Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

My OWN RACE: 11 Ezra Lusk 250cc DNF The Mach I Yamaha superstar had a hard ge t-off in his hea t but cam e bac k to win his se mi. Ho weve r, that left him wit h the 10t h pick o n th e line fo r the main event. "I t set me up for a bad situat io n at the sta rting line, and it just kind of snowballed whe n I got a bad start," Lusk said. " I en ded up stuck with guys I sho uldn't have been around , and then o ne guy, I'm not sure who it was , he kind of squ irreled ou t and took my fro nt e nd out . It was just kind of a t ipove r, but it broke my throttle tu be . Tha t was it. I co uldn't go any furt he r." 5 Mike LaRocco I 4th laRocco was again am ong the fast est riders on the track, but he started fro m way be hind on ce more. "Yeah, I gave it awa y," said the Amsoi l/Cha parral Ho nda ride r. " I w asn't real happy with my starti ng spot. I didn't ride too good in my heat or the se mi, so I was on the o utside . and starting on the ou tside going into the w hoo ps was pret- ty ugly. I en ded up ro lling a nd bouncing and dancing and coming o ut way behind, so I had a lo t of work to do early. By the time I go t any- is definitely not w hat I want, you know? I kno w I'm better t han that , and the bike is, too.., I moved up two spo ts in po ints , so that's not a bad thing ." 17 Robbie Reynard 8 Grant Langston 20 Damon Huffman 7th With Kyle Lewis o ut, Dam on Huffman is still MotoXXX 's lone 2S0cc rider. He was in t he mix th roughout th e ma in event. " I had a far inside gate po sitio n, and I go t ou t bette r th an Byrne , and I was like the first guy right o n t he inside t he re , and shoot, I th ink I came out act ually like in third on the first lap," he said. "It was good, I've been starting up fro nt , and tonight I just hung up there a litt le bette r t han last week. I'm st ill struggling just a little bit com pared to the top guys in the whoo ps, but everywhere else I'm good, Ho pef ully t he y'll mellow out on the whoops - they're brutal. " 31 Keith R.Jo hnso n 12th Star Racing's star ride r worked hard in the main event. "Well, I guess since I'm a hard worker and everything, I like to make the race as hard on myself as possible, like always ," Johnson said. "50 once again, 1 pro ved to everyone how te rri ble of a starter I am , worked my way up , threw myself o n the ground, got back up and worked my way back up to like 12th o r so me thing. I felt good again w ith the way that I rode. Go ing through the whoops, my suspension's awesome, My bike's awesome. I just need to no t crash and ge t a good start. And not be so nice, I was le tt ing people push me arou nd , and I wouldn't have fallen if I'd have just pus hed them out o f t he way." 28 He ath Voss 13th Lus k's Mach I Yamaha teammate (and t he only YZ4S0 F ride r in the main event) is st ill t rying to find his legs t his year. " I did all right, but I st ruggled all day today." he said . "I do n't know why. It's re ally hard because I wo rk real hard at th is, and it's rea l hard for me to go home and t rain and ge t mot ivat ed for the ne xt race . I don't kno w w hat the deal is. I'm st ruggling right now." 26 Michael Byrne 8th The Bym er came from way be hind to finish eigh th - the o nly ride r to pass him all night was laRocc o o n t he first lap. " I mea n, I w as in the first gate [on the inside ], and I was pretty much fo rced into the banners fro m the sta rt ," the Ch evy Truc ks Kawasaki ride r said . " Huffman got the sta rt of his life and e nd ed up ge tt ing the handleb a r on me, and I was pretty much de ad last in the first co rn er. And the n I salvaged it goi ng throu gh the whoops a nd came o ut like 12th or so mething. And then I just tried to ride my own ra ce . It' s hard when you 're back there, but I just tried to ride consistent and keep on going forward , Eighth 9th Red Bull KTM's 12Scc Nat ional C hampion d idn't fall t his w eek. "I think, eve n at Anaheim I, I think I was riding pretty good - Pho e nix as well ," he said. " I've been pretty good in pra ct ice and pretty good in the heat races, and then in the ma in eve nt like Anaheim . I cras hed and DNF'd, And th en Phoe nix, I crash ed , bu t I got up to finish I I t hoTh is week end, it alw ays find myself in. Everything seemed to feel pretty good , and I felt a litt le mo re com forta ble t his w eek, and ho pe fully I can pick it up w as m ore im po rt ant just to not cras h and finish. I had a ho rr ible start, like 15th o r so , and so I kind of came bac k throu gh . It was a really bad sta rt, and I was kind o f tryi ng to com e from behind the w hole time , but I got in beh ind Bym e , and me a nd him had a good battl e the whole way th ro ugh, Ninth place is a decent re sult. As lo ng as I just keep building on tha t, I think it'll ge t be tt e r each week." 27 Nick W ey 6th After Hamb lin was hurt in his se mi, Wey was the lone Suzuki pilot on the tra ck in the main - and he actually grabbed the holes hot. "My Suzuk i got me o ff to a great start; I can't say en o ugh ab ou t these guys , They've re ally been worki ng their butts off fo r me, and I'm just trying to do the same for them," he said. " I go t a great start, but I was a little bit wide, and I didn' t get the momentum I needed go ing throu gh the whoops. I thin k I came around probably eighth or ninth the first lap , and I just kind of picked a couple guys off from the re , and t hat was pre tty much it. I put in 20 so lid laps, and I've got st uff to work on . Ho pef ully next week I can improve on t hat. " 24 Ernesto Fonseca 5th Team Ho nd a's Fo nseca finally had a main eve nt w ithout a to n of bad luck and , along with Win dham and laRocco, helped Ho nda to nab th re e of the top five spots. Fo nsec a ra n as high as se co nd and held a big cushion o n la Rocco for fourth w ith o nly a few laps left w he n a major bo bble in the wh oops off th e sta rt allowed The Roc k to get on his back w he el - then it w as just a matter of tim e. H e hung o n for fifth. 