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/127136
Jeff Stanton (8) leads Johnny O'Mara (19), overall winner Rick Johnson (1) and Jeff Ward (2) at the start of the second 250cc moto. George Holland (3 ) had Ronnie TIchenor on his tail t hroug ho ut the second ' 1 .25cc moto. Holland finished second overall and Tichenor was third . AMA Bel-Ray 250cc/RK Chain 125cc National Championship MX Series: Round 5 'Johnson, Cooper beat High Point heat By Tom Mueller Photos by Davey Coombs & Mueller MT. MORRIS, PA, MAY 29 Honda factory riders Rick Johnsonand G uy Cooper were the overall winners in the 250 and 125cc classes, repectively, during a hot day of racing in the Wiseco Nationals at 6 High Poi n t Raceway. Johnson's I-I score brought him within 13 points of Kawasaki's Jeff Ward in the 250cc title chase, with only one round remaining. Ward finished fourth overall, with a 2·6 tally after taking a fall in moto two. Cooper used . a 2-1 score for top honors in the 125cc class and is now fifth in the standings despite a tworound deficit due to a broken leg. Series point leader George Holland maintained a comfortable cushion, placing second overall on the day ' . with a 1-3. Holland. yatop a factory Honda, now leads Suzuki's Erik Kehoe by 26 points. A first tum crash and me chanical troubles limited Kehoe to a 15th in mota one, which he coupled with a second in moto two for fifth overall. The $22,000 AMA purse was split with $14,600 going to the 250s, and $7340 allocated for the 125s. Johnson pocketed an even $1000 for his perfect day , while second overall Ron Lechien made $800 for posting a 33. Cooper claimed $430 ($240 for first, $190 for second), and Holland made $410 ($240 for first, $170 for third). Sunny skies and hot temperatures brought a huge crowd to High Point for the Memorial Day weekend. Promoter Dave Coombs reported that he had sold 12,000 spectator passes by 11:30 on race day, with more fans pouring in up until the 1:00 p.m. start. Wieth temperatures pushing into the high 80s, riders had to conserve energy and work the right lines on the tough and rutted course. After the morning practice, and before each moto, the sta rt area was disced and turned under, negating any berms formed in previous outings. This met with disapproval from some riders, but seemed to eq ua lize the £ield for th e gate, into the uphill start, through the fast lefthand sweeper and into the downhill with a sharp right-hand turn at the bottom. 250cc Fred Andrews kept the fire alive after winning his qualifier and showed the way throughout the first lap of the first mota. Following were Johnson, Ya ma ha's Jeff Stanton, Ka wa sa k i ' s Lech ien, Kawasaki supported Mike Fisher and Ward. "When I got out front I didn't know what to do, so I just gave it all I had," Andrews explained la ter. "I have a lot of friends here and I want to ride really hard for them." Johnson powered around Andrews in a sweeping straightaway, and Lechien snuck by Stanton to set up a freight train. Stanton planned to keep the pressure . on, but his momentum pitched him to the outside in a right-hander. It was Johnson pulling Lechien, with Andrews back in third fighting off the prodding of Ward. Fisher, Honda 's Jeff Leisk, Stanton and Yamaha's Broc Glover now compiled the top eight. Glover's pace carried him up to the front-runners, despite fighting the flu and back pains all week prior to the race. Ward kept the pressure on and passed Andrews, then picked up time in the back section on Lechien. Leisk, Stanton and Glover all passed Fisher, and a distance back was Suzuki's Johnny O'Mara, trying to . close the gap in ninth. With IU minutes remainmg m the 30-minute p lus two lap mota, Ward exhibited his strong conditioning by hounding Lechien until he took second. Andrews, Leisk and Stanton tightened up into an argument for fourth through sixth, with both Leisk and Stanton moving by Andrews in the closing laps. On the white flag lap Andrews was off the course just long enough for Glover to sneak into sixth. " I didn't have enough speed for the triple, and when I cased it my feet went clean over my head," said Andrews. " I didn 't fall, but by the time I rode it out Broc got me." Johnson , in contrast, had more than enough speed as he grabbed air time en route to the win. Ward, Lechien, Leisk, Stanton, Glover, Andrews and O'Mara ran by the checkers in the next eight positions. "Andrews was moving around quite a bit off the start, but I managed to squeeze around him before Ward · worked into second," said Johnson. "That gave me some time to put on a show for the High Po int fans; these East Coast spectators are th e greatest!" Stanton showed the way to Glover, Johnson, Ward and Andrews at the start of moto two. J oh nson used a n inside- to-outside line to ju m p past Stanton and take over the lead on la p two while G lover and Ward were a tight 3-4 and Andrews had the best of Lechien in fifth. Glover pushed Stanton, and soo n