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/127143
Jeff Stanton (8) j um ped int o the ' early lead at the start of the first 50~cc National moto. He was chased by Tom Carson (34), Jeff Wa rd (2) , Jeff Leisk (7 ) and Fred Andrews (20) . Suzuki's Erik Kehoe and Honda's Rick Johnson celebrate their wi ~s with champagne in the victory circle. Johnson went 1-1 . AMA Bel-Ray SOO/RK Chain 12Scc National Championship MX Series: Round 3/9 Johnson, Kehoe win Steel City scrapper By Tom Mueller Photos by Davey Coombs and Mueller DELMONT, PA, JULY 17 In racing th at could almost'redefine the term " do gfight," R ick Johnson edged Ro n Lechien for the 500tc National win at Steel City th is weekend, Kawasaki 's L echien couldn ' t close th e gap in moto one, b u t in moto two worked the entire race to pass and lead, and af ter that it was brake- 6 chec king; line-crossing, wh eel -towhe el racing until Johnson edged ahead in the late stages to win. " R onnie rides fast and changes lin es co nsta nt ly, and you can 't set him up; tha t's why he 's a factory Kawasaki rider," said H onda's Johnso n aft erwards. . Honda's Jeff Leisk posted two thirds, and Yamaha's J eff Stanton took two fourt hs, to claim those positions overall. Kaw asaki 's J eff Ward had a dismal day and posted a IO-DNF, never seeming to produce th e fire it would take to pull back into championship contention. "Je ff wrenched his shoulder early in the first mot o, and it affected his ridi ng all day," said Kawasaki team coordinator Roy Turner. Johnso n claimed a $1000 payda y for winning bo th mo tos, and now leads the. 500cc sta ndi ngs wi th 143 points, wi th three of six rou nds comp lete. Lechien won 900 of th e 22,000 pu rs e, and moved from fourth to secon d in the standi ngs, now at 116. Leisk remains thi rd in the 'sta ndings and leads Stanton by a mer e poi nt, 11 3 to 112. Suzu ki 's Erik Kehoe bounced back from som e of th e bad breaks he's been having in th e 125cc Natio nal Series to grab the o verall win at Steel Ci ty. " 1 won the 125cc USG P th ey had here in '87, so today it was just a matter of deal in g wit h the humidity and keeping pace," said Kehoe, who posted a 1-2 and won $430 in purse for th e overa ll. Second was Honda's George Holland, wh ose 3-1earned $410 in purse, and retained a safe 35-point lead over Kehoe in th e standings. Running under a blanket with Kehoe and Holland was H onda's Guy Cooper, who was th ird overall with a 2-3. Cooper moved to third in th e standings, but remains 40 points behind Kehoe. T em peratures mat ched or broke all-time records at Steel City on race weekend. Promoter Dave Coombs had four wa ter tru cks on hand to try and battle conditio ns. "I've been a t it aro und th e clock for four days," said Coombs, who dumped 250,000 ga llo ns of water o n th e facili ty. A " water freeze" due to drought in th e area kept Coombs from getting the liquids he needed, so he soli cited th e help of local friends, who let him draw wa ter from th eir privat e ponds. T he course, whi ch is la id ou t o n two o ppos ing hillsides, remained relatively dust-free despite a heavy wind . on race day. Spectators kept arriving up through the 1:00 p.m. start, with ap proxima tely 4000 fans making the show. " 1 figure the toughest man will win the race," said Johnson prior to the start. "Dave Coombs does a good job here, but the conditions are just plain bad . I won the Support class here last year, so I know how fast the winner has to be." 500cc Stanton took the lead off the gate in moto one, but Johnson was getting a wheel in front on a downhill during th e first la . Andrews Suzuki-sponsored Fred Andrews is on a H onda for th e 500cc Nationals. and started a strong third. Kawasakimounted Jeff Frisz and Leisk were at it for fourth, and Honda riders Tom Carson and Jeff H icks were sorting o u t sixth . Yamaha-backed Doug Dubach fell in th e first turn, and retired a few laps later with a snapped front brak e lever. Ward was cruising midpack, and wasn 't on pace to move up to th e leaders. By lap two J ohnson passed Stanton to lead for good. Leisk used the next few circu its to get by Frisz and clos e on Andrews . Lechien also passed Frisz and moved up to fifth. Kawasaki's Mike Fisher was seventh, eighth was Kawasaki rider Tommy Watts, and ninth was World G P contender Soren Mortensen, who was using the race as a warm-up for th e Unadill a 250 cc USG P next weekend. Leisk took Andrews for third, but Lechien was soon around both riders for the slot. Lechien closed the gap on Stanton and took second. With time running out in th e 30-minu te plus two la p moto, Lechien went after Johnson and closed th e gap to five seconds, but Johnson came in clean as time ran out. "Johnson was just cru isin' , but when I got up to him he gassed it, " said Lechien. " I stuck on him a coup le of laps, but then I just said screw it. I was ragged ou t fro m passing Stanton and a couple other guys." Wi th just over two laps remaining Leisk wore down Stanton for third and pulled a slig ht cus hio n by th e finish. Stanton retained fourth, and 37 seconds back was Andrews, then Fi sh er, Watts, M ortensen a n d Yamaha rider Bill y Frank. Ward, ATK rid er Scott Bown , and H onda rid er Kurt McMillen fin ished in a cluster for 10-11-12. "T he reason Ronnie got th at close was because I fell right after the downhill steps ," said J ohnson. " I held on [0 the th rottle, but th e bike . a lmost ran awa y from me." Johnson holeshot moto two , with Northgate Honda's Tom Carson showing th e wa y for Hondamounted Ray Sornrno, Andrews, Leisk and Lechien. Soon it was Carson, th en Leisk, Sommo and Lechien battling for second. Lechien pushed th e pace, passed Sommo, then Leisk and Carson, and went after Johnson. Stanton gated eigh th , but moved through th e pack to settle into fourth , despite pi cking up som track banners in his rear wh eel due to ' an off-course excursio n. Ward o nce again sta rted poorly, a nd then rolled off th e course in the mechanics' area near midrace. Lechi en worked hard to close the gap to Johnson , and brought the cro wd to life when he put a wheel on J ohnson u sing a high line. Lechi en got by and had it on the edge, almos t dropping th e front end off an uphill jump. The following laps offered some of th e best racing seen on the circuit this season. Lechien looked over his shoulder at Johnson and jabbed the brakes; John son countered wi th another line and put a brake check o n Lechien. Lechierr then p ushed Johnson into the silt on a downhill turn, but J ohnso n powered out of the situation to stay on Lechien. On the white flag la p J o hson retook the lead for good on an uphill. The frenzied pace put Johnson and Lechien over v half-lap ahead of a Leisk, then Stanton, at the finish. Watts was fifth, Sommo was sixth, and Den m a r k ' s Mortensen w as seventh. "I want to congratulate Ro nnie o n his best ride this vear "said ohnson .