Monster Energy’s Doug Henry’s Excellent Weekend Adventure
One of America’s motorcycle racing legends, Monster Energy’s Henry wins over fans in separate states/time zones/area codes during a 24-hour period
CARLSBAD, Calif., (June 12, 2006) – Monster Energy’s Doug Henry isn’t exactly jet set. The New Englander would probably just as soon be cutting grass on his tractor as he would flying about the USA. But maybe for one weekend out of the year he’s cool with it, like this
past Saturday and Sunday when he raced an AMA Supermoto round in Wisconsin, then boarded a Monster Energy chartered jet for
Massachusetts to race an Outdoor National the following morning.
Results aside, Henry’s feat was impressive to even the most seasoned racers. His 11-6 overall finish wasn’t exactly the best follow up to his 1-1 performance at Shawano’s (Wisc.) USA International Raceway last year. But those who know him would find it as no surprise that good ‘ole Doug Henry found some solstice in the fact that his Graves/Yamaha teammate, Mark Burkart, won the first supermoto race on Sunday.
“Both Mark and I got out to a good start (3rd & 4th, respectively)
in that first race and I settled in and was looking to make a move up
when around lap five I had to go out of my way to avoid a downed
rider in the dirt section and ended up getting T-boned myself,” said
Henry. “I was able to get up and get going again, but by that point
it was too late.”
Henry again got a solid start in the 2nd race, as did Burkhart, and
the two set their sights on European Supermoto Series point leader
Bernd Hiener. With four laps to go Henry caught and showed a tire to
the 22-year-old speedster from Germany, threatening to pass Heiner
through out much of the remainder of the race. Then, on the last lap,
in a tire-to-tire situation, Hiener appeared to let off the gas,
possibly brake, and Henry slammed into his back tire and went down.
“The guy’s for sure fast,” said Henry, seemingly not bummed at
all about what some were calling a “cheap move” by Hiener.
“I’m looking forward to racing with him again soon.”
Able to re-fire and capture sixth, the 11-6 performance at Shawano
wasn’t at all indicative of the speed Henry was carrying on
Saturday. He basically towed points leader Jeff Ward in both races,
putting up considerably better lap times and leading Ward by eight
seconds when he went down trying to pass for the lead in the second race. Still, by virtue of inheritance, Ward gained three points on Henry in the overall points chase – which now stands at 129-101.
No time to hang out and take in the sites in Wisconsin come Saturday evening as Henry high tailed it back to Massachusetts and his adopted hometown track of Southwick.
“Always good to come back home to the ‘Wick,” said Henry, who
pulled a bad start in the first moto, then had to come back from a
second moto crash to salvage a 17th overall (14-21). Note: In his
lone National last year, Henry finished 5th at Southwick with a solid
6-6 performance.
Next up for Henry is the inaugural AMA Supermoto at Miller
Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, Round Four of the 2006 AMA
Supermoto Championships.
