Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

BRIEFLY••• This year' s UlS Vega s track feat ured an all-new sect ion that actually looped outside the n o rth e n d of the stadium . As a result. lap times were well aver a minute , makmg It the longest "indoor" track of the year. Jeremy McG rath's average lap lime was 1 minute and 11.826 seconds. and the 2Q-lap final took 23 minutes and 56.520 second s to co mplete. Usually It'S around 19 minutes. So you rniqht say that those who watched the UlS Vega s Supercross at home on Pay Per View. certainly got their money 's worth. There was also a sand Section , an extremely long start straight with a hard 180degree first tum . and the aforementioned" outside section - that left the stadium, Speaking of P ay Per V"lew, PAC E Motorsport s' Charlie Mancuso said that if II take approximately 120 days before they'll know exactly how many people tuned in to watch the race on television. FMF/ Honda's Chris Gosselaar injured his wris t while pract icing on the UlS Vega s track on Friday. The Am soil/ Com petlt;on Ac cessories/ Jack in the Box/Factory Con nection Honda rider cased one of the triples and jammed his wrist. G osselaar was in a lot of pain and it looked as though his wee kend was done early. But on Saturday. Gosselaar felt that the injury was n't as bad as first thought and com peted . finishing 11th in the 125cc main. C hevy Trucks Kawasaki 's John Dowd is still up in the air as far as compe ting in the opening round of the AMA/Chevy Trucks National C hampionship 250 cc M X Series at Glen Helen, May 12. Dowd was scheduled to see his o rthopedic doctor on Monday. May 8. when It will be decided as to whether or not he's ready to race again. Dowd injured his back w hile practicing a few wee ks ago. Kevin W indham's mechanic A lley S e ma r was sporting a new cas t on his wrist at Las Vegas . Semar said he was wo rking on W indham's bike on Monday whe n he jammed his wrist while cutting spokes . He originally didn't think much of the injury , but when he arrived in UlS Vegas on W ednesday and the wris t was still bothersome. he deeded to visit a hospital, where it was discovered he had actually broken the wri st. (Above) Greg Schnell (6 3) nai l ed the h o l e s h o t I n the 125cc final and went on to finish f o urth. (Ri g ht) Stephane Roncada, now carryi ng the number-one p late for his East Coast 1 2 5 c c SX Championship, came from w ay behind to finis h a v ery i m p res s i v e seco nd I n the 125c c final. Mazda's Jack Sta fa no was also wearing a cas t on his arm. Sta fano said he was practicing at the Lake B sinore track in California when he suffered the injury. There wa s no number 1W in the 125 cc EastlWest Shoo tout, as Team SpiitFire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki 's Shae Bentley was s uffering from the Ru since Wednesday. and was IIOmiling and suffering co ncentration lapses when exerting himself. Bent ley skipped Thursday's press day and most of practice , and although he valiantly co ntested his heat race. he called it quits after that. "I'm glad It happened now instead of later, " said Bentley. "I've got to worry about next weekend.Al ley Semar Schnell o ver a double on the course 's outside sect ion , then powered by teammate Fon seca on the next straight. That put him second by lap J ack Stafano seven , but Pastrana had already broDonovan Mitchell, who suffered a paralyzing injury during last off·season, was on hand with girlfriend Amber Gause at Vegas to cheer on his KTM teammate s. "I'm doing a lot better than last time I talked to you ," said Mi tchell, referring to his February interview in Cycle News. ken free by about s ix seconds . The top four