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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127200
Jeff Stanton (7) passes Ronnie Tichenor (11) in the first 250cc moto. Stanton captured his first-ever National Championship MX title at Troy. Ron l e c h ie n (left) was obviously happy about winning h is first Nationa l of the year. Rick Johnson (right) took third overall. via 3-2 moto fin ishes. AMA National Championship 125/250 MX Series: Rounds 7/Final Lechien, Cooper win; Stanton crowned champion at Troy By Kit Palmer T ROY, O H IO, JULY 16 A quiet and somber J eff Stanton sat alone in his Team H on da box van after finishing fourth in the first 250cc m oto at the Troy National. at Kenworthy's Mo tocross Park. H e certai n ly wasn 't in th e m o od o ne wou ld have expec ted him to be in after ha ving wr apped up hi s fir st- 8 ever National Cha m pio ns hip MX ti tle. O nl y an occasio na l congra tulatory ha ndsh ak e from h is team ma tes a nd friends wo u ld cause a smile to crac k on his face. " I just don't get too excited about thin s. that's iust how I am," said Stanton sho rt ly a fter cli nc hing the 1989 National Ch am pi onship 250cc MX titl e in .the fir st r,no to.. " I rea!!y wa nt~ to clinc h th e titl e with a W l~, not Wl ~~ a fourth. p lace. But that s the way It goes. I su ll have t~e seco nd rnoto ahead of me, I guess. Un fortu na tely fo r Stanton, the seco nd moto d id n ' t get a ny beu er, While leading Ka wasak i's Ron Lechien, Stanton crashed and pulled o u t o f th e race, content with wrapping u p th e cha m pio ns hip in th e first m oto , Going into th e Troy event, Stanton had to fin ish no low er than 13th in eithe r rn oto to clinch the titl e ove r th e defending cha m p J eff Ward. Sta n to n fin ish ed th e season with 306 points; Ward 290. Lechien went on to win th e seco nd moto, securi ng the 250cc class overa ll victory for th e da y a fte r pl a cing seco nd in th e firs t mot o. It was h is first Na tional wi n o f the year and it a lso moved h im into a tie for thi rd p lace wi th Suzu ki's Ronn ie Tiche nor in th e fin al point sta nd ings at 198. ''I' m rea lly happy," sa id Lechien. " I wo uld've been bummed if I didn 't win a t least o ne race a ll season." Lechien , wh o won here last yea r in th e 500cc cla ss, edged o u t hi s teamm ate Ward, wh o went 1-3 for ' seco nd overa ll. Third overa ll fell to Team Honda 's Ri ck J ohnson with a 3-2 tall y. . In th e I25cc cla ss, a no the r new face was found a t th e top of the rostrum as H onda's Gu y Cooper capt ured hi s first overa ll win of th e year after hard -fought battl es in both mot os. Cooper, wh o cla imed hi s fir st-ever Na tio na l win two years ago at T ro y, wen t 1-3 for the o vera ll, wh ile seco nd went to h is teamma te Mike Kiedrowski (2-8) a nd third to Yam ah a 's Da mon Brad sha w (12-1). By fi nis hi ng third , Brad sh a w moved into th e series' poi nts lead over Cooper, 249-246. One point bac k o f Cooper is defend in g cha m p George H oll and , wi th Kiedro wski in fourth with 244. Onl y five poi nts separa te the to p fo ur riders . A 25,000 pu rse was u p for grabs a t the Troy National. Lechien earned 1600 for h is 2-1 mo to finishes in the 250cc class, while Cooper pocketed 880 in the l25cc division. A mato wi n in th e 250cc cla ss was worth $ 1000, whil e a win in th e 125cc class was worth $600. 250cc Wh en th e ga te dropped for th e start of th e fir st mota , a n estima ted 9200 spec ta to rs saw privateer Honda rid er J eff Hicks pow er into th e lead . But by th e tim e th e first lap wa s com p leted, Ward had tak en over th e top spo t with Lechien moving into seco nd. Ward 's lead , ho wever , was sho rt- lived as Lechien sho t past him. H eading into lap two, Lech icn led the wa y a hea d o f Wa rd , Hi ck s, H ond a rider Fred Andrews, Suzuki's Ro nnie T ich en or , J ohnson, Yam a- ha 's Micky Dymond a nd Tuf Ra cing 's Keith Bo wen . After falling dow n during the first lap, Stanton was runnin g l l th , Lechien a nd Ward quickl y pulled aw ay from th e pack as they du eled for th e lead . Lechi en look ed to be pulling aw ay from Ward for a bri ef mom ent, the n Ward turned up the boost a nd qu ickl y closed th e ga p. During th e six th lap, Wa rd made hi s move a nd charged past his team mate for the lead. " Jeff was p utting p ressure o n me, so when he go t by me, I th ought I would stay close a nd wa tc h h is lin es," said Lech ien . " Bu t he was goi ng rea lly good , so I let him go and conce nt ra ted on th e overall." Whil e th e two Kaw asaki riders dominated up front , Johnson was work in g hi s wa y u p through the pack. He lab or ed in to th ird by the thi rd lap bu t found noth in g but a hu g e ga p se pa ra ting him from Lechi en , J ohnson slowly narrowed the ga p, but it was a p pa ren t th at h e wasn't go ing to catch Lechien as the race came down to th e final few laps. Johnson would sett le for, third. Th e battl e for fourth was an intense a ffa ir between Dym ond , Ti ch en or , Bo wen , Sta nto n a n d And rew s. Dym ond eve n tua lly backed o ff the pace with a sore el bow that he had in jured earlier in the week. After Dymond droppe d back to 10th , Tiche nor took co ntrol o f fou rth , just a hea d o f S ta nto n, Bo wen , Doug Dubach a nd Andrew s. With th ree laps rem aining, Sta nton, who cras hed twice in th e rnoto , passed Tiche nor a nd ended th e dispute for fo u rt h . Fifth we n t to Tich en or foll owed by Bow en , Dubach , Andrews, Dym ond and Ra y So mmo. The second mot a saw Andrew s a nd Denn is Hawthorne jump into the ea rly lead, but Lechien a nd Stanton had th e top two pl aces before th e first lap was com ple ted. A few laps lat er , j ohnson took over third with Ward hot o n hi s tail. The mot a sett led into a Lechien / Stanton dogfight for th e lead a nd a separ ate J ohnson/Ward con fro ntation for third. Stanton pushed Lechien to the limit for th e next five la p s and slipped by him , o nly to cras h a lap later over a triple jump. Lech ien roosted pa st th e downed Honda rid er a nd inherited a com for table lead. Stan to n got up slo wly a nd idl ed . a ro u nd th e track o ne mor e tim e befor e pullin g o u t of th e race.