Pastrana In a Nailbiter
By B.J. Smith
MotoWorld
Apr. 02, 2001
 
ST. LOUIS, MO - The name Travis Pastrana is synonymous with excitement. For the fifth time in six rounds, Pastrana took the 125cc main event win, but this one was a lot more exciting than the rest. After starting the race in mid-pack, the factory Suzuki rider came back to win the race with a last lap, last ditch effort pass over series nemesis, Nathan Ramsey.

KTM's Kelly Smith pulled the holeshot in the 125cc main and led for the first five laps until Yamaha of Troy's Nathan Ramsey sneaked up and passed him. By that time, Pastrana had caught up to third and made his move on Smith two laps later. With seven laps to go and several seconds to make up, Pastrana had to dig deep to catch the leader Ramsey.

It wasn't until the end of the 14th lap when Pastrana came within striking distance. Ramsey missed a triple, allowing Pastrana to gain a little ground. The pair came into turn one with half a bike length between them and by turn four, Pastrana had the momentum to motor by. Ramsey stayed close and went to pass Pastrana back, but he lost all momentum when he missed the triple again. Pastrana won it to extend his point lead by another three.

"I'm a little disappointed," Ramsey said. "I kind of gave it up on the last lap, and I didn't even see the white flag so I was a little disappointed to see the checkered flag. We were both riding really good and so was Kelly. I had it in my hand, but I gave it to Travis. We've got one more race and anything can happen."

The win was especially sweet for Pastrana who qualified for both the 125cc main and the 250cc main directly from the heat races, riding each heat back to back. After the hard fought win in the main, Pastrana opted to drop out of the 250cc race.

"This series is definitely going right down to the wire," Pastrana said. "Nathan's been a great rider and he's right there. He's really putting me to the test and pushed me hard so I won't be doing the 250 class tonight."

Kelly Smith ended up in third, Tallon Vohland, fourth and Chris Gosselaar, who won his heat race put the Husqvarna in the top five. It was also the first 125 heat race win for Husky.

Nick Wey had a forgettable night in St. Louis. The YOT rider came into the race with walking pneumonia and was feeling quite ill. To top it all off, Wey crashed in the first corner and took another spill while moving through the pack. He finished 14th, the first time he's been out of the top four all season.

Brock Sellards was a no-show in the main event. After qualifying in second place in his heat race, Sellards said he was too sore to ride the main. Sellards has sat out since Daytona because of arm pump. He recently had surgery redone on his arms and hasn't healed 100%.

The 125cc East SX series will conclude next weekend in Pontiac, MI

Main Event:

1. Travis Pastrana
2. Nathan Ramsey
3. Kelly Smith
4. Tallon Vohland
5. Christopher Gosselaar
6. Mike Brown
7. Isaiah Johnson
8. Steve Boniface
9. Joseph Oehlhof
10. Ben Riddle
11. Matt Walker
12. Tom Hofmaster
13. Charles Dunaway
14. Nick Wey
15. Jonathan Shimp
16. Cory Keeney
17. Danny Carlson
18. Travis Elliott
19. Paul Currie
20. Marco Dube
21. Randy Valade

Overall Point Standings (After 6 of 7 rounds):

1. Travis Pastrana - 132
2. Nathan Ramsey - 121
3. Mike Brown - 117
4. Nick Wey - 103
5. Tallon Vohland - 86
6. Kelly Smith - 68
7. Brock Sellards - 66
8. Matt Walker - 60
9. Travis Elliott - 59
10. Ben Riddle - 54

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