AMA Western 4-Stroke National Motocross Series –
Review/Update
By: www.4StrokeNationals.com
(Don Schneider)
The thumper action has really come into another era since
it’s evolution in March, 1996. The ever unmistakable sound and pound has become
a nitch for those whom have witnessed the storm
themselves. And this season has raised the bar in competition to an extreme
high. After round #7, there have been 433 Premier ProAm entries, averaging 61
per event so far. Qualifiers at all rounds and even three and
a last chance at Racetown 395 MX in Adelanto on March 23rd.
Rounds one and two in Surprise, AZ and Adelanto,
CA brought in 88 and 96 Premier
ProAm entries respectively. Ryan
Hughes, the KTM hired gun, marked his come
back trail in positive rapport, taking both overall wins in 1-1-2-1 fashion. Big
hitters in attendance came to battle. Toughest gladiators 2001 Champion, White
Brothers/American Honda sponsored Spud Walters, FMF’s Chris
Wheeler and Carmichael Honda/CHM System P-4R
Exhaust backed Jason McCormick
all tied in points at round one for second place. Mike
Corder, another CHM System P-4R backed
hotshoe opened up his debut in sixth postion.
Paul “Pitbull” Carpenter,
current champion, also from White Brothers/American Honda was working things
out with his mechanic Alan Olsen
after a great stint riding the AMA Supercross venue’s.
After his finishes at round one (7-9), things shaped rather well, finishing
third, via 4-3 at Racetown 395 MX in Adelanto to Casey Johnson’s 1-2 and Hughes’ 2-1.
Montclair Yamaha/Yamaha USA’s Nathan
Woods finished fifth in round one and took a
fifth in moto one at Racetown, only to get pennant banners hooked up in his
rear wheel in moto two and crashed out.
Another big dawg making the show
was 1999 Eastern 4-Stroke Champ and 3-Time Costa Rican Champ, Anthony
“Pokey” Pocorobba from Florida.
After finishing 20th overall in round one, he headed back home for
some carpel-tunnel surgery. Making his return at round 3 in Floresville,
TX (Cycle Ranch), he finished 13th
and could actually hang on for two 30 minute motos.
Carpenter came out of the box at round 3, taking the first
moto win,Wheeler second,
Woods third and Walters and Nelson
finishing fourth and fifth. Moto two was a real bar bangin’
incredible race as McCormick took the win. This had everyone
checking points while
Wheeler crossed in second, Woods in third and Carpenter fourth
and rookie Sean Collier
in fifth. Carpenter stood atop the podium with a smile from ear to ear. McCormick
was second and Woods third overall.
Round 4 in Sacramento, CA
proved that Team White Brothers did their homework as Carpenter went 1-1 and Walters
2-3 good for second. The 2001 National #3 rider, Rusty
Holland came out and shocked everyone with
his 2-4, third overall. McCormick, Wheeler, Nelson,
Corder rounded out the top seven. And, in the wings Brandon
Morgan, Derek
Mahoney and Robb
Floth stood in the top ten spots.
Albany, OR
was the next stop on the circuit. Hometown hero, McCormick
took a 2-1 overall win and wowed the crowd. His teammate Corder finished third
with a 4-2 score as Carpenter stood between them with a 1-4 score. Nelson
and Walters exchanged 5-3 and 3-5 scores ahead of Herb’s Cycle
Town Yamaha local Ryan Terlecki,
Coeur d’alene, ID
Jimmy LaMastus, Brandon
Morgan, Chaun
McAlister and Renton,
WA rider Greg
Crater.
So, at half way into series Carpenter held a 13 point lead
to McCormick 200-187. Walters was comfortable
in third over Wheeler 174-148. Note: Wheeler finished in 8-34
fashion at round five. Corder was five points behind Wheeler at 143, followed
by Nelson with 110 and Woods with 108.
Next stop was Honey
Lake MX
in Milford, CA.
The high desert elevation and one of the most demanding old school tracks in
the country was where Spud Walters shinned in 2002. In true form, Walters
prevailed once again to take the overall win with a 1-3 score. Nelson
came all out and earned runner up spot with his 2-2 score. Carpenter prevailed
in third with his 4-1 over McCormick’s 3-4, Woods (6-5),
Corder (5-6) and another break out rider Leighton
Lillie with a 8-7.
