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/128619
A M A/ M o t o w o r ld of E I C ajo n Western F ou r-St r o k e N a t io n a ls Roun d 4 : Hun g ry Valley S V RA P ark (Left) D u stin Nelson (i) was the only rider to jump " T h e Himalayas" - a h uge quadrup l e jump in the back part of the track. Sp u d Walters (4) d oubledoubled the section all d ay and still found a way t o beat Nelson. (Right) Spud Walters has dominated this series so far, winning seven out of eight motos and all four overalls. (B elow) T he C hallenger: C rai g Decker (44) - who, after a three-ye ar ret irem e nt, h ad been rid ing for a total of six weeks b efore t he Na tional - showed awesome spee d a nd g lasslike smoothness throughout the d ay. He h ad rid d en his stock VZ42 6 F less than 10 times before race day a nd imp ressed a l ot of people, inc luding points leader Sp u d Walters. th e le aders ' pace all the way through the pac k to n ip a t his hee ls . T a ylor came in fifth. M OT0 2 By ST EVE Co x PHOTOS BY M ITCH F RIEDMAN GORMAN, CA, JUNE 11 pud Walters is quietly establishing himself as "T h e Man " in th e AMA/Motoworld of EI Cajon Western Four-Stroke Nationals . He is a perfe ct four for four so far in the series , and h e's won s even out of e ight m otos run thus far. If that's not dominance , wh at is? Mo t ow orld o f EI C ajon 's Dustin Nelson , although pretty much out of the champ ionsh ip chase , is S s howi ng that he 's go ing to do h is best not to le t th e White Broth ers- s po nso red Wa lter s ta ke a ll th e glor y o n his wa y to the c ha m p ions hip; and Te am Breedlove 's Cr aig Decker h a s c o m e o ut of e a rly retirement to c h a lle ng e t hes e four-stroke m asters , show in g that he is better than par for th e c ours e and will likely take a few skins before this series is over. M OT01 The first moto started with a bo om as the 33 riders rounded th e first turn BRIEFLY. •• Craig Decker returned to racing at Hungry Valley. riding a com plete ly stock- moto red YZ426F for Team Breedlove. The former Factory Suzuki rider was . at limes. the only rider to keep pace wit h the Yamahas of Dustin Nelson and Spud Walters. Where's he been? Since his retirement in '97 . Decker has been working as an assistant golf pro at a 36-hole course in Temecula. Talk about a change of pace. Speaking of Team Breedlove. the team is owned by Jim Breedlove. son of Craig Breedlove of wo rld-land-speed-record-settmq fame . Look fo r some really big things from this man and his team in the Fo ur-S tro ke Nationals . J immy Lamastu s w as ridi ng a borrowed KTM 520SX after his one and o nly titaniu m header pipe for his Husaberg disappeared from his box van afte r practice on Saturday. He ran up front until the borrowed mount gave up the ghost late in the second moto. It' s not too co mmon to see a D R-Z400 running up front at a high-level motocross event. but Rich Taylor made his wo rk with plenty of help fro m BB R Motorsport s. In order to be competitive. he was running modified RM suspension. a Yoshimura exhaust. an RM -style BBR Motorsports aluminum gas tank. an RM seat and a - highly modified " engine. He finished an impressive third overall. The s econd mot o sta rt was d isas trous for Decke r, as he hit the g round in a he ap an d wa s lu c ky no t to get ru n over. Wa lte rs gra b be d th e holeshot and was off an d ru nn