Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126956
Rick Johnson (1) dives underneath and pauea Jeff Ward halfway through the main event for the win. He now has the series points lead. After crashing both nights at the Seattle, Washington, doubleheader the week before, Ron Lechien regrouped for a third in Texas. Privateer Honda rider Kyle Lewis (273) won a hard-fought battle in the 125cc main. It's his third win of the 588son. . A.KA./Coors .Supercross Series: RODDd. Johnson wins in Lone Star' state By Kit Palmer .IRVING, TX, APR. 4 It's beginning to sound like a broken record. Team Honda's Rick Johnson claimed his third straight victory during the Coors Beersponsored supercross series inside Texas Stadium. With his latest win Johnson has taken over th~ . . I d. . thr ser~es pOints ea He IS ee pomts ahead of second place 10 finisher Jeff Ward. In the 20-lap main, before an estimated 22,000 spectators, Team Kawasaki's Ward blasted into the lead as soon as the gate dropped, but halfway thrQugh the raCe, Johnson reeled him ill and immediat~ly passed. From then on, the two pomt leaders stayed close to each other with Johnson holding on for the win. Third went to Ward's teammate, Ron Lechien, while Yamaha's Jeff Leisk finished fourth. Yamaha support rider, Hi-Point-sponsored Jeff Stanton rounded out the top five. After a confusing and a somewhat controversial finish, privateer Honda rider Kyle Lewis claimed his third l25cc supercross victory of the year, while Kawasaki rider Bader Manneh and Yamaha-mounted Michael Craig rounded out the top three. A light turnout of 250cc riders at the Texas Supercross event required slight retailoring of the mght's racing program. Instead of having the usual four-heat race format, only three heat races were held, and the odd-numbered finishers in the heat races (5-7-9-11-111) went to the first semi, while even-numbered finishers (6-8-10-12-14) went to the second semi. Heats The stan of the first heat race saw Honda rider Rick Ryan nail the holeshot, but Stanton flew by and into the lead a few turns later. Stanton maintained his lead after the fIrst lap, but Ryan wasn't through yet. During the second lap, Ryan set himself up on the outside of a turn then quickly dove to the inside of Stanton and captured the lead. Meanwhile, Kawasaki's Eddie Warren and Leisk battled over third. Stanton, however, retaliated on the next lap and regained the lead from Ryan for good. Leisk eventually found his way by both Warren and Ryan for second place. At the finish it was Stanton, Leisk, Ryan and Warren. Yamaha rider Brian Manley blasted into the lead at the start of the second heat race with Suzuki's Johnny O'Mara in hot pursuit. Lechien was near the back of the pack. By the end of the first lap, O'Mara had stolen the lead away from Manley, but on the next go-'round, O'Mara clipped the tail end of a triple jump and crashed, inj uring his . wrist and putting him out for the evening. According to Suzuki's race team manager, Pat Ale'xander, O'Mara was taken to the hospital for X-rays that revealed no broken bones. With O'Mara out, Yamaha's Keith Bowen found himself leading ahead of privateer Honda rider Larry Brooks, Suzuki rider Scooter Stafford and Canadian Ross Pederson. But Lechien was on the move. He worked his way up through the pack until he found second place with two laps to go. At the finish, it was Bowen with a comfortable advantage over Lechien, who was trailed by Brooks and Pederson. Manley took fourth. Johnson clearly dominated the final heat race, leading from stan to finish, while Suzuki's George HoIland settled into second place. And with Johnson's win, the factory Honda rider claimed the fastest heat race time and picked up a $1000 check from Coors Beer and four more points towards the Coors Cup Series title. Johnson leads the series by eight points over Lechien. Bowen is third m the series followed by Ward and Kehoe. After getting a so-so start in the third heat race, Ward was running third after the second lap before bailing over the same triple jumps that O'Mara had crashed on. He was able to finish the race, but had to ride the second semi. Johnson took the heat win ahead of a trio of Suzuki riders: Holland, Erik Kehoe and Jeff Frisz. Semis Manley and Honda-mounted Jeff Hicks battled wheel-to-wheel throughout the first semi Kawasaki