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FMF Eastern Four-Stroke Championship Series Round 2 : Red Bud Track and Trail S T O RY AND P HOT O S BY L A RRY WI T MER BUCHANAN, MI, SEPT. 21 Paul Carpenter topped round two of the FMF Eastern Four-Stroke I Champion s h i p Se ries . ~ au l C a rp en t er too k his Team l.J Honda ri d e to the w inn ers' c ircle aft er co mi ng out on top of two g reat m oto battles at ro und two of the FMF Eas te rn F our -S t ro k e Cha m pio nsh ip Se ri es, presen te d by Max x is T ires , Par ts Unli mi t ed , Thor , A lp inesta rs , Sc ott US A and Racer X . T he Red Bu d fac ilit y was in topnotch sha pe fo r the event. T he Fo urStroke series has had to deal wi th rai n and slop for three y ears at Red B ud , b ut t h is y ear co nditio ns were grea t. Tim Rit chi e c hanged the t rack in th e vall ey dou bl e -d o u bl e right after the famou s doubles. T h is led into a va lley roller co aster and th en turned l ef t on an off-c amber , tree -rooted co rn er. The track went straight downhill into the sand switchba ck s. The course c ha ng e wa s g reat, but d id it get ro ugh , a nd not on l y in the new sect ion - the whole track wa s grooved and bumpy . It defin it ely rew ard ed th e riders wh o were in shape. In th e fir st m oto , FM F / N o F ear/ Spy /Dunl op -ba ck ed Yamah a rid e r Nick Adams grabb ed the hol esh ot , but th e yo u n g Mi ch ig an M afia star we nt down in th e se c o nd corne r in front of th e 39 other four-strokes . Not much was left straigh t on th e Yama ha , and that was th e end of Adam s' we ek end . Taking o ver the lea d was Yamah a rider J osh ua Sum m ey of N ort h Caro lin a, w it h Carpenter, Ben Ridd le, J eff Gibson and Spud Walters fo llow ing . T he se top -caliber riders excha n ged roost for the 20 -m inute-plus -one-lap m ot o. Summey kept Carpen te r at bay through lap two , and Carpenter had a sc a r y mom ent when his CRF went sid ew ay s o ff the small jump com ing up th e Ma x x is T ires M o nza W al l. Somehow , Carp ent er sav ed it and st ill kept th e Honda in second spot. B y t he fo urt h la p , S umm ey w as st i ll fending off all charges by Carpenter , wh il e Gibson had m ade his way up to th ird , with Walters fourth and Honda -mounted Ridd le in fifth. Randy Valade wa s on th e c harge and up to six th. At halfwa y , Summey m ade a mistake go ing into th e FMF Vall ey Dou bles , leaving th e inside li ne o pen for Carpent er . On th e next lap , Gibs on 's m omen tum off th e huge LaRocco's Leap let him ov ertake Su mmey going int o th e next left -ha nd , rutted corn er, and it also left the door ope n for Walt ers to m o ve up to th ird. In the cl osing sta g e s thi ng s got wild behi nd Ca rp ent er. There was a fou r-wa y dice fo r run ner-up . Walt ers go t a great driv e com ing for the fin ish line on e lap before the whi te flag was flown , taking the inside li ne and pa ss- Carpenter put the m o ve on Gibson a t ha lfwa y , t a k in g t he i n s i de li n e away go ing to ward La Ro c c o' s Le ap and then rid in g m istak e -free fo r the rem ai n de r to t ak e t h e w in an d t he ove ra ll. Gi bson he ld o n t o seco nd . Wal te rs ro unded o ut th e top th ree. In the winne rs' ci rcle, the to p thr ee ove rall were all sm il es and co ve red in Red Bud roos t. J ohn A nder so n o f W h ite B