Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series Round 1 4: Louisiana Superdorne Louisiana's own Kevin Windham couldn't repeat his win here two years ago (he didn't race at the Superdome last year) but still finished on the podium in third. him. I just didn't stay close enough towards the final iaps, and that probabiy decided it." Elsewhere in the pack, very iittle was going on. The pack had stretched out considerably, and the only pass made among the top six during the last 10 laps was when Dowd passed Huffman for sixth place. Huffman was the last rider not to get lapped by Vuillemin. Windham, meanwhile, was happy to get on the podium. "Those guys got out qUick," Windham said of the final. "I was only a half-second [a lap] off on the average. The first five laps killed me. [When you] start at a slow pace, it's hard to pick it up. "It [being the local favorite] was a little stressful," Windham admitted. "I was kind of feeling pressure here today, but it was great having the people here, to have them behind me. But during the day I was just stressed - it's an overwhelming feeling." CN Louisi.na Superdome New Orl••ns, Louisian. Results: April 15, 2000 (Round 14 of 161 250 HEAT 1 (8 laps, 1-4 transfer): 1. David Vuillemin (YlIm); 2. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 3. Mike laRocco (Hon); 4. John Dowd (KllW); 5. Mike Craig (Yam); 6. Jason McCormick (Hon); 7. Isaiah Johnson (Hon); 8. Jason Thomas (Yam); 9. Greg Schnell (Yam): 10. James Povolny Jr. (Hon); 11. Ty Kady 10 APRIL 26, 2000' cue • e (Suz); 12. Todd Downs (Hon); 13. Thomas Hofmaster (Hon); 14. Ronnie RamiscaJ (Hon); 15. Forrest Butler (Hon); 16. Michael Fontenot (Hon); 17. Jason Frenette (Yam); 18. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 19. Jason Fink (Yam); 20. James Evans (Yam). TIme: 6 min., 36.840 sec. 250 HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1·4 transfer): 1, Jeremy McGrath (Yem); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 3. Dtlmon Huffmtln (Suz); 4. Kevin Windham (Han); 5. Kyle Lewis (Suz); 6. Pedro Gonzalez (Kaw); 7. Heath Voss (Hon); 8. Larry Ward (KllW)-; 9. Grllyson Goodman (Han); 10. Zeb Armstrong (Yam); 11. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 12. Jeff Hedden (Kaw); 13. Matthieu Smith (Kaw); 14. Brian Mason (Kaw); 15. Earl RllY Kephart (Hon); 16. Tim Hawthorne (Kaw); 17. Brian Stone (Kaw); 18. Barry Carsten (Suz); 19. Kyle Williams (Kaw). lime: 6 min., 44.160 sec. 250 SEMI 1 (6 laps, 1·5 transfer): 1. Mike Craig (Yam); 2. Jason McCormick (Hon); 3. James Povolny Jr. (Hon); 4. Jason Thomas (Yam); 5. Isaiah Johnson (Hon); 6. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 7. Greg Schnell (Yllm); 8. James EVllns (Yam); 9. Ty Klldy (Suz); 10. Jllson Fink (Yam); 11. Thomas Hofmaster (Hon); 12. Forrest Butler (Hon); 13. Ronnie Ramiscal (Hon); 14. Michael Fontenot (Han): 15. Todd Downs (Hon): 16. Jason Frenette (Yam). Time: 5 min., 14.630 sec. 250 SEMI 2 (6 laps, 1-5 transfer): I. Heath Voss (Hon); 2. Lzmy Ward (Kaw); 3. Pedro Gonzalez (Kaw); 4. Jeff Hedden (Kaw); 5. Barry Carsten (Suz): 6. Brian Mason (Kaw); 7. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam); 8. Zeb Armstrong (Yam); 9. Grayson Goodman (Hon); 10. Brian Stone (Kaw); 11. Matthieu Smith (Kaw); 12. Tim Hawthorne (Kaw); 13. Kyle Lewis (Suz): 14. Eorl Ray Kephart (Hon): 15. Kyle WilHams (Kaw). Time: 5 min., 11.620 sec. 250 lCQ (6 laps, 1·2 transfer): 1. Kyle Lewis (Suz); 2. Greg Schnell (Yam); 3. Grayson Goodman (Han); 4. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 5. Brian Stone (Kaw); 6. Jason Fink (Yam); 7. Thomas Hofmaster (Han); 8. Brian Mason (Kaw); 9. James Evans (Yam): 10. Jeremy Chaussee (Yam): II. Todd Downs (Hon); 12. Ty Kady (Suz); 13. Zeb Armstrong (Yam); 14, Ronnie Ramiscal (Han); 15. Forrest Butler (Han); 16. Tim Hawthorne (Kaw); 17. Ellrl Ray Kephart (Hon); 18, Michael Fontenot (Hon); 19, Matthieu Smith (Kllw); 20. Kyle Williams (Kaw); 21. Jason Frenette (Yam). Time: 5 min., 15.410 sec. 250 FINAL (20 laps): 1. David Vuillemin (Yam): 2. Jeremy McGrath (Yam); 3. Kevin Windham (Han); 4. Ricky Carmichllel (Kaw); 5. Mike laRocco (Han); 6. John Dowd (Kaw); 7. Damon Huffman (Suz); 8. Sebastien Tortelli (Han); 9. Larry Ward (Kaw); 10. n e _ s After a rather uneventful first heat race that saw David Vuillemin run away from the pack and win by l3 seconds over Sebastien TortelIi, the Superdome crowd came alive in what was the most exciting heat race of the night, if not the season. Ricky Carmichael, home favorite Kevin Windham and Jeremy McGrath engaged in a monumental battle that started with Carmichael and Windham riding side by side for nearly the entire first lap, before Carmichael finally established sole control of the lead. Motivated by the boisterous crowd, Windham continued to hammer on Carmichael, while McGrath kept sticking his front wheel in