Cycle News

jumps were so muddy that , ear ly in th e program , th e rider s just motored ov er the m , The sun came o u t just as th e fir st 125cc heat got underway a n d th e track began to dry o u t. By th e time th e 250s lven t o u t, th e j u m ps were jumpable, th ough th er e was an inordina te number o f cra shes. For more than o ne reason , it wa s a Da ytona Supercro ss to rem ember. 250cc Stan ton wa s in th e fir st o f th ree h eat s a n d a fter ,o n ly a few co rners it wa s o bvio us he want ed to dominat e. Never h ead ed from th e firs t la p. his o n ly cha lle nge ca me nea r the end wh en LaRocco began lO move u p on h im . H e fini sh ed less tha n a -secon d beh ind Sta nton , but well in front o f Yama ha 's J eff Em ig. Th ere wa s a su bsta n tia l ga p back to Tuf Racing's Suzu ki- mo u nted Todd DeHoop, fourth fro m th e third lap o n w ith Peak /Pro Circui t Honda rid er J erem y McG rath fi nishi ng fift h. T he top Iive riders fro m eac h o f th e three eigh t- la p heat s adva nced di rectl y to th e m a in . " T wen ty laps in th e mai n is goi ng to be a lon g race," a ' m ud-co vered Stan ton sa id . " T he ruts are everywh ere. It 's proba b ly go ing to be the toughest Daytona yet. T he track seems to be dry in g u p , so I ho pe th ey move th e dirt arou nd a b it , open u p so me a reas a nd crea te some more lines." Asked if he was co nf ide nt he wo ul d w in , Stanton repl ied , " Nobody 's go ing to do a ny b ragg in g or ta lk ing u ntil i t's ove r." Ka wasak i Tea m Green 's Mike Craig got th e j ump on the 25��rider field in th e seco nd heat wi th Ka wasa ki's Jeff Mar iasevich close behind a nd defendin g Ca mel S u p ercross C ha m p io n Bayle in thi rd a head o f Kied rowsk i. Bayle fell o n th e fourth .la p , but he didn't lo se h is position a nd seemed to p ick u p th e pa ce a fter th e mi shap. A la p la ter bo th he a nd Kied ro wski were by Mariasevi ch and o n the sixth lap , Ba yle took th e lea d in th e far en d o f th e course. T h e Frenchman held o n for the wi n , Kiedrowski held on to second, Craig ' th ir d , a nd Ma tiasevich finish ed fourth a hea d of Nol een R a ci n g ' s Larr y Brooks. " I h ope I ge t 'a good start it; th e main ," Ba yle sa id. " It's ver y importan t to find a good line o n th e track." T he third heat bel onged to Bradshaw and aft er eig ht la p s hi s ridin g gear was virtuall y u nso iled. N ob od y was ever close a nd h e wo n by n earl y 25 seco nds over Belg ian Stefan Everts, who fin ish ed second o n th e Bieffe Suzu ki. T he heat was the fas test of the day b y close to 20 seco nds a nd was nearly 30 seco nds faste r than Stanton 's winning time, a sign the track was drying out. " It's real important today to ge t a good sta rt ," Brad sh a w sa id , echoing Ba yle. " It 's a to ugh tra ck a nd it co u ld bite anyone. I think it's going to get worse because th e ruts a re getting deeper. It 's going to be o ne lin e. I go t off to a co m forta ble lead a nd worked at th e race track." When th e first lap of th e first of two six -lap semis e n ded, Bro ok svill e , Florida 's Br ian McEl ro y, o n a W.K.R . Su zu ki, was in -Iro ru wit h Yamaha 's Doug Dubach seco nd and New Englander J ohn Do wd th i rd . By th e halfway p oint McElroy was still in front, but Nol een's Sha u n Kal os had mov ed into seco nd a nd KTM 's Keith Johnson wa s third. Kalo s took th e lead a la p la ter a n d fou ght ba ck th e cha lle nges o f Du bach for the win. McEl ro y fini shed t h i r d a head o f J ohnson. Okl ahoman Cliff Palmer and Ca liforn ia n Tyson Vohl and co mpleted th e to p six wh o adva nce d to the Bradshaw (4) and Stanton battled for first on the rutted track until Stanton went ahead for his fourth straight Daytona win, Brian Swink (I ), :\Iike Bro wn (54) and Ezra Lusk ( 117) charged to th e front of the 125cc main. Swink went on to win. mai n . Th e se ve nt h to 16 th -pl a ce finishers went to t h e la st ch a nce qua lifi er. , Florid ia n Ronn ie Tich en or took th e lead soon a fter th e start of the second semi a nd rode to th e win. T he Tuf Racin g Suzuki rider was trailed early by Suzu ki's Denny Step henson, who lost hi s spot to Ka wa sa ki vetera n Jeff Wa rd o n th e fourth lap. Ward finish ed a bo u t nine seco n ds behind T ic he nor, but 14 in .Iro n t o f Step henson , Pen n syl van ian Mik e 'jones wa s fourth o n a Suzu ki in front of Barr' s Competi tion Ch ris Colema n a nd Ca lifornia n Ch ris Young completed th e top six finishers. T he top th ree rid ers fro m the fourlap LCQ would be th e fina l riders seeded into th e main a nd after fa iling in h is h eat an d sem i, Suzuki 's Guy Cooper, no rm ally stro ng in th e mud, made sure this was his tic ket. After ga ting slow ly, Cooper wa s into seco nd aft er th e second lap , ta king th e lead by passi ng Surf Detergent-backed J eff G lass at th e start o f th e fro nt straigh taway o n the third la p . G lass faded to third with Rad 'N Bad 's Fred Andrews seco nd. Fo urth went to Mark Mu ssel man with KTM 's Mik e Fisher fifth , Anti ci pa tio n co u ld n ' t hav e been h igher for the m ain a nd ri ght fro m th e drop of the ga te it was o bvious it was a two-rider race into the record books. Brad sh aw got th e h ol esh ot wi th Stan ton o n hi s ta il a nd DeHoo p thi rd , Ma riasevich fourth a nd Kied ro wski fifth. T he lead duo quickly separa ted from the pack a nd Bradshaw pulled o u t a slight advantage, bu t by th e seventh la p th ey wer e in traffi c a nd th a t would make th e d iffer en ce. Bradsh a w was slowed by a lapped rider entering a slow, mud -fil led a n d rutted ha irpin turn an d Sta nton was right up on h im . O n the 10th la p , Sta nton was briefly in front after he took the lead over a ta bletop jump ap proach ing th e fini sh jum p , but Bradsh aw took it back when S ta nto n s ta lled gett i ng aro u n d a la p ped ride r-.By th is point they were ove r '3D seco n ds in fro n t of th ird-pl ace Bayle. T he race was decided o n the 13th lap whe n a backma rker got in Brad sha w's 'way as h e headed down th e front stra ig h taway. Forced to take 15

• Cover