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/127122
a t:':l E3 ~ 00 00 O"l ....... Ward (1) maintained a couple of seconds on Johnson throughout most of the race. but lappers slowed him down and allowed Johnson to strike. Rick Johnson overcame a stomach ailment and rival Jeff Ward to win his second Super Crown Series event at Jack Murphy Stadium. MTEG Coors Super Crown .of Stadium Motocross Series: Round 2 Johnson nips 'W ard in San Diego By Nate Rauba Photos by Kit Palmer SAN DI EGO , CA, FEB . 20 Team Honda's Rick Johnson focused in on Kawasaki's Jeff Ward and passed him with just over a lap remaining to win the second ro un d of the Mickey Thompson Entertain ment Group's (MTEG) Super Crown Series at San Diego 's ยท Jac k M m:p h y S tad lU~. According to a public address 6 announcement, 38,893 motocross fans were on hand and they watched Johnson get the holesho t and lead the first four laps of the 20-lap main event. War~ passed him then held the lead until about halfway through the 19th lap , when J oh nson used some lappers an~ strategy to I?ass Ward and hold ~Im off on the final lap to take the victory. " I was having trouble focusing in the qualifier," Johnson said. " I had some trouble last night with so me food poisoning o,r somethin~ I.ike that,.and! couldn t focus on hitting my lines.' Johnson worked with trainers and some friends from one of his sponsors, Life's A Beach, after his heat and returned with his mind and body in focus for the main. Ward's teammate Ro n Lechien and Team Yamaha's Micky Dymond were both in the hunt early in th e race, but later dropped off the blistering pace set by Ward and Johnson. Lechien claimed third at the finish while Dymond finished fourth , just clear of a charging Broc Glover. Johnson 's pay for the night was $5000 p ius contingency awards, while Ward took home $2500 of the $35 ,000 purse. Lechien rece ived $2000 for third, Dymond earned $1500 and Glover pocketed $1200. The I25cc Ultracross main, which featured MTEG's invert ed starting procedure, worked like it wa s supposed to as Kawasaki 's Jeff Matiasevic h ca me from mid-pack to first to claim hi s fourth consecutive stadiu m win. Matiasevi ch received $1392.03 of the $11,000 purse for winning and passing riders. Honda 's Kyle Lewis was seco nd, pocketing $1113.46, and Kawasaki T eam Green rid er Mike Kiedrowski finished third and earned 995.98. Michael Craig proved that yo u don 't necessarily have to have a high finishing position to earn a lot of money as he received $1140.46 for a 12th place finish on the track. Craig was seventh overall after passing points were totalled. 250cc Heats Yamaha rider Doug Dubach led Honda's Jeff Leisk, Tuf Racing's Keith Bowen and Canadian Ross Pederson out of the first tu rn in the fi rs t eight-lap heat race. Bowen quickly passed Leisk .a nd came up on Du bach as the top three battled for the leadon the first lap. Yamahamounted Jim Holley passed Pederson for fourth on lap two, but a lap later Pederson reclaimed the position. At the halfway point Dubach had built a small lead over Leisk, who flew by Bowen over the triple-jump. After passing Bowen Leisk quickly closed the gap on Dubach and the two rapidly pulled away from Bowen as they diced for the lead. Leisk kept looking to the .inside of Dubach, prompting the Yamaha rider to alter his lines to protect his lead. On the final lap Dubach almost crashed over a jump, allowing Leisk to get alongside as they headed for the last turn. Du bach held the inside and drove Leisk, who didn't shut off, close to the hay bales where the two touched, with Leisk's bike gelling carried out from under him. Dubach stayed upright to tak e th e win as Leisk got going just in time 10 take second, in ch es ah ead of Bowen. Pederson broke away from Holl ey to claim th e fina l transfer position. Du bach 's move to win the race also 'earn ed him $500 for the Coors Cool Move, an award given to the rider the press names for having made the best move during the heat races. T eam Suzuki rider Erik Kehoe got the holeshot at the start of heat two, but fell in the first turn. That gave Austra lian Lyndon Heffernan the lead over Frankie Brundage a nd Tommy Watts. After a hectic first lap, in which Brundage took the lead and Gordon Ward moved to third before crashing in the whoops, lap two began with Watts in first followed by Yamaha's Jeff Stanton, Brundage and Heffernan. Kehoe was up to seventh. Stanton got by Watts on th e second lap, while Billy Frank moved into fourth. At th e halfway point Stanton was a couple of seconds out front and Watts crashed. Frank and Kehoe moved into second and third and dropped Brundage back to fourth as they battled. Before th e lap was over Kehoe had moved into second. A lap later Frank stu ffed his way by Kehoe, but near th e end of lap six Kehoe moved back into second for good. From there they spread out to th e finish with Stanton getting the win ahead of Kehoe, Frank a n d "Bru n da ge. At the start of heat three Jeff Ward charged into the lead followed by Honda's George Holland, Micky Dymo nd a nd Kaw a sa ki rider Tyson Vohland. Dym ond q uickly passed H olla nd and set after Ward, bu t by lap two Ward had already opened a . small lead . Back in fourt h Voh land was begin n in g to get some pressure from Suzuki's J oh n n y O'Mara. Ward continued to stay in control for the remainder of the race an d pulled away to about a five-second victory over Dymond. Holland was a distant third, and on the final lap a charging O 'Mara moved to within a few bike leng th s of Holland but couldn't get by. The fourth heat featured the top three riders from nea rby EI Cajon; Broc Glover, Rick Johnson and Ron Lechien. At the start Lechien led neighbors Glover and Johnson through the first turn while Shaun Kalos and Brian Manley filled in the top five. Lechien was flying and quickly put a small margin on Glover, as a good battle for fourth was beginning to develop between Kalos, Jason Upshaw and Man ley. On the second lap Manley stuffed inside of Upshaw and the two co llided over a jump. Neither rider went down , but Upshaw immediately pulled off and h it the grou nd, su fferin g from a painful knee inj ury. Up front Lechien maintained h is lead, but Glover kept him in sight as they bot h pulled away fr o m Johnson. Glover chased Lechien for the rest of the race, then crashed in a jump section on the last lap. After Lechien crossed the line with the win, Johnson took second in front