then settled down for a while, while a crowd-pleasing fight for and kind of ten sed up after that: fifth developed between FMF/Honda's Fonseca . " I got a little tight. and it Brock Sellards . Amsoil /Competition was hard for me to find the right line said Accessories/Jack i n the Box/ Factory in the whoops . I was having a little Co nnection 's Chris Gosselaar and trou ble there. " S plitFire/ Pro Circui t Ka wasaki's Nick W e y . This t rio went at it for severa l go" aroun ds, t r ading p o sition o n a regular eN Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, Nevada There we re only eight factory -backed riders at this year's Supercross finale at UlS Vega s. whic h oidn't bother the privateer riders any; 12 of them filled the startinq line for the main event. Some of the stars sitt;ng out the Veg as final included Honda 's Ezra Lusk , Suzuki' s Greg A1bertyn and Robbie Reynard. Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's John Dowd. Strategic 3/The EdgeSports.com's Jeff Emig and Phil Lawrence . Team Yamaha's Jimmy Button, and Mazda/ Chaparral Yamaha's Tim Ferry. Lusk. A1bertyn. Reynard, Ferry and poss ibly Dowd , however, will be back on the track for the opening round of the Chevy Trucks/ A MA outdoo r National M X Series, which is set to begin on May 12 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bemardino, California. Results: May 6, 2000 b a si s unt il Gosselaar got b u c k ed off i n the whoops, a nd - after a s hort rodeo ri de with both legs o n one side of his CR " went down . From th ere on in , things were pretty much decided among the top sev eral riders , although Schnell and Fon -s e c e d i d swap third place several ti mes i n t he late going. In t he e nd. it w a s Pa stran a winn ing over R o n c a d a 12 5 HEAT 1 (6 laps. 1· 9 tr ansf er ): 1. Tr avis Pa s tr an a (S uz); 2 . St e pha ne Ron ca d a (Ya m ); 3 . Nicholas Wey (Kaw ); 4. Tyl er Evans (Suz); 5. Brock Sellards (Hon ); 6. Tyso n Hadsell ( Ya m); 7. Ern esto Fon sec a (Yam); 8 . Ryan Cl ark (S uz); 9 . Br anden Jessemon (Suz): 10. Joseph Oehlhof (KTM): I I. Robbie Skaggs (Hus): 12. Kelly Smith (KTM); 13. TIm Hawthorne (Kaw); 14. Chris Wheeler (KTM): 15. Paul Ca rpenter ( Hus}: 16 . Paul Currie ( Ha n); 17. Doug DeHaan (Han) ; 18. J ason Fink (Yam) . Winner's lime: 7 min .. 27.660 sec. 125 HEAT 2 ( 6 laps , 1·9 transfer) : I . Tra vis Pastran a (Suz) ; 2 . Robbie Hort on (S uz ) ; 3 . Greg Sch ne ll ( Yam ); 4 . Ca se y L y tle ( Ha n ) ; 5 . Chri s Gc s sele er ( Hon ); 6. Danny Sm ith (Ha n ) ; 7 . Bill y Payne ( Kaw); 8. Justin Buckelew (Yam ): 9. Rodri g Tha;n (KTM): 10. Keith Johnson (KTM); 11. Shae an d Fo n s e ca . Schnell was the top Bentl ey (Kaw): 12. tseiah J ohn son (Hon): 13 . Ja m ey Gr osser (Han ) ; 14 . J a son McC orm ick ( Ha n); 15 . Western R eg io n a l r ider, despite a fa ll J ason Tho ma s (Yam). Winner's TIme ; 7 m in.• 480 sec. Fans had trouble distinguishing Yamaha of Troy 's Ernesto Fonseca from teammate Stephane Roncada in UlS Vegas . On top of the facts that the two share similar body shapes and riding styles . and that they were las usuall dressed nearly identically, were their numbers . Newly crowned Eastem Regional champ Roncada was wearing number 1E fo r the EastlWest Shoot oul. Fonseca, who wo re number 1 all year, was sporting number 28. quite similar to Honcada's usual number (26) . Jim m y B utton Mark Burkhart (KTM); 16. Neil Alonzo (Suz); 17. over the finish -line j u m p . and S e ll a rd s Speaking of J immy Button. the Team Yamaha rider made his first race appea rance since suffe ring a spinal injury at th e San Diego Supercros s in January. Button said he was glad .to be back at the races. and was