Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

A M A F all Cla s s iclEa s t e r n F o ur-St r o k e Nat ional S e r ie s R o u n d 1 : Budds C r e e k MX Park By moto o ne , b ut c h a rged through th e pa ck to finis h a n ev entual four th . In the s e c ond m ot o , Plott s sh ot from g a te o n th e h e el s o f Fr ed e ric kt own Yamaha 's J a son Conlon before taking over the lea d o n the second lap an d racing .to the decisive win . Afte r h is conv inci ng fi rst -moto w in , Sh e n and o a h Hond a / RRP / O ' Ne al ' s Ke vin Crine loo ked to ha ve the overa ll sewn-u p - runn ing second to Plotts late in moto two - before suffering a flat just befor e the final lap and dropp ing to fo ur t h . Plotts ' 4 -1 ride wa s go od enough to beat out Cr ine 's 1-4 for th e ove ra ll. "That wa s great," sa id Plotts , refer ring to h is stro ng second- moto per formance . "I knew I could go out a nd beat thos e guys - I wa s riding g ood and m y lap times we re the re . Once I got o ut j n front, I just c ha rged an d tried to pull a little bit of a le ad." S uzuki /Thor/Podi um On e ' s Ben Riddl e was t h ir d o ver a ll, wi th 5 -2 mo to s co res. Th e 125cc Pro class wa s the sole property of Nation al number 69 Tom Welch . Welch , from nearby Charlotte Ha ll, Ma ryla nd , came o ut swinging in mo t o on e , ta k ing hi s F r ees t ate C y cl e s / O ' Ne a I/ Bu m p st ik s / Bie ffe b a c ke d Suzuki to t he co m ma nd in g wire -to -wire win over Crine an d Plan o JERRY A T HE Y BUDDS CREEK, MD, SEP. 10 , t m us t have fe lt like 1999 a ll over again to KTM's Kelly Sm ith . For th e se con d year in a row , the 20 -yea ro ld from Lud in gto n , Mic higan , took c om m a nd of the Fo ur-Stroke Nationa l c lass a t ro und 1 of the AMA/ Ballze e Fa ll Cla s s ic/Fou r-Stro ke Nationals by Husq varna , h eld at t h e b ea u t ifu l Bud ds Cre ek MX Pa rk facility. With a combined pu rse of $8500 - a long with a $2 0 ,000 series point fund - up for grab s , S m it h p ilot ed h is S t eve Matt hes-tuned factory KTM 520SX to a s t ro ng 2 -1 s howi ng to cli n c h t h e opening victory - a nd the se ries po ints lea d . In th e first moto , Sm ith chased Cannondale 's Keith Joh nson fo r the du ra t ion of the ra c e to fin is h in th e ru nn e r-u p posi tion . Smith b oun c ed ba ck in the second outing to ta ke the m ot o win - and overall - des pite s t ron g e arl y s how ings from bo th Johnson a nd RRP's Ty Wa lla ce. J ohnson wou ld finish ou t the day in second ove rall , via 1-3 moto s co res , whi le Wall a c e' s 3 -2 fini s hes gave him the final s po t on the podium. Topping the 250cc Pro cl a ss was VPE/Montgomeryville Cycl e's Damien Plotts , from Millm ont, Pe nnsylvan ia. Plotts was the victim of a poor start in 22 S EPTEM B E R 27 , 2000 ' c ue I e newu s KTM's Kelly Smith w on t he opening round of th e AMA Fa ll C la ssic Se ries at Budds Creek. Honda 's Travis Elliott. Welc h started the second m oto o n th e re a r fende r of Elliott's teammate , Iva n Tedesco . Already in pos it ion for t he ov era ll vi ct o ry , We lch inhe r ited t h e lead wh en T ede sco w en t down in a muddy off-c a m ber e a rly in th e race . Desp ite a spi rit ed charge from Rid dl e , We lch held his ground and was rew arde d with h is s e c ond m oto win of th e da y. "I fee l re a lly good a bo ut m y ride, " s a id We lch . "I've been dea ling with a sto m ac h illn e s s a ll we e k and I wa s still abl e to ke e p it togeth er and go ha rd th