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/127148
a B ~ Greg Bowen mastered the mud on the first day a-nd went on t o w in his second straight 125cc A title in the Modified division . There were 27 d ifferent cham pions, but undeniably th e star of th e week was No rt h Carolina 's Damon Bradsh aw . The Yama h a support rider, backed by Scott USA/Fox and Barr's Co m petition, ro m ped to a pair of first place wins in the opening two stages of th e 125cc A Stoc k class a head of Ka wa sak i 's Emig a nd Chi ldress. Needing o nly to bea t Ern igin the fin al moto to take ho me the tit le, Bradsha w looked to hav e th ings wra pped up until both he and Emig went down in the third tum of the last heat. After th e en ti re pa ck went by Bradsh aw remounted and, in his farewell amateur ride, set out to get his titl e. In one lap Bradshaw passed 19 ri ders a nd cl imbed to 22nd. On the next lap he was II th and by the fourth go-around wa s in second p lace, havi ng gone through the pa ck at the ra te of 10 positio ns per lap. Fin ally, Bra dsh a w moved past the leadi ng bike of Childress to comp lete the come back:' (Brads ha w turned pro immediately aft er th e race a nd pl aced fourth overall th e very next da y in his first-ev er Professiona l 125cc Na tio na l event in Millville, Minnesota.) Following Bradsha w in th e . final ta lly were Childress, Chris N eal , Jay Mann and Yamaha mounted Phil Lawren ce. Gear Racew ear's Brian Swink engaged R&D Suzuki/Scott/Fox/ Shoei-sponsored Buddy Antunez in all six motos of th e 85cc (14-15)Stock . and.Modified classes. T he two split moto wins a t three apiece as well as each taking home a Nat ional titl e, Swink in th e Stock class wi th a 11-2 rid e whil e California 's Antunez gai ned th e Modified title with the sa me count. At one point in th e second Mod ified mo to An tu nez held a 52-seco nd lead on the runner-u p rider after Swink drop ped hi s Kaw asaki in th e first corner. T he two-b oy battle di dn 't end up o n the track either as Swi nk's Stock -class bike was pro tested by the Suzu ki tea m for altered fork spri ngs . A th reatened cou nter protest from the Green T eam as [ 0 the legalit y of Antunez's add ed chain ' and ra ke g uards, led to a mutual withdrawal of complaints from both sides. Ho nda-mo u nt ed Butch Smith , J eff Grafton, a nd H eath Kirkl and followed Swink a nd Antunez in the Stock class while Ka wasa ki- moun ted T ommy Clow ers, Smith, a nd Joel Albrecht trailed th e lead duo in th e Modified division. Taylor found himself in a fourway fight for th e Open A title, but th e G ear/ Barr ' s Co rnp- backed Yamaha pilot was able to ru n up a 2-1-1, tally for his second straig ht titl e. Missouri's Mike Sta hlman was the first threat to Tay lor, winning th e first heat o n his Yamaha a head of Taylo r and Keith Johnso n. J ohn so n and Troy Bradshaw picked up th e chase in heat two while Stahlman faltered to six til. In the final race it was J ohnson, Stahlman and Bradshaw all battling with th e would-be winner, along with Yamaha rider Craig Dav is, before T aylor was able to mak e hi s getaway. Johnson's (3-2-2), Stahlman (1-6-3), Bradshaw (5-4-4) and Davis (4-3-9) followed in th at order. N ee le y picked up his fourth Loretta Lynn titl e in as many years with the Senior Plus 30 win. The Answer/ Yokohama/P'Sf /Bo yesen r Ro b bie Ta ylo r p revaile d in a four-w ay fight w it h Mike S t a hlm a n. Keith Jo hnson. Troy Bradshaw a nd C ra ig for his second Open A class ti tl e . sponsore d Kawasak i ri der reeled off th ree mo to wins to cap ture th e ' n umber four. J eff Stei nrock rode to a pair of runner- u p heat race rides for seco nd, foll ow ed by Suzukimounted T imoth y Smith , Jarrett , Newby, a nd Terry Wey. Sanger's Senior Plus 40 win was nearl y a s impressive. The Ohio Suzuki rid er took two wins before slowing to second whi le icing the ti tle in th e last moto, Bob Krah gave Cagiva its best finish on th e week with th e second overa ll trophy while Randy Tomlinson, Erv Braun a nd Thomas J ankowski ran three-fourfive. Two former multi-time Na tiona l Cha mpions returned to form a t this 'yea r 's Amateur Natio na ls . L i sa Wagner, who wo n four Women 's class titl es fro m 1982-85 as Li sa Aki n , battled defen ding Na tional cham p Mercedes Gonzalez for three mo tos befo re a last-lap, last-tum pass on the Kawasak i rider in th e fin al hea t gave Wagner th e Nati onal titl e. Gonza lez, who came into th e last heat with a 3-1 count comp ared to Wagner's 1-2, only need ed to maintain th e lead she held throughout th e en tire fina l heat to claim her third titl e in-a-row, but three lappers faded into Gonzalez 's line, allowing Michiga n 's DGY/ScottlTeam DynamicsbackedWagner to muscle by for th e overa ll win. Tina Harrison went 23-3 for third with Stephanie Carlyle and Tina Claryrounding o ut th e top five. . Former pro motocross sta r Mark " T' he Bomber" Barn ett sho we d everyone th at speed is so methi ng yo u never lose completely by dominatin g th e Plus 25 Class. Barnett, mounted on a Tuf-backed Suzuki on loa n fro m the factory, stormed to three straig h t moto wins. Robert Wagner, Lisa Wagner 's h usband, kept hi s co un t high a t 3-2-2 for th e number two plate. T roy Bradsha w backed up his O pen A ri de with a th ird while Scott USA-backed Mark Ashworth rode to a fourth. Todd Smith rounded o u t the firs t five. T he o nl y do u ble-class winner in the mi n icycle ra n ks was Oklahoma 's Robb ie Reynard, who scored wi ns in both the 85cc Stock (7-11) a nd the 65cc (7-11 ) d i vision . Ka w asa kim ounted Reyn ard wen t 1-2-1 in securing the 85cc title a head of Kevin Windham a nd Grego ry Rand, both ab oard Kawasakis. Rand again finished third behind Reyn ard in th e 65cc ra nks, but this time it was Clint Latham garneri ng th e runner-up trophy. Kenny Yoho a nd Windham rounded ou t th e top five in the 65cc class' whil e Russ And erson and Latham went 4-5 in the 85cc class. Taking two titl es in th e motorcycle ranks were Iowa 's Chad Pederson and Michigan's Eri c McClear, both aboard Yamaha support machines. Moto-X Fox-backed Pederson was nearly unstoppable, taking fiv e victories in the six 250cc Stock a nd Modified B class m otos that he entered. Only Mike Brown was able to cross th e line before Pederson, wi nni ng th e last Modified moto on 13