Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2 9th Annual NMA World Mini Grand Prix u "a AWl James "Bubba" Stewart, the fastest aoee motocrosser in the world? Possibly. At the 29th Annual NMA World Mini Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Stewart was simply unbeatable in three classes. lAS VEGAS, NV, APR. 27-30 he Nevada desert wind wasn't the only thing blowing around at th e 29th ru nni ng o f th e NMA World Mini Grand Prix. So wa s Jam es " B ub ba" Stewart , who sim p ly bl ew aw ay th e competi tion on his th r e e T e a m Gr e en -b a ck ed K aw a s ak i KX 8 0 motorc ycles , much li k e he did l ast ye ar. St ew a rt , who is more accus tomed to sandy , whoop -filled tracks back home in Florida, didn't seem to mind the hard -packed , d ry (thank s to the steady ,wind that howled all week end ) and slick World Min i tra ck in Nevada , as he skillfull y g u id ed his Kawasakis to seemingly easy wi ns in the three cla sses he co mpeted in . His v er sat il i ty a n d fla t -out sp eed blos somed in the 80c c St oc k and ~od i fie d (14 -16), and Sup erm ini classes , wh ere he won every m ot a , ni ne in all . Anoth er ri der wh o was unbea ta b le at this year's World M inis was Mini ace Mike Alessi wh o used a pa ir of 22 n By KIT P A LM ER P HOT O S BY K INNEY J O NES T M AY 17. 2000 ' c ue I e e vv s Yamahas and a pair of KTMs to win fou r class c ha m pi o nsh ip s, j ust li ke last yea r. Out of th e 13 tota l motos th e Ca liforn ian competed in , he won I I of th em en route t o th e Jr. Cycle 60c c Stock and Mod ifi ed (9- 1 1). and the 80 c c St oc k a nd Modified (ThruI I ) class w in s. Al essi tried for a fifth title , but a first -mota 12th and a sec on d -m o t a third in the Su permin i (Thru -16, Div.3) m o t o s p rett y mu ch e n de d th at attempt. Ev en t hough he made the cut to ride the run -off, his eig ht points going into th e fina l effec tive ly meant no chance for a title, so he sat out the run-off. Wh en people weren 't talking about Stewart or A lessi, th ey were ta lking about the wind that k ept the wa tertruck Clrivers busy all week end . bu t despite the ir never-e nding b attl e to keep the track damp, the NMA crew did a commendable job keeping the dust down to a minimum. Their task was made even more difficult due to the cla imed 2600 riders that took to th e track - via more than 150 motos over the four days of racing , no doubt a slight problem th a t NMA 's Ron Henrickson o r an y rac e promoter for that matter loves to have. As u su a l . th e nu m e r o u s entries necessitated th e n eed to divide up man y of the classes , resulting in a third run-off mota, where the top rid ers of e a ch div ision - sometimes three of them - battle against each other in one final on Sunday . Ea ch rider's overall placing in the ir respective division cou nt as o ne mota and the run -off as the second mota. As a resu lt, 21 run -off motos were carried o ut o n Su n d ay . whic h d ecided th e ou tcome of m any of the m ore pro m i nent classes . So m e of those classes th at ran just t wo m atos , however , in cl ud ed all of the St oc k and Mod ifi ed Pro cl asses. T he rider many thought w o u l d win th ese c lasses was Bobby Bonds wh o, as o f la t e. h as been tea ri ng up th e loc al sc en e in Sou t hern Ca lifo rnia , and th e Honda rider w as living up to their expecta tions after he won all but one fir st -round motos i n th e fo u r c l a sse s. On Saturd a y morn in g , he wrapp ed up th e 250 cc Stock Pr o class with a second -mota win over Suzuki riders Ben Riddle and Dan ny Carlson . bu t while m akin g a move in th e seco n d 12 5 c c St oc k Pro mota lat er tha t day , he t ang led with an ou t of-sha pe Carlson. As Bonds w as try ing to avoi d Carlson , Carlson's Suzuk i c li p ped Bond s' Honda, a nd Bond s was flung t o the ground. He stuck out hi s left arm to break his fall , bu t all he broke was his wrist. "It looks as tho ugh his left wri st is broken , " sa id Honda sup port crewmember Eric Crippa the day

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