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RACE WATCH
McGrath’s wrath
Although You Know Who clinched the EA Sports AMA Supercross Series one round early at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, the seasonending Las Vegas event still held significance for many competitors.
Take David Vuillemin, for instance. After coming home first in Phoenix, Arizona, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, the French front-runner was in position to win the Vans’ Triple Crown of Supercross. A victory in Vegas would earn him a hefty $500,000 bonus. Jeremy McGrath, however, was not about to let Vuillemin steal his thunder.
Meanwhile, the annual 125cc East/ West Shootout brought together regional riders for the first time this year. It was pitched as the ultimate battle for 125cc Supercross supremacy, and both groups-led by newly crowned champions Shae Bentley (West) and Stephane Roncada (East)were determined to end their respective series on a positive note.
beamed across the country live, as part of a pay-per-view package put together by series promoter PACE Motor Sports. California’s Greg Schnell led the 125s around Sam Boyd Stadium on the opening lap. One lap later, though, >
Adding even more drama to the event was the fact that, for the first time in history, the entire affair would be he came up short on a jump, allowing 1999 East Coast champ Ernesto Fonseca into the lead. Fonseca held on until lap five, when whiz kid Travis Pastrana zipped into the lead.
All elbows and energy, the Suzuki rider brought the sold-out crowd to its feet as he braved the treacherous Triple, the only 125cc rider to do so. “I just held it pinned in fourth, and it worked for me every lap,” the 16-yearold explained. In the end, Pastrana won out over a hard-charging Roncada (who came from way back after being pinched off in Turn 1) and Fonseca.
With 38,856 spectators holding their breath in anticipation, the gate dropped on the 250cc main. Feading the pack out of the first turn was another Frenchman, Sebastien Tortelli, who managed to slip his factory Honda under teammate Kevin Windham, as well as McGrath, Mike FaRocco and Vuillemin.
Two laps in, both Windham and McGrath were past Tortelli, while Vuillemin was sent skidding off the track after a pass on FaRocco went bad. The fans then turned their attention to Windham, who held a comfortable margin over McGrath. With six laps to go, though, Windham lost his rhythm in lapped traffic. And that’s all it took for McGrath to fly into the lead and skip away with his 70th supercross win.
“I was getting pretty tired toward the end of the race,” McGrath admitted. “But then the crowd started cheering and that really pumped me up and gave me what I needed to catch Windham.”
Windham, meanwhile, had to contend with a fast-closing FaRocco. With three laps to go, the latter found his way past the fading factory Honda rider to claim the runner-up spot. Vuillemin finished fourth.
After Fas Vegas, the entire contingent hopped on the 1-15 freeway and convoyed across the Mojave Desert, eventually putting down stakes at Glen Helen Motorsports Park in San Bernardino, California, for the opening round of the 2000 AMA/Chevy Trucks National Motocross Series.
For most riders, it was a chance to start over. And with McGrath having already announced that he would only compete in the opening round, the 250cc class was wide open.
Held on a warm, breezy afternoon before nearly 20,000 spectators, the event had all the makings of a classic. When the gate dropped, Windham led the pack down the start straight, through the first turn and up the first of the many hills making up the circuit.
Windham eventually gave way to Vuillemin, who then toppled in a tight corner, allowing Ricky Carmichael into the lead. The Kawasaki rider clicked off one perfect lap after another to claim his first moto win in his first-ever 250cc outdoor National.
Sebastien Tortelli, runner-up in the first heat, holeshot the second moto, but was passed by Carmichael even before the first lap was complete. Carmichael held off a mid-race charge from Tortelli to claim his second win and the overall victory. It was his eighth straight moto win at Glen Helen (including six 125cc triumphs). Tortelli was content with runner-up honors while Vuillemin was third overall.
For McGrath, it was a day he would rather forget. The seven-time supercross champ’s fifthand seventhplace performances were well off the pace of the front-runners. At least he was content in the knowledge that he was embarking upon a well-deserved summer vacation.
In the 125cc class, Roncada took his first-ever AMA National win over Talion Vohland. The Yamaha of Troybacked rider rode his YZ125 to 1-2 moto scores, while Vohland carded 51 finishes aboard his Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki. Two-time 125cc National Champion Steve Lamson, now aboard a private Honda, was an impressive third overall.
Notably absent was four-time national champ Jeff Einig. After recovering from a pair of broken wrists sustained in January, the 29-year-old was preparing for his year-2000 motocross debut when he crashed while attempting a tabletop jump-ironically, at Glen Helen. Injuries? A broken back and lower right leg. A full recovery is expected, but Emig’s professional racing career may very well be over.
Eric Johnson
Schultz’s Big ’Busa a runaway hit
F rom the moment he laid eyes on Suzuki’s GSX1300R Hayabusa, Dave Schultz knew he had seen the future. It didn’t take long before the six-time series champ embarked on a mission to outfit his 190-mph Pro Stock Suzuki with ’Busa bodywork.
“The bodies that most of us use are supposed to look like GSX-R750s, but unless you own a GSX-R, you probably can’t tell what it is,” said Schultz. “With the Hayabusa, even if you only know a little about motorcycles, you can tell what it is right away.”
Schultz bought a Hayabusa, and with the help of aerodynamic engineer Tim Halsmer, spent the better part of last year researching, designing and building the body. One of the biggest challenges was to create a body that could be adapted to a drag-race chassis, which is longer and lower than a stock bike, without losing aerodynamic efficiency or destroying the integrity of the original design.
