Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

lon g uphi ll , loca l rid er Garriso n , o n h is YZ4 50 F , passed N au ghton a nd took over fifth. As the riders tried to settle in to a pac e, front-runner Pear son was back in ni nth place. He wen t down in the rocks . " I j u st h i t a bi g o ne an d w ent down," Pear son said . " But the n I ha d t o st art it , wh ich put m e back in the pack. " Th e first lap had D av is in the l e a d, followed b y Wash ing t on' s Sma il, Sheak, Woods and Garrison. Both Co rder and T illey were m aki n g up ground as t he y used t hei r m otoc ross sk ills to th eir advantage, but both would eve nt ually fall victim to fl at tires and drop ou t. As the 30 -minute mark c ame, the ride rs faced ne w ob st acles - the sun in th eir eyes and the inc rea sing shad ows on th e c ourse. " First it was th e up hills, th en p retty much th e w ho le co urse ," Davi s sai d. Bu t he was setting a bli ste ring pace . Try in g t o ho l d o nto seco nd was Sm a i l , w ith Sh e a k on h i s t a il , b ut Wood s was on the m ove. " Scott seem ed to be content to let Lance set a pace," Woods said, "but my Yamaha was wo rk ing reall y well , so I went for third ." Woods made the pass at the 48 minute mark, and Garrison held fifth despite being without goggles. As the race neared the one-hour mark, two r iders started t o set their sights toward t he f ro n t- r u n n e r s . Bot h Naughton and Person were on a m is sio n as t hey b litz ed pa st Garrison , who wou ld soon retire w ith a dam age d radiator. Pearso n seemed t he most de t er m in ed , as he was right on N aughton's rear fender as the sig nal to p it cam e o u t. The Mon tcla i r Ya m a h a t eam b rou ght th ei r ri de r s in and out w it h th e precis ion of a NASCAR t eam th eir qu ick action let Woods ta ke over second place with th e second half of th e e ve n t r emainin g . Smail and Sh eak wer e hold in g th e third and fou rth pos ition s , wi t h Naughton i n fi fth an d the fa st - m ovi ng Pea rs on hea ding t o wa rd the fr on t in si x th . B ack in the pack , some great racing w as t aking p l a c e a s Abb o tt a nd between race leader Da vi s and his te amm ate Pear son. " I k new i t was ti me to tes t t h e k n ee ," Pearson sai d . " I ha ve spent hours in the gy m to recov er fro m A CL surgery , and I li k e reall y to ugh rac es, so it was all o r no th ing - c atch and p ass Ty o r take sec ond , an d I am ti red of sec ond pla ce. " But as hard as Pearson pushed , Davis resp onded and to ok th e victory . "The cr owd was j ust great , and it is so much fun wh en you c an get t he crowd into the ac t io n ," Da vis sa id. "Peo p le h iked all over the fac ili t y to cheer all of th e racers today . 1 am off to Brazil for the ISDE, but th e l a st r o u n d i n O k l ah om a w ill b e on m y m ind." As th e c hec ke rs c a me o u t for Pearson , he was not satisfi ed with his results. "I a m goi ng to w in o ne of t hese races; I am tired of bein g k no w n as Mr. Sec ond Plac e," Pearson said. Round in g o ut the top three was former AMA Fo ur -Strok e MX Cha m pi on Sma il - also o n a Yama ha. "It w as a good day ," Sma il sai d . "Ty se t a fast pace ea rl y , a n d t he course was very demanding. Nathan put on a c harge, but he we nt down , then Russ was coming , and 1 needed to ride my r ace . I might have h ad something f or him , but m y hands were a little pep pered. So third wa s be tter than a c ra sh . I plan t o go to Gu y Cooper's a week early, so 1 will be rea dy fo r the last rou nd ." CN Robert Naughton raced h is lone RM250 to fourth overall. Brown battled , ready to capitalize on any m i s t a k e s the leaders might ma k e. Garrahan and Ben Ha le round ed out th e t op 10. A lso ma king a great effort wa s Southern Ca liforn ia ride r Dax B ill ings. B illings, in only his first year as a WORCS Pro , had taken his Precision Concepts Honda int o th e chase for a to p -! 