getting around under his own power quite well. He spent most of the day and evening s;gn;ng autographs and says he hopes to be racing again by next year. co m pleted the top fi ve . Completing the top 10 were Wey , Bill's Pi pe s /Motorious.com S uzuki team mates D a v i d Ping ree and B r a n d e n Jesse man, and K TM cohorts Keith Johnson and K ell y Smith. " I couldn't ask for a better sea · son : s a i d Pastrana, rel uctantly taking a s ho rt break from his post - race a utogra p h s igning. " I've been w ork ing reall y h ard t ry ing to .r ide smarter and sm o o t h er." "I 'm used to wo r k ing m y wa y up , " s aid Roncada , appar ent ly u n i m p r e s s e d with h is own ch arge. " I m a d e a mistake in the who o p s , \25 EAST lCQ (4 laps. \ -2 transfer): 1. Robbie Skaggs (Hus); 2. Kell y Smith (KTM); 3. Joseph Oehlhof (KTM); 4. Chris Wheeler (KTM): 5. Tim Hawthorn e ( Kaw); 6. Paul Carpenter (Hus) ; 7. Paul Currie (Hon); 8. Doug DeHaan (Han ): 9 . J ason Fink (Yam). Winner's TIme ; 5 min.• 18.930 sec. 125 WEST l CQ (4 laps. \ ·2 transfer); 1. Mark Burkha rt (KTM); 2. Keith Johnson (KTM ); 3 . Isaiah J o hn son ( Ha n ) ; 4 . Ja son Mc Cormi ck ( Han ) : 5 . .Jarn e y Grosser (Han); 6. Neil Alo nzo (Suz); 7 . Shae Bentl ey (Kaw ); 8. Jason Thom as (Yam) . Winner 's Time : 5 min ., 13. 180 sec. 125 M. I N ( 15 laps): 1. Tra vis Pastrana (Suz) ; 2. A Srep he ne Ron cade ( Yam ) : 3. Ern e st o Fo n sec a (Ya m) ; 4 . Greg Sc hn ell ( Yarn}: 5. Broc k Selle rd s ( Ho n); 6 . Ni c ho las Wey (K aw ) ; 7 . Da vid Pin gree {Suz): 8. Brand en .Jes sernen (Suz); 9 . Keith Jo hnson (KTM): 10. Kelly Smith (KTM): 11. Chrls Gosselaor (Hon); 12. Casey lytle [Hon): 13. Ryan Clark (Suz); 14. Tyson Hadsell (Yom): 15. Mark Burkhart (KTM); 16. Justin Buckelew (Yam); 17. Robbi e Horton (Suz); 18. Rodr:g Thain (KTM): 19. Rob bie Skaggs (Hus); 20. Danny Smith (Hon) ; 2 1. Billy Payne (Ka w); 22 . Tyler Eva ns (Suz) . Tim e: 18 mi n., 55.390 sec. Wann s Average Lap : 1 m in.• 15.759 sec. er' Margin of Victory: 5.00 3 sec. The coolest pit shirt award went to Team FMF/ Honda. whose person nel were sporting special FMF Hawaiian shirts. Best pit food award went to Fast by Ferraci. who se Italian manager Eraldo Ferraci was Serving up plates of delicious pasta (no doubt appreciated by Italian team member Alessio Chiodi. whQ was on hand and will debut at the outdoor openerl . David Vuillemin showed that he' s not superstitiou s when he donned white ndmq gear for Vegas . The Frenchman has wo m blue gear all year long , and many riders believe that the colo r of their gear affect s their luck on the track. To help Vuillemin's confidence for the race, Fox had some special pants made up with slot-machine reels on the butl. The first two reels displayed dollar signs, while just the top of the third dollar sign co uld be seen . To accommodate the extra riders in the 125cc EastlWest Shootout. a different qualifying format was run. Following the traditional two heat races. Last-Chance Qualifiers were run for both the Eastem and the Westem riders . Nonnally, only one LCQ is run. Mike UlRocco was wearing a new helmet in Vegas, painted by ESPN2 co mmentator Jerry Bernardo. Fast by Ferraci Husqvama's Pa u l Carpente r suffered a scary crash in the first 125cc heat race when another rider landed on him over the finish double. Carpenter broke his helmet and cut up his face in the fall, and laid in the track for several laps while medical person nel atte nded him. AMA M X Manager Duk e Finch' s new policy of postinq a red-cross (no jumping) Rag on finish jumps proved a wise dec ision here, cue I ... n e vv s MAY 17.20 00 9

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