00
00
O"l
.-.
Rick Johnson 's win clinched the series championship and his acrobatics earned him $500, wh ich he donated to t he Ted Boody Trust Fund .
Jeff Ward winces in pain after severely spra ining his left ankle upon
landing from a double jump; he couldn't continue and missed the main.
AMA Supercross Championship Series:
Round 9
Johnson tops Meadowlands,
clinches second 5X title
By Henny Ray Abrams
E. R UTHERFORD, NJ, MAY 14
H on da 's Ricky j ohnson clinched his second
Supercross title with a con vin cin g win in
the Coors Meadowlan ds Supercross a t '
Giants Stadium while his nearest pursuer,
Kaw asaki's J eff Ward, injured
his left a n kle in his h eat race
. d f . h e even i
a n d ~e tI re or t e evem ng.
WIth one round to go. J ohn-
6
son 's ins urmou n tab le lead over
Ward is 217 to 117 wi th Kawasaki's
Ron Lechi en , 13th ton ight, third at
168.
In win ning his sevent h supercross
of the year, J ohnson led a ra re H onda
sweep of th e top th ree positi ons with
team mate George H oll and and J eff _
Leisk finis hing behind hi m. Suzuki 's
J ohnny O 'Mara posted hi s stronges t
sho wing of th e year in fourth and
125cc West Region Supercross
Cha mpion, Kawasaki 's Jeff Matiasevich , was fifth.
" I wish th at Jeff was ou t th ere
because he's the number o ne rider
right now ," J ohnson said. " I' d lik e
to fight for th e titl e, so I have mixed
emo tio ns. But I'm happy that I had
a good battle with George (Holland)
a.n~
I'm ha ppr, to see my teammates
fI ms~ s~ well.
.
Wm mng th e 125cc East Regi on
Supercross Champio ns hip in the
seve nt h a n d fin al rou n d was
to night's second p lace fin isher, T odd
DeHoo p, o n aSuzuki , DeHoop , who
led mu ch of the 12-lap fin al , was
passed by event ua l winner Mike ,
LaRocco lat e in th e race, but still
finis hed well ahea d of sevent h-place
Mike J on es who'd led ,the titl e chase
co ming into th e race. Third tonight
went to Tea m' G reen 's Denny
Step henso n.
Tonigh t's p urse was $35,000 wi th
$30,000 goi ng to th e 250cc class and
$5000 to the 125s. J ohnson earn ed
$5000 for winn in g with H olland
taking home $3000 and Leisk $1850.
La Rocco 's c u t wa s $1000 , with
DeH oo p getting $400 and Stephenson $280.
Johnson. also won $500 (or the
" Coors' Coolest Move" as voted by
