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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128342
My
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Briefly.•.
OWN RACE
Chris Gosselaar
Continued from page '5
much time Stewart spent on the bike before
the race, he said it wasn't much. "Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday were where , actually oflkially rode one since lastyear," Stewart
said. '" was surprised every time I went out I
2nd (4-3)
The AMSOILJChaparrai/Factory Connection/Honda rider earned his first
ever National pod ium finish with a consistent 4-3 moto score and
moved up into the top 10 (ninth) in the standings from 12th overall.
"Good to be bac k here in California and happy I could score a podium in
front of all my friends and family," he said. "But it's funny, I don't even
like th is track. I barely ride it, even when I'm here. I've been living in
Florida all year, train ing with Ricky [Ca rm ichael], so I think what re ally
did it today was that my training pa id off. It was rough and very ho t, and
being able to ride with Ricky was what helped me today."
4
got more comfortable on it. " According to
Stewart's agent Tony Gardea, the team did
telemetry testing with Stewart on the fourstroke , and the computer basically said that he
rode the four-stroke just about perfectlythe
first time on the bike.
Kelly Smith 4th (6-8)
Yamaha of Troy 's Kelly Smith came oh -so clo se to making the podium. "I really needed
to finish the year on a good note," he said . '"
finally was able to turn thi ngs around. I had a
bad few weeks, had a bike break and some
crashes, and finally pulled it together this
weekend. I got a couple good starts and
some descent moto finishes."
29
Ivan Tedesco
8th (39-2)
After crashing himself out
of a possible podium spot
in the first m o t o , Ivan
Tedesco came out strong
in the second rnoto and
got second, w hich the Pro
Circuit/Kawasaki rider
nailed in dominating fash - lD~iIIilliiC;;;l;1I
ion. "The whole season's been like that for me - one moto good. o ne
rnoto bad," Tedesco sa id. "Th e first moto I went down and had a rock
go through my case, and all the o il drained o ut and my motor blew up . I
carne back and was all pissed off, telling everybody I was going to get the
ho leshot from the outside and stuff. I almost pulled it and got into second early and rode it out from there. And being second to Bubba in his
last 12Scc race was cool ."
123
Brett Metcalfe
13th (16-1 I)
The top finisher on a two-stroke was the KTM rider Metcalfe, w ho
overcame a first-moto w reck to nearly crack the top lO in the second
moto. "Th e first rnoto I got a descent start, 20th or something, moved
up to like 14th but crashed like halfway through - which was stupid - and
ended up like 16th," he said . "But I was pretty happy with the way I
rode , which on this track , being on a two-stroke, was tough with all the
uphills and that. In th e second rnoto, I just tried to ride smooth and managed to pass a few guys and ended up 11th, so I was really happy with
that because it could have been a lo t worse."
188
Dav i Millsaps
10 (5-17)
Suzuki's top finisher next to teammate Broc Helper was Millsaps. The
Georgian standout put together a sol id first moto but wrecked in the
second moto and had to play catch up to salvage a top-10 finish . "T he
first moto I got fifth, w hich was all right. Second moto, I got a horrib le
start, th en fell twice and came back from almost dead last to 17t h. I felt
good, but the results just d idn't co me out." Millsaps then summed up his
first summer of ra cing the Nationals: ';,\ 11 right , bad and ho rrible. And
great sometimes! "
S9
Danny Smith
5th (6-8)
Yamaha of Troy 's Dan ny Sm ith had a good day until... Sm it h held do w n
fifth for mu ch of th e first mo to be fo re ta king the chec ke red flag in sixth.
In the secon d moto, Sm ith had just passe d Nathan Ramsey fo r third
before he went d o w n and d ropped to 13th . Fro m there , Smith stead ily
w orked his way back u p to finish eighth and fifth o vera ll.
mate - Mike Bro w n - in 10th.
The second moto started inauspiciously enough, although
all hell would break loose for a couple r iders - both of whom
took the unfortunate Asterisk Mobile Med ical Mule ride back
to the t rac k hos pital. Hepler was the first to go down , breaking his collarbone in a rowdy get-off near the end of the
Flou nder Fr e e w ay. The n it was Walker who went dow n and
le ft t he t rack in e xcru ciating pain with a n apparent h ip injury.
W ith bo t h t ho se riders r unn ing in podium pos it io n , H o nd a 's
N at e Ramsey a nd Ke lly Smith wou ld inhe rit their positio ns
and, in Ramsey 's case, benefit w ith a podium finish - going 114 to Smith's 9-5.
"Not qui te the way I'd have hoped to get on the podium,"
Ramsey said. " But I'm happy to be here. I'd had a tough time
at this track before and was just happy to race well and come
away in one p iece."
As Kawasaki-mounted r iders Stewart and Tedesco ran
away with the second m o to, Gosselaar race d hard u p to third
and cruised to his first podiu m finis h . Ramsey led Sm ith for the
final podium spot (fourth to fifth in the second moto) wi t h
Brown in si xth and t h e fast-rising Troy Adams
(WBR/O'NeaVPro Ci rcu it/Kawasaki) coming back from 12 t h
in the first moto to seventh in the second moto. Rounding out
the top 10 was D a nny Smith, Josh Grant and Team Kawasaki's
Paul Carpenter in 10th.
eN
GLEN HELE N RAC EWAY
SAN BERNARDINO, CAUfORN IA
RESULTS: SEPTfMB' R
(ROUND 12 Of 12)
12, 2004
125 MOTO I: I . James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Broc Hepler (Suz); J . Matt Walker
(Kaw ); 4. Chris Gossel;w (Hon); S. D. ,; M,'t.ap. lSuz); 6. DannySm>th; 7. TommyHahn
(Hon); 8. G"'l: S