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/128627
AMA/Ch e vy T ru c k s U .S. M o t o c r o s s Championships Rou n d 1 0 : Spring C r e e k Motocross P a r k of t h e f i rst turn . D o w d wa s a b it f ig u r ed o ut , a nd T o r t ell i n e v e r g ot ahead t h is time, and he was aw arde d close enou g h to c ha llenge . LaRocco an d Vui llem in b oth got by t h e $500 T H Q h oles hot awa rd . Behind the two was T ortel li , Huff - D o wd o n t he third la p, w h il e Re yn a rd man , L aR o c c o , V uillem in and K T M ' s w a s a lso wo r k ing u p aft e r a n inth - S h a y n e K ing . L us k was a b it fa rther p lace s tar t. V u il l em i n clo se d o n b a c k , and F e rr y wa s i n 22nd a f t er T ortelli t h ro ughout th e n ext fe w la ps, g o ing d o wn early . " I f ell o n th e first an d h e m ade th e pass for secon d in lap tr yin g t o g o un der W indham ," th e h ills a bit later . ' F erry later ex p la ined. " T h e front end B y t he halfway p o in t of th e rn oto, wa shed o ut, and I dropped out of th e C a rm ich a e l was n ea rl y 20 secon ds top 20. A littl e b it later , I ra n into the a he a d of Vuill em in . LaRocco h ad b a c k of L a rry W ard , wh o h ad g one p a ssed T o rtelli for t h ird , and Reyn ard d o wn aroun d a blind turn , and I f ell w as pressuring Dowd an d w a s lo ok - again." T orte ll i got b y D owd e a rl y an d t r ie d t o ca tch up t o Carmicha el , but i n g strong . Beh ind h im and o n th e c ha rge was A lbertyn , who had started in 11 t h . t he Fl orid a s peedster had h i s lin es Lusk pulled o ff th e tra c k and wa s BRIEFLY• •• The bigg est new s of the day was tha t Demari ni S uzuki's Tyler Eva n s and The Edge Sports.co m's Ph il Lawrence we re bo th disqualified from their morni ng heat race and the entire event after gett ing into a squabble. Evans was disqualified for over-aggre ssive riding as he slammed Lawre nce in the final co mer before the checkers whi le both were in qualifying position . Both ride rs w ent down in the incident. and as they returned to their bikes . they got int o a brief fight on the track. After the race. Lawrence waited for Evans and they lightly went at it again. AMA track referee Duke Finch said that he understood Lawrence' s actions on the track. but when he waited for Evans after the race, he was disqualified for retaliation. Motoworl d of EI Cajon' s Greg Sc h n ell, who has had a very impressive year, said that he didn't want to deal with the silly-season trading and that he signed a two -year deal with Motoworld of EI Cajon. Schnell also said that the team will have a semi and three riders next year. Schnell had several othe r offers from so me big -name teams . but the mo ney and th e co mfo rt he has on his current bikes were hard to beat. Honda-support rider St ev e Lamson had a day that he would rather forget. The Works Connection/ DGYlTroy Lee/P PG/H ansen' s-sponsored rider failed to score any points as he re-injured his knee in the first mot o. Lamson sat out the second mota and later said, "This thing [his kneel is done. I've got to get it fixed soon. 1"11have it checked out and hopefully I can do the final two race s ... Mike laRocc o ' s number matches his position in the points standings. He was third overall at Millville. 250cc moto fin ish , an d Vuill emin w a s third. T ortelli, LaRocco, Dowd, Wind ham , Ward , Huffman and Reynard The Team Cannondale riders.of Keith Johnson and Jeff Gibson were pitting out of a U-Haul box van at M illville because of several malfunctions on their regular transporter. Gibson said. "That thing needed some help. The frame was bent and it wasn't running right. so it' s in the shop for a while." w er e t h e rest of the top 10. " I don't know where on the track I " I had a tough tim e pas sing w as fa st er at, but 1 kept pulling away L a Ro c c o ," and it worked ," Carmichael sa id from Vuillemin sa id. " H e w a s a ll over the th e p odium . place. " third -p lac e f inisher " I' v e always done good here at Mil - MOTOT\NO lville and came close to .w i n n i n q a moto here last y e a r," F erry sa id . " I' m The start was a ca rbon cop y of the prett y pump ed t o finis h s ec o n d w ere side by s ide going in to and o ut but he didn't help it any while riding at W ashougal two weeks ago either." team manager Billy Whitley noted . The THQ H o le s ho t Awards were presented at Millville and the honors in the two 125cc moto s this week went to M otoworld of EI Cajon's Gr eg Schnell for the first moto start and Yamaha of Troy' s Justin Buckelew in the second mota. In the 250cc class. