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/127182
that took pl ace in front of the grandstands on the portion of tu rf between the pit lane and the front straigh t of Daytona's famed tri-oval race track. Heats Jeff Stanton (7) passed George Holland for second early in the main then later got Ron Lechien for the win. Ron Lechien got the holeshot and led the main for 13 laps before mechanical problems slqwed him down and dropped him to fifth . . AMA/Cainel S'upercross Series: Round 7_ • Stanton scores second, straight win at Daytona By Nate Rauba DAYT O NA BEACH , FL , MAR. I I Team Honda's Jeff Stanton took the lead from Kawasaki's Ron Lechien with two laps to go and went on to win the Daytona Supercross by Honda at Daytona Interna- 12 tional Speedway. The win was Stanton's second Camel Super· . . . h cross Senes WIn I~ a row, e also won th e previous ro und in Atlanta. Stanton was never more than a lew seconds behind Lech ien from th e second lap of th e 15-lap race, and was right there to snatch the victory when Lechien , in his best ride this season, suddenly slowed when the exhaust valve governor gear in his Kawasak i sheared all its teeth. Lech ien was left wi th little to p-end power and lim p ed h om e fifth . Instead of getting the $5500 winner's share of the $55,000 250cc class purse, Lechien had to settle for $1830. But even if Lechien hadn't broken, Stanton felt confident he would've won an yhow. " I had it my mind that I was going to win, no matter what," said Stanton . "I wanted to win not only for myself, but also for Honda and for Ri ck (Johnson), everyone misses him here." Stanton's win moved him into the Cam el Supercross Series points lead by three points since defending Supercross Champion Johnson , who had won five of the previous . six rounds , was absent due to a wrist injury suffered the previous week at the opening round of the 125/250cc National MX ·Series. J ohnso n still ho lds second in the series and is 34 points clear of teammate Guy Cooper. Team Kawasaki's Jeff Ward, who started his first supercross main event this season since injuring his foot at the first ro und in Ana hei m, Califor.n ia, rode a steady race and was the runner-up after passing teammate Lechien la te in the race. Yamaha 's Mike La Rocco too k advantage of Lechien's problems and a few turns before the finish squeezed underneath both Lechien and Suzuki's Ronnie Tichenor, who had been battling La Rocco late in the race , to take third. Tichenor also made it by Lechien in the waning moments of th e race to score fourth. T eam Yamaha's Damon Bradsha w continued to dominate th e 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Ser ies by win n ing for th e th ird co nsecu tive tim e. After a bri ef battle earl y in th e race wi th Kaw asak i Team Gre en rider- Den ny Stephenson , Bradshaw was o ut fro nt for good by the end of th e second lap of th e IO-Iapcontest a nd took home $340 of the $5000 125cc purse. H onda's Mike Kiedrow ski charged to second place, wh ile Stephenson recovered from a crash to claim third. After four days of cold, cloudy weather, a crowd estimated at 35,000 got a break and was treated to a clear, sunny but cool afternoon of raci ng Since 40 riders 'start the main at Da ytona, the top seven would transfer directl y from each of four five-lap heat races. Honda's George Holland hadn't ridden a supercross this season due to shoulder surgery early in the year, and he hadn't had much practice on the ' 250 prior to Daytona . But any . worries Ho lland may ha ve had disappeared at the drop of the gate when he disappeared with the holeshot in the first heat. Tyson Vohland, Suzuki's Erik Kehoe and Fre d Andrews trailed. By the end of the first lap Holland was moving away whi le Kehoe crashed and remounted at the back of the pac k. "I came down the straight, an d between p ractice and the heat a pothole developed before a jump," said Kehoe. " I tried to wheelie over the hole but it just stopped me." Andrews moved into third, and although he would have a close battle with Tuf Racing 's Kei th Bowen that carried him close to Vohland at the end, Andrews could advance no further. O ut fro nt H oiland kept advancing and had a big lead at the checkers, while Dan ny Sto r beck trailed Bo wen at the checkers. Yamaha's Shaun Kalos was sixth and Vince , DeVane took the final transfer posi tio n. Suzuki's Tichenor dominated the second heat with a start-to-finish win. Yamaha's Doug Dubach started off second ahead of Ya ma hamounted Jim Holley, who was quickly passed by Team Green -Kawasaki rider Brian Manley. As Tichenor pulled away, Manley got by Dubach, but the Yamaha pi lot stubbornly stuck to his rear fender. Tallon Vohland moved up to make it a three-way battle that would last to the end, and he got by Dubach with a lap to go. Chris Young was a distant fifth ahead of Holley and Canadian Carl Vaillancourt. While Stanton hol eshot and ran away with the third heat, there was plenty of action behind him. Suzuki's J o hnny O'Mara led the chase of Stanton ahead of Honda's Larry Ward, Yamaha's Mike LaRocco and Jeff Ward. Larry Ward moved to second on lap two and La Rocco got O 'Mara too, bu t a lap later La Rocco crashed. taking O 'Mara down with him. "I was trying to get around (Larry) Wa r d and h i t a kicker in the whoops," explained LaRocco. "I couldn't get a drive for the double, came up short and endoed." "I had nowhere to go ," sa id O 'Mara. "I almost saved it, but I hit a hay bale and fell." That moved Jeff Ward up to third. and on the last lap he passed Larry Ward to take second behind Stanton. Frenchman Jean -Michel Ba yle cruised in for fourth, whi le Lakocco and O 'Mara filed in ahead of Suzu ki 's Todd DeHoop. Like th e other three heats, one man wo uld dominate the last one and that man was Lechien. As Lechien sped awa y to an uncontested win, Tuf Racing' Mike Pascarella moved to second on lap one and stayed there for the remainder of the race. Honda 's Guy Coo per followed Jeff H icks for a lap before moving to third, and although he closed on Pascarella he was never near eno ugh to strike. Hicks held fourth over John Dowd des pite going off the track on the last lap, while Larry Broo ks got by Shane Drew on the last lap for six th.