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in his hand at San Franciscoround, credited his physical trainer with developinga modified handlebar
trainingcontraption that allowed him to continue
trainingsoon after suffering his hand injury. Lusk has
been riding since the middle of March.
Word out of the Honda camp is that factory pilot
Emesto Fonseca is still waiting to throw a leg
over a bike. In re covery mode from knee surgery,
team officials at Honda are saying a Southwic k
return is likely.
Team Suzuki's Travis Pastrana was ho bbling
arou nd the Silverdome weari ng a dra conian
bracelike device on his ankle that loo ked more
suitable for kicking field goals t han walking.
None thele ss. in good spirits. Pastrana. who 's
recover ing from a broken bone in his ankle after
being run over by Grant Langsto n at Indy, said
that he hopes to be back for Vegas and may. if
healthy, race the Southwic k o utdoor Nat ional
thi s sum mer.
Stewart put on a show all night long, and one of his most amazing moves was a completely whipped sideways pass over a triple on his teammate Paul Carpenter.
"I only do them when I need to ," Bubba said of the spectacular pass in t he heat race .
"I think I can do that fo r all 20 laps next year [in the 250cc class)."
Speaking of next year, Stewart says he has set high goals for himself.
"I'm going after the same thing as [Chad) Reed and Ricky [Carmicha el)," Stewart said
in t he postrace press conference. "I got one race left on the I25cc, and then I'll be all
250cc."
amaha
Backing up his solid win at Indianapol is two weeks ea rlier was Boost Mobile/Y
of Troy's Josh Hansen , who finished second in the final. The son of former factory Honda
rider Donn ie "Holeshot" Hansen would have finished in second place in the East series if
this were the class that he started out in. But since he's officially a "West " rider, he' ll have
to be content using the experience he gained while riding in the East Series in the 125cc
West Series w hen it resu mes in two weeks in Dallas. Texas .
Hansen did. however. created quite a fuss in the Yamaha of Troy pits. because late in
the race he passed his teammate Danny Smith, who was in a tight points battle with
Suzuki's Broc Hep ler for second overall. The pass, for all inten ts and purposes. cost Smith
seco nd place in the se ries' final standings . Hepler ended up second in the series with 60
po ints, while Smith finished out the se ries in third with 59.
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