Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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gears a little bit and ride the KX250F next week at Glen Helen. Hooking up with Stewart on the podium were Suzuki's Broc Hepler and the fast -rising Troy Adams, on the WBR/O'Neal/Pro Circuit Kawasa ki, who scored the first podium finish of his career. Hepler (who went 3-5 on the day) got second w ith a strong first mota, followed by a spirited comeback in the second mota. Adams also fought back from a seventh-place finish in the first mota to score a fourth in the second mota for third overall. "In that first mota, I started good , just had a little trouble getting around Ryan Mills," Hepler said . "O nce I got into third , Stewart and [Matt) Walker were gone, so I had to settle in for third." Kawasaki's Walker was de finite ly one of th e faste r riders at Steel City, but a second-mota crash w o uld take him o ut of content ion for the po dium . "The se co nd mo ta , I made a silly mistake - got on the gas too hard in t his se ction an d en doed the jump , cou ldn't get the bike started as q uick as I needed to - so 10th was the best place I could come back to," said Walker, wh o wound up fifth o ve rall w ith a 2- 10 tally. This left t he door o pe n fo r Adams, w ho burst into the Nati onal scene's to p-five chase these past few races an d finally put together the race he needed , catc hing and pass ing Facto ry Connection/Honda's Chris Gosselaar (who was fo urt h overall) to reach a goa l he 's had since he was a kid growing up in Flo rida: making a pod ium at the Nat ionals. "I can't believe it," said Adams after the race . "It' s be e n one of my goals my w ho le life , since I was o n an 80 . And it feels so good to achieve it right now. I can't say en ough for my mechanic and team ; th ey've be en beh ind me so much t his year. I know th ere 're factory bike s out there , but t hat just makes my mental game a little bit bet ter. I just wa nted to prove to everybody t hat no ma tt e r w hat I'm on , I can do good." Wit h Stewart comfortably ou t in front, riding wheelies up the hills, waving to t he fans while airbo rne, wearing a Pit tsbu rg h Hepler Steelers t ribute helmet - w as mou nting a st rong cha rge after gett ing crunch ed at the st art . "The second mo ta, I d idn't get a rea l good start; just got pinched off by am Walker and Kelly Smith [Y ah a of Troy) ou t of the gate," said Hepler. "I just rode as hard as I co uld ; it felt pre tty e asy for me to pick guys off. I rode my own ra ce , put my he ad do wn and tried to stay consisten t." When the final flag dro ppe d on Briefly... . As usual, James Stewart was Oying in practice. He was also the first rider to attempt a massive uphill triple. People were speculating who would be that first rider, so it was somewhat surprising that it would be Stewart , on the 125. He didn't attempt the leap in the race. Prior to the Steel City National, there were rumors that Jere my McGrath wanted start money (and lots of it) before signing up for the Steel City race. However, the multitime champion adamantly denied those rumors, saying that he did not demand any start money. AMSOILJFactory Connection Honda rider Josh Grant was missing from action this weekend. Grant is still feeling the effects of a concussion he suffered at the Spring Creek National three weeks ago. With the end of the season near, Nick Wey and Sean Hamblin have yet to sign with a team. Rumors have it that both riders are interested in riding for the factory-backed Mach I Yamaha team. Steel City marked the last time that Mike Alessi will be aboard his big Honda CRF450R At the final . round, Alessi is planning on riding a KTM 450 out of the factory semi. '1>JI I know is, I'm on a KTM next weekend ," Alessi said. "I'm definitely pumped and looking forward to that. I did a lot oftesting last Friday, all day, and I'd like to say that my lap times are two to three seconds faster on the KTM than the Honda." There was a noticeable change in the way that the whole Alessi camp ran their program this weekend. The "Believe the Hype" T-shirts were gone, they were m uch less con spicuous. and they were parked away from the main area in the pits. Mike Alessi's attitude also changed a bit after his fi rst National at Millville. "I definitely learned a lot from Millville and brought it here," Alessi said. "I came here looking more for a respectable finish, like a top-10. I think I set my standards a little high at Millville. Y know, I was expecting a third, for ou sure top-fiv It's different when you get out on e. the track - you think that you can go the pace, but these guys reallyare for real, these guys reallyare fast... There was a scary moment after Saturday 's practice when one of the bulldozers that were preppingthe trac k for Sunday's National overturned. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. There were quite a few new faces at the Steel City National.Jacob Saylor Tommy Hahn, Eric , McCrummen, Kyle Chisholm and Jimmy Nelson all competed in their very first National. The Amsoil/FactoryConnection Honda team was running new linkage components. The linkages were redanodized and produce the same ratio as the CR125. Steve Lamson, who has been out of action ever since ge t. ting injured at the Southwick round, reportedly has signed a deal with the Motor Sports Outlet team for 2005. The AHA's semiretired Duke Finch shows no Continued on poge 29 WWW.cy news.corn CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 15, 2004 27