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/128236
F o r m u la U S A K & N F ilt e r s Pro S e r ie s R o u n d 9: De l Mar F a irg rou n d s " I wasn 't leav ing here t od ay until either I won o r c ras hed," Smith said . " I couldn 't go out being the cham pion and l os e th e la st race , esp eciall y when this is my k ind of track. I certain ly didn 't want to lose to Nick." Eak en Rac ing/Randy's Ring £, Pin io n -spo nsore d Da n Stan le y got th e hole sh ot at the start of the feature , bu t Hond a teammat es T er ry Poov ey and Sm ith c am e rig h t alo ng with him and passed hi m to run o ne -two do wn th e back st ra ig h ta way . Cumm ings ran fifth on the o pe ni ng lap but th en surg ed pa st Me es and Stanl ey to run with Poov ey and Smith. Wh en Sm ith starte d to m ake a br eak for it , Cum ming s went with h im, and t hey drafted aw ay from th e rest of the fie ld . Sm ith ' s f a st est lap c a me on lap fo u r , wh en h e rang up a tim e of 40 .570 sec ond s, av er ag in g 88 .735 mph. Cu mm ings cut th e fa stest la p of the rac e on lap three, howev er , posting a 4 2.246 and ave ragi ng 89.450 mph . "I kn ew Nick wou ld be up th er e in th e ma in , and fr om the sec ond lap , he was right o n m y ass ," Sm ith said . "I k new that he co uld pa ss m e. He's j ust like m e: w id e o pe n. Like I ha ve al read y learn ed , yo u ca n' t do th at o n a gro ov e t ra ck . Once he figures that out , he's definite ly going to be fast. He's a rookie , an d he's al ready run n ing up front. " Bryan Smith (4 2 ) promised a Del Mar victory, and he made good on his word. (Be low l Geo Roeder II earned his third Del Mar Twins vict ory in four years. B Y S COTT R O USSEA U P HOT OS BY D O UG K A RCHE R DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 5 i s g u st e d wi t h hi s o w n pe rform an c e at th e Ski p Va n Leeu wen Short T rack t he night before, Amer ic an Ho nda/! st Racin g 's Bryan Smith m ade a J oe Na ma th -Ii k e vow that he would deliver a vic tory at the Del M ar Mile to prove he des er ved t he Formu la USA Natio nal Dirt Tra ck Ser i es n umber - one plate t h a t h e h ad cli nched a t th e S h ort Track . O n a smoother but sa ndy D el M ar Mile, the 20-year-ol d Mich igander made go od on tha t prom ise. Al thoug h t he riders sti ll fought the sam e vis ibil ity p roblems as usual at D el M a r , S m i t h b at t l ed wit h fellow M ichi gan d er and Fo rmul a U SA Di rt Track Rookie of th e Year N ick Cu m m ings for th e first 12 laps of th e 16 lap main eve nt before pulling clear in turn three after th e Pro Hond a Oil s an d Ch em i cals /BF / L F A- sp o nso r ed Cumm ings bobbl ed. Sm ith was th en able to pull away, ta king th e win b y D 24 O CTO BER 1 5 . 2003 ' cue 2 .338 sec o nds . Cu mming s f in ished anoth er four secon ds ahead of D el Mar Sh ort Track w inn er J ar ed M ees , on the Sad dlemen Racing /Lan caster H-D/ Dodge Bro th ers Honda. In Mem phis Shades Twi ns Chall enge acti on , KK Mo torcycl e S u p ply /La s Vegas H arl e y -D a v i d s on' s Geo Roe der II best ed a pair of fa ct or y Suzu ki riders to w in th e twin s main even t for t he third time in th e pas t four ye ars. M or e on th at late r. Th e victory wa s number th ree o n th e ye ar for Smith . I e n e vv s Sm ith appea red to have the ra ce well in hand as the rac e wore on , and Cummings all but handed it to him by bobbling i n tu rn t h r e e o n lap 12 . Smith was able to ge t the breat h ing tha t he need ed to tak e it to th e ban k , Sm it h sai d t ha t he didn 't k now why Cummings dro ppe d back . "H e must hav e bobbl ed just after I p assed h im one time , and t h at put that litt le ga p o n him," Smith sai d. Cum mings said that after he lost to uch with Smit h, he decided to back it down and cross th e li ne. His m ot ivatio n fo r doing so wa s th at it would m ean t hat he had more tha n enough po ints t o earn th e K£,N Fi lters G NC Champions hip , wh i ch c o m b i n e s points from selec t dirt-track and road rac es to det erm ine an ov erall cham pi on. Cumming s ba gg ed the t itl e as a rook ie in both d isciplines, adding hi s Del Mar runner -up to an other sec on d pla c e fi n is h earlier i n the y ear. H is best road -ra c e fin ish was a seventh pl ace at Sum m it Poin t, West Vir gin ia. " Wra p p i n g it up her e is a good so l utio n f or u s, " Cummings sa id, " b ec a u se w e knew that go ing i n to Da ytona , Matt [Wa it] is going to be good . so we wer e tr ying to put in a g o od p erforma n c e here and get i t don e . W inn ing this gives m e a big boost , and I' m pretty sto ked . I c an' t say en o ugh ab out it. It's great. " M e and Brian w ere ra ci ng back and forth out t here, but then I made that big bobble in t urn three and he gapped m e, so I ended up settli ng in, " Cumming s c ontinued. " Br ya n w as alwa ys a co uple y ears ahead of me in th e Am at eu rs, but we rode together growing up , so to g et t o race h im here, that's defin it ely a bo nus . I c an't say if th e track was better o r worse than it has been in th e past , bec aus e this is my first li llie here, but it d idn't see m too bad to m e." B e h i nd S mi t h a n d C u m mi ngs, Mees was once ag ain a play er in t he race. The 17 -y ear-o ld Penn sy lv ani an d uked it o ut wit h t he ve te ra n Poovey and anoth er y oung rising star, Logan Myers , o n the Ultimat e Edge Rae ing/ Silk o lene Hond a. M ees wen t o n to fi nish thi rd . "T hat was fun ," Me es sa id . " l was