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FMF Easter n Four-Stroke Nationals Round 6 : Muddy Creek Raceway STO RY AN D P HO T O S B Y Paul Carpenter 11) split mota wins with Josh Summey at Muddy Creek, but his second-mota per10rmance netted h im the overall w in at the penultimate round of the Eastem Four-Stroke Nationals. Carpenter rode hard a ll weekend. finis hing on the podium in the 250cc Pro c lass as w ell. S T E V E AN D PE GG Y C O RL E E BLOONTVILLE, TN, OCT. 19 fFiil t round six of the FMF Eastern l!:&J Four-Stroke Nationals, pr esent ed by Maxxis T ire s, New Yo r k' s Paul Carpenter came out on top of a terrif ic battle for th e ove rall win. With on e rac e remaining in the series, Carpen ter t rails Ohio's Jeff Gibson by 18 poin ts , and North Carolina 's Josh Summey is in third , trail ing Carpenter by a mere fo ur points . The r a c e wa s h eld at b eautiful Muddy Cr eek Raceway in Blountvill e, Tennessee . Great weather prevail ed all week end , and th e Victory Sp orts c rew d id a n o u t st a n di ng jo b . Th i s eve nt was run in co nj u nction w i t h ro u nd 16 o f th e U .S. Meg a Se rie s, and a large crowd wa s on hand. Moto o ne was all J acob Say lor's. Th e YZF - mou nted K en t u c k i a n led eve ry lap. Local favorite Kevin Walk er pu t his YZF o n Saylor's rear fend er, and the two battl ed for th ree laps before Carpenter joined th e fra y . Carpenter go t by Walker for second and then moved up on Saylor 's bac k fen de r. Walker stayed wi th the lead pair as the thr ee put a gap o n Gibson, w ho in turn h el d a la rge lead ove r Fl o ri da's Don nie McGou rt y . Ne ar race 's end, Gib son began to m ove up toward th e lead trio, but he co uldn't close th e ga p . The latter part of th e rac e sa w t he top three posi .tio ns st ab ilize, whil e a k nock -d own, d rag -ou t b attl e d e v e l op ed a mo ng K entuck y ' s Be n Ridd le , Ya maha of Tro y ' s M ik e Bro wn , an d Summ ey . Brown fi na lly made a m ist ak e by the tower , lo sing conta ct and th en dr op p in g o ut o f t he m oto co m pletely . Say lor held o n fo r the win , followed by Carpen ter , Walker , points leader Gibson , and Summ ey . Loca l rider Hans Ne el w as s ixth , Riddle was seventh, and Florida 's Clin t Shea l y finished eig hth. In moto two , Carpenter grabbed top six . Summey started a push that the holeshot. Summey was sec ond, brought h im near Carpenter, but he and Kentucky 's Donnie Adam s was ran off the track and fell back again . third. Summey, Gibso n and McGourty The race ended with th e win going to were all over Ada m s and soon Carpenter, ahead of Gibson, Sum - d ropped h i m f ro m t he lead group . m e y , Walters and W al k e r. Riddle Col o rado 's Ma tthew Burris and Walk - was sixth . Th e ove ra ll for t he day wen t to Carpente r via 2 -1 m oto fin ish es. He left Tenn essee in second p lac e in the series sta ndi ngs, behind Gibson . Sec o n d ove ra ll w e n t t o p oint s leader G ib so n , who w as serio us all week end and no do ubt was ha ppy to leave wi th h is lead intact. Third overall went to Summey. er followed the lea de rs . Sayl or moved past Walker , while up fro nt , Summey had tu rn ed up the heat on Ca rpen ter. T heir b attl e pu sh ed t hem way ou t front, but Gibson still held third , and he closed up sligh t ly by midmoto. Burris held down fo