Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2 4th A n n ual Kawasaki R a c e of Ch amp io n s R ace w a y P a r k for the lead in th e first of tw o 30 m inute motos , when R.C. pushed it a little too ha rd in a s oft turn and had his fro nt wh eel go awa y. Dowd was on Carm icha e l's rear fender when the champ got going again , but Carmichael brushed himself off, got ba ck up to speed and c ontro lled the pa c e fo r the rest of the race . Ca rm icha el led from start to finis h in the second moto , as well , but this time he made no m ista ke s. He opene d up a comfortable lead and streaked to victory, but not before making a few m inor detou rs along the wa y to s pray d irt , v ia h is re a r wh e el, o n frie nd s standing a longs ide the tra c k , including , of a ll people, his boss, Kawa saki Tea m Manage r Bruce Stjernstrom, a nd h is t u ner , Ch ad Watts . Ob vi ously , Carmichael was ha ving fun. " I was h a v ing fun , pl a y in g around ," the 25 0cc Pro cla ss winn er s a id afterw ard s . "T h a t's what t his ra ce is all about." "I co u ld n' t c atc h Ric ky ," Do wd said . "He was going fast tod a y , n o dou bt about it." No doubt , too, th at the green co mpany like d th e fa ct th at Kawasak i rid er s - Carm icha el and Dowd - finis hed 1-2 in the Kawasaki-spon sored e ve nt, th o u g h Suzu ki ride r Tr av is Pre ston B y KIT P A LM ER PH OT O S BY K A RL O CKE RT AND STEVE B RU HN ENGUSHTOWN, N.J., SE 30-0CT. 1 PT. t was hard ly a s urprise th at Ricky Ca rmic hael wo n the 24th run ning of th e Kawasak i Race of Ch a m p io n s. Af ter all , he is a fo u r - ti me AMA National MX Cha m pion , a nd a rgua bly th e hott est motoc ros s ride r in t h e coun try - if not th e world - right now . But di d the la c k of s uspense re a lly ma tt er to the 5000-pl us MX-sta rved spectato rs tha t c a m e to New J e rse y's o n ly sanction ed MX track to watc h Ca rmichael perform his magic on the beautifu lly J a y Irwin -p re pa re d Race wa y Pa rk ci rc uit? No . Without a Nat ion a l Championsh ip or major title on the line, Carmichael ca me to Eng lis htown to have fun , wh ich he obviously did as eviden ced by all of the No- Fo ote d Can-Cans and Whips he p erform ed o ve r th e Ra c ew a y Pa rk jumps while leading the 250cc Pro pac k to victory in both motos. Still , Ca rm icha el co uld n 't get too carried a way . His t eamma te J ohn Dowd wa s th e re , too , a nd he 's obvio usl y n o s lo u c h . Dowd k e p t Ca rmichael ho nest in both m otos and e ve n threatened to pass Carm ichael I 26 O CTO BER 1 8, 2 000' c ue I e n eVIl's gave it h is be st t o keep th a t fro m happeni ng , and s o di d Yama ha m ount ed Ty Walla c e a nd Suzuk i rider Da mi en Plotts. Walla ce a ctua lly grab bed the ho leshot on his YZ426F th umper in the first moto and led through a cou pl e of turns before the c o nfid e n ce filled Ca rmichael roosted past him, as did both Dowd a nd Pre ston befor e it wa s a ll ove r. Plotts got a good start in the second moto , and ran se cond for a while before Dowd , Wa lla ce and Preston c hased him down. Preston ended up getting th ird in both m otos for thi rd ov era ll a n d T o p Privateer hon o rs , while Wa llace went 4 -4 for fourth overall. Plotts took fifth with a 6 -5 , Suzuki rider Bruce Stratton gra bbed sixth with a 5 -8, a n d Hond a -m ount ed Kevi n Crine settled for s eventh with a pair of se ven s . New Jerse y's own Lee Rostien Jr. (Ya m ) , J o el Dengler (Hu s) and James Ka pit an (Hon) rounded out the to p 10 ove ra ll. Whatev er surprise element wa s le ft o ut of th e 250cc cla ss was more th an m a de up for in t he 12 5 cc cla s s , wh ich b o iled d own to a t wo -r ider s hooto ut in the second mot o between loc a l he ro Barry Carsten and Pennsylva nia 's Ty Wa lla ce. Damien Plotts (9 3 ) tries to get a wheel on Ricky Cannichael (4 ) at the start of t h e 250cc Pro class at Englishtown's Kawasaki Race of Champions. Ty Wallace 19 0) and T ravi s Prest on 1 0) 4 try to squeeze through on t h e i n s id e. Carsten won t he ope ne r on his Broml ey Cycles -backed Su zu ki over his long- time rival Wallace, who had to work his way up aft e r a mediocr e start. Carsten knew that he wou ld not have it so easy in the second moto and sa t o ut th e second 250cc moto (after finis hing eig ht h in the first outing ) to s a ve his en e rgy for the final moto s howd own . It turned out to be a wise move. This time, Wallace jumped out to the early lea d and was determ ined not to let Carsten pass h im . Wallace le d Ca rsten aro und the track la p after lap, and it appeared that Wallace was going to pull off the win, but with two laps to go, Wallace went a little wide in a turn and th at was jus t eno ugh for Carsten to set him up for the winning pass. "So close ," Wa llace said aft e rward. "I jus t wo re o ut. I rode m y butt off; rid ing the 250cc class c a ught up with m e. Barry's a great ride r." "Th a t [win] didn't com e e a s ily ," Ca rsten sa id. "I s kip ped th e sec o nd 250cc moto to sa ve some energy ,

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