e who le tim e . Ben wa s on me for those last c oup le of la ps , but I was still ab le to step it up and get a little breathing room." Crine to ok second overa ll with 2 -5 m oto finis he s , followe d b y Hus q va rna 's Dav id Kratz, who we nt 6 -3 for third ov er a ll. FOUR-S I RUKE NATlONAL J ohnson shot his b rig ht- red Ca nnonda le int o the lea d to be g in moto on e , followed by Walla c e a nd Smith. "I c a m e o ut of the gate like a roc k e t and pr etty m uch killed e ve rybo dy to the first turn, " said Johnson . Not wanting J ohn s on to get aw ay , Sm ith s liced u nde r Wallace on t he approa ch to an uphill doub le jump to take over second. KTM-mo un ted riders Tim othy Mut er spaugh a nd Chad Gou c h enou r we re thi rd a nd fou rth. Now with J oh ns on clea rly wit h in his s ights, Smith c ha rged to within a few bike lengths of his competitor. Despite th e pre s su re from Sm ith , J ohn s on stay ed strong a nd we nt o n to tak e th e m oto vic to ry , gi ving Ca nno ndale its first-ev er National win . Smith cha rge d in for s e c o nd , fo llowed by Wal lace . Muter spau gh was fou rth , followed by Br ian Ma s on in fift h . S ixth we nt to Go uc h e no u r , fo llow ed b y Dia m o nd Motorsports / MX Bo nz's Chris S c hue le r in seventh. Micha e l Ca mpbe ll wa s e ig hth. Ke ith S eeg e r wa s ni nt h a nd Mike Ma rtin was 10th. "I re ally wa nte d to get a good s tart be cause they ha d watered th e t rack and I kn e w it was a little s lick ," s a id J ohnson. "Ke lly wa s right on m e , but I just tried to ride m y own lines a nd be smo oth . Th ese ra ces a re kind of s hort, s o yo u hav e to go for it rig ht from th e be ginn ing ." J ohn s on , o nc e aga in , fle w to th e h o le s ho t in m oto t wo , foll o wed b y Wa lla ce and S mith. Be fore the completion of the lap , Wa llace mo ved into the le a d with Smith in tow . J ohn son d ro pp ed t o third . S m it h went a ft er Walla c e in th e n e x t se t o f turns , s wee p ing unde r th e Ya m ah a rider a t th e bott om of a st ee p down h ill to take ove r the le ad . " I pa s s e d Ke ith by goi ng o ut s ide u p th e finis h-lin e hill , " ex p la in e d Smith . "The n, a fte r we dropped down the big hill by the old start, Ty we nt wide an d u s e d t h e be rm . I stuck it inside a nd made a clea n pass." With S m ith now solidly in th e le ad , the top three riders - S m ith , Wallace a nd Joh nso n - began to p ull awa y. Gou c henou r and Sc hu e le r battled for fourth. Sm ith we nt o n t o ta ke th e mo to wi n - a n d overa ll - followe d c lose ly b y Wallace a nd J ohn s on . Sc h ue ler, who is Dis t ric t 7' s 1999 Open A class and Fo ur -Stroke Champion , finished out his day in style by ta king fourth . Mas on was a consistent fifth , fo llow ed by an eq ua lly co nsis t e nt s ixth f ro m Gouc he nour. Muterspaugh was seventh, Ma rtin was e ig ht h a nd Benjam in Rutledg e wa s n inth. And rew T s a ka n ik a s. ro u nd e d out the top to. 250cc PRO Kra tz bla ste d to th e holeshot, fol lowe d c los e ly by Crin e a nd Co n lon. Try ing to get away e a rly, Crin e too k o ve r th e lead b efore t h e firs t lap, b litzing p a s t Kr atz o n a t e c hn ic a l wh oop section . On th e next lap , Conlon also dived unde r Kratz , dropping the Hus ky rid e r to thi rd . With Crine n o w s olid ly in th e lead , J o h ns o n began to c h a rge fro m fou rth - firs t ta ki ng over th ird from Kra tz with a s wee pi ng outside - ins ide p a s s and

• Cover