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael and Jo hn Dowd had the quickest trigger fingers. All four of the riders receive $500 for their respective holeshots. first moto, as Carmichael a n d Dowd b eh ind Re. " AXO/ Motoriou s.com' s David Pingree was out of action at Millville. with a bum shoulder. " His cra sh at Troy wi th Steph ane Ron cada several weeks ago w as the ori ginal reason of the inju ry. Team Hond a' s Ezra Lusk mad e a m uch -anti cipa ted ret urn to racin g at Mill vill e. The Geor gia n has been out of action since Southwi ck back in ear ly June, and has been resting and healing ba ck at hom e. "I was fine at Southwick , but I sprained my wrist the day befo re Bu dds Creek , and it' s ju st take n a long ti me to get better." Lu sk explained of his disappear ance. "Peopl e hav e been telling m e to just let it heal on its own, and it takes a lot of time." Lu sk look ed good in practice and qualify ing on Sunday m orn ing , as he easily raced to victory in the seco nd 250cc quali fying heat race . In the firs t 250cc National moto he started well but faded to a 19th-pl ace finish . In the second m oto, he pulled off the tra ck about halfway th roug h the m oto and ca lled it a day. Whe n asked at th e end of the day h ow he fe l t an d wh at hap pe ne d, Lusk had somew ha t of a surp rise answer. "It was j ust too mu ch for the wrist. Too much, too early . Th at' s it for the Nationals. I' m going too take a lot more time off and let this th ing heal. I want to race the U.S . O pen , the World Supercross Championship and ge t ready for nex t year's U.S . Sup ercross series. I want to be 100 percent for th ose." O n another note, Lusk p lans to get married to his girlfriend on Sep tem ber 16. 30 A UGUST 23 , 2000 · c U c I II! n Ii!! VII' So M ota XXX/ O'Neal/PSI's Kyle Lewis and Motoworld of EI Cajon' s Greg Schnell earned this week's U. S" T obacc o T o p Privateer Awards at Millville. Lewis' 11-12 finishes and 11th overall gave him the nod in the 250cc class over runner-up Heath Voss. Voss too k his Great Lakes/Sinisalo/ Gaeme·sponsored Honda to a 14· 10. 10th overall. Schnell was top privateer in the 125cc class with an impressive 5·12 day for ninth overall. while runner-up Randy Valade rode a DGY/ Pro Circuit!AXO-backed Honda to a 24-18 ride for 21st overall. The top privateers in each class receive $ 1000 from U.S. Tobacco'. while the runners-up each take home $50 0. The doghouse in the middle of the starti ng gate at Spring Cre ek Motocross Park is now a three-story tower. Track owner J ohn M artin said that he built it for tw o reasons . On e . so the guy who drops the gate at local races can watch. and. two. because he (Martin) is so short . that with the new sign behind the starting gate. he can't see the whole track from the real tower . Sunday morni ng qualifier saw Yarnaha-mounted Greg Schnell and AXO /M otorious.com's Branden Jesseman take the wins in the two 125cc qualifiers. while KTM 's Shayne King and Honda's Ezra Lusk took the 250cc heat race wins. DGY/ AXO's David Oettel and Planet Honda's Jean-Sebastian Roy took the 125cc and 250cc consolation wins respectively. Plano Hon da's Paul Currie was in attendance at Mill vill e but elec ted not to ride due to a so re thumb. "I hurt it at Unadilla when I crashed with Lamson and it"s been bothering me ever since." Cu rrie said . Team mem ber J iri Dostal is also cu rrently o ut of actio n, but team manage r Kenny Wa tson said that the team is go ing to remain the ~ame for next ye ar althoug h Currie has yet to sign . Factory Con nection/Competition Accessories /Jack in the Box' s Chris Gosselaar was involved in an ugly first-turn crash during the 125cc consolation race Sunday morning. and he too wa tched the Nation al from. the side lines. Gosselaar. and no less th an five other rider s. was involved in the tangle and he complained later of a sore hand and" head.Snowcross sensation Tucker Hibbert qualified for his first ever National on Sunday. The 16year-old Minnesota-resident and Team Arct ic Cat/Castle Sales/H JC -sponsored rider said that he races mot ocross on a weekly basis in Minnesota and that he was having fun. Hibbert rode to 28 -35 mot o sco res in the 125c c class.