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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126829
Broc Glover (4) won the 500cc class. while David Bailey sat out with a sprained w~ist. National Championship MX Series: Round 7 I.echien, Johnson, Glover sweep Red Bud By Tom Kolnowski BUCHANAN, MI, JULY 7 The city of £1 Cajon, California , h as p roduced th ree potent m o tocross talen ts . Honda 's Ron Lechien and Yamaha 's Rick Johnson and Broc Glover - and th e tr io ro de into Red Bud Track 'n ' Trail at a fu ll gallop and won . the 125, 250 and 500cc classes, respectively, at the Malcolm 6 Smith National motocross. After the dust had settled, each of the three had a pair of ones followi ng h is name at the top of the results sheets. For Lechien, the 125ccwin was his fifth of the series and moved him closer to h is first Na tional tit le, while Yamaha's Keith Bowen put his bes t fin ish of the series in the record books - second overall - which came via a 3-2 tally. Tuf Racing's Rick Ryan topped Suzuki 's George Holla nd and Erik Kehoe for third overal l. Lec hien has pulled out a commanding 51point lead over Kehoe, 317 to 266, while Holland is th ird with 242. j oh nso n scored the 250cc win here last yearen rou te to his firs t Nationa l Championship, but that win was n ot nearly as dominating as his runaways in both motos this time around. Series poi nt standings leader jeff Ward turned in another consistent performance in 2-3 fashion to ta ke second overa ll, whi le Honda 's johnny O'Mara finis hed third ahead of Myerscough Racin g 's Bria n Myerscough. johnson 's win moved him into second in the points chase behind Kawasa- ki's Ward; Ward has 323 points to johnson's 299 and O :Mara's 286. While ha rdl y close, the 250cc point race is th e tightest of th e three National classes. In 500cc action, Glover bounced back after two crashes in the opening moto to win over Savage Racing's jo jo Keller and Yamaha/Hi-Point-sponsored Eric Eaton, while in moto two G lover led a ll the way with Honda Support rider Mike Fisher and Eaton finishing 2-3. Eato n, who wore probably the happiest face of a ny rider at Red Bud, was the second overall finisher ahead of Fisher. Defending 500cc Na tional Champion Da vid Bailey didn't playa major ro le in the race after a practice crash left him wi th a sprained left wr ist ; he went JO-DNF on the day . Glover's lead over runner-up Bail ey in the series has grown to 65 points, 329 to 264, . while Eaton is third with 198. The heavy rains which have covered the midwest of late never touched Red Bud; th e track was extremely dusty in most sections. By the start of the fina l moto, most of the estima ted 8000 spectators had already packed up and left. 125cc Holland, wi nner of the opening series round in Gainesville, Florida, was at the head of the pack as the first moto ofthe day got under way, while Lechien, Kehoe, Kawasaki's Mark Barn ett and Honda Support rider Larry Brooks followed him. "I had a good holeshot,' said Hoiland, " bu t I was having a bit of trou ble with the ru ts on the track and Lechien began to close in . I missed my line - which was a rut - and he passed me." Lechien 's pass came on lap three, and the order behind him was HoIland, Barnett, Bowen and Brooks. "I was just hanging back behind Holland checking everything out," said Lechien, " since 1have to be very cautious wi th the ch am p io nsh ip on th e line. 1 got off the gate well, which is the to ug h est part of riding in this class, and watched Holland's lines for a few la ps. T hen I went for the pass on th e downhi ll double jump." Kehoe, however, was way back in the pack. "I went down on the back part of the co urse after starting third," sai d Kehoe, "and I cou ldn't get back to mv bi ke because other riders were corning at me . By the time I finally did, mos t everyone had gone by." Barn ett stopped for adjustments to his contro ls on la p four , whic h dropped him well out of the top 15. T hat made the order Lechien, Holland, Bowen, Brooks, R ick R yan and Kawasaki Team Green 's Eddie Warren. Lech ien pulled out a 10- to 12second lead over Holland and kept it through th e 13th and fina l la p , while Bowen came in for third. Fourth was debated by Brooks and Ryan until one la p from the end. "I was doing a pretty good job of holding him off," said Brooks, " th en my thrott le stuck wide open a t the top of the downhill jump. 1 rode it o u t, but Ri ck got past me a t th e bottom ." Ryan finished fourth over Brooks and Warren , while Kehoe came back for seven th. The start o f moto two fell almost immediately into th e lap of Lechien , while Tuf Racing 's jim Veugeler, Rvan, Kehoe, Brooks, Bowen , Malco lrn-Sm ith -sp o nsored Guy Cooper and Warren played cha se. By lap five, Lec hien had cooked to a six-second lead over Ryan , Kehoe, Bowen, Veu geler , Brooks and Cooper, and by la p eig h t Bowen had worked his way past Kehoe and began to clos e in q uickly on second-place Rya n. "I fell down once but kept second," said R yan , " bu t Lechien was a lready 10 seconds gone. I had about five seconds on the next guy (Bowen), but was having trouble with my fro nt brake because the cable had gotten pinched between the tire and front fender. Everv time I landed, th e brake wou ld go OIi." Bowen made up the rest of the deficit on lap II - two laps from the finish . Lech ien won over Bowen by eight seconds, while R ya n , Kehoe, Hoiland, Suzu ki 's A.j . Whiti ng, Barnett, Veugeler, Cooper and Warren rounded out the top 10. "Four more motos," said Lechien. "That's what I have to win to clinch th e title (six motos remain). But it isn 't over unti l it 's over, so 1still ha ve to p lay it safe." 250cc There was a fresh face leading the pack a few corners into the first moto - that of Dan n y Storbeck, who was pi loting a support Yamaha. " I got off the li n e rea l well," said Storbeck, "and put a few seconds on (Rick) johnson. I stayed there for almost two laps, when johnson passed me coming o ff a double jump." As leader j ohnson began la p two, he was off and running in what wou ld be a race of h is own; Storbeck stayed close for another lap , while another I0 seconds back came Suzuki rider Myerscough, Ward, H on da 's Bob Hannah and Yamaha-mounted Steve Bur dette. On lap four, Ward went around Myerscough and began to catch Storbeck. " I was doing pretty well, but Ward caught and p assed me (on la p six) . After that, I slowed down a bit a nd then we got into lap ped traffic," sai d Storbeck.