Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128321
THO World Supercross GP/THO AMA S upercross Se r ies and I'm just trying to put in some strong pe rfo r m ances from here on out." Making the podium in third place yet again was "Iron" Mike La Rocco. T he Amsoil C ha parral Hon da rider got off the gate well, o nce agai n, starting in thi rd , a nd he ke pt his Ho nd a up there for much of t he ra ce. laRocco was passed in the early going by Yamaha's David Vuillemin , but LaRocco got him bac k when Vuillemin began to fad e a bit just after t he ha lfway point. "T he hard-pack t rack caught me off gua rd to night," LaRo cco said aft e rward. "It ma de yo u keep yo urself on your toes , and I just rode safe. Vuillem in w as pressur ing m e early, an d I d ropped behind him and w atched his lines, then I m ad e the pas s and tried to pull away." laRoc co no w ho lds a so lid third place in the se ries points stan dings w ith two rounds remaining. Vuillemin ended up fourth an d is 14 po ints be hind laRocco. Riding w ith a lot o f enthusiasm at Dallas w as Mach I Yam ah a/No Fear 's Heath Voss, w ho no w lives in Te xas . Riding in front of his home cro w d, Voss picke d it up a notch and was rewarde d with a fifth -place finish . And Voss wasn't happy just to plac e fifth, e it he r. After t he Dallas Supercross, he now stan ds a goo d chan ce o f w inning th e T HQ World Sup e rc ross GP title. He and Damon Huff m an went into th e Dallas round a ll tie d for the le ad , but Voss got a litt le bit of a cu sh ion after Huffm an finish ed 13th . My 26 OWN RACE: Michael Byrne 250cc 12th Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Michael Byrne started in seventh in the final and wo rked up to sixth, where he was running for some time until a nasty crash in the whoops took him out . Byrne had an unusua l explanation for the crash and was , need less to say, was not happy the way his evening finished up. "My pants fell down around my legs," Byrne said. "It happen ed earlier in the day, and I loo ked at the size, and it was the same as always . I zip-tied them at the top and the n in the main the zip-ties broke, and the pants fell down, and I cou ldn't move my legs. and I crashed. I lost a lot of points tonight ." 198 Isaiah Johnson 9th T ho r/Enzo/A1pinestars' Isaiah Joh nso n was superpleased th e way his eveni ng turned o ut after spe nding mo st of th e race batt ling his co usin Keith Joh nso n. "That was my best-eve r 250cc finish," Isaiah said. "I felt good o ut there, and it was like riding at home. Me and Keith ride at ho me together often, and I can beat him o ut th ere , so I rode re laxed and felt like I co uld beat him here , to o." 31 Keith Johnson I I th Keith's view of the race was a little diffe re nt than that of his cousi n Isaiah's. "I blew it in the main," he said. "I've been practicing o n the 450 late ly for outdoors, and I was drained . Isaiah wore me out on th e tra ck, and I de finite ly need to ride my 250cc more this week," 34 Clark Stiles 17th Subway 's Clark Stiles had o ne of his better races going. as he started in the top 10 and was runn ing ninth as the laps wou nd down. With five to go, however, Stiles crashed and ended his night early. "Man, I was going good and just crashed in the whoops," Stiles said. "I would 've liked that ninth." 23 Kyle Lewis 16th Moto xxx's Kyle Lewis qualified for his first 2S0cc main eve nt of the year after injuries sidelined him for quite some time ea rlier in the season. Plus, the last few weeks have not been kind to the veteran who has had tro uble getting into the main lately. Lewis qualified fro m his sem i and commented about the final, saying, "I was just happy to be in the main. I set it on cruise and tried to stay out of the way of my teammate Huffman [who was going after the Wor ld SX title]. He was behind me fo r a wh ile, and I signaled him to go by and was telling him to go. Mach I team mem bers, however, were not It happy with Lewis, alleging that he was purposefully blocking Heath Voss to help Huffman's cause . 58 Tyler Evans 10th The Monste r Energy Dr ink/ No Fear/Spy-spo nso re d Evans sta rted in 14th and mo ved up to 10 th w hen, halfway thro ugh t he race, his race suddenly came to a halt. " It [his bike] just died on lap 10," he said. "I'm just glad to get what I got. " Eva ns sits in II th in the points with two races remai ning. " My goal for the year is to be to p 10," he said. 43 Ryan Clark 20th After setting some solid lap times thro ugho ut the day, Team Solitaire 's Ryan Clar k was understa ndably disa ppointed after the quick race. "It was good until lap two when the top o f my piston bro ke . End of race," he said . 34 APRIL 2 8 ,2004 • CYCLE NEWS