74 Erick Valle jo 14th Vallejo had his best ride e ver in th e second heat, finishing secon d to Chad Reed . " I felt really good tonight, especially with the Thu rsda y pra ctice ," said t he Star Racing privateer, "It helped me a lot . All I needed last w eek w as just to w o rk o n my w hoops, Th is weekend , I just committed to going throu gh the w hoops hard . The last co uple week s, I had som e t ro uble pu tting my bike the way I want it se t up , This w ee ke nd , it w as just perfect. I pushed hard and pretty mu ch rode relaxed." 58 Tyler Evans 15th The Suzuki privat e e r had help th is w eek from Team Suzu ki me chanic Tony Berlutti. " My mechanic qui t t his w e ek , so Tony helped me out," Evans said . Evans had setup issues and a poor start wh ich resulted in his w o rst finish so far t his year. Howeve r, he s;illieads t he World Supercro ss poin ts , as well as the privateer stand ings , But he's willing to give up th e privatee r mone y fo r a sh o t at Sebastien To rt e lli's vacant bike , ''I' m over it," he said . "I' d ra t her race his b ike a nd fly to t he races every week. I guess I took it for gran ted w he n I had it. This privateer t hing is hard." www.cuc lenews.com Star Racing's Bryan Johnson sco red the $1000 12Scc Butterfinger Holeshot Aw a rd , w hile Team Suzuki's N ick Wey took home th e $1500 2S0cc awa rd . On the podium, Wey exclaimed, " I'm rich! $I SOO!" The w inner of the KTM Jr. SX Challenge, Kinser Endico tt, dou bled t he tra ck 's seco nd triple during all three laps o f his race and even pulled a no-l egger o ff of a ta bletop on the last lap befo re the finish, The crowd ate it up . 10th Reynard Mod ifications/No Fear's CR2S0R pilot had an awesome ride in his heat race on his way to second, ahea d of some pretty big names , In the main, he ran as high as sixth before apparently petering out and fading to 10th . Still, his speed was there all night. where nea r th e fro nt , eve ryo ne left me. It's just one of thos e races I and get a better start next w eek. It Briefly... I Fo r once , Angel Stad ium of Anahe im wasn't so ld out. The attendance at round three was 43 ,602 . Th e stad ium holds 45 ,050 , Jesse Casillas eamed the $250 Race r X Gas Card for finishing fifth in the 12Scc LCQ , w hile James Povolny [r, got $750 for his third-place finish in the 2S0cc LCQ , Red Bull KTM test rider Casey Lytle w ill be healing fo r a w hile . ''''fte r t he first Anaheim, I rode o n Tuesday, and I had a little bit of a probl em with my right wri st getting t ight after e ight laps," he said. "Wed nes day I rod e again, and it seemed like it wa s tight after five laps. It was starting to bother me mo re and more , so I went to the doctor and got a n X-ray, and th e re 's a fractu re in my wrist that never healed from I do n't know when. And the n, t he next day, I went and got a n MRI, and I had a to rn te ndo n, the unhea led fract ure , and a litt le bit of cartilage da ma ge in my wrist. I'm goi ng to have to go fo r the thumb thrott le." Team Yamaha's Timmy Ferry injured his wrist as w ell, dur- ing Friday's first practice. "We did all the Xrays a nd all that, and it came out okay. so I'm go ing in for an MRI o n Mon day to figure out what's going on ," he said, " It's hurti ng too bad , and it's swollen. I just can't grip, and my range of mot io n just is not too great . It's mainly just the pain. It' s way too bad to ride." Amsoil/C haparra l Honda's Mik e laRocco hasn't qualified for a main event out of his heat rac e ye t th is year. "We ll, I'm glad I actu ally finished t he hea t th is w eek ," laRocco said. " It' s the first tim e all year, It's just , everybody go es decent for eight laps, a nd the 20 laps are all that I w o rry about. I'll be in there . I w as just trying to save som e mo ney th is week by not crashing and destroying my bike, so hopefu lly I'll just start ge tting the starts, I'll get t hat figure d out. The start was a little mo re safe last week - it w as bad going right into t he whoo ps wit h all tho se guys." Motowori dRacing.co m Suzu ki's And rew Short swi tched fro m th e Magura hyd ra ulic clutch he 'd be en using at the first tw o ro unds to a standard manual clutch at Anahe im II. " I haven 't bee n getting very good starts, and be fore I felt that the hydraulic clutch he lpe d my starts - that' s th e only reason that I ran it; it felt really go od o ut of t he gate - but t his year, I couldn 't get t hem do w n very good, so I'm trying th is reg ular CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 28,2004 13

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