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/128630
AMA,/Ch e vyTru c k s U .S. Motoc r o s s C h a m p io n s h ip Series F inal Round : Ste e l C ity USA the seaso n. The 28-ye ar-old resign ed with h is c u rrent te am fo r next yea r and once a gai n, he will most likely be a strong cand idate fo r the title . Nathan Rams ey finis hed fifth. The Sp litF ire /P ro C ir cu it /K aw a s a ki ba cked ride r went 5 -6 on the day and tied for eig hth in the final s e r ies po ints s ta nd ings. Ramsey w ill move over to the Yamaha of Troy squad for 200 1 a nd most likely be in th e I25cc c la ss a gai n , b ut ridi ng aboa rd the new 250 c c fo ur - s trok e . Rams e y turn ed h is lacklu s t er perfo rm an c e indo o rs into some stro ng rides outdoors a nd he will be ba ck next year with a venge ance. Si xth ov e ra ll was Ramsey 's team m ate Nick Wey . A strong first-m o ta fourth , coupled with a second -mota e ighth , saw Wey finish the s eries in s ixth . The s pa r k that Wey had in 1999 just was not there in Y2K , but like Ramsey , Wey will also move o ve r to th e YOT squad next year and try to come out swingi ng. Yama ha o f T roy b irthd a y -b o y E rn e s t o F o n s e ca finishe d sev enth overa ll bo th on th e day and for the series . His 6 -7 re s ults wer e not a tru e s ig n of his speed. Fo nseca wa s a frontr un ner in mota one , but lit erally move d ov e r to let te a m mate Roncada by to help h im out halfway through the mota. The Costa Rican had somewh a t of a quiet year after his stellar 199 9 , a nd he too will be looking to cha nge thi ngs next year. FMF / Hon d a ' s Bro c k S e lla rd s finish ed e ig hth o ve rall (9 -5). S e lla rds fin ished fourth o ve ra ll in the series and ha s th e hono r to cl a im to be one of onl y five different winn er s in 2000 with his dominant two- mota swee p at Troy. Another hot pr ospect fo r 20 0 I , Sella rd s wa s unsure of his p lans for next ye ar a t pres s time . Middl e ton , Idaho 's Dann y Smith was n inth o verall (10-10). Sm ith finis h e d 10 t h ov erall in the s e rie s as well , a boa rd his FMF /Tho r/909 -s po nsored Ho nda and will be looking for his first big win come next year. Fa cto ry Co nnection/Amso il/B ill's Pipes /O' Nea l' s Ch risto pher Gos se la a r rounded o ut the to p 10 . Th e Ca liforni a - na t ive went 1 1- 12 and fin is he d the series in 23rd aft er m issing sev er a l ro und s due to a scary crash and injury a t Hangtown . Gosselaar will be a nother rider to keep an eye on next year. One rider who can 't be forgotten is Wo rks Connect io n /Troy Lee/DGY/ Honda -rider Steve Lamson . Th e two tim e I25cc c ha m pio n was a no -show at the fina l two rounds . after injuri ng his k nee at Millville. Lamson still fin ish ed the se ries in fifth and is one of th e fe w riders wh o wo n an ove rall (Hangtow n ). La m son will most likely be ridi ng with an o utdoor-only co n tract ne xt ye ar a nd m a y be rid ing a different color a s we ll. Casey Johnson, Rodrig Tha in and Greg S chn ell all ne e d t o be m en - 18 S EPTEM BER 13, 2 000 · cue tion ed , too. Johnson finishe d t h e se ries tied for eig hth and was in atten dance at Steel City , bu t s at o ut aft er a big crash a week e a rlier at Bingha m ton. J ohnson had sev eral in s p ired rides and h e too is not s ure of his plans for next ye a r. KTM ' s T ha in had a da y tha t he would rathe r fo rget at the final ro und , but th e Fr enchman plan s to sta y in Am er ica a nd g ive it another shot next ye ar. Tha in had se veral strong rides throu ghout the ye a r and he will b e looking fo r tha t elusive win a lso. MotoW o rld o f E I C a jo n ' s Greg S chn ell wa s now her e t o b e seen . Rumor had it th at his flight from Ca lifom ia got m e ss ed up , but he still fin ished th e seri es in a respe ctable 13th and wa s named top I25cc pr ivate e r. Greg and his father/tuner Da ve ha ve to be happy about what they acco rn plish ed in 2000. MOTOONE Pa stra na grabbed on e of the most im porta nt holes hots of his young life and led the 39 o th e r riders into turn two . " I s wear, I practic ed a tho usand starts th is week, that's all I did ," Pas trana la te r said. "If