Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I Briefly... Continued from page 3 1 Wonder Warthog Racing, which has been helping to pay qualifying privateers' entries all year long, received a check for $5000 dur ing the riders' meeting from CCE. That 's good , too, because WWR paid the entries for 40 privateers this week, totaling $5060. Red Bull KTM's Grant Langston is having problems with his right hand. "I'm glad I got a week off, because it's pinchinga nerve , and it gets all tingly he said. "I've ," had it all year. It's like a trigger-finger thing, like tendonitis . They swell up, and then sometimes my [right ring) finger will lock up because it gets so swollen. Now it doesn't hurt as much, but it's obviously pinching a nerve or something in my hand, and it's starting to go numb, so I think I'm going to go ahead and have surgery on it after Pontiac, and hopefully I'll be back for the next race in Salt Lake. Hopefully I can do it and not miss a race ," MotoworidRacing.co m Suzuki's Shae Bentley returned to act ion in Indy. "I've been act u- II •• ally really sick for a lo ng time with Epste inBarr, and it t", turned into {C:.; : ~ mono and then pretty much into chronic the side line s, Carpenter stepped up for t he Kawasaki te am in a t ime of need . "Josh rode great tonight , and I'll have to give it to him ," Carpenter said . " Bubba is bumming right now, and I'm just trying to win one for m y team and my dad bac k home. I sent him a thi rdplace trophy last week and now this one. There 's one more I'd like to send him . " I got a great start, and I'm learn ing eve ry week," he adde d . "I w as the fastest guy on the track to no t put it together." Hansen's teammate Danny Sm ith ro de to his best result of the season as he captured the final podium spot in th ird . The Boost MobilelYamaha/Troy Racing ride r has had some more bad luc k this year, but his umpteenth heatrace wi n earlie r in the night boosted his confidence . " It really cha nges a lot of guys ' attitudes out here," Smith said of Stewart's decision not to ra ce. "I think we are all ridin g with a bit more intensity." Smith started the final fourth. He worked past Honda's Steve Lamson in the open ing laps and settled into a groove . Hansen and Carpenter pulled away from Smith th rougho ut the race, but Smith w as never challenged after grabbing thi rd . Once on the pod ium , t he Idaho nat ive felt like he belonged there . ''I' m st art ing to get it back," he sa id. ''I' m not a quitter, and I kno w I have t he speed . I w ant to ke e p th is ro lling, and I'm loo king forward to Pontiac." Smith goes into t he final ro und t hird in the points chase w ith 80. He is five behind Suzuki's Broc Hepler (85) and three ahead of www.cyclenews.com fatigue syndrome," he said of his absence. "My system was just so low that eventually I couldn 't even get up In the morning. I ended up getting pneumonia, and I just needed rest. I just hope to get through the night because I've only been ri ding about a week now, and there 's a big difference between a race and practlce ." He failed to qualify for the 125cc main. MotoXXX 's World Supercross po ints leader Damon Huffman went down hard early in the main. "I clipped that last jump on the straightaway a little harder than I thought, and I was already on the brakes, and it just pitched me over the bars Into that berm, " he said. "I couldn't feel my fingers , so I thought I broke my hand - I thought it was ove r. But it turned out I just hit my funny bone really hard. I'm going to take the weekend off to rest up my ankle the next couple weeks and hopefully be in a lot better position come Pont iac." Arenacross runner-up Tommy Hofmaster had a getoff in the ma in event as well. "1hit a false neutral in the rhythm section and went over the bars hard ," he said. ''I' m okay; I just took the bars to my upper legs." CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 31, 2004 33

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