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Phoenix. AZ • Jenuary 2S. 20CXJ AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series Round 4: Bank One Ballpark (Leftl Mike LaRocco (51, here passing Damon Huffman, finished fifth after starting near dead last. (Right) Runner-up McGrath and his tuner Randy Lawrence chat after the 250cc main. pretty good [to win], but, you know, for me, I feel very good the lap after the race, now, when I come back here [to the Yamaha pits], I just start to think about next week and the championship again." "You can't take anything away Overall, VuiJIemin was remarkably nonchalant about what he had just accomplished. "I know I did a pretty good race," Vuillemin said, "but I don't want to be excited too much. I just want to stay focused on the championship. It feels from him," McGrath said of Vuillemin. "He rode a great race." And so did Carmichael, who, even after getting passed by Ferry, McGrath and Vuillemin, still finished a strong third. (Car'michael re-passed Ferry on the 17th lap.) "When Jeremy got by me, my right arm pumped up a little bit," Carmichael said. "I wanted to settle into my own pace and see what the outcome was, and when I saw Ferry getting a little tired, I capitalized on it." And so did LaRocco, who slipped by Ferry on the last lap when the Yamaha rider nearly went down. "I had an excellent start going into the first turn," LaRocco said of his race, "but I think John Dowd forgot to turn left. He went straight and took me all the way to the other side of the track. We came out last and next to last." "I was on the inside and just kind of got pushed high on the track there," Dowd explained. "I thought I was doing okay, but somebody came across on the inside and caught my front wheel and took my bike out from underneath me." Dowd finished 12th. W@L!i!l (1DiJ@JJ @@(1 (1DiJ@lf@ Jfd@@@@ Wf![Jfi]05025ffD®» Ricky Carmichael started the 250cc program with a confidence-building win in the first 250cc heat race. He put his Chevy-backed Kawasaki into the lead as soon as the gate dropped and kept it there for all eight laps. His teammate Larry Ward gave him something to think about for the first four laps before Carmichael opened up a comfortable lead. Meanwhile. David Vuillemin came up and started hounding Ward and eventually shoved him out of the way in a turn for the pass. Vuillemin ran out of time to catch Carmichael, who took the checkered flag some three seconds ahead of the Frenchman. Ward backed it off a few 10 FEBRUARY 9. 2000' IC U IC I e n e notches to finish a distant third, followed by Stephane Roncada and Jean-Sebastien Roy. Notable non-qualifiers included John Dowd, who had his front wheel taken out on the first lap, and Mike LaRocco, who went down early in the race while running third. In that crash. LaRocco injured his shoulder and ankle but managed to get back on his bike and finish out the race. He did so well down the field. however. Shayne King was also semibound after crashing midrace. The second heat race featured a classic McGrath/Windham duel for the lead, McGrath nailed the holeshot but couldn't shake Windham, who seemed content on studying the champ's lines. The pair quickly gapped the rest of the field. and it wasn't until McGrath and Windham started encountering lapped riders that McGrath started inching away McGrath ended up taking the win with seven seconds to spare over Windham. Well behind the two front-runners were Greg Albertyn in third and Tyler Evans in fourth. but moving up quickly was Tim Ferry. Ferry ran down Evans. passed him. then reeled- in Albertyn and passed him. too. Ferry took third. followed by Albertyn. Sebastien Tortelli and Damon Huffman. who finished one spot out of a transfer. Dowd and Jean-Sebastien Roy mixed it up for a while in the first semi before Dowd broke free and pulled out a four-second win over the Canadian, while Kelly Smith qualified for his first main of the year in third. Fourth went to a battle-weary laRocco. who got off to a seventh-place start before struggling to get around King. LaRocco resorted to a very "excuse-me" stuff pass on the last lap. King held on for fifth and a trip to the main. Brock Sellards led from start to finish in the second semi but was closely followed by Huffman and Tortelli the whole way. They would finish in that order. Evans was part of the lead group for a while before dropping back, but he still hung on to take fourth. Grayson Goodman, who got off to a seventhplace start, made the transfer via a fifth-place finish. One of the more exciting races of the night was the last-chance qualifier. where only the first two vv s riders transfer. Mike Craig. Kyle Lewis and Heath Voss battled the whole way. At one point, Lewis was looking to pass Craig. when Voss sneaked up and tried to get undemeath Lewis. Voss and Lewis ended up tangling. which let Craig get away. Neither Voss nor Lewis went down, but they did become separated by a few seconds. Craig went on to take the win a few seconds ahead of Lewis. Voss finished third.