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/127137
Jason Langford (279) led most of the first 125cc moto until overall w inner George Holland made this pass to take the victory. Jeff Ward (2) gets a congratulatory embrace from overall winner · ick R Johnson after clinching the 250cc National Championship . Jeff Stanton (8 ) and Ron Lech ien battled in the f irst moto until Lechien bailed in this rut. Lechien finished third overall and Stanton took fifth, AMA Bel-Ray 250cc/RK Chain 125cc National Championship MX Series: Final Round/Round 5 Victory to Johnson, title to Ward at San Antonio. By Nate Rauba Photos by Kinney Jones and Rauba SAN ANTONIO, TX, J UN E 5 T eam H onda 's Rick J oh n son cruised to the overall victory while Kawasaki 's J eff Ward logged a safe pair of second place finishes to wrap up the 250cc Nation al Ch am p ion sh ip a t Goodtimes Motorsports Park . Johnson 's double-moto victory came after he worked up 8 from a poor sta rt in th e first moto to pass Ward late in th e race for th e win. In th e second mo to, Jo hnson had to wor k his way by Yam aha 's Broc G lover early in round two to take the victory. " Nobody's goi ng to remember my bike broke in Virginia , th ey'll just remember th at Ward was th e 'SS 250cc Nati onal Champi on," sa id J ohnson. Ward came in to th e fin al ro und with a 13-poin t lead , but still said he wou ld race for first. " Yo u have to wi n to score th e most poin ts," sa id Ward. Alt hough he didn't win, he did what he ha d to do in order to lock up th e cha m p io n sh i p and fini shed the 250cc series seven po ints a hea d of J o hnson. " I kn ow I did n 't bea t Ricky, but I kep t his pace," said Wa rd afterwards. " It feels good to get this o ne over with." Ro n Lech ien p ilo ted his factory Kawasaki to th ird overall via 4-4 fini shes , Gl over scored fourth aft er a 6-3 da y, and Yamaha 's Jeff Stanton rounded o ut the top five overall with a 3-6 tall y. Geor ge Holland made it to th e win ner's circle by guiding his factory H o nd a to firs t overall in th e I25cc class. H olland worked throug h some tough competition to win the first m oto, th e n fo llowed Ya m a h a su p ported Mik e La Rocco hom e in th e second ro und. H ollan d 's wi n extended his poi nts lead to 35 points over Suzuki's Eri k Kehoe, who was second overall follow in g 4-3 sho wings , at the half way po int of th e 10race 125cc series. Gu y Cooper, aboa rd a no ther factory H onda , was third overall and moved up to fo urth in the point standings after missi ng the first two rounds. L a R o cco sco re d fourth overa ll despite a 13th in moto one, whi le Suzuki's T y Davi s rounded out the top five. J ohnson earn ed 1000 of th e $22.000 p urse fo r wi n n ing bo th mo tos, but Ward was the big win ner by taki ng a S50,O O bonus from O Ka wasaki for the cham pions hi p. H oll and's pa y for th e I25cc class win was 430 wh ile Keh oe grabbed $330 for seco nd. 250cc · . Sta nton jumped into th e lead a t th e start of the fir st moto followed by Yama ha-s uppo rt r ider Doug Dubach , Sco tt Chesser, ·Wa rd, H onda's Je ff Leisk, Lech ien a nd G lover. Joh nson was beh in d G lover a nd passed him on the first lap , the n . zapped Leisk a short tim e la ter after Lec hie n h ad a lrea dy mo ved by. Chesser qu ickl y fell back and Ward moved by Dubach ear ly o n la p two. Stanton held Ward off for th e next two laps unti l he got crossed up in a rutted ' turn. Ward quickly scoo ted into first and then moved away as J ohnson, with Lech ien on his tail, moved in o n th e Yam aha pilot. J ohnson stayed in Stanton 's trac ks for the next four laps, and whe n he finally got int o second o n lap nin e Ward had a four- second lead. Sta nton then came under fi re fro m Lech ien , and Du bach was bei ng reeled in by Glover. At the halfway poi nt of the 30minute, plus two-lap moto, Ward's lea d was shrin king as Joh nson charged. Sta n ton a nd Lech ien battled for third, and Du bach was being hounded by G lover for fifth with Leisk not far beh in d. Kawasaki 's Mike Fish er held eig hth a nd Suz uki 's Joh nny O' Mara had work ed up to nint h after a poor sta rt. A few la ps la ter J ohnson found his way to first, while Lech ien fell in a rutted corner while chasing Stan·ton . J ohnso n moved ahea d of Ward, bu t Ward rode j us t fast eno ug h to keep h im in sig ht. " I kn ew th e second moto would decide it ei the r wa y," said Ward. " H e came underneath me and I didn't wan t to fig ht. I stuck with h im and figur ed I'd try to get by a nd hold him off to th e finish , bu t I never got the opportuni ty." . And a lthough Johnso n was out fro nt , h e didn 't pu ll away a n d finished o nl y a little over a second ahead of Ward. " I didn' t kn ow what to do, " said Joh nson afterwards. " I contemp lated slo wing down and running int o him to try a nd brea k his bike, but that's not righ t. I do n't think J eff wa nted to race rea l close because of the cha nce of going down, so he p layed it safe." Sta n to n ca me to th e fin ish a di stant third, well ahead of Lech ien. O 'Mara cha rged u p to ta ke fifth just a hea d of Gl o ver a nd Leisk was next in ahead o f Ya m ah a' s Mi ck y Dym ond, who also cha rged up from a poor start. Dubach fell a nd fin ished n inth. " I found some really good lines th at nob od y was usin g, sai d O 'Mara abo ut his charge. "T here's not mu ch room to pass o ut th ere, but each la p I passed someo ne." Gl over gra bbed the hol eshot a t the start of mot o two as J ohnson moved in beh ind him. Dymond held third a head of former multi-time National Champion Kent How erton, Andrew Bradshaw , a nd Leisk. Ward was a few positions back after a hectic start.