AMA Motorcycle Race Results - Complete
14 June 1999
1999 AMA 250cc National Motocross Series, Round 4: Motocross 338, Southwick, Massachusetts June 13, 1999 Rain or shine, it didn$B!G(Bt matter, as Red Rider Ezra Lusk attended to his appointed rounds and roosted to a pair of moto wins at Motocross 338. Lusk$B!G(Bs moto wins were his second and third of the year, and the overall was his third career win, and the 11th time Honda has won the 250 class here. Honda-supported Factory Connection/Jack in the Box rider Mike LaRocco carded a second and a third for third overall. Lusk$B!G(Bs teammate, 250 motocross World Champion Sebastien Tortelli suffered from poor starts, and went 6/4 for fourth overall today, while Red Rider Kevin Windham went 5/12 for ninth overall. Yogi$B!G(Bs double victories today launch him into the point lead, past teammate Tortelli. Mickael Pichon did not ride today; he has been released from his contract by American Honda. In moto one, Lusk gated in second behind John Dowd, with LaRocco in fourth. Windham broke a front-wheel spoke early on and had to stop and bend it out of the way of the fork leg, while Tortelli again had difficulties with the asphalt starting pad and was outside the top 10. LaRocco quickly moved to third behind Lusk, with Windham fifth and Tortelli 13th. Lusk finally forced his way past Dowd for the lead, about the same time that the heavens opened in Massachusetts. A thunderstorm made the rough track extremely sloppy, but it didn$B!G(Bt seem to hinder Lusk, who started putting time on the field. LaRocco, in turn, passed Dowd for second, and Tortelli was making his usual slashing charge through the pack, to ninth, then to seventh, and then to sixth. As the checkers waved on the end of the first 30-minute-plus-two-lap moto, it was Lusk, followed by LaRocco, with Windham fifth, trailed by Tortelli. Moto two looked like a carbon copy of the first, with Dowd getting the holeshot, and Lusk in second. LaRocco was a bit farther back in seventh, and by the second lap he was trailed by Windham, and, once again, the charging Tortelli after another terrible start. Yogi struck earlier in the second moto, taking the lead from Dowd, and began pulling away. Behind him, LaRocco and Tortelli kept up the pressure, with LaRocket moving all the way to third and Tortelli fourth, while Windham tired and dropped to 12th, where they would finish. On cruise control out front, Lusk took the second win, and the overall, easily. "I got pretty good starts, and I just rode my hardest and tried not to let anything stand in my way. I just rode as hard as I could for as long as I could, and came away with two victories. I$B!G(Bm really happy," Lusk said. Moto 1 top-5 finishers 1. Ezra Lusk$B!>(BHonda 2. Mike LaRocco$B!>(BHonda 3. John Dowd$B!>(BYamaha 4. Greg Albertyn$B!>(BSuzuki 5. Kevin Windham$B!>(BHonda Moto 2 top-5 finishers 1. Ezra Lusk$B!>(BHonda 2. John Dowd$B!>(BYamaha 3. Mike LaRocco$B!>(BHonda 4. Sebastien Tortelli$B!>(BHonda 5. Larry Ward$B!>(BSuzuki Overall top-5 1. Ezra Lusk (1/1)$B!>(BSuzuki 2. John Dowd (3/2)$B!>(BYamaha 3. Mike LaRocco (2/3)$B!>(BHonda 4. Sebastien Tortelli (6/4)$B!>(BHonda 5. Greg Albertyn (4/6)$B!>(BSuzuki AMA 250cc National Motocross points standings 1. Ezra Lusk$B!>(BHonda$B!>(B161 points 2. Sebastien Tortelli$B!>(BHonda$B!>(B155 points 3. Greg Albertyn$B!>(BSuzuki$B!>(B141 points 4. Mike LaRocco$B!>(BHonda$B!>(B126 points 5. Jeff Emig$B!>(BKawasaki$B!>(B114 points 6. Kevin Windham$B!>(BHonda$B!>(B112 points Upcoming rounds: Round 5$B!>(BBudds Creek Motocross Park, Budds Creek, Maryland, June 20 Round 6$B!