urth. California's Spud Walters m ad e his way briefly up to fifth but was soon d ispatched by Walker. By lap si x , Carpenter ha d a 10 second lead. McGourty was on a mis sio n , and he finall y m o ved in to the wh o is yo ung , strong and determined , and after a stunning swe e p of the 250cc Pro class , he still had eno ug h left for a str on g showin g in the FourStr o k e race. ILeft) Carpenter 11) grabs the l ea d in the fi rst mete, while zack Lundy lmid pack) g o es on his head. Ca rpen ter e ventually s u rrendered the lead t o Su m mey 1 80). and Lundy rec o ve red a n d rode t o a top-1 0 -overall finish. IRight) Local rid e r Hans Neel has been a r ou nd a w h il e , and he continues to im pro ve each year. Strong rides in b oth Four-Stroke motos netted him a sixth-place fini sh in Blountville . Tennessee. 26 NOVEMB ER 26 , 2003' cue I e n eVIl's Fourth overall went to local Pro Walker ; although he 's we ll into h i s 30s , Walker can and does regul arly beat the na tion 's top riders when the y venture into his domain , and this day was no exception. Fifth went to Ridd l e. The likable youngster was to ute d as th e next big th ing wh en he turne d Pro, but he has co nst antl y been plagued by injuries. Riddle was healed , buff and confident co mi n g in t o t he se r i es, and h e is finally show ing h is tru e abil ities. Si xth went t o Neel via strong 6- 7 finishes. The so n of rac e announcer Reggie Neel , Han s ha s been around a while, bu t he is reall y co mi ng into his o wn with several good Na tio nal finishes this year. Seventh went to Sh eal y , wh o rode stro ng all day and earned hi s fin ish. E i g h t h went to Zac ka ry Lu n dy, whose fin ish was g reat, conside ring he went down and was run over at the start. Lundy reco vere d and ro de like a man possessed. His 11 - 10 finishes hardly reflected the ri des he put in. Ninth w en t to KTM' s Burri s. Th e yo ung m an from Colorado cam e into the seri es in eighth and will leave in good shape. Ro und ing out t he top 10 was Ada ms . a terrific starter. Adams rode strong all day , showi ng pote nti al abo ard the o range machine. eN Muddy Creek Race way Blountv ille, Tennessee Results: October 19, Z003 [Round 61 MOTO 1: .Jecob Say lor (Yam); 2. Paul Carpenter (Han) ; 3. Kevin Walk er (Yam ); 4 . Jeff Gib son (Han); 5 . J oshua Su m m e y (ve rn ): 6 . Han s Nee l (Hen ); 7 . Ben Riddle (H en ) ; 8 . Cli nto n Sh ealy III (Hen ); 9. Ma t t he w Burr is ( K TM); 10 . Wlll lem Br own ing 11 (Yam ). MOTO 2 : 1. Paul Car penter (Hen); 2 . Jeff Gibson (Han); 3. Jos hua Summ ey (Yam) ; 4 . Spud Walters (Hon); 5. Kevin Walk er (Yam); 6. Ben Riddle (Hon); 7. Hans Neel (Hon ); 8. Clin ton Sheely III (Hon); 9. Jessie Balla rd (Hon); 10. Zachery Lundy (Hon ). 4· STRK PRO O/A: I. Paul Carpenter (Hon): 2. J eff G ibson ( Hon ) : 3. Joshua Sum m ey (Yam ); 4. Kevin Walke r (Yam) : 5 . Ben Riddl e (Hon); 6. Hans Neel (Hon) ; 7. Clinton Sheely III (Hon) ; 8. Zackary Lund y (Hon): 9. Matth ew Burris (KTM): 10. Donnie Adams (Yam ). Fl'IF EAST ERN FOUR · STROKE NATI ONALS POINTS STANDINGS ( A ft er 6 of 7 roun ds ); I. Jeff Gibson (2 24) ; 2 . Pa ul Ca rpe nte r (206) : 3. J os hua Summ ey (202); 4 . Spud Wa lters ( 179 ); 5 . Ben Riddle ( \ 58) ; 6. Dustin Pulley (10 8); 7. Anthony Pocorobba Jr. (96) ; 8. Matthew Burris (92); 9 . Hans Neel (73); 10. Jacob Saylor (66).