Rick Johnson (2) is chased by Jeff Stanton (56) and Jeff Ward. With three wins under his belt so far, Johnson has a command ing points lead .
Guy Cooper .(15) leads Larry Brooks in the f irst 125cc moto. Cooper
won the moto and took eighth in the second for second overall.
AMA 125/500cc National Championship MX '
Series: Rounds 3L9
I
Johnson, Kehoe
sizzle at Sugartree
By Tom Mueller
AXTON, VA, J ULY 12
Team Honda's Rick Johnson and Suzuki's
Erik Kehoe, grabbed top 500 , and 125c0
. honors, respectively, in a hot day of National MX racing at Sugartree MX Park.
Jo h nson turn ed in a no surp rise performance by run.
.h b h
rung away w i t
at ,m a tos,
and to p p ed Ya maha s J eff
Sta nton, who posted 3-2 fini sh es.
Keh oe used a 5-1 ta lly to win his first
National this seaso n, a head o f Guy
Cooper's 1-8 p os ting .
Top co n ten de rs in both classes
were side li ned due to crash -rela ted
in j ur ies. Ka wa sa k i 's J eff Ward
retired a ftera cras h earl y in th e firs t
500cc m o to , a nd teamma te Ron
Lec hiena lso packed it in a fter a har d
fall at the start of th e seco nd bi gbore r:a ce. ~ard, ~ho. was a close
third In pomts gOIn g Into the race,
lost a va lua ble op p ort u n ity to attain
much needed p oints. With J ohnson .
scorin g 50 p oi nts on the day, a n d
Stanton p ostin g 42, th e pair looked
to be in a breakaw ay for th e 1987
500cc title chase.
In 125cc racin g defending champ
a n d ' 87 p o ints leader M ickey
Dymond ca lled it a day after knock in g himself sense less early in th e
seco nd m ot o. He still m aintai ned a
59-point lead over J eff Leisk and
