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/128345
estry Abbott came to Ne vada w ith one objective: to win the race . After all, with the series quickly coming to a close and with four riders, including himself, having a shot at the 2004 title going into the Oas isto -Wells race, he had no choice to settle for anyth ing ot her than a win. And his determination paid off, as he got out in front at the st art of the po int-to-point race and held the lea d to the fin ish, taking t he checkered flag less than a mi nute ahead of re igning Champion Russell Pearson . Ob viously, it was a huge win for the former H&H Champion be cause it means th at the final ro und will now boil down to a two- r ider showdown for this ye a r's championship between Abbott and David Pearson , though defending champ Russell still has an outside chance, too. At the drop of the banner, Abbott 's trusty KX500 two -stroke Kawasaki and Russ Pearson's YZ450 F four-stro ke Yamaha waged a mile-long drag race across th e sage-covered bomb run, leaving the rest of the Expert field mired in the dust be hind the duo . Russ had his thumpe r "w ide open in fourth gear for the whol e bomb run , probably 90-plus mph and never backed off until the end ," according to Russ. Though on very different lines, they were nea rly side-by-side at the end of the bomb run, but Abbott barely edged Russ out for the lead when they started onto the dusty 9 1-mile course. The res t of the Expe rt riders fought for pos itions in the thick dust. Two of th em wh o still had a shot at the title, David Pearson and Brian Brow n, swapped places a co uple of times before event ually settling into th ird and fourt h, respectively. O the r riders found themselves having to work their way th ro ugh the dust to make up places lost at the start. FourStroke ace Tabe r Murphy est imated he passed 20 bikes afte r getti ng off to a bad start. Within minutes. the dust was gone and the ride rs were ou t of sight. The first 30 miles sorted the racers out, and w he n Abbott emerged fro m the dese rt for the first pit, he was less than 30 se conds ahead of Russ Pearson. Within a co uple minutes, Brown and David Pearso n pitted, as well. Back in the mountains and in tight te rrain, David started to lose his brakes and watched his chances for a win slip away. ''T hey we re fading in and out, and I lost them co mplete ly by the last gas, " David said. At the alte rnate pit, anothe r 33 miles out, Abbott was able to pit quickly and maintain his lead over Russ. "I saw Russ back there almost the whole race, and I knew if I didn't make any mistakes, it would be tough for him to pass me ," t he two-time champ said. Both Abbott and Russell managed to D