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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128336
launc h into the air, with his fron t wheel
po inting at the sky! Man, I don't know
how he pulled that one out."
Raines got aro und Watts for second
place on one of the many downhills in the
first woods section. Watts ke pt his KTM
near the front of the pac k for the first half
of the race, pr ior to taking a breather.
Watts re-entered the race a lap down,
attempting to help pace his KTM teammate Brian Garrahan.
After getting around Watts, Raines
then set out for the lead. Due to the pace
that McLevy was setting out front, it
looked like a pass was go ing to be difficult.
But McLevy blew a corner in one of the
open field sections, giving Raines the
break that he needed. McLevy ke pt the
pressure on , though , as he was not interes ted in just letting Raines go .
"I tried to hang with Jason as best I
co uld," McLevy said. " I felt great ou t
there; I can't say enough about my suppo rt t his year. My T hro ttlehead .com
Kawasak i was wo rking really well out
there, and my Factory Connection suspen sion made the day for me !"
McLevy has been having a difficult season thus far, as injuries have hampered
him fro m rid ing to his full potential. His
performance in Michigan marked a comeback for the likable rider, as he used a
strong pace and consistent lap t imes to
hold down second place all the way to the
checkered nag.
"I'd really like to thank my parents for
coming all the way from Connecticut ;
they really helped support me today, "
commented McLevy.
During the race, an excellent battle for
th ird place occurred, w ith several riders
jockeying for the position . One rider in
the early hunt for third, wh o is also working on a comeback fro m injuries, was
Mike Lafferty, who was competing in just
his th ird race back after having knee surgery early this year. Mike had an extended stay in Michigan, as he had won the
AMA National Enduro, held the previous
weekend in the northern portion of the
state. He rode st rong early, but brake
problems caused him to come in for an
extended pit stop, and his entire rearbrake assembly was replaced. After that,
the KTM rider ended up a distant seventh
overall on the day.
W ith Mike out of contention, Suzuk i
Off Road -backed Blackwell eventually
claimed the position of th ird overall.
Blackwell struggled early with a "cas e of
the crashes" and lappers.
" I have to apologize to some of the
guys I made my way arou nd out there,"
Blac kw ell said. "I know tha t I was pretty
aggressive wi th some of my passes."
Afte r t hose passes, Blackwell settled
down into a good pace and was able to
make his way into third with a bo ut o ne
ho ur to go, finalizing t he top th re e spots
of Raines, McLevey and Blac kwel l.
eN
DUTCH SPORT PARK
BLOOMINGDAtI , MI CHIGAN
RESULTS: JULY 25TH, 2004 (ROUND 6 OF
10)
Dunlap [Kaw]: 3. Cody Mastin (Yam); 4.
Marty Michels (Husky); S. Gary Rad
zick!
(Kaw) .
30 + A: I. Eldon Keen (Kaw); 2.
Brian Sovak (Han ); 3. Kevin Schuler
(KTM): 4. Bob Bergaman (KTM): S.
Kevin Kom (Kaw) .
40+ A: I. Jeff Fredette (Kaw); 2.
Denn is Dec ke r (Suz); 3. Paul Guy
(KTM);