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/126980
Bader Manneh (3 6) , M icky Dymond (1 ) and George Holland f ight f or second. t hird and fourth early in the fi rst 125cc moto . - AMA National Championship 125/ 500cc MX Series: Final rounds Johnson, Schmit shine at Spring Creek; Dymond takes title By Kit Palmer MILLVIL L E, MN, AUG. 23 Jeff Ward (3) and Rick Johnson (2) battle for the lead in the first 500cc moto. A lap later, the two collided with Ward dropping out, A fourth place finish at Millville was all Jeff Stanton needed to capture second overall in the 500cc final point standings, 8 Despite wrapping up the ' 500cc National Championship MX Series two weeks ago in Troy, Ohio, Team Honda's Rick Johnson was determined to win at the Spring Creek Park Natio nal as if th e title was still up for grabs . T he Moto-X Fox/ Bell H el m ets/ Oa kl ey/New York Seltzer sponso red ri der was unstoppab le. J ohnson claimed back-to -back moto victories, even th ough Team Kawasaki's Ron Lech ien and J eff Ward , gave th e cham pion a run for h is m oney a t o ne time or a nothe r. Lech ien ended up runner-up with a 2-2 ta lly, whi le Yamaha 's Keith Bowen captu red th ird via a 5-3 ta lly. Fourth a t Millville was Yamaha's J eff Sta n to n who claimed seco nd p lace in the overa ll points standings. In th e I25cc class, the big news was Team Honda's Micky Dymond suecessfu lly defen ding his number-one p la te a fter a sixth-place finish in th e first moto. Dym ond needed just one p o int o n th e da y to clinch th e cha m pio ns h ip. Second in th e series went to T eam Suzu ki's G eo rg e H olland, foll o wed by H onda rider Guy Cooper. " It (the cha m pio nship battl e) was to ugh," sa id Honda linel Arai /Sco tt USA -backed Dym ond. " I had so man y p rob lem s a t the beginnin g of the year, a nd it makes me feel good kn o win g tha t I was ab le to overcome a ll my prob lems . Winn in g the cham pions hip is like dumping a heavy load off my back. " H owever, stea ling some o f the spotlig h t away from Dymond was T eam Su zuki's Donny Schmi t, who claimed ~he second . I25cc Nati.onal overall vic to ry of his career -with a 1-2 ta ll y in front o f h is hometown crowd. " It feels so good," said Bloomington, Minneso ta 's Sch mit. "So man y peop le th ou ght that my first ove ra ll win in So u th Ca ro lina was all luck because I wo n it with a 1-7 score. Here I showed 'em it was not just luck." , Sch m it's teammates, H olland and Erik Keh oe , ro u nded o u t the top three. A $14,669 purse was up for grabs in th e 500cc class, and J oh nso n went home with the biggest ch u n k, SIOO O for winnin g both moto s. Sc hmit collected $408 out of th e $7332, 125cc p urse . 500cc National Wh en th e pack of 42 rid ers heade d into the sweep ing, ri ghthand fir st turn , it was Sin isal o/Oakley/Shoeibacked Ward ' lead in g the way, b ut ho t o n hi s heels was Johnson. After th e first lap, it was Ward, Johnson , Kaw asaki rider T omm y Watts, Lech ien , Yam ah a-mounted Dou g Dubach , Honda rider David H and, Yama ha 's Stan to n and J im Ho lley, Tom Carson a nd Bill y Frank leading the way . Lechien timed th e ga te pe rfectly and actually had the clear jump ahead o f everybody, " .. . but I j ust