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/128613
AMA,/EA Sports S u p e r c r o s s S eries R o u n d 1 6 : S a m B o yd Stadium By KIT P A LM E R P HOT OS BY K IN N EY J O N ES LAS VEGAS, NV, MA 6 Y it h J erem y Mc G ra t h h av in g al re ady clinc hed his unprece de nted seve nt h Su pe rcross crown at t h e prev io us round o f th e AMA/ EA Sports S upe rcros s S eries , th er e wa s o nly on e q ue s tion left to be a ns we red W 6 MAY 17, 2000 ' IE: U IE: I e going into th e 250cc series finale at th e re mode led Sa m Boyd St a d ium in La s Veg as . Would Da v id Vui lle m in le a ve La s Vega s a ha lf-m illion do llars riche r? Th e Te a m Yamaha rider was the only ride r go ing int o t he La s Ve g a s Sup er cr o s s e ligi ble to w in t he $5 0 0 ,00 0 that was up for gra bs in the Vans Triple Crown , since he had wo n ne uv s Jeremy McGra t h out lasted Kevin W in dham t o w in th e La s Vegas Sup ercross. It was McGrath 's 10 t h w in of th e year an d th e 70th of his ca re e r. the p rev ious two T riple Crown races, a nd a ll he ha d to do t o p ock e t t he do ug h was t o win t he 250 c c fin al eve nt, whic h, fo r h im , d id n' t re a lly seem a ll tha t mu ch to a s k for. Afte r all , m a n y c o ns ider h im t o b e th e hott es t ride r in th e country right now a fter flat o ut beating McG rath thre e wee ks a go at the New Orl eans Superc ross, a nd th en com ing fro m beh ind to finish a rema rk a ble s e cond in the pre vio us race in Joliet, Illinois . An d whe n yo u consider th is was going to be one of the th innest - as fa r as ta len t goes - 250cc main event fina ls in q uite some tim e (o nly eight facto ry backed ride rs were o n h an d ) , Vuillemi n had an excellent chance to win it al l. But no matter how much the cards seemed to be stacked in his favor, thi ngs would not go Vuillemin' s way o n this night. Eve n thou gh McGrath , on hi s Mazda/Cha parral Yamaha, ca ppe d off this yea r' s S upercr oss season with his 10th win and the 70th of his career, McGrath really d idn't have mu c h to do with Vuillemin's loss. No, th at was pretty much a ll Vu illem in ' s own doing. The Team Yamah a rider didn 't get a good jump off the starting line a nd pe rhaps tried too ha rd to get around th e riders a head of him , res ult ing in one costly off-track excu rsio n and a fe w mo re s ma ll mistakes t ha t wou ld follow. Wh ile race- leader Ke vin Windh am a nd McG rath ra n to g eth er u p fro nt , a nd Mik e 'La Ro c c o ra n t h ird, Vuille m in sim p ly cou ld not get settled into his usually fast , s mooth a nd contro lled groove . Th e re s u lt? A fourthp la ce finis h a nd no $500 ,0 00. Still, Vuillemin cashed in on a nic e co nso lation check wo rth $25,000 for pos t ing th e top finishes in the three Vans T riple Crown rounds - Arizona (1 st ), Minneapol is (1 s t ) and Las Vegas (4th) . Whe n a ll was said and done, a dis a ppo inted Vuillemin seemed glad that the night was over. "It was a weeke nd lik e n o th ing we n t ve ry wel l," Vui ll emin said, "because there was too much pres s ure ; too m a ny g uys coming to me , to see m e , to talk to m e about t he Tri p le C rown. A lot of Fr en c h TV ca me he re , lot of people from Franc e , m ay b e t o o m a n y p e op le , j us t be c a us e of th e m one y. I was okay, [but ] I cou ld not re st. I had to ta lk to eve ry bo dy; it w a s k ind o f a m e s s toda y. Norm a lly I sleep like one hour afte r p ra ctice , a nd I cou ld not s lee p ton ight . My routine was c ha nged . "My goal wa s no t th e T riple Crow n but to race g ood ," Vuille m in a dded . "I d id not th ink about that [th e mon e y], be c a us e it wa s just like bo nu s m oney