on the two frontrunners. Carmichael and Windham swapped positions a few times in the tight turns, but the Kawasaki rider continued to hang on to the lead. Meanwhile, McGrath decided to get in on the action and dived to the inside of Windham while the Honda rider was searching for differ· ent lines to get around Carmichael. McGrath saw his chance and moved into second and started hounding Carmichael, then After a hard-fought, three-way battle Carmichael bobbled, and both McGrath and for the lead, McGrath won an Windham shot past him simultaneously. exciting second heat race. Windham tried to hang with McGrath but ended up getting a little too excited, grabbed too much throttle and had his Honda slide out from underneath him. By the time he got back up and straightened out his clutch lever, Damon Huffman had ridden passed him, making the final finishing order McGrath, Carmichael, Huffman and Windham. "That war> unbelievable," McGrath said. "That was the best heat of the year, and I'm glad I won that one. Those guys were swerving so bad in front of me I couldn't even do anything. They were blocking up the track. I just tried to play out what they were going to do in front of me: "Definitely fun," Carmichael said of their race. "That was worth the weekend right there." "That one should probably go down in the record books," Windham said. "It's been a while since rve been three-deep through the whoops, go to square a rider up and wind up passing two guys, or vice versa. I was talking to Jeremy afterwards and I said, 'Man, you didn't know where the hell we were going,' and he said, 'No,' and I said, '1 didn't eitherl'" . Vuillemin had it way easy compared to McGrath. The Frenchman smoked everyone in the first heat and made a statement by winning the heat eight seconds faster than McGrath's second heat-race win. Tortelli finished a distant second, followed by Mike LaRocco, who gated well but got bounced around the first lap before settling into third. A distant fourth went to John Dowd, followed by Mike Craig. Finishing one spot out of a transfer after running near the front early on was Jason McCormick. There was a long parade of riders in the first semi, with McCormick leading the freight train early on. He held on to the point for most of the race until Mike Craig, who had been dogging the Honda rider, finally got him. McCormick held on to finish second, while James Povolny Jr. ended up third and Jason Thomas fourth. The final transfer was still up in the air going into the last lap. Planet Honda's isaiah Johnson, who was riding on the bubble, had MotoWorid of EI Cajon's Greg Schnell right behind him and was preparing for a last-lap showdown. when Schnell grabbed a little too much front brake and washed out in a tum, much to Johnson's relief. Great Lakes Aviation's Heath Voss won the second semi, The Honda rider had things go his way when Moto XXX's Kyle Lewis and early leader Plano Honda's .Grayson Goodman collided and went down in a heap. It took them many seconds to untangle their bikes, and they were left behind to race the LCQ. Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Larry Ward inherited second, where he would finish out the race. A distant third went to Pro Works/Highlands Kawasaki's Jeff Hedden, followed by St. Louis Power Sports Vulllemln had It HSl' In the lint held Kawasaki's Pedro Gonzalez and Bromrace, winning"" more than 10 seconds ley Suzuki's Barry Carsten. over sebastien Torteili. Lewis came back and won the LCQ. He motored around Goodman on the first lap and led it the rest of the way. Goodman looked to have the finai transfer of the night locked up, until Schnell caught him two laps from the end. Schnell drove Goodman up high in a banked tum and rode off with second place, while Goodman missed the show in third place. Jason Thomas (Yam); 11. Michael Craig (Yam); 12. Kyle Lewis (Suz); 13. Greg Schnell (Yam); 14. James Povolny Jr. (Han); '15. Heath Voss (Hon); 16. Pedro Gonzalez (Kaw); 17, Isaiah Johnson (Hon); 18. Jeff Hedden (Kaw); 19. Barry Carsten (Suz); 20. Jason McCormick (Hon). TIme: 16 min., 24.970 sec. Margin of victory: 5.003 sec. AMAlEA SPORTS SUPERCOSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 14 of 16 rounds): 1. Jeremy McGrllth (322/8 wins); 2. David Vuillemin (297/4 wins); 3. Mike LaRocco (262); 4. Kevin Windham (238); 5. Ricky Carmichael (234); 6. Sebastien Tortelli (212): 7. John Dowd (170): 8. Damon Huffman (158); 9. Larry Ward (148); 10. Tim Ferry (107):'11. Greg Albertyn (92): 12. Heath Voss (88): 13. Kyle Lewis (79); 14. Michael Craig (74): 15. Brock Sellards (66); 16. Jean-Sebastien Roy (62); 17. Jason Thomas (59); 18. Greg Schnell (30): 19. Robbie Reynard (48): 20. Grayson Goodman (39). Upcoming Rounds: Round 15 - Joliet, lilinios, April 29 Round 16 • Las Vegas, Nevada, May 6

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