Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA 2S0cc National Motocross Series Presented by FMF My 73 OWN RACE: Justin Buckelew 250cc 13th (14-15) In both matos, Team Mota XXX's Justin Buckelew pulled the holeshot and proceeded to enjoy one of his best finishes this year. "It actually went good today," Buckelew said. "I got two holeshots - both motos. It was really my first time getting holeshots in the 250 class, so I was pumped about that. The track was brutal today, and I struggled a little bit, but avera/II felt good. My Honda was working well. I just need to work on my speed and keep building confidence. The top three guys pretty much passed me in the first half of a lap, then I was able to stay up there for quite a while. Ifeel like , just need a little bit more to get on the pace of the top guys. Today, the roost hurt bad. I'm welted, my collarbone is bruised - I took a rock to the collarbone. So, the roost was a problem, but everyone had to deal with it." 12 DavidVuillemin 4th (4-4) Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin turned in yet another consistent ride. In the early stages of the first mota, he ran as high as second. '" got a great start in the first mota," Vuillemin said. "I was, I think, second behind Ricky [Carmichael]. Then Bubba [Stewart] passed me, and I was third. I stayed up there a little bit and then Chad [Reed] and [Kevin] Windham passed me. I kind of got hot in the middle of the race. I was fifth, but Bubba crashed, so I got fourth. The second mota, I didn't start very good, and I had to work my way up. I thought I was better in speed than the previous rounds. Igot 4-", and it was the best I could do today." 91 Josh Woods Once again, bad luck struck Michigan native Team Maestro/Suzuki's Josh Woods. "The first mota I got a pretty good start and was holding in about 12th or 13th, until about halfway through the race," Woods said. "I had a pretty nasty close get-off, twisted my knee a little bit, my ankle, and racked myself a little bit. That kind of hurt me, and I really couldn't breath. I kind of lost my breath and had to stop there for a few laps. So, I ended up a DNF in the first mota, and we also had some bike problems - the bike is not running real good. It kind of added to the crash I almost had. The second mota, I just rode a little bit smarter, a little bit more in control, and was able to put in a good ride." moments. I guess that's why I'm in the lead and he's not." Stewart hit his head in the fall and was carted off the track. Carmichael remounted and finished the mota in second. The crash not only ended Stewart's mota, but it also ended his day. He was taken to the Asterisk Mobile Medical Care Center at the track for evaluation and was later released. He did not ride the second mota and will be evaluated further during the week. When the dust cleared, it was Windham who took the first-mota victory, his first since 2003. ''All of us want to win so bad," Windham said. "We hate to see Ricky doing it. People love the dynasty, and then they see him go as far as he can, but then the rest of us are kind of wondering if he can be beat from time to time. That's what we are working our ass off seven days a week for. I hate to get it the way I did, but sometimes you just take it any way you can get it. Crazy things happen in this sport. The top two guys in the mota went down, and I was able to get a win out of it." Finishing third was Chad Reed aboard his retro yellow and black YZ4S0F. For most of the mota, Reed rode around unchallenged in fourth. When Stewart dropped out, he took over third. The start of the second mota was nearly the same as the first, except this time Carmichael was buried back in eighth, while Windham and Reed enjoyed exceptional starts. The holeshot, once again, went to Buckelew, but by the time the first lap was completed, Windham was in the lead, six seconds ahead of Carmichael. Once again, the Suzuki rider put his head down and charged, while Windham just rode his own race. "I had to put myself in a good position," Windham said. "I just got out there and put my head down. To be honest with you, I forgot as much as you can that he [Carmichael] was behind me. I was just really focused on riding my own ride." 18 JULY 27,2005 • CYCLE NEWS 24 Ernesto Fonseca 5th (5-6) Despite a decent finish, Team Honda's Ernesto Fonseca was not pleased with his ride. "It wasn't really that good of a weekend for me, but, I don't know, it seems like I have done really bad here in other years," Fonseca said. "It wasn't a really a good one, because I lost a lot of points to [David] Vuillemin. I'm now I I behind him [in fifth]. But I don't know, we still have a lot of races to go, and we will see - I'll try to make up as much ground as I can in the upcoming races. I want to end up fourth for the series, that's my goal. It's going to be a fight. I did a lot better than I did here last year, so that was a plus. I wanted to beat Dowdy Dohn Dowd] in the second mota, but he rode better than me, and he beat me. I'll just go home and work on trying to be better." 16 John Dowd 8th (11-5) Veteran John Dowd keeps surprising everyone, this weekend with a fifth-place finish in the second mota. "The first mota was going pretty good," Dowd said. "I got a decent start, and I don't know what place I was in, but I was kind of dicing there with Ernesto [Fonseca] and a few other guys. But somewhere along the way I must have gotten hit with some roost really hard, because my goggle lens popped out along the bottom. My eyes are jacked up right now. I can barely see. I was just loaded with sand. I managed to finish 11th, so it wasn't a total loss. The second mota, I got a pretty good start again, and I don't know if I was kind of pissed off from the first mota or what, but I feel like I rode pretty good. In the beginning, I rode pretty aggressive. I passed Ernesto, [Michael] Byrne and a few guys. I don't know, I just kind of held on. I found some pretty good lines and tried to stay smooth, and Iended up fifth, so I was pretty happy about that."

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