0 posit io n . Just a few pla ces beh ind Bill in gs was Semi Pro rid er Jeff Hazard . As the sec ond half of the rac e prog ressed, the racers were fac ed with la pp ed rid ers throug ho ut the co urse. Woods was head ing to the fro nt , an d D av is was in his view wh en h is g rea t rid e ca me to a st op. " I got in to the ca nyon in fro nt of N ath an w ith t w o g uys b et w een u s, and that is w hen he cras hed - boy he was c o mi ng f ast , but t h ere w as no plac e fo r the rid ers to go , so yo u j ust had to rid e ," Davis said . Woods' account wa s a bit different: " I was right beh in d Ty and c at ching h im wh en 1 go t beh ind a guy in the rock s and went over the ba rs . I got it into the pits to fix the levers on ly to c rash on e more time, and it was a big o ne : Wo ods would go on to finish six th . The other member of th e Montclair Yam ah a team , Pearson, was able to pass Naughton and set his sight s o n Sheak. It would not ta k e long for the Yam aha fou r- st ro k e rider t o m ake hi s move on the T eam Green member - Honey Lake MX Park Milford, Califom le with 30 m in utes re ma ini ng, Pea rso n wa s in third an d c atc hi ng Smail. "I co ul d he a r h i m com in g, " Results: Octllb er 26, 2003 (Round 121 O /A : 1. T y Da vi s (Ya m) : 2 . Ru s sell Pea rs on ( Yam) ; 3. Lance Sma il (Yam) ; 4 . Robert Naughton (S uz) ; 5. Sc o tt Sheak ( Ka w) ; 6 . Nathan Wood s (Ya m) ; 7 . De stry Abbott ( K aw); 8 . B r ian Brown ( K aw) ; 9 . Brian Ga r r a h a n ( K T M): 10. Be n Hal e (KTM) ; 11. Da x Bi l lin gs ( Hon) ; 12 . Br ian Sperle (KT M ) ; 13 . Patr ick Ga rra ha n ( KTM ); 14. Ta ber Mu rphy ( Han) : 15 . J eff Hazard ( KT M) : 16 . Phi l reco unted Shea k . "I had to j ust let him go, but I k no w wh at 1 have to do to get in shape , and I w ill be read y for the last round: The la st 20 m inutes w as an all-out war, as Pearso n reeled in Smail, and Stevens (S uz) ; 17 . Nic k Sa ia (Yam ); 18 . Brenden Ritzma n (Yam); 19 . Jesse Ba rsto w (Hon ); 20 . Dylan Murdock (KTM) . WORLD OFF· ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES WEST OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS ( Af t er 12 of 13 Rounds ): 1. Ty Da vi s ( 159/ 3 win s); 2 . Russell Pearson ( 12 1); 3. Lance Sma il ( 109/1 win) ; 4. Robert Nau ghton (1 01 ); 5. Destry Ab bott (8 2 ) ; 6 . Br ian Garrahan (76 ); 7. Nathan Wood s (6 9) ; 8. (TIE) David Pea r so n (63) / Br ia n Brow n (63) ; 10 . ( T IE) Phil Stevens ( 42) /S cott Sh eek (4 2 ) ; 12 . J osh McLevy (41 ); 13. Dex Billings (34 ); 14. Ben Hale (33 ); 15 . Ryan Hughes (30/1 win ); 16. Jo hnny Campbell (2 6); 17. Bren t Ha rden (25) ; 18 . J o ey Lan za (22); 19. Jesse Barstow (2 1); 20. Aa ron Wilson ( 19 ). D avi s got the m essag e th at th e Hare & H oun d c h a m p w as co ming . A s Pearson m oved around a t ired Sma il and N au ghton got aro un d Shea k to lock on to fo urth p lace, the race was co m ing down to a three-l ap shootout Scott Sheak was the top of the Team Green riders, finishIng fifth. c y c l e n e _ S • NOVEMB ER 1 9 , 2003 33

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