roth er s w as also all sm il es, wi th both of his rac er s having sco red the top two spo ts . "T hat t rack was ro ug h and to ugh: Ca rp enter sa id as he ad d resse d the Red Bu d c ro w d ove r th e PA . " T h e Red Bud crew had the track in excel lent sh ape . My Dunlo p 756s hooke d up out th ere. Th is is always an hon or, to co m e to Red Bud, and I ho pe I ca n i n g G ib s on for sec o n d . Summ e y ha v e som e goo d fi n is he s lik e t h is retoo k th ird . ne xt Ju l y 4 . M y White Br o thers Honda worked f la w less, a lo ng with At the che ckers , Carp ente r m y other great spo nso r s like Sh ift. enj o yed a two-second lead ove r Wai S cott, Tag , VP , DID a n d D un lop. te rs. Th ird went to Sum m e y , and T his will help me to win the champf o u r t h w ent t o Minne sota 's Jam es ion ship ." Povoln y aft er a lat e -m ot o charg e. S econd o ve r all was an upb eat Gibson was fi ft h . Walters. "I had some bad start s today," Wal t er s admit ted . " I' m not sure wh y I wasn 't getting th e good j ump off th e gate . I am going to hav e to wo rk on th a t. But I battled ba ck to salvage second overall. M y H onda work ed g re at , and tha t tr ack wa s rough . Hitting th at LaRoc c o 's Leap is Winner Pa u l Carpenter (center!, runner-up Spud Walters (l eft) and third-placed Jeff Gibson (right) a rush . Thank s to Brian , display their hard-won hardware on the Red Bud m y mec ha ni c , who Track and Trail podium. kee ps that Hond a roos t ing, a lon g w ith Sh ift , Dun lo p, One , Tag , VP and Scott ." In moto two , KTM -mounted Matt Thi rd ov erall went to Westerv ille, Burr i s of C olor ad o r ipped the Oh io 's Gibson . holeshot, wi th Gibson sec ond , Ca r"Man, that track was rough! " Gibpe nte r third . and Pro A ction of Mi chi son exclaimed . "I never g ave up, but I ga n / Tho r / R& D ri de r D u sti n Pu ll ey had som e tense m om ents on th e last fo urth . Gibson qu ic k ly pa ssed Burris tw o laps of th e first m ot o. My Cernics i n t he ne w do w n h i l l se ction ju st Honda nev er m issed a b eat. T ho r , befor e the sand switchbacks that lead Sco t t, Rent h a l a nd Wh ite B ro t he r s to the Max xis Monza Wall. Befor e la p he lped me als o tod ay . I'm lo ok ing two , Carpent er ha d zapped Burr is for fo rward to th e res t of the series ." eN the run ner-up slo t wi th an oth er hu ge Red Bud Track and Trail Buchanan, M ich igan Results : Septem ber 21, 2003 [Round 21 rip up La Rocco's Leap . On lap tw o , Val ad e los t g ro und to the leaders going ov er the huge berm 125 PRO -AM : I . Ryan Si pes (Kaw ) ; 2. J osh Li chtl e (Suz) ; 3. Chri s Whi tcr aft ( Yam): 4 . Jacob Marsac k (Suz) : 5 . Du stin Pulle y (Yam) . 25 0 PRO -AM : I. Jeff Gibson (Han); 2. Joshua Summey (Yam): 3. Brad Modj ewsk i (Suz); 4 . Paul Carpenter ( Han ); 5 . Pierce Cham berlain (Yam ) . 4-STRK : 1. Pa ul Carp en ter (H an ) : 2 . S p u d W a lters (Ho n) ; 3 . Jeff Gibs on (Ho n) ; 4 . Joshua Sum mey (Yam) ; 5 . Randy Valade (Hon ). before La Rocco's Leap. Walte rs took Nick Adam s (2 6 0) grab be d t he h oleshot at the start of t h e first Four-Stroke moto in Buchanan, Michigan, but hit the d irt In the second comer. adv antag e o f Valade's m i sc u e a nd g rab bed th i r d . Bur ri s w as g etti n g pu shed aro und and now wa s back to fifth . cu e I e n e _ S • OCTOB ER 29 , 2003 53