McAlister finished eighth followed by Morgan and
Crater.
OWYHEE Motorcycle Club whipped up a frenzy at Round #7 in
Boise, Idaho after bringing in 3,800 spectators on Sunday to watch the nations
top 4-Stroke Motocrossers do it in the deep sand.
Also, home to the gnarliest sand downhill that you
will ever experience in motocross, riders stand tall after a 30 minute moto
slamming down the face of this monster.
The battle for supremacy is certainly coming down to the
wire for the top ten spots. Let alone all the great races through
the field. The lead positions changed hands so many times throughout the
two main motos. To witness Brandon
Morgan pulling both holeshots and leading 13
of 28 laps on the day, proved he was in contention.
When the sand settled, Carpenter once again took a 1-1
sweep. McCormick and Nelson
exchanged 3-2, 2-3 scores. Fourth spot was a tie with Corder (9-4), Walters (7-5) and Team Subway backed Ted
Campbell with a 5-7. Morgan
finished in eighth via 4-11 tally. Konnrad
Kuest, a series regular was ninth with a 8-12 followed by Crater (14-8) and Fasst
Companies Kevin Townsend with a 16-10.
The thump-fest continued at Round #8
for American Honda/White Brothers Racing backed Paul Carpenter. The ground pounding mayhem has showed 470 total Premier ProAm entries averaging fifty-nine per round.
Taking no prisoners in the field of thirty-three hardcore competitors,
Carpenter stood proud atop the box with his fourth overall victory of the
season. A thundering 1-1 sweep, which
etched his seventh straight podium aboard the Alan Olsen prepped CRF450R, however saw the “Pitbull” dice for position behind a
few early leaders. He chomped away in
the high desert
of Racetown 395MX in route to the lead position in both
motos and capitalized on a pivotal fifty point day, heading towards his third
AMA 4-Stroke National Championship in a row! With two rounds remaining he holds
a forty-two point advantage to CHM System P-4R/Carmicahel Honda #2E Jason
McCormick 343-301 respectively.
Another stellar performance was put in by American Honda/White Brothers
Racing’s Spud Walters, aboard the Rob Madsen prepped CRF450R. Finishing second overall, via 4-2 moto tally, marked
his fourth podium to date. Walters remains a steadfast spoiler. At one point in
moto two, Walters even carved around Carpenter to nab third
and opened many eyes in the process. With his forty points on the day, he
remains third in the series at 289, only twelve points back of McCormick.
In this highly exciting thumper national championship series, riders, managers,
spectators and score keepers were certainly chomping at the bit to find out
which rider was going to be third on the box after the checkers waved. The
names of McCormick, Nathan Woods, Mike Corder, Dustin Nelson, Danny Carlson and off-road sensations Kurt Caselli and Jeremy Chaussee filled the air.
When the points were finalized it was McCormick’s 7-3
score, and the nod. “I am lucky to even ride this weekend”, stated a
discouraged McCormick who led ten of fourteen laps of moto two. “I
was rear-ended while driving in my truck on Wednesday and my back is all tied
up in knots. I’ll be looking for the one month layoff until the next round for
sure.”
Woods actually tied in AMA Championship points
with 34, after his very consistent 5-4 finishes on the Montclair Yamaha/Yamaha
USA YZ450F. Carlson, after taking over the point position from his Fasst Company team mate Kevin Townsend who stole the
holeshot in moto one, was on his game keeping Carpenter honest. Finishing in
fifth overall, via 3-8 moto scores.
Corder, aboard the CHM System P-4R Exhaust, team mate to McCormick ran third during the first eight laps of
moto one and finished in sixth overall with a 6-5 tally.
Starting around thirteenth in moto one, Motoworld Racing.com/Yamaha USA
sponsored Nelson, who has certainly turned in the fastest lap
times of the large contingent base ever since Round #5 in Milford, CA stormed to the front and pulled off a last pass effort on Carlson to cross the line in second. In moto two,
starting in sixth, he washed out in a silty left
hander while trying to over-take Woods on lap
one. After regrouping, while in tenth on lap three he caught the top of a
double jump and went down again. Like the 1999 AMA Western 4-Stroke Champion he
is, he pulled the bike up, jumped back on and rode to twelfth at the checkers
to garner seventh overall.