in g . J ohn Sereika ran seco nd ear ly o n , a nd Taylor started nicely in fifth. Decker' jus t got his bike runni ng as Wa lters completed the first la p with a growi ng lead over La m a stu s . De cker wo uld be the o nly pe rs o n who c ould stay with Wa lte rs , al beit a la p behind him on the sc ore ca rds , as h e le d, t hen c h a s e d , Wa lt ers th e ' e n t ir e m ot o , f in is h in g two bi k e lengths beh ind - in the 17t h position. It wa s Walters' moto , as Nelson was busy out -jumping th e field to secure second by the six th la p, Chasing Wai ters was fut ile, how ev er , a nd Nelson rode in second , fo llow e d b y Taylor, who passed Lamastu s for th ird before his borrowed ride ex pired on la p 11 of 13. Sereika held on for fo urt h on his YZF , and Cra ig Dav is garne red fifth p lace on h is VOR. CN a nd thunde red around th e tra c k . Nelso n held down th e point, but Walt ers was right on his tail. Decker , expe rie nci ng his first full-gate start in a bo ut th ree ye a rs, rounde d th e first turn in th e 24th pos ition . As th e pa c k ra c ed toward the back of the track , Ne lson let it all hang out, as he was th e onl y rider to quadruple a huge , blind jump section c a lled "T he Himal a ya s " and stretch o ut a sma ll ad vanta g e over Wal ters , who a lread y h ad a co u ple seconds on VO R rider Tim Sharp, in th ird . Wa lt ers c h as e d Nel s on like a b lo o dh ound afte r a ra c coon fo r 20 stra ight m inutes. Wa lters wo uld c a tc h up to Nel so n ' s rear whe el , on ly to w a t ch Nelso n j ump th e m a s si v e "Him a la ya s" a nd pull a cou p le bike lengths ba c k ou t a g ai n . At the tw o la ps -to -go s ign al , Walter s immedi at ely mad e h is mo ve a nd b litz e d pa s t Nels on through the stadium whoops. Nelso n cha s ed to no ava il a s Walters s pe d aw ay to v ictory . Third p lace we nt to Jimm y Lama stus , abou t 5 0 s eco n ds b eh ind Nel so n o n a bo rro we d KTM, wit h Dec ke r m atchin g cue I e Hungry Valley SVRA Pa rle &onnan, California Results: June 11, 2000 [Round 41 O /A: I. Spu d Walt er s (Yam) 1·1; 2 . Du st in Nelson (Yam) 2·2; 3. RichTaylor (Suz) 5-3: 4. Craig Davis (KTM) 7-4; 5. Scott Myers (KTM) 6-7; 6. Gordon Ward (VO R) 8 -6: 7. Jo hn Sereike (Yam) lO S; 8. Craig Decker (Yam) 4-17; 9. Robert Naughton (Yam) 12-9: 10. TIm Sharp (VOR) 1t ·10; t t. Ryan Dudek (Yam) 14-8; t2. Jimmy Lamastus (KTM) 3- 28 ; 13. Beau Baron (Yam) 13-14; 14. Grayson Hart (KTM) 18-12: 15. Kevin Foley (Yam) 17- 13; 16. Rafael Means ( Yam ) 9 -2 1; 17. J a so n M at t h ew s (KTM) 16-15; 18. Cliff Cook (KTM) 29-11: 19. Matthew Batema n (Yam ) 15 -25 ; 20 . Dan a Legere (Yam)21-16. AMA WESTERN FOUR STROK E NATIONAL MOTOCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 of ]2 ro unds ): 1. Spud Walters (197 / 4 wins); 2. Cra ig Davis (1 17) ; 3 . Go rdon Ward (1 13); 4 . Rich Taylor (9 a); 5. Jimm y Lam astu s (9 4) ; 6. Dusti n Nelso n (88 ); 7. (TIE) Scott Myers/ Beau Baron (82); 9. Tim Sharp (76): 10. Donald Upton (70): I t. Cliff Cook (62); 12. Ryan Dudek (54); 13. (TIE) Robert Naughto n/ Grayso n Hart (47) ; 15. Jo hn Serelke (43); 16. (TIE) Ryan Leach/Travis Mark s (40) ; 18. J ason Matt hews (35); 19. Jos h Chisum (33); 20 , Nat han Woods (31). Upcoming Ro u nd s : Round 5 .- Bak ersfield, California. Ju ly 2 Round 6 - Albany, Oregon . July 16 n e _ S • JUNE 28, 2 0 0 0 43