“The mission was to build the most aerodynamically sound, aesthetically progressive and ergonomically functional motorcycle that the sport has ever seen,” explained Schultz. It also had to be strong enough to withstand the rigors of drag racing, where 3-g launches tax the heartiest components.
For months, Schultz and Halsmer, along with aerodynamicists Kirk Bridgeman and John Sullivan, worked on the project, wind-tunnel testing individual components and molding the body into a workable design.
“It was a constant tug-o’-war,” said Schultz. “I was all about style and contour and making sure the bike looked like it was supposed to. Tim, on the other hand, is an engineer and he’s into all-out performance. We also had to satisfy the NHRA rules committee to make sure the body would be legal. It was a tedious process, but eventually we found a happy medium.”
At the recent NHRA event in Commerce, Georgia, a race that Schultz has won eight times, the new body was unveiled before a crowd of onlookers that included virtually every rider, crew chief and team owner in the Pro Stock Bike class.
On his first run, Schultz qualified at the head of the 16-bike field with a 7.31 elapsed time at more than 184 mph. Later runs produced a best of 7.24 at 186 mph, one of the quickest runs of the season and just .03-second shy of Schultz’s career best. Schultz eventually reached the final round before losing to Team Winston’s Angelle Seeling when he red-lighted.
“My first impression of the bike is that it’s very quiet,” Schultz noted. “I could hear what the engine was doing because there is virtually no wind buffeting. My initial concern was that it might be too slick and too efficient, which might cause the bike to dart around at speed, but that wasn’t the case. It was very stable, and perhaps most important of all, it feels very natural to ride.”
Since NHRA rules require all body designs be made available to all competitors, Schultz is marketing the Hayabusa body through his company, Schultz Race Products. He currently has more than 30 orders.
“I would have done this project even if it cost me money,” said Schultz. “We whine because we don’t have any manufacturer support, but how can we expect the factories to support us when we’re using 7-yearold bodies that don’t resemble factory bikes? Up until now, there wasn’t any incentive for anyone to get involved, but hopefully that will change.”
Kevin McKenna
Abbott the new Duke of the Dez
Destry Abbott is on the verge of achieving a goal that many dream of but few achieve: winning a national championship. After five events in the AMA National Hare & Hound Series, the Arizona resident leads the point standings with four wins and a fourth. His closest competitor, defending series champ and Team Green teammate Brian Brown, has four runner-up finishes and a third for second in the points heading into the traditional summer break.
Last year, Abbott got his first title taste when he and Brown teamed up to win the Best in the Desert’s Silver State Series title. He lost the Hare & Hound Championship at the last race when his bike broke, while Brown won the race and with it the series’ number-one plate.
Apparently, sharing one championship and ending up second in another wasn’t good enough for Abbott. Asked if losing provided extra motivation for this year, Abbott replied, “Without a doubt. That’s what’s driving me the most this year. That was the worst feeling I’ve ever had as far as racing goes. I look back on that and it motivates me to win this championship.”
As for his dominance thus far in the eight-race series, Abbott seems a bit surprised. “I’ve been lucky to win this many. I go into the races confident that I can do well, but winning four out of the five, I’m really happy.”
With nearly four months between the fifth and sixth events, what does Abbott, one of just a few full-time professional off-road racers, plan to do with his free time? “Last year, I didn’t train that much,” he admits. “I spent the whole summer with my kids. This year, I’m going to stay on top of it. I really want to win this championship.” At the rate he’s winning, Abbott may reach his goal even before season’s end. -MarkKariya
Speedway swansong
First they shut down OCIR. Then it was Saddleback Park. And now, the last bastion of motorcycle racing in that great Disneyland suburb known as Orange County, California, has entered its final season.
Hard to believe, but after 32 years of drawing thousands of fans to the Orange County Fairgrounds on a weekly basis, U.S. speedway motorcycle racing is poised to leave its spiritual home.
The reason, says promoter Brad Oxley, son of International Speedway founder Harry Oxley and the reigning U.S. Speedway Champion, is financial, but it’s not because the program isn’t a moneymaker. To the contrary, the 2000 season opener packed in 4500 fans at $10 a head.
“The arena is getting old and needs a lot of work, which will cost around $100,000,” explains Oxley. “We’re willing to pay for the work ourselves, but the fair management will only give us a one-year lease, and we need
longer than that to amortize the costs.” Should the two parties fail to come to terms, Oxley says that speedway will run through this summer at its current venue in Costa Mesa, and then relocate to somewhere else. Where?
“We can’t say right now, but it will probably be inland, in Riverside or San Bernardino Counties. The fan base is better there, and land costs less. Also, a lot of cities out there have annual rodeos or whatever to raise money for charity, and they need to rent bleachers. We own our own bleachers, so we ought to be able to make a deal whereby they could use our bleachers at no cost.”
The other issue is peripheral revenue from food, beverage and T-shirt sales. “We need to be able to control the concessions-that’s the key to making money,” says Oxley. “We didn’t have that at the Orange County Fairgrounds and it was killing us.” The year-2000 speedway season kicked off on April 29th, and will run on almost every Saturday night before concluding with the Coors Light U.S. National Championship on October 14th. Our advice: See speedway before it’s too late. There’s nothing like watching four riders go four laps on methanol-burning 500cc Singles with no brakes.
Brian Catterson
