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/128368
Brief'Y··· Continued from poge 19 Speaking of the KTM Junior Supercross Challenge, the Atlanta event took on a heart- coming through. Don't change your line, don't do anything stupid, but don't slow the guys up. But it is not a move-over nag." wanning {one as one of the Junior riders, Ryan Meili, was in attendance without his father, Air Force Ueutenant John Meili,whohad to report for duty in Southwest Asia just two days after young Ryan was informed that he had been accepted to compete in Atlanta. Meili attended the event with his mother and grandfather, but unfortunately he was involved in a practice crash and was unable to compete. A huge Ricky Carmichael fan, Meili had requested that he be allowed to race with the number four on his KTM. Series promoter CCE made arrangements for Meili to meet Carmichael, who presented him with an autographed jersey. Then, just prior to the start of the KTM event, CCE broadcast a special surprise greeting by Lieutenant Meili from his post overseas on the Georgia Dome jumbatron, which met with an enthusiastic response from the crowd. AMA News: AMA motocross manager Steve Whitelock said that he has been busy working on a couple of upcoming events, namely the Daytona Supercross and the new AMA National Championship MX round scheduled for Lakewood, Colorado, later in the year. "We're making a lot of improvements at Daytona this year," Whitelock said. "They're fixing the track for us, and we're going to have two more lighting trucks. I stopped and looked at Colorado, and the promoter is making progress there. It's going to be an okay event:' Steve Whitelock also said that the THQ AMA Supercross Series has been running much more smoothly this year, in his estimation, than last year. "I think that everyone just knows more what to expect, and they are all paying attention." ...Well, except maybe for Amsoil Chapparal Napster Honda's Josh Grant, who Whitelock fined $200 for missing the Atlanta riders' meeting. A display version of the Specialized S· Works Tannac road bicycle that Ricky Carmichael uses to train with was on hand in the Makita Suzuki pits at Atlanta. Carmichael's trainer, Aldon Baker, said that the bike, which retails for over $6000, is a specially customized version just for Carmichael. "It has his Suzuki colors and his name engraved in it. Specialized also did one for Chad Reed with his Yamaha blue and his name, and one for Nicky Hayden in Repsol orange. The bike is Specialized's high-end, full-carbon bicycle that they brought out this year. I don't think you could more trick. It has a see-through section for dampening. The bike is stiff, but it is not so rattling:' Baker, a former professional cyclist, said that Carmichael is a competent cyclist. "I can still beat him, but sometimes I have to dig deep," Baker said. "Ideally, I'd want him to kick my butt, but I ain't going to make it easy. I have enough base in me from the old days to keep that from happening, but then whenever he tries to beat me on the bicycle and he doesn't, he says, 'Well, come and ride with me on the track,' and then I'm screwed:' Keith R. Johnson, after struggling through injuries and second-guessing himself all year, posted the best results of the Star Racing! NCY team. Running strong all night, K.J. qualified with a fourth out of his semi. But, in the main event, Johnson was slowed by a bad start. He worked his way into 15th before slipping back to 17th at the finish. The rest of the team - Jacob Saylor, Erick Vallejo and Isaiah Johnson - failed to qualify. Saylor suffered from first-turn pileups and washouts during key moments. Speaking of Josh Grant, the young Californian was sporting a new hairdo, which featured alternate black and red patches, at Atlanta. "My friend launi from Elsinore [launi has earned the reputation as the hair stylist to the motorcycle racing stars] and I decided that we wanted to do something kind of crazy," Grant said. "I got it done three or four days ago. It matches the team. It's all good:' Hopefully the dye job didn't cost Grant $200. Grant Langston went back to the drawing board this season, and he actually stopped working with a trainer and just started doing the work himself. "I have gone back to the training I was doing when I raced in Europe years ago," said langston. "I don't need to do any weight training. I kind of have weird genetics. If anyone has seen my dad, he's built like an overweight power lifter. So cardio is always good for me. But 1need to do more interval trajning because of the intensity of supercross. Before, I was doing a lot of stuff with cycling where I would keep my heart at a constant rate for a long time. In light of last week's lSOcc main event at San Diego, Whitelock used the Atlanta riders' meeting to remind the riders of the AMl>:s position on blue flags. "A lot of people think that it [a blue flag] means pull over or get out of the way, but it doesn't," Whitelock said. "It means pay attention because the fast guys are Dennis Ewing was awarded the $250 Asterisk Mobile Card for being the highest finishing nonqualifer in the 125cc last chance qualifier. Joe Oehlhof won the Racer X Gas Card, worth $750, for being the highest finishing nonqualifier in the 250cc last chance qualifier. CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 9, 2005 21