Cycle News

~ SUPERCROSS AMACamel Supercross Series: Round 7 e - - - ------- 00 ........ Damon Bradshaw (4) and Jeff Stan to n (2) cut up the inside o r Je��f Matiasevich (9) and Todd DeHoop (25) to grab the top two p ositions at the start or the main. Stanton wins fourth Daytona Supercross in arow By Henny Ray Abrams DA YTO~A BEACH, FL, ~IA R i t didn 't seem possib le that th e Da yton a S u per cross b y H on d a co uld mat ch th e pr e-race h ype. After a ll, Ya maha 's Da mon Bradsh a w was going Ior a record-tying six th Su percross wi n in a row a nd H o nda 's j err Sta nton was tryin g for a recordse tti ng fo urth Da ytona Super cross wi n. T hrow in the rest o f th e field a nd m ornin g s howe rs w hich wrea ked havoc on the track and th e chance fo r a hi sto ric race wer e slim. The o n ly p rob lem wa s th a t someone forgo t to tell th at to Brad sh aw a nd ' Sta nto n. Th e cha m p io ns h ip riv al s locked horns o rr th e star t o f th e 20lap race a nd held th e crowd spe ll bound, Brad sh aw leading first, th en S ta n to n, t h en Brad sh aw g ettin g balked by a back marker o n th e 13th o f 20 laps allow ing Stanton to escape into hi sto ry. It was th e best su pe rcross i n rec ent mem orv a nd m o to cr o ss vetera ns were di gging deep into th e mem ory fil es to find o ne th at was better. Few co uld. In th e end Stanton had won no t o nly I 14 his fourth Da yto na Supercross, but fourth in a row, a n unma tch ed feat o n th e lon gest, a nd wh a t many consider th e toughest , supercross tra ck o f the seri es. It also marked Ho nda 's first supercross victo ry of th e seaso n . Bradsh a w fin ished severa l seco nd s be h i nd Sta n to n and imm ediate ly foll o win g th e race co ngrat u la ted th e victo r. " It was th e har dest one," Sta nton said. "The last three were halfwa y easy. I had to work for th is o ne." Hi s work ea rne d h im 8000 from th e $50,000 250cc class purse, while Brad sha w took $3500 back to Char lot te. No rt h Carolina, wh ere th e next ro u nd of th e cha m p ionship wi ll be run . " I rod e as well as I co uld," 19-yearo ld Bradshaw said. " When he passed me I mad e a few mi stak es, I mad e so me bobbles a nd lost five seco nds. " It 's unfortunat e th e str ing was broken , but I'll be back in Cha rlotte to do it again," he added. Bradsh aw still leads th e Ca me l Supercross Series point sta ndi ngs wi th 165 po ints. Sta nton is tied for seco nd wi th tea mma te j ean -Mi ch el Ba yle, wh o finish ed a dista nt third today, at 139. Ka wasaki 's Mike La Rocco a nd Mike Kiedro wski, fourth and fifth tod a y, respectively, a re a lso fourth a nd fifth in th e sta ndings . La Rocco has 11 8 points a nd Kied ro wsk i 108. Four in a row was a lso the story in th e 125cc Eas tern Regional ma in as Suz u ki's Brian Sw ink kept his perfect seaso n alive wit h hi s fou rth co nsec u tive win . Swi n k too k th e lead for good from DGY Racin g 's jimm y Button o n the fourth of 15 laps a nd was never cha llenged. Yam ah a-m ounted Button fin ish ed seco nd with hi s DGY Racing tea m ma te Doug H enry, a lso abo ard a . Yam ah a , third. " It's been a great seaso n so far ," th e 19-year-old Swink sa id, "and I hope it co ntinues. " " I go t by Brian on th e fir st lap, but he reeled me in ," Button said. " He was jum ping a co up le doubl es over th e back th at I was n ' t ca pable o r." Sw in k's fourt h win gives him 100 points, 20 mo re tha n Henry. Montgo meryville Suzu ki's Ba rry Ca rsten , who finis hed fifth in th e main , is third wi th 59 poi nts, five better than Button a fte r fo ur of 10 Eas tern Reg ional rounds. Out of the 10,000 l2 5cc purse, Sw ink pock eted 2000 for th e win, with But ton earn ing $1000 a nd H enry $750. Ga ry Bail ey o nce again design ed the co u rse wh ich was built in th e grassy a rea between pit road a nd th e tri -oval bankin g o f th e front stra ig h t o f the su pe rspee dway . Building it was o ne thing, maintaining it was an other. Morning sho wers, torrential a t times durin g pra cti ce, turned mu ch of the co urse into a so u py mess and mad e parts nearl y impassab le. The ra in stopped sho rt ly befor e th e schedu led start time, and th e program was abl e to get under way with on ly a sligh t delay . St ill , th e damage had been done and th e high-speed track was reduced to a mostly on e-line circu it through heavy ruts. The approaches to a number of

• Cover