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/128339
AMA Chevrolet 1 Scc Championship M otocro ss Se ries 2 By PAT SCHUTTE PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN ter again making mince meat out of the entire 125cc class, about the only t hing left for Kawasaki's james " Bu bba" tewart to do now is step up and run with the big dogs : RC , Reed , Windham , DV and t he other 250cc-c1ass boys. Until then - next year - he' ll no dou bt keep erasing RC's name from the top line of the record books and adding his own, laying honest claim to being th e greatest 125cc motorcycle racer of a ll time - and all this in only a little more than two-and -a half years of rac on th e ing National circuit and before his 19th birthday! After racking up his 26th 125cc ca reer win today at Binghamton 's BroomeTioga Spo rts C ente r, Stewart is now t ied w ith Carmichae l for the I 25cc all-time win record. And things loo k pretty good for Stewart to break that record since the re are st ill two rounds left on the '0 4 schedule. Stewart, who everybody already knows is the fastest 12Scc rider on the man does is unbelievable." New to the sport, Brown was hit with a bevy of exp lanations from experts such as Kawasak i's Bruce Stjernstrom and Suzuki's Roger DeCoste r on everything from two-stroke versus four -stroke technology, to avante guard technique including the "Bubba Scrub" - anything and everything to he lp Brow n ge t a grasp on why Stewart is so good. All this in addition to exp lanations on what a unique athlete Stewart is, drawing comparisons to the greats like Gretzky and jo rdan , along w ith compar isons w ith the athlete who many consider the greatest motocross racer of all time : Ricky Car michae l. Again, and maybe more th is week than any other th is summer, it was Bubba 's world in the 125cc class. And again, like every other weekend , the re was some great racing going on behind him. Suzu ki pu t a couple riders together on the overall podium for the first time th is year as both Broc Hepler and Davi Millsaps (second an d th ird , respectively) pow- A planet right now, reminded everybody of that today when he , for the second time in his career, clinched the AMA Chevrolet U.S. Motocross 125cc Championship with another double-moto sweep at Broome-Tioga. The kid just killed it, lead ing all but a few laps and putting on an unforgettable show for the giant crowd that showed up and blanketed the 200 acres of prime motocross racing real esta te at Peg and Tom Hurd's track in upstate Ne w York. So domi nant w as Stewart that t he yo ung sta r again cap tured the attent ion of the national press, t his weekend racing in fro nt of the cam e ras for the highly acclaimed HBO Real 24 Sports program (see Briefly ...). So, now another chunk of the population will be introduced to the phenomenon in our sport known simply as "Bubba ." Something the sport of motocross can certainly be proud of, something the entire motorcycle community can hang its helmet on . And to put t hat in proper perspective, on Tuesday, August 31 , at I 0 p.m. (EST), HBO Sports re porter james Brown w ill re mind our close-knit MX community w hat w e already know abou t this kid from Florida. "I've never seen anyth ing like t his," said Brown, who also hosts N FL on FOX with Terry Brads haw. "Wh at th is youn g SEPTEMBER 1,2004 • CYCLE N EW S ered their RM-Z2S0s through the pack on the tough-to-pass Binghamton course. One of the better bat tles of the day came in the second moto with Hepler WBR/O'Neal/Pro and Circuit's Troy Adams battling midway through the race fo r third place (be hind Millsaps and leader Stewart). Adams, who's bee n flying as of late , got a great start (t hird) and led the facto- 40th Anniversary ry-backed Hepler, who got out of the gate in seventh. With Millsaps and Stewart all but checked out, Adams held off the charging Hepler until the 10th lap. "I was going good, then I heard him [Hepler] fade ; sounded like he may have made a mistake," explained Adams , who finished a season-best fifth overall. "My mechanic told me he [Hepler] went over a berm, which gave me a little breathing room. Then I th ink I relaxed a little too much, because I came into a corner, cross-rutted and tipped over. I was holding the clutch in, so luckily I kept it going. He [Hepler] rode by me , and that's where he stayed the rest of the day." He ple r was impressed w ith the effort put forth by the privateer Adams , saying, "A few times I'd co me up on him, try to get around the o utside , and he 'd pu sh me a little wide. I made a few mistakes beh ind him, but finally he made a bobble and I go t around him. "O nce I got around him [Adams] I settled into third because I knew Davi [Millsaps] was a little ways away from me , so I didn't want to chance second overall at all." The second noteworthy battle carne in the last lap of the second I 25cc moto when Pro Cirucit/Kawasaki's Matt Walker put on an obsessed charge to catch , lose, then catch and pass- on the final straight - Team Yamaha of Troy's Danny Smith. Then, the sometimes edgy Walker got into it with the norm ally mild-mannered Smith - who was n't about to back down - when the two exited the track. Mechanics and team officials inte rvened and no punches where thrown, but the two were not at all pleased with each other's actions afterwards.