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/128241
AM A/FMF Easte rn F our-Stro k e N a t ionals and F all C las s ic MX S eries Fina l R o und ; S t e el Cit y R a c e w a y Summe~ takes Steel Cit~, but Paul Carpenter is ehamp again By JASON W EIGA N DT P HOTOS BY S IMO N C UDB Y DELMONT, PA, OCT. 25ยท26 rm hite Br os . Honda's Paul Carpen- Josh Summey 18 0) got th e overa ll a t Stee l City with 3- 1 sc ores after he got the holeshot in both moto s. IU te r run s the number-one plate fo r a reason. At the fina l round of th e A MA / FM F Eastern Four -St r ok e Nat i onal MX Se ries , at Stee l Ci ty Raceway in De lmont, Pennsylvania , he didn't have a perfect day - bu t he persevered and scored a podium fin ish . Consist ency li ke that e arns championships, and as a resu lt , Carpenter c linched the Four-Stro k e Pro ti tle for the sec ond year in a row . "Man , it f eel s good to fini sh up he re with a c ham p ionship," said th e New Yorker. " I' ve learn ed how to rac e a whol e series co nsist entl y . You do n't have to win eve ry ra c e; you ju st need to take a sec ond or a third som et im es and get points. I've won four cha mpionships wi th this t eam now, and I' m glad to have that ex perience. " Carpenter will take his expe rience to th e Chevy Trucks Kawasaki factor y supercross and motocross .~ team in 2004 to develop ~ the new KX250F four - , "'" ',' .,;e:": stroke. He won't be around to de fen d hi s fou r -strok e title n ext year, and he is going to m iss the series that put him on the map. IAbove) Paul Carp enter ruled the roost at the 2003 AMAlFMF East ern Fo urSt ro ke Nat ional final e at St ee l City Ra ce w ay . He didn't w in the race, but he successfully de fe nded hi s tit le. ILeft) Remembe r Ben Riddle? Well , he rode strong f or third overall on his CRF. He's coming back strong. "T his team has been really good to me , and I wa s able t o l earn a l ot about four -strok e m ot o rcycl es," Carpe nter said. " It' s b een a great ru n , a nd I r e a ll y apprecia te everyo ne in vo l ved in t he se ries . E ver y o ne is lik e a famil y here. " 30 NOVEM BER 1 9. 2003 ' cue I e nevvs Carpente r's Whi te Bros. tea m indi o cated th ey wil l move in a new direc ti on n ext year and wi ll n ot hav e a tr u c k or team at th e fo u r -stro ke nati on als in 2 004. Carpenter will leave t he se ries a champion. but he di dn't go o ut wi th a w in . Fr eed o m Mo to rsports Yamaha r i d e r Josh S ummey captured t he St eel C ity overa l l wi t h a 3 - 1 score. Li k e Ca rpe nte r , Su m mey 's day wasn 't pe rfect , bu t he na ile d two holeshots , and that kept hi m up front despite a crash in the first m ot o. "I had a li ttl e toug h luck halfway through th e series, but I had a decent year," sa id th e North Carolinian . "I felt good, but eve ryone here was riding well. I wish I hadn't fallen in that first moto, but th at's racing ." Summey 's 3 -1 topped Carpen ter , who took the first moto but c rashed comi ng thro ug h the pack in th e second. By then , a light rain had gotten to the track , and Carpe nte r sli d o ut o n the sli c k co ndi t ions. He cha rged hard eno ugh to coll ect fourth . T hird ove rall went to form er Suzuk i fa ctory r ide r B e n Ridd le . On the comebac k tra il after nearl y a year off of racing, the former amate ur nati on al champ was p leas ed to be back up fro nt. "I' m still c omi ng bac k rig ht now and try ing to get into sha pe ," he said. "I 'm fi na lly enjoying this aga in . I wa nt t o get my name back out there. After you take a ye ar o ff, it' s hard to get sponsors. But I'm dedicated again. " Riddle also w ithstood a su rge ryinduced weakness. "I got two wisdom t e e th pu lled on W e d n es d a y , so 1 wasn 't ab le to eat," said Riddle, who w ent 5- 2 . "But I want t o tha nk my dentist fo r doing a good job." It's not every day that you hear a rider tha nk h is de ntist on the podium . Fourth on th e day went to Car pen ter's m ain ti tle threat , Cern ic 's Honda rider J eff Gi bso n . Gibson c ame into