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AMA,/Ch e vy T r u c ks 1 25/250c c Nationa l Cham p ionship Motocross S e ri e s Rou n d : 4 : Motoc r o s s 338 B y CH RIS J O N NU M PH OT OS BY K A RL O CK ERT soaTHWICK, MA, JaNE I! e actua lly c a m e out of this m es s pr etty g o od , " s a id Bru ce Stjernstro m at th e conclus ion of S o uthwi ck's second 250cc moto , a s he perused one of th e most con fusing resu lts sheets to co me out of an MX National in some time . O h, the results were compiled just fine, a nd the event its e lf wa s unusuall y well organized, but the Chevy Trucks /Kawasaki team manager 's comment was re ally quite an e loquent wa y of summing up the bew ilde ring array of unpredictable events t hat had taken place when the cir c uit's headline c lass t o ok to t h e sandy confi nes of the Motocross 338 U venue . Exam ples ? The m an who was lead ing the points chase coming into New En gl a n d - Team Yamaha 's Dav id Vu ill e m in - now s its four th in t h e sta nd ings , the victim of a firs t-moto fried clu tch and a resultant DNF . The m an who rul ed the first Southw ick moto with a n iron fist - Tea m Honda 's Sebastien Tortelli - faltered in the sec o nd outing and c ould o nly pull off a fifth place in moto two , sa lvaging runner -up overa ll honors . And a man who hadn't finished on the podium sinc e his days on a 125 - Team S uzu ki's Robbi e Reynard - led a good por tio n of t he first m oto , finishe d t h ird over a ll, a nd was a rgua bly the fas test ride r on the track . 26 JUNE 21, 2000' C II C I e So Stjernstrom 's "m es s" co m ment was right on th e money, but no more so than the bit about his c om ing out of it well, thanks to his team ' s top rider - Ricky Carmichael. After crashing twice and finish ing fifth in the first . moto , Ca rm ic ha e l returned to dominate the second moto , to somehow pull out a n overall victory on the day, and to go from being three positions and 14 points out of the po ints le ad , to just two positions a nd s ix points out. "I' v e kind o f b een in a s lump, " Carm ic ha e l sa id . "It fel t good to ge t o ut th ere and win. I'm here to win a c ha m pions hip, and I thin k 1 showed today that I'm go ing to be to ugh." MOT01 As the riders p re p a re d to fill the ga te for the .first 30 -minute -plu s -two lap o uting , fat drops o f ra in be g an fall ing from th e sky, lightn ing bo lts started flash ing, and goggled eyes commenced gl ancing nervo us ly a t ne a rb y t rees and flag poles . Fortunately, the 'we a t he r d id nothing bu t im prove the a lready -a mple traction everywhere but on the long concrete start pa d . The re , the w ater mad e thi ngs a bit s li pp e ry , though n ot eno ugh to c a use prob lems for Shayne King 's big KTM thump er , which hoo ke d up and rocketed the Kiwi to a c onvinc ing ho leshot, Reyna rd soon dis patched King, ho we v e r , who looked stro ng and com fo rt a ble as he be g a n putti ng a gap o n the factory Hond a of Kevin neVIl's Windham . "I lik e sand," Reynard unde rstat ed. "I love it." Among the ma ny top riders who had gated poorly we re Carm ic ha e l, Mike La Roc co a nd Vuillemin. The first two we re freig ht-training through the pack when they collided a nd we nt off the rails in a tu rn o n the first la p. "He's re al hyper," said Amsoil/ Facto ry Co nnection/Co mpetition Acces s ori es/J a ck in the Box Ho nda ride r The 250 c c c las s la unche s off Sou t hwick 's wide, concrete start slab and onto its de ep, da mp sa nd. Shayne King (1101 pulled both holeshot s, Ric ky Cannic hael (4) grabb e d the overall w in, and Se bast ien Tortelli (2 1) a ssumed t he p oints lea d. La Roc c o , whose expa nsion c hamber ha d a big en ough hole ripped in it that ,he wou ld eventua lly have to pit for a new one. "I ha d just passed him, and he was try ing to pa ss m e back . We So uthwick. Massachusetts' Motoc ross 338 facility is a unique venue on the National schedule - not only beca use it's the circuit's only sand track, but also because it's the only National run by the American Legion (the track's name comes from the number of the local legion post). Nationals have been held at Southwick since 1976 (though it was left off the sched ule for a three-year stretch in the early '80s). It got its start when the Southw ick Police Department was lookinq for a way to raise some money, so local resident Bernie Yelin, whose son rode, organized a motocross event in the center of town (land outside of town was later cleared for the current track). The track's eventual success meant that a private corporation had to be formed, but the facility's pristine condition has survived - as has the practice of donating a hea lthy chunk of the profits (from both the National and New England Sports Committee races) to local charities. "We have a ball doing this and helping out the differ organizations," sa id Yelin - now ent in his 80s, but still sharp as a tack. MX 338 had a bit of controversy this year, centering on a sect ion of land that was ad ded o nto th e p its to a ccom modate the la rge number of semis that currently follow the, circuit. The neighbor who owned the land had gra nted permission for the area to be use d, b ut according to National Promoters' Group representative Frank Gerrace, the workers accidentally cleared about an extra 100 feet of lan d. An injunction was served at the ยข last minute, and MX 338 paid $25 ,000 in order to run the race, but it plans to fight the Steve Lamson, the 125cc c lass points leader, neighbor in court afterward. enjoying the MX 338 facility.