Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Above) John Dowd (16) won both nights' Dash For Cash races b ut co uld o nly muster one main-event podium. (Below) Jeff Northrop (6 15) scored two podiums. Brad Ha g seth (10) was in t he top five in every main e vent. John Dowd . Starting behind Dowd seem ed like a great choice, as the veteran had been start ing we ll for a few weeks. "I got a second-row start due to my qualifying problems," Hofmaster said. "I lined up behind Dowdy because he'd been getti ng good starts all we e kend. We got a little bunched up in t he first turn but came out all right . Hagseth had a good pace going out front , and I co uld still see Darcy... I just wanted to get up on the podium ." He mad e his w ay thr ough the pack and onto th e podium just behind an elated Northrop, who seems to be surprised every time he makes it to the podiu m. "I got a good jump and holeshotted ," Northrop said. "Then I just tried to ride my o wn race . In a way, I let Darcy aroun d - he came o n the inside, and I saw him there ... He's my teamm ate , and he's going for the championship, so yo u have to think abo ut things in t he long run." The 2S0cc main event had Hofmaste r in the lead st raight away, and he took off down the whoops with a good lead. Lange gave chase in t he hop es of making it a pe rfect w eeke nd and extending his points lead even furthe r. Hofmaste r held on out front for quite some time and only tired near the end of t he race . "I don't know, there we re a lot of lappe rs flying across the trac k and getting in the way," Hofmaster said. "I hit one ove r in the first corner. Once all that sta rted happening, I start ed riding a litt le tight and started to feel the pressure from Darcy." Lange was pressuring Hofmaster from the get -go, show ing him a whee l in almost every corner for the first half of the race . "I didn't get the best start, but I went by Brayton right away and go t beh ind Tommy," Lange said. "I waited for Tommy to make a mistake, and he wasn't really making any. I had to just go for it one lap, so I set him up in the w hoo ps, and I got by him over t he catapu lt." With that, the weekend was over. Lange took his fourt h win, while Hofmaster hung on for second, and Tamer Honda's Justin Brayton took third. "I wa s riding good all weekend ," Brayton said. ':t\fter the first turn , a couple lappers flew over the berm on the oth er side of the track, and Darcy, Tommy and www.cyclenews.com Buddy Antunez re turned to action in Ha m pto n and rode well despite a thumb that is still only "as percent." I got tangled up in that , hit a flagger, and it was pure carnage there for a while. I just need to be o n t he box every weekend." eN HAMPTON COUSEUM HAMPTON, VIRGINIA R ESULTS: JANUARY 23-24, (ROUND 7 OF 12 ) 2004 Friday 125 MAIN : I. Darcy Lange (Kaw ); 2. John Dowd (Suz): 3. Jeff North rop (Kaw) ; 4. Justin Brayton (Hon); 5. Brad Hagseth (Hon); 6. Buddy Antunez (Hon); 7. Randy Woodrin g (Kaw) ; 8. Ryan H uffman (Yam); 9. Chad Johnson (Yam) ; 10. Tom Kelley (Suz); II . Brad Modjewski (Suz); 12. Tommy Hof mas ter (Yam); 13. Robby McQuary (Yam); 14. Ty Wallace (Yam) ; 15. Co lt H umphre y (Yam). 250 MAIN: I. Darcy lange (Kaw ); 2. Chad Johnson (Yam); 3. Tommy Hofmaster- (Yam);

• Cover