LaRocco claims hometown AMA Win in Indy

AMA Supercross Series 250cc/125cc East
Round 12: Indianapolis, Indiana
20 March, 2004



The Indianapolis RCA Dome came alive for round 12 of the THQ/AMA Supercross
Championship presented by Honda. In front of a thunderous crowd, South
Bend, Indiana native Mike LaRocco brought the fans to their feet with a
masterful performance aboard his Amsoil/Chaparral Honda. The 33-year-old
Supercross veteran snagged the holeshot on his CR250R in the 250 main and
never looked back. LaRocco's teammate Kevin Windham finished second,
followed by team Honda's Nathan Ramsey on his factory CRF450R in fourth.

In 250 heat action, LaRocco took third in the first qualifying race, but
Windham didn't fare as well and finished fifth in the heat, which forced
him to race in the first semi to earn a transfer spot to the main. Ramsey
took the final qualifying spot in heat two." I was very disappointed I had
to go to the semi," said Windham. "But I think I learned a little bit by
watching the second heat and changed up my line and knocked some seconds
off." Windham wasted no time in claiming the number one spot in the first
semi with a fast lap time of 45.0 seconds, making this the fastest lap of
the day. Fellow Red Riders Joseph Oehlof took second in semi two followed
by Moto XXX's Damon Huffman in fifth. In the Last Chance Qualifier, Subway
Honda's Jason Thomas took second, which moved him to the 250 main event.

In the main, LaRocco took the Butterfinger holeshot prize, only his third
Supercross holeshot in 17 years. "When I took the holeshot, I couldn't
believe how loud the crowd was," said a smiling LaRocco. "It was difficult
to think." But he put his head down and concentrated on being the leader of
the pack. "I was happy to see the short start area; for some reason I do
better," said LaRocco. "I looked at the track map and it raised my
enthusiasm a little bit." Like the veteran he is, LaRocco took full
advantage of this small edge by rocketing through the short start and then
led the entire race from gate to flag.

Ramsey blasted out of the first turn in fourth place, with Windham giving
chase in fifth.  The two battled for fourth until the sixth lap when Ramsey
was able to push past Nick Wey for third place. Not to be out done, K-Dub
put his head down; two laps later on lap eight, he passed Ramsey for third.
"I got lucky when I was passing Nathan. I almost landed on him when he
messed up in the whoops," said Windham. He then set his sights on second
place, taking the position away from David Vuillemin on lap 15. By then
LaRocco had built an insurmountable lead, but Windham's night wasn't over.
In the closing laps, Chad Reed made a run at Windham, but Kevin held him
off to claim the runner-up spot, thereby gaining valuable points on his
championship rival.

The 125 action kicked off with three Red Riders in the top nine qualifying
spots, with Turbo Reif taking fourth followed by Steve Lamson in eighth and
Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Justin Breton in ninth. Breton's teammate Ryan
Mills didn't fare too well in the first heat action; his 10th-place showing
relegated him to the LCQ where he took the win, followed by Tiger Lacey in
second.

With 125 East Champion James Stewart out of racing for the night due to a
concussion sustained in practice, the race was up for grabs. Steve Lamson
started in third and held strong for the first four laps; he would
eventually finish seventh. Mills started and finished mid-pack in 12th,
followed by Reef in 20th and Lacey in 22nd.

The great showing by the Honda contingent at Indy tightened the points
chase for the 250-class championship, with Windham gaining two points on
Reed, and LaRocco in third closing to within 14 points of Windham. With a
week off before they visit the Pontiac Silver dome on April 3rd, the Red
Riders will be fine tuning their game as they enter the final leg of the
2004 Supercross Championship Series.

250 Main Event
1. Mike LaRocco-Honda
2. Kevin Windham-Honda
3. Chad Reed-Yamaha
4. Nathan Ramsey-Honda
5. David Vuillemin-Yamaha
14. Joseph Oehlhof-Honda
16. Ted Campbell-Honda
17. Craig Anderson-Honda
18. Jason Thomas-Honda
20. Damon Huffman-Honda

250 AMA Supercross Points
1. Chad Reed-Yamaha-286
2. Kevin Windham-Honda-256
3. Mike LaRocco-Honda-230
4. David Vuillemin-Yamaha-220
5.  Michael Byrne-Kawasaki-158
8. Damon Huffman-Honda-121
12. Nathan Ramsey-Honda-82
19. Jason Thomas-Honda-46
20. Joesph Oehlhof-Honda-44
21. Travis Preston-Honda-34
24. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda-28

125 East Main Event
1. Josh Hansen-Yamaha
2. Paul Carpenter-Kawasaki
3. Danny Smith-Yamaha
4. Brett Metcalfe-KTM
5. Steve Boniface-Suzuki
7. Steve Lamson-Honda
12. Ryan Mills-Honda
13. Doug Dehaan-Honda
15. Justin Brayton-Honda
21. Tiger Lacey-Honda
22. Turbo Reif-Honda

125 East AMA Point Standings
1. James Stewart-Kawasaki-125
2. Broc Hepler-Suzuki-85
3. Danny Smith-Yamaha-80
4. Paul Carpenter-Kawasaki-77
5. Kelly Smith-Yamaha-73
6. Steve Lamson-Honda-71
7. Ryan Mills-Honda-68
12. Tiger Lacey-Honda-38
15. Turbo Reif-Honda-20
20. Billy Laninovich-Honda-10