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2002 AMA EA Sports U.S. Supercross Championship
Round 3 of 16: Jan. 19 - Edison Int'l Field, Anaheim, CA

David Vuillemin has proven he's the fastest, and smoothest, out there right now. Two races, two wins. Steve Bruhn photo

ANAHEIM, Calif. – It’s been seven years since Mike LaRocco last won an AMA Supercross race – actually six years, nine months and 11 days – but who’s counting. Just 101 supercross races after last winning (at the Pontiac Silverdome in April of 1995), the 30-year-old Amsoil Honda rider from South Bend, Ind., came through with a popular victory in the third race of the AMA EA Sports Supercross Series at a chilly Edison International Field. The victory moved LaRocco to within five points of Frenchman David Vuillemin, who finished in second, just 1.5 seconds behind the winner. Travis Pastrana finished third on a bent-up motorcycle after crashing out of the lead just past the halfway point in the 20-lap main. Red Bull KTM’s David Pingree won the 125 West final, holding off series leader James "Bubba" Stewart, who crashed at the start of the race.

The night wasn’t easy for LaRocco. He first had to come to the main via a semi qualifier after missing the cut (along with defending champ Ricky Carmichael) in the first heat race. "The Rock" didn’t even show his hand in his semi where he finished third behind Stephane Roncada and Carmichael.

In the main it was Kevin Windham earning the holeshot award. He and Suzuki teammate Pastrana immediately began to put a gap on the rest of the field on the first lap. Carmichael had a miserable lap one. First he was stalled in a bottleneck and then he was caught up in a Chad Reed crash. He emerged 12th after the first lap.

By lap three Windham and Pastrana had a full six seconds on third place Roncada. Vuillemin ran fifth behind Nathan Ramsey. After a mediocre start LaRocco was running just inside the top 10.

On lap six Pastrana took over the lead and rapidly pulled away from Windham. Roncada and Vuillemin were involved in a spirited battle for third. By lap eight Vuillemin was clear of his countryman and began chasing down Windham.

By halfway Vuillemin moved past a fading Windham for second. It was at this point that LaRocco began making his move to the front as well. In the course of two laps he passed Ramsey, Roncada and Windham to take over third. No sooner had he done that when Pastrana took a faceplant exiting turn three after accidentally clicking his bike into neutral. That moved Vuillemin into the lead and LaRocco into second.

Pastrana got back underway in fourth (behind Ramsey) with the handlebars on his RM out of kilter.

With five laps to go LaRocco caught Vuillemin. LaRocco made his move to the front in turn nine and suddenly found himself leading a Supercross race for the first time this season. LaRocco stretched his lead to two-and-a-half seconds. Vuillemin gave his all on the final lap, but crossed the line 1.8-seconds behind a triumphant LaRocco.

Pastrana rode valiantly with a damaged bike and it paid off. On the final lap he closed in on Ramsey (who was riding the Honda four-stroke). The two collided and Ramsey went down and Pastrana’s efforts were rewarded with third place. Carmichael also got by Ramsey to take fourth, Ramsey recovered for fifth. Seven-time champ Jeremy McGrath finished ninth. It was his best result so far this year.

"Winning is definitely a lot more fun," said LaRocco when comparing his victory to all the other podium finishes he’s earned in the last few years. "Hopefully I can keep it up, because seven years is a long dang time. I was a little nervous on the last lap, but I felt pretty good. I felt like I had the track dialed so I wasn’t that concerned. I’m just going to keep riding hard and I think that’s what it takes. I’ve been riding conservative for the last few years trying to get podium finishes, but you gotta hang it out and that’s what I’m going to do."

The win was LaRocco’s ninth, placing him alone in 14th on the all-time AMA Supercross win list.

In the 125 West main Stewart took the holeshot, but hit the ground in turn one. Casey Lytle and Casey Johnson emerged as first and second in the early going. Pingree ran third. Stewart picked up his bike and emerged in 17th place on the first lap. For the first half of the race it was Lytle and Johnson battling for the lead, while Stewart began picking off riders at a rate of two and three per lap. On lap three Johnson passed Lytle to take over the lead, but fell in the whoops a lap later. Pingree made a block pass on Lytle to take over the lead at mid-race. Stewart had already worked his way to fourth and was about to dispatch Ivan Tedesco. In the closing stages Stewart made it up to second and closed on Pingree, but "Ping" had a little in reserve and held off Stewart by just over two seconds. Tedesco was a distant third.

It marked the first victory for Pingree in over two years and his fourth-career 125 SX victory.

"That’s about the best feeling you can have right there," said Pingree as he looked at a replay of his victory on the stadium big screens. "I know Bubba knows about it from last weekend. He was going so fast it was ridiculous. I’m just glad I held on to it."

Stewart (69 points) leads the 125 West SX Series by 11 points over Pingree (58 points). Tedesco is third with 54 points.

Race Notes

Stewart donates holeshot money to Tony Haynes Foundation
Bubba Stewart donated the $1000 he earned for his holeshot in the 125 race to the Tony Haynes Foundation. Haynes is a former top amateur motocross rider, turned rapper, who was injured racing and remains paralyzed.

LaRocco sets a record
The six years, nine months (or 101 races) between AMA Supercross victories was by far the longest span between wins in the history of the series. Broc Glover, who went three years, four months (or 45 races) between wins from 1985 to 1988, held the previous mark.

Carmichael and McGrath crack top 10
After finishing fourth and ninth respectively, Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath are both now in the top 10 in the series standings after three of 16 rounds. RC is in seventh with 37 points and MC is tenth with 31.

Photo Gallery - coming

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Photos by Steve Bruhn

Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.