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/128353
By JOHN B ETHEA PHOTO S BY TONY LAMPING fte r two years of frustration, Bobby Bonds finally had reason to smile as he pulled off II=~~ his helmet at t he conclusion o f the final race of the weekend: The Harvey Mushm an 100. H e had finally done it. He had w o n t he longest and toughest race of the weekend , and he had done so in convincing fashion . Making the victo ry even sweeter was the fact that Bonds and his fell ow Kaw asaki Team Green teammates had pulled off a majo r sw eep of the podium in the grueli ng race. Destry Abbott took seco nd, wh ile young mo tocross prodigy Ryan Villopoto rounded out the to p th ree . T hey had survived the fo ur-mile course t hat used parts of downtown Lake Elsinore and w o und through the nearby hills. T he co urse was well prep ped o n Saturday mornin g, but by the t ime t he bikes we re lined up Sunday afte rnoo n for the H arvey Mushman, sharp rocks and gnarly rut s co uld be found everywhere. The starting line eru pt ed as nearly 130 r iders kicked t heir bikes to life at just after I o 'clock in the afternoon for t he start of th e rac e. Heading into the first turn was H on da rider Scott Myers . Myers was well prepared for the race: H e knew w hat to expect, since he had cr uised t o vict ory earlie r in t he day in the O ver 25 Expert class. How ever, as he led t he charge off of t he pavement on Lakeshore D rive in downtown Elsinore, wi th Temecula Motosports Micky Griffi n in close pursuit and Spud Walters not far behind, Myers began to feel t he uneasiness of a nat ti re. And indeed, onl y a quarter mile into the epic race, the leader w as already falling behind. It was t hen that re cently crowned Na tional H ar e and Hound Champion Destry Abb ott str uck, passing all t hree riders in front of him. How ever, Bonds rode his wak e to t he front, making it immediately a one -two Team Gre en race. Two years ago, Bonds had led t he race from t he start, but bike problems forced him to take a D NF at arou nd the twoth irds point in t he race. That year Abbott to ok advantage of Bonds' pro blem and took t he win , on ly to have bad luck bite him t he next year and send him packing early. Thi s year he planned to just let Bonds do his one thing and ride a smooth race . " W hen Bond s passed m e midway through t he fir st lap," Abbott said, " I wasn't too concerned. I kind of had it planned to go out and ri de a goo d race at t he start and th en start closing t he gap about halfw ay." As the ri ders round ed the co urse for the first lap, Bo nds was in t he lead by a co mfortable margin. Abb ott held on to seco nd, with Joey Lanza in t hird aboard Kurt Caselli's big-bore four-stroke. Normally in contentio n for the w in, Casell i was o ut of act io n and relegated to spectating, due to a crash early in th e day. " It happened th is morning in t he unclassified," Caselli said. "T his guy kind of came over on me, and I clipped a post and w ent down. Not a good w eekend." As fo r Lanza, he was glad to get t he opportunity to ride the four-stroke. " It' s a better bike than the two-stroke here because it's so hard packed," Lanza said. Behind Lanza in the opening stages of the race were Walters in fourth, Griffin in fifth , Justin Keeney in sixth , KTM 's Davis Rees in seventh , Ryan Penhall in eighth, Kawasaki's Tyler Keefe in ninth and Bruce Marada in 10th. However, Villopoto was in I I th and ready to make his move toward t he front. By the second lap Villopoto had worked his way well into the top 10 and had his eyes set on the leaders. By the fourth lap Villopoto had moved his way into fifth , setting the stage for an awesome finish for the youngster. From about that point on, the frontrunners remained relatively the same as they methodically clicked off laps around the increasingly rough course . At around the halfway point, there was only one major change in the running order, when Lanza made his one and only pit stop while running th ird , It was at that point that Villopoto sped past the KTM rider to take over the final pod ium position . After his pit stop , Lanza rejo ined the race and was told he was in fourth. Confused, he spent the rest of the race trying to figure out how he had been dumped one position without even realizing it. " I w as running th ird all day," Lanza said. " I w as hop ing for a pod ium, I pitted and suddenly I was fifth, I passed 96 on a Kaw asaki [Tyler Keefe] and I rode as hard as I could, and I could n't make up any mo re ti me. I was bumm ed, man." After running third for most of the race, Joey Lanza d ropped to fo urth when he came in fo r his one a nd only pit stop. At th e finish, he was still confused. W ith Bonds, Abbott and Villopoto off the ir bikes and already doi ng interviews, Lanza ro unded the final turn and stared intently at the podi um area. It was obvious t hat he had wanted it bad. O n the victory stand, Bonds explained his late-race antics. Each tim e he sped past the pits, he kept pointin g down at his left foot. As it t urned out , he was point ing at his shift lever, w hich had been bent back and ren dered almost com pletely useless. " I was trying to get aroun d a lapper who got a litt le squir relly and I stuck it [the lever] in some mud , and for t he last four laps I couldn't shift . I was trying to use t he back of my boot , but t hat was pulling my boot off," Bonds said. " I knew t he end was co ming, so I just had to put up with it . H ey, I w on, so I can't co mplain. I enjoyed racing w ith the number three on my bike this year, but I'm really going to enjoy t he number one next year." As for Abbott, he was happy to have finished we ll and without any pro blems. '1\t the halfway poi nt I picked it up, but so did he [Bonds]," Abbott said. " My hat's off to Bo bby; I've got to be happy w ith seco nd whe n he rides like that ," Behind Abbott w as young Villopoto, who had ridden an excellent race coming www.cycienEWs.com CYCLE NEWS • DE CEMBER 8, 2004 23