The opening round of the Super Crown of Stadium Motocross attracted a cla imed 55.538 spectators to Anaheim Stadium.
Long -time rivals Rick Johnson (2 ) and Ron Lech ien (4 ) battled in the
third heat race with Johnson edging ahead for the win.
MTEG Coors Super Crown of Stadium
Motocross Series: Round 1
.
Johnson jams to
Anaheim victory
By Kit Palmer
Photos by Nate Rauba and Kinney Jones
ANAHEIM, CA, JAN. 30
T eam Honda's Rick Johnson used a little
bit of good luck an d lots of determination
to win the 20-lap main event over Team
Yamah a's Micky Dymond a nd Kawasaki's
J eff Ward at th e opening
round of the Mickey Thornpso n En t ert a in me n t Group' s
.
(MT EG) Super Crown Series
6
in Anaheim Stadium.
" This win means a lot to me,
beca use I've never won at Anah eim
befo re," sa id J ohnson. " Last year I
was carried off th e track o n a stretcher
unconscious. I guess this is a slig ht
im provem ent."
J ohn son worked h ard for hi s
victory. The Mor o -X Fox /B ell
Helm et/Oakley Gogg le-sponsored
rid er took th e early lead in th e main
but lost it to hard-ch arging .Ward
three la ps la ter. Ward pu lled away
from J ohnson (u p to fo ur seco ,~ds) ,
but as the two leaders head ed IlIIO
l a~ped traffi c, just a~ter th e hal£w'.'y
point. Johnson qui ckl y reeled III
Ward a nd pa ssed him back. Shortl y
after, Ward mis sed a shift over a
double jump and crashed, painfully
jamming a finger in the process.
This gave Dymond, who was run-
ning third , the o p po rtu ni ty. he
needed to overtak e Ward, making
J ohnson, DYJ?ond a nd Ward.the top
three. Rounding o ut th e top five were
Yamaha' s Broc Gl o ver a nd Suzuki's
Erik Keh oe.
Johnson 's win earned th e factory
Honda rid er' $5000 out of a $41,300
purse. Dymond pocketed $211 5 for
second, and Ward claimed $1905 for
third. Even the 20th-placed rider in
th e main ea rned 970, wh ile 21st
back to 60th (the rid ers who didn't
qualify for the main ) each received
$131.
Event promoter Mickey Thompson claimed 55,538 spec tators witnessed Johnson 's w in , a cro wd
considerably less co mpared to previous Anaheim Supercross events.
The Los Angeles Times reported the
cro wd as being a n "es ti m a ted
38,000."
John son al so wa s named the
"Coors Cool Move" winner during
his heat race, for which he picked
u p a $500 check from Coors. After