Rounding out the top
ten was Caselli in eighth with an outstanding debut in 9-7 fashion. Brandon Morgan, who pulled the last two holeshots in Boise, Idaho - actually started sixth in moto one and second in moto two. He had a
small crash in moto one, while running behind early leader Townsend. He eventually worked back up to finish
twelfth. In moto two, Morgan
ran behind the holeshot of Tony Amaradio early on. Then, McCormick blitzed past both Morgan and Amaradio for the lead, as Morgan followed McCormick for seven of the fourteen laps before
succumbing to the 100 degree heat. The 4,200 foot elevation and the pound of
the thumpers in hot pursuit had to be weighing in the mix. Rounding out the top
ten on the day was Chaussee with an 11-9. All in all, a great
way to celebrate our Independence Day weekend.
There have been a total of eight riders that have actually graced the podium so
far in this series, Carpenter, Walters, McCormick, Ryan Hughes, Corder, Nelson, Woods and Chris Wheeler. Four different overall winners have grabbed the top paying spot in the
$7,000 purse monies per round, Carpenter, Walters, McCormick and Hughes.
Watch out for the final two events as Darryl
Atkins, European Grand Prix and World
Supercross contender will be making his debut for Carmichael Honda/CHM System
P-4R. Straight across the pond to “Come Feel The
Thump” for himself. He has further backing from Fly Racing and hopes to open
more eyes to himself and this awesome race series.
Series Standings as of Round 8 of 10:
1. Paul Carpenter, 343 (4 wins, 7 Podiums); 2. Jason McCormick, 301 (1 win, 4 Podiums); 3. Spud Walters, 289 (1 win, 4 Podiums); 4. Mike Corder, 235 (1 Podium); 5. Dustin Nelson, 227 (2 Podiums); 6. Nathan Woods, 173 (1 Podium); 7. Brandon Morgan, 157; 8. Chris Wheeler, 148 (1 Podium); 9. Robb Floth, 107; 10. Ryan Hughes, 97 (2 wins,
2 Podiums); 11. Leighton Lillie (76); 12. Greg Crater
(71); 13. Danny Carlson (70); 14. Konnrad Kuest
(69); 15. Chaun McAlister (66); 16. Sean Collier
(64); 17. Casey Johnson (47); 18. Carter Gurnee
(43); 19. (tie) Rusty
Holland/Dennis Stapleton (40); 21. Ty Carson
(38); 22. (tie) Thomas Hahn/Ray Crumb (36); 24. Derek Mahoney
(35); 25. Jimmy LaMastus (34); 26. (tie) Ted Campbell/Tony Amaradio (30); 28. (tie)
Anthony Pocorobba/Beau Baron
(28); 30. Michael Stevenson (27); 31. (tie) Kurt
Caselli/Kevin Townsend/Ryan
Terlecki/Steve Mertens (26); 35. Jeremy Chaussee (22); 36. (tie) Mark
Tilley/Cameron Weaver/Rory
Sullivan/Nick Foister (21); 40. (tie) Michael Brandes/Jimmy Nelson (20); 42. (tie) Dale Ainslie/Chris Barrett
(18); 44. (tie) Ty Davis/Scott Howe (17); 46. Rich Taylor
(16); 47. Ryan Dudek (15); 48. Tiger Lacey (14); 49.
(tie) Tim
Weigand/Todd Downs (12); 51. Pete
Roberts (11);
52. (tie)
Beau Judge/Terry Hamness (10); 54. (tie) Michel
Sandoval/Travis Marks/Shawn
MacDonald (9); 57. (tie) Bryan Allen/JJ Pecsok/Ty Conner (8); 60. (tie)
Shane Smith/Corey Cope/Clayton Miller/Cory Christiansen (7); 64. (tie) Bobby Garrison/Dean Lane/Gordon Ward/Adam Miller (6); 68. Jared Minor
(5); 69. (tie) Craig
Truglio/Tallen
Elquist (4); 71. (tie) Aaron Hill/Billy Binckley/JR Vielle (3); 74. (tie) Travis Smith/Steve Haughelstine/Brandon Thomas
(2); 77. (tie) Brian
Morgan/Norberto “Norby” Debernardi/Steve Drew
(1)