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 AMA 12Scc Western Regional Supercross Series My 18 OWN RACE: Brock Sellards 125cc 6th After starting in the back of the pack, Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy's Brock Sellards made a great come-from-behind charge that salvaged his night. "I've been ridinga lot of outdoors latelyand got arm-pump right away, but I toughed it out," he said. "I went from 17th to sixth, so it was fair, and I'll try to loosen up for next wee kend." 21 The o ther ta lk on the street is about the upco ming East-West Shootout in Las Vegas in two weeks , where Ted esco will race against his Kawasaki counterpart and East Coast Champion James Stewart. Tedesco kept his cool when asked about the race. "James is an unreal rider, and all I'm going to do is try to give him a run for his money," he said. The only ride r to give Tedesco some concern on the night w as Team Honda's Nathan Ramsey, who finished second. After getting th e $1000 Butterfinger Holeshot Award, Ramsey le d briefly before having several intense battl es w it h both Tedesco and Roncada. Once Tedesco got aro und him, Ramsey had Roncad a to fend off. The two w ent at it for about seven laps until Roncada began scaling back his attacks. Later on , Roncada fell, giving Ramsey room to breathe. The factory-backed Honda ride r eventually finished four seconds behind the new champ , Tedesco, and w it h Roncad a crash ing and finishing 18th, it catapu lted him into seco nd place in t he West po ints sta ndings w ith o ne ro und remaining. 36 APRIL 28,2004 • "I re ally hooked up off t he start," Ramse y said fro m the pod ium. "I really st ruggled the first three laps, but I tried my bes t. My hat' s off to Ivan on his C hampionship. He has had a great year, and it's been fun. Tonight was not as good as getting first, but I gue ss it was better than getting th ird." O ne of the other storybook tales of the day was that of third-place finisher Greg Schnell. Schnell , who bought his own Honda CRF2S0R before the start of Supercross series and spent some time in Australia to "clea r his head ," was offered a ride on th e Amso illChaparral team, and he made the most of it by getting on t he Texas pod ium. Schnell came ou t swinging in Dallas, obvio usly w ant ing to let the Amsoil team know that it had made the right mo ve by picking him up. The So Cal nat ive was on the gas all night. He sta rted in seventh in the final but w orked his way up into fo urth, where it looked like he w o uld finish. But he got a break wh e n Roncada w ent down, which put him into t hird and o n t he pod ium. The thr ee -time I25cc Supercross w in- CYCLE NEWS Stephane Roncada 18th The heartb reak of the night went to Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada, who , after running up front for the majorityof the race, crashed. On lap 10, the second-placed points holder coming into the race went down hard in the whoo ps. "There was a yellowflag in the right lane, so , went to the left," he said in his usualupbeat manner. ''A lapper in front of me messed up and took my front wheel away, and I crashed. It took me a long time to get it started, and I am kind of bummed. Y ou know, shit happens! Ivan wo n the championship, so that's good." 68 josh Hansen 7th Afte r doing so we ll in t he East Ser ies, many were ex pec ting a lot o ut of Boost Mobile! Yamaha of Troy's jos h Hanse n, but he ended up having a night t hat he would rath er soo n forget. He finished a dista nt second to Roncada in his heat race and then , in the final, crashed early and had to wor k his way up. '" got pushed off the track and landed on some TuffBlocks and ended up in the whoops backwards ," he said. "I was really flustered and am so bummed . All that was talked about over the last few weeks was me and Ivan, and th at's all that was in my mi nd as I rode arou nd." 78 Kevin johnson I Ith After failing to qualify at t he Pontiac SX, Star Racing/O'N eal' s Kevin johnson had a much better race in Dallas. johnson ran up fro nt early after a good start, but a recent bout with pneumo nia wore him down. "I've got a solid eight laps in me." the New M exico native said. ''I' ve bee n real sick since Pont iac and have only ridden one time . I'll take it." 614 justin Brayton 9th Amso il Chaparral Honda's Justin Brayto n had one of his better rides of the seaso n, finishing a solid ninth. " I co llided with my arenacross rival Darcy Lange off th e start and was way back," he said. "I charged and rode good . I'm happy with my ride from behind ." 40th Anniversary