I screwed one up, I'd tum rig ht back around and do 20 more until ev ery one was perfect. " Roncada , on the other hand , wa s not so lucky. A group of riders went do wn in the first co rn er and th e un lucky Frenchman was momentarily held u p while try ing t o nav ig a t e around the m ess . "I ha d a pretty g o o d sta rt . bu t so me rid e r cra shed in fron t of m e a n d I h ad n owh er e to go -t o g e t around h im ," Ron c a d a ex pla ined. "I was p retty fa r b a c k a nd th e n I wen t int o t he b ann ers an d t ha t stuff we nt into m y fr ont wh e el a nd I ha d n o fro nt brake fo r t he rest of the rac e ." As Pa str a na led lap o ne , Roncada someho w e nded the first lap in s ev e nth. He knew that he had his work c ut out for himself. Jesseman, Fonse ca , Plano Honda / MSR ' s Iva n T e d e sco , Ra m s e y and MotoWorld of EI Cajo n's Ro bb ie Skag gs we re all in fro nt of Roncada . He qu ickly got a ro und Skaggs a nd Ram s e y and then set o ut a fter Ted es co , but th e Ne w Mex ic o native was o ut for himse lf, nobody else . Ro nc ada chased Tedes co for ne a rly seven la ps . Th e two wo uld be s ideby-s ide th rough the rh ythm sectio n at the top of the hill every lap, but Ron cada just co uld not make a pa ss un til he wore Tedesco out. " I g o t a good start and we were going back and forth ," Tede sco s a id . "I th ink th at line he was using was a littl e fa st e r but I p a s s e d him ba c k a few tim es too." After ba tt ling Ted e sc o fo r so long , Pastra na a nd J e s s em an h ad pu lled away . F on s e c a was s till ahead in th ird , but he was very a ware of where Ron cada wa s behind him . A la p later, I e n e VIl's Fonse c a literally handed the position to Roncada , e ven though he had a toug h tim e a dm itt ing it. " I was rid ing good and I lo st m y co ncentration there , but that's the wa y things go," Fo ns eca said after the ra ce. "I'm s ure that if he was in m y position it wo uld have been th e sa me. I d idn 't ha ve much to lose an d it he lped him and Yamaha so I had to do it." Roncada was now in th ird but the two Suzuki riders were quite a dis t anc e ahead . so Ron cada settled d own a n d c r ui s e d in third for the rema inder of the race. The real surprise was Jesseman . If it wasn't for team tactics , Jesseman may have just won his first moto. He effort le ss ly cha sed Pastrana th e whol e m oto and looked ev e n to be holding back . E ven after a st rong s ec o n dpla ce finish , Jessema n remained calm and re served. "I'm gl ad tha t I c o uld he lp Tr a vis a nd S uz uk i m a yb e w in a c h a m p io n shi p , " Jesse ma n said from th e pod ium . "If I get a sta rt in th e ne xt o ne , I'm goi ng fo r th a t win." Wey fin is he d fo ur t h after an eighth - plac e sta rt a nd a ra c e - lo ng b a t t le w it h Ra m s e y a n d T e d e s c o . Ra m s e y was fifth wh ile Fonseca dropped to s ixth . T e d e s c o fin ished s ev enth , h is b est e ve r moto finish , Heavy-duty mid-week starting practice paid off for Pastrana (1991 at Steel City. He got out In front earty in both motos. w it h Vohland , Se lla rds a rid Dann y Smith rounding ou t the to p 10 . " It's goi ng to c o me down to m e a nd Stephane in th e fina l rno to ," Pa s trana said. "I need to have the ride of my life ." Roncada was now only one po int ahead of Pa stra na and he knew what needed to be done also . "I need to win it next moto," Ronc a da sa id . "I hav e to be at Travis ." M O T O TW O Tedesco nail ed the start but went down hard in turn three in front of th e re st of the fie ld . Buckelew, Pa str ana , Voh la nd a nd Roncada we re ne xt. Buc ke le w le d the firs t ha lf a lap be fore Pastran a m otored by for th e lead . Ron cada got by Vohl and qu ickl y a nd th en Buckel ew shortly thereafter. Th e ra c e was no w set. Pa stran a and Ron c ad a w e re ru n n in g 1-2 a nd pulli ng a w a y fro m th e pac k ea rly. Who ever w a s ahe ad a t t he finish wo u ld b e t he new I25cc Na tio nal Cham pion . Roncada closed some ground on the second la p and was a b o ut tw o - Branden Jesseman continued his late-seas on surge. He again rode well at Steel City, maki ~g the podium in ·thlrd place.