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/128612
Can I charge that, please? After a near-last-place start, David Vuillemin (934) passed most of the pack to fin ish second. Here he has just dispatched Sebastien Tortelli (21 ) and a streaking M ike LaRocco (5) , and is setting out after Kevin Windham. we re M cGrath ' s to nig ht , so mebody forg ot t o tell th at to V u i ll emin , wh o was tea r i n g t h ro ug h t h e p a c k at a n in credibl e p ac e . Sixte enth after t h e thi rd t u rn , Vuill emin h ad passed six r ide rs by th e t im e a sin g le la p wa s in t he bo o k s! M c G rath , m ea nw h il e . wa s fe n di ng off a n ear ly cha rg e by Wi ,,::lha m, wh o w as t ailed b y Ch ev y T ru c k s K awa sa ki 's Larry W ard and a trio o f Hond as Heath Vo ss' , Se bast ie n T o rt elli ' s a nd Mi k e LaR o c c o ' s. M cG rath p ut a sli g ht c us h io n on Wi ndha m a bo ut fiv e lap s in , b y wh ich tim e Vo s s ha d slipped bac k a n d V uill e m in was i n s ixt h! W ard fin al l y ga v e up hi s h o l d on t hi rd, wa tc hing T o rt e ll i a nd LaR o c c o Two championships decided - not a bad way to break in a first-tim e Supercross venue. That venue is Route 66 Raceway, nam ed for the historic, 2500 -mi le "mother road" to which it is adj acent . The two -year-old facil ity - about 30 mil es southwest of downtown Chicago - sits in a 240 · acre grassy field on the outskirts of Joliet, and incl udes a half-m ile clay oval dirt track (which hosts an AMA Progressive Insurance Flat Track round) and a drag strip (on whic h the SX tra ck was built) . A NASCA R-spec super speedway is also unde r const ructio n. The large, outdoor facility allowe d for a longer-than- norma l track (tap times were about 10 seconds longer than normal ), but the drag strip's concrete K-rail barriers tested the ingenuity of track-builder Dirt Wurx. Th e start straight was short and the first turn sharp and tight, and made more diff icult by a largish j um p to get ove r the K-rai!. Fro m there, the track loopt y-Iooped around and crossed the start straig ht, before routing riders over the finish- line j ump and down to the open end of the stadium. That end featured no fewer than six long. side-by -side straig ht aways and one short one, featuring rhythm sections, three triples, a series of typically har sh whoops and a high-speed, outdoo r-sty le straig ht full of uneve nly space d roll er whoops (which Pastrana periodically rnanual-wheelied from start to finish) . The stadium itself has two sides of bleacher-style seating with a capacity of just over 30 ,000 peopl e. A cla imed 28 ,228 fans were on hand for th e Superc ro ss, and des pite t he pair of titles decided , m any left early due to wind, tem peratures in the low 40s and an iffy sound system (there is no D ia mo nd V isi o n scr een , h is sig hts o n LaR oc c o . Vu ill e mi n stuffed LaRo c c o o n t he n e xt l ap , a n d alth ou g h h e bo bbled and le t t he H on d a ri d er by i n a w hoo p sec tio n, h e imm e d i a t e l y recovere d an d sq ue eze d b y a sta rt le d LaRocco o n ly seconds la te r. The to p fi v e n ow rea d M cGrath , W indh am , T o rt e ll i (a ll spr e a d o ut), Vui l l e m i n ei t he r ). On e end of t he stadiu m is oc cupi ed by a st r uc t u r e ho us ing VI P booths and a ground-fioor pr ess bo x (fro m wh ich none of the track was visi- ble) , and the other end is open - to allow the exit of 5000 +·h orsepower drag sters. b oth sli p b y withi n the spa c e of a few turns . VuilJ em i n t he n zapped the Kawasaki r id er o n la p n in e , a nd se t This was the first-ever Supercross to be held at Route 66 Raceway. a nd L aR o c c o . Vu ill em in dispa tched T o rt e ll i fo r third o n th e 1 I th la p, meaning he had pa sse d no le ss th an 13 riders in j u st o ver h alf the rac e . T h e dista n c e up to c ue ' Ie Kevin Windham (14) challenged McGrath early on , but faded a bit midrace and ultimately fell victim to Vuillemin. W in dh am looked in su r m o u nt a b le at th is p oint , bu t w ith some o p en track a hea d of him , th e Yam a h a r ider bega n t urn ing f a st e r tim e s than McG ra t h , an d wi t h th ree laps to go he was kn o ck i n g on W ind ha m 's back d o o r. F i n a ll y , o n th e l a s t la p , Vui llern in st uffe d h is w ay b y in a turn , leavi ng M cGrath to crui se to the w in a n d Windh am t o s ett le for t h i rd. LaR o c c o a nd T o rt ell i were fo urt h and f ift h, w it h the to p 10 c o m p l et ed b y n e vv s MAY 1 0. 2000 7