Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

humility. " I' m getting good starts , and you need a good start o n t h is track. That's what I did ... 1 tell you , it fel t good." " T h e track is very s lip pe ry ," laRocco said . "I was just trying to p ut my self in a position to give me a cha nce tomorrow ." Hu ffma n h el d on for fo urt h, wi th privateer Heath Voss r id in g im p ressively to complete the top five. (Ri g ht) With just a few d ays on his new Suzu ki, Kevin Windham showed up and fin ished second. He v isi b ly improved as the weekend progressed. (Bel ow) Hindered by signature po or starts, M ike LaRocco (S) took third overall on the weekend, and second in Saturday's main. Ryan Hughes' f irst ' ride back w ith American Honda ended In a trip to the hos p ital . Ward held on for fourth, w ith Voss losing one position in 25 laps (after gaining n ine pos itions in 100 ya rds) to take fifth . CN MGM Grand Garden Arena Las Vegas, Nevada Results: lIctIlber 14-1 5, 2000 Saturday HEAT 1 ( 10 lap s. 1·3 trans fer ) : 1. Ri c k y Ca rmichae l ( Kaw) ; 2 . Dam on Hu ffm an (S uz) ; 3 . Kevin W indha m (Su z) ; 4 . Steve Lamson ( Hus) ; 5 . Bud d y An tu nez (S UI): 6 . Phil La wre nc e (Ya m) ; 7 . I ~ia h J ohnson (Yam) ; 8 . Ryan Cla rk (Suz); 9 . Jeff Will oh (Hon) ; 10. David Pingree (KTM); 11. Casey Lytl e ( K a w); 12 . K y l e L ew is (Su z) ; 13. Den n y Stephen son (Kaw ). HEAT 2 ( 10 laps . t ·3 transfer) : l. Ryan Hughes ( Han ); 2. M ic hae l Byrne ( Hon) ; 3. M ik e La Roc co (Hon); 4 . Sebastie n Tort elli (Hon) ; 5. Greg Schne ll (Yam) ; 6. Jonathan Shimp ( Yam ); 7 . Pedro Gonza lez (Ka w); 8. Heath Vo ss (Hon); 9. John Do wd (Kaw) ; 10. Ty ler Evans (Han); I t. J ason McCo rm ick (Han); 12. J on a th an Shi m p ( Yam); 13. Ja son T h om as (Hus); 14. Mik e Craig (Hen) . SEMI 1 ( 10 laps , 1· 3 tra nsfer) : I. Steve Lamson ( Hus) : 2. Phil Lawrence ( Yam) : 3 . Buddy Antunez (Suz): 4 . Ry an Clark (Suz); 5. Ky le Lewis (Suz); 6. David Pingree (S uz): 7 . l seiah J ohn son (Yam ) ; 8. Casey Lytle (Kaw): 9. Denny Stephen son (K aw): 10. J eff WHloh (Hon) . SEMI 2: 1. Larry Ward (K lIw ) ; 2. Heath Vo ss (Hon ): 3. Greg Schnell (Yam); 4. John Dowd (Kaw); 5. Ty ler Evan s (Han ) : 6. J ason Thom as ( Hus): 7. SUNDAY Carmichael took the holeshot once again in day t wo 's main , and t hose who ha d placed bets on the Kawasaki rider h eaved s ighs of relief. Team mate Larr y Ward was next , with Motoworld 's Greg Schnell third and , amazingl y , Voss was fourth desp ite starting from the se cond row . In the fifth position was Windham. Appear ing mor e com fortab le on h is new b ike th an h e had on da y one , W indham zapped Voss on lap two and Schnell three laps later, putting him in a distant third beh ind the flee i n g Kawasakis, wh i ch we r e already d ealing with lap pe rs. Windham set out after Ward, clos i n g the gap steadily until lap 13 , when he overtook the veteran for sec o nd . B y t ha t po int, a Ca rm ichael w in w as pretty m uch a sure th in g , as t he 2 5 0cc Na tio na l M X c h a m p h ad a cushion o f n ea rl y 10 seconds . T ha t be in g th e c ase, mu ch of t he c rowd 's attention wa s turned to Ry an Hughes, who had g on e d own hard i n t h e w hoop section , taking Huff m a n along with him and k nocking himself out (see " H o n d a Happenings" sidebar). Hughes a woke i n time t o clear th e track for the last few laps o f Carm ichael 's winning r id e , wh i ch completed a perfect weekend for th e 20 -year -old. " I was close last yea r, but I was happ y to see Jeff [Emig] w in , " Carmichael said . "T h is y ear . I g ot it. A hundred thousand dollars isn 't bad for a ny body at an y age - man. I'm so happy." " I bettered my performance fr om last n ight . " sa id Windham . wh os e day -two resu lt t ied him in o ve r a ll po in ts wi th LaRocco , with Windham getting the nod on the t ie -breake r. "Unfortunately , it wasn't enough to catch Ricky. He was riding a t an ex t re me ly good pac e , co m i ng off so me co nfi de nce fr om the ou tdoor season . I'm j ust thank fu l t o h av e a Su zuk i between m y legs." Cl a iming third w as LaRocco , once aga in ga ting p oorl y and wo r king h is w a y f orward thro ughout th e r a c e . Tho ugh he's now too old to contest the THO U.S. Open Pro Circuit mini class, the presence of '99 champion James Stewart was felt this time around. Stewart has been trai ning and riding with fellow Floridian Kyle Chisholm , and that Kawasaki Team Green rider's weekend was nearly as domi nant as Stewart's '9 9 appearance . On his way to the title, Chisolm won all four motes over the two days of racing, leaving little doubt as to wn ich mini rider was best capable of handling the challenging U.S. Open track. Not all of the mini riders faired so well on the circuit, which sent several of the youngsters to the turf, a tum of events that has become the mini race's calling card at the U.S. Open , and one which has eamed it a large share of criticism. There were no serious injuries this time around, however , and by thei r fourth and final moto, the mini riders had come to terms with the track. circulating it with only rare mishaps. Runner-up on the weekend was Shawn Clark , winner of the Cycle News Brass Brain at the recent Loretta Lynn ' s AMA Amateur Nationals. The erstwh ile Suzuki rider had switched rides since that event . and the Open marked his first ride on his new Team Green Kawasaki. He got off to a shaky start with some crashes in Saturday's motos , but a pair of second places on Sunday bumped him up to the second-best overall position, exciti ng him enough that he finished off the weekend with a no- footer over the finis hline ju mp . Co mp leti ng th e po dium wa s French rider Jeremy Tarroux, invited at the last min ute and adding an intern ation al fl ar e to th e eve nt. Al so Kawasaki-mounted. Tarroux had con sistent finishes to tie Clark on overall point s, losi ng out on th e runn er -up Pro Circuit winner Kyle Chisholm spot th anks to the Am erican' s bett er (center1 celebrates with runner-up Shawn Clark (right) and third-place finisher day-two perform ance. Jeremy Tarroull. c y c l e n e vv s O CTOB ER 25 . 2000 7

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