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/128232
AMA Maxxis/ VP Racing Fuels Western 4-Stroke Nationals Round 10: Washougal Motocros s Park W nthe Battle o B "ot the War ut Mf1Corlnif1~ Jason McCormick (Ieftl won t he day's battle . but not the war for th e serie s championship ... whi ch w e nt to Paul "P it Bull" Carpenter (belowl. who flew to five overall wins throughout the series an d captured his second straight Western FourStroke Na t ional Championship. (Bottom right) Tiger Lacey captured third overa ll on th e day at the final round in W ashou gal, Washington. By DON SC HNEID ER PH O TO S BY KM P HOT O G RA PH Y WASHOUGAL, WA, AUG. 17 amm in ' Ja son " M c C o r m i ck , a boa rd th e C HM S y st em P-4R Exh au st/ Carmich ael Ho nda CRF450R, used h is ho m e -t rack advantage and his head to earn the fin al ro u n d ' s overall victo ry o f the A MA Western Fo ur-Stroke National Ch am p io nsh ip Series at Washouga l Motocross Park with a 1-2 punch at t he prestigious facility loc at ed in an area known to the Pacific No rt hwest 's mo tocross community as "God 's Country ." T his one had to be a sweet victory for McCormick , who won the battle on the day, though not the series war. Coming into the final round, Wh it e Brothers/Ame ri c an Honda -ba c ked Paul " Pit Bull " Carpenter held a 54 point advanta g e o v e r McC ormi ck, 393 -339 . McCormick . who debut ed in the 2002 E ast ern Four -S tr oke Nationals , had wo n four rounds over Carpenter, and th is sea son McCormick's d ebut in the Western Seri es had se en him win on l y o ne round p rior t o Washouga l, com p ared to Carpe nte r's fiv e ove rall wins . C arpe n t er's t e a m m a t e Brian " S pud " Wal ters won a round in Milfo rd , Cali fornia . and was sitting in thi rd with 309 po ints, just 30 back of McC orm ic k. Rounding o ut the top five we re Motowo rl d Rac ing.c o m -bac k ed IIJ 62 S EPTEM BER 1 7 . 2003 ' cue Yam ah a ri d er D u st in Ne lson ( wi t h 26 7 po ints) and McCormick ' s tea mm at e Mi ke Corder ( with 264 po int s) . MOTO ON E Tig er Lac ey was the q uick gun off the lin e, abscond ing with th e hol esh ot . A reside nt of Wo lf Creek , Oregon , who had fin ish ed fourth at round five in his hom e st at e at A lb any M otorsp orts Park earlier in the ye ar , wa s o n a rail, with 39 thumper pilots in hot pursuit. McCormick was second . LaM ast us, on his Bea udry Motorsports /Motio n I II! n e vv s • S po r ts K T M 525, w as thir d , a n d D anny Carl so n wa s fourth. Grabbing fifth w as none ot her th an N ew Zealander Darryl Atk in s, a three tim e Trophy d es Nations cont ender. Atkins had co ntacte d C HM Syste m P-4 R Exh au st , Carmichael Hon da and F ly Racing about crossing ''T he Pond " to make his debut in th e series . However, a p ractice bike was not avail able . The 250c c N ew Zealand champion had mad e plans to t our the United States in 2004 and has been watching th e AMA Western Fou r Stroke Nation als. He contacted series o rganizer Don Schneider and asked if he wo uld be able to assist w ith letters to the New Zealand authorities and to FIM ( Feder ati on Internat ional Motocross) to get a visa an d co me t o race the last two event s - all this to get his feet wet before the supercro ss season start s. " I ca lled m y good friend G r e g Albertyn at Suzuki," A tkins reco unted, " and he called Ke n Faugh t at Dirt Rid er to get a p rac tice bi ke to u se pr i or t o co m ing t o r oun d n in e at L a k ew o o d , Co lo rado , a n d f or Wash ougal. " Atkins only had two week s to get r eady t o r a c e, a nd h e j us t w as n ' t