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/1533378
O ctober 21, 1992 З Ш З Ш 2 3 Il ■ ■■■Il MOTOCROSS CMC/Valvoline Trans-Cal Nationals North/South Series: Final rounds Damon Huffman won seven of the eight motos he entered, capturing both the 125 and the 250cc Pro class championships. Huffman hustles at Huron Cycle Park By Теїту Judd HURON, CA, OCT. 3-4 D amon Huffman won seven out of eight motos to sweep the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at Huron Cycle Park on both days of racing at the CMC/Valvoline Trans-Cal Nationals Series finale. In winning, the Amer ican Suzuki/Cycle Engineering/ Shoei/Answer/Oakley-backed rider easily captured the series champion ships in both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes. The north and south series came together for the two-day finale, and each moto awarded points towards overall series standings. While each class had two points leaders entering the weekend — one in the north and one for the south — the points were combined and only one champion per class would emerge. Over 800 riders competed over the weekend. In Saturday's first 250cc Pro moto, John Nelson led the way through the first turn, with Chris Young and Craig Decker hot on his heels. Huffman had gotten off to a miserable start, five positions from last. Running in fourth was Pat Gomm, and he was followed closely by Rusty Holland. Decker was able to pass Young on lap two, and he set his sights on Nelson. Moving up to eighth place by the third lap was Huffman. Nelson crashed and dropped back to sixth on lap three, but his misfortunes weren't over yet. Holland knifed his front end upon landing from a high-speed jump and crashed, only to be plowed into by Nelson, who had remounted and begun a charge back up through the pack. During the next few laps, Decker pulled out a huge lead over Young and Gomm. Huffman moved up to fourth and began to pressure Gomm. Lap seven action was intense, as Young, Gomm and Huffman were all together and banging bars. During the battle, Gomm was able to get around Young to take over second place, and moments later Huffman flew by Young on the big tabletop jump to take over third position. It took no time at all for Huffman to get by Gomm. Decker was too far out of reach, though, and enjoyed a 12-second lead over Huffman at the end. "I was too late to get any practice, so I had to use that first moto as my practice," said Huffman. Huffman holeshot the second moto ahead of Shane Esposito, Decker, Nelson and Young. The race for the lead wasn't very exciting, as Huffman led every lap and was completely unchallenged. Decker finished second ahead of Young. Huffman and Decker traded moto wins, but Huffman's first in moto two earned him the overall win, while consistent finishes by Young netted him third overall. Craig Canoy shot to the lead of the first 125cc Pro moto with Terry Parsons, Michael Brades and Jeff Brownlee in tow. Huffman had gotten off to a fairly good start and quickly made a charge through the pack. At the finish-line tabletop at the end of the first lap, Huffman passed two riders in midair to take over second place. It only took about another half lap for Huffman to pass Canoy when he dove to the inside line after a 90- foot jump. Decker took over third place on lap four and shot past Canoy at the finish line one lap later. Young also sneaked past Canoy, but was unable to advance any further. Huffman finished 14 seconds ahead of Decker, with Young, Canoy and Michael Brandes following. Todd McMaster holeshot moto two, followed closely by Canoy, Esposito, Shawn Waring and Todd Nelson. Huffman was off to a seventh-place start, while Decker was back another couple of places. Some intense bar banging took place in the opening laps and the order at the end of lap three was Canoy, Huffman, Nelson, McMas ter and Decker. Less than half a lap later, Decker moved up to fourth while Huffman put a pass on Canoy to take over the lead. No sooner had Decker taken over third than he crashed back to 13th. By lap five, the front-runners had spaced themselves oUt a bit and things settled in for a couple of laps. The only real race amongst the front-runners was a battle for fourth place between Espo sito and Young. During their duel, both riders had moved themselves into striking distance of third-place Brandes. Lap six saw Young drive past Esposito through a tough rocker section and set out after Brandes. Huffman notched the win ahead of Canoy and Young, who passed Brandes just before the finish line for third. On Sunday, Canoy jumped into the lead in the first 125cc Pro moto. Nelson was second, with Scott McElroy, Decker and Mark Meyers in tow. Huffman got off to a seventh-place start. By the end of the first lap, Decker moved up to third and Huffman motored up to fifth. Nelson never knew what hit him on lap two when Decker closed the door on him in a turn, with Huffman slamming it shut one corner later. The third lap was exciting, as Canoy, Decker and Huffman were all within one bike length of each other. Canoy was able to hold off both Decker and Huffman for a almost a full lap before Huffman passed Decker over a big tabletop and then, just two turns later, jumped past Canoy on the shorter table top. Decker continued to bang Canoy's rear fender for nearly two laps before he was able to get the drive necessary to pass. The finishing order at the end of the moto remained the same with Huffman enjoying a huge lead over Decker, Canoy solidly in third and Nelson and McElroy holding down fourth and fifth places. Young grabbed the holeshot in moto two ahead of Greg Tirheimer, McEl roy, Parsons and Meyers. Both Huf fman and Decker got off to terrible starts, with only a few riders between them and last place. Canoy fell in the first turn and came around in dead last. Young was able to start pulling away while Parsons blasted by McElroy to take over third place. By lap two, Huffman was already up to fifth position. Huffman quickly took care of both Brandes and Parsons to move into third. A lap later he was in second and though Young had an impressive lead, it didn't appear that he would be able to hold off Huffman. Lap five saw the battle for the lead