): 10. Ryan Hughes (97/2 wins): I I. Konnrad Ku est (90) ; 12. Danny Carlson ( 77) ; 13 . Leig hton Lillie (76 ) ; 14. Greg Crater (72) ; 15 . Cha un McAliste r ( 66 ) ; 16 . Sean Collier ( 6 4 ); 17. Casey J oh n son (47) ; l B. C ar te r G urnee ( 43) ; 19 . (T IE) Rus ty Ho lland/Dennis Stapleton (4 0). e _ S • S EPTEM BER 10, 200 3 55

• Cover