>(BRed Bud Track $B!F(BN$B!G(B Trail, Buchanan, Michigan, July 4 1999 AMA Formula Xtreme Series, Round 6: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 12, 1999 Six starts, six wins - that$B!G(Bs the Honda-supported Erion Racing Team$B!G(Bs perfect record this year in the AMA$B!G(Bs Formula Xtreme class. Kurtis Roberts took the checkered flag today, marking his third victory in the class this year, and the Erion team$B!G(Bs third consecutive win in the class at Road America. Roberts$B!G(B teammate Nicky Hayden was running up front with the leaders when an engine breather vent tube came adrift, allowing the engine to pump oil on the bike and rider. Hayden did the smart thing and pulled into the pits after completing six laps. Hayden had actually put his Rick Hobbs/Mark Lucas-tuned CBR900RR on the pole for the event, while Roberts again had electrical problems that soured his chances in qualifying. "We did three laps in qualifying," Roberts said. "My bike broke before I got a qualifier [tire] on there, and two of the laps were breaking in the tires, so, you know, I didn$B!G(Bt have the qualifying time I felt we were good for." Despite Roberts$B!G(B fourth-place grid position, though, he got the holeshot aboard his Rick Hobbs/Robert Ward-tuned CBR900RR. "The bike was good in the race," he said. "I just stayed in the draft to pass $B!G(Bem, but they could draft by me. I knew we had our work cut out for us. I tried to get away early and it wasn$B!G(Bt happening, so I just kind of rode around; I wanted that extra point for leading the most laps, so I kept concentrating really good on the drive out of the last corner." Up front the group was Roberts, Mark Miller and Chuck Graves early on, with frequent lead-swapping. Hayden also got his CBR in the lead group, up to third, and was putting pressure on the leading duo until his mechanical mishap on lap seven. Meanwhile, Roberts was biding his time, figuring where he$B!G(Bd take Miller for the final run to the checkered flag. "Both these guys were running really good, and I did what I had to do," Roberts said. "If I didn$B!G(Bt get by in five, I was going to wait, $B!G(Bcause I was getting a really good drive out of the kink, or wait till the last corner or up the straightaway." Sure enough, on the last lap Roberts passed Miller coming out of the last corner and just out-horsepowered him to the win$B!>(Bby 0.077 second. The victory pads Roberts$B!G(B points lead in the series, which he$B!G(Bs held since winning the season opener in Phoenix. Road Atlanta Formula Xtreme top-5 finishers (Note: provisional results) 1. Kurtis Roberts$B!>(BHonda 2. Mark Miller$B!>(BYamaha 3. Chuck Graves$B!>(BYamaha 4. Grant Lopez$B!>(BSuzuki 5. Josh Hayes$B!>(BSuzuki Formula Xtreme series points standings, top-5 riders (Note: provisional results) 1. Kurtis Roberts$B!>(BHonda$B!>(B188 points 2. Mark Miller$B!>(BYamaha$B!>(B155 points 3. Grant Lopez$B!>(BSuzuki$B!>(B153 points 4. Josh Hayes$B!>(BSuzuki$B!>(B145 points 5. Nicky Hayden$B!>(BHonda$B!>(B132 points Upcoming rounds: Round 7$B!>(BNew Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire, June 19 Round 8$B!>(BMid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, July 17 1999 Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Series, Round 7: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 13, 1999 Although delayed by rain and red flags, the seventh round of the Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport championship saw an epic duel between the Honda-supported Erion Racing Team$B!G(Bs Nicky Hayden and Jamie Hacking. At the finish, Hacking took the victory by an incredibly slim, 0.091-second margin. Hayden$B!G(Bs teammate Kurtis Roberts and Team Honda$B!G(Bs Eric Bostrom had a race-long battle for fourth and fifth, with Roberts finally coming out on top at the flag. Even so, Bostrom$B!G(Bs fifth-place finish is his best placing in the class this season, and put three Honda CBR