Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Steve Lamson (269) was the top privateer finisher in the 500cc National Championship final point standings. He went DNF-9 at Unadilla. Damon Bradshaw (45) and Kiedrowski (762) " fought for the 125cc Championship title throughout the 13-race series; Kiedrowski prevailed. rider fro m Minnesota- p icked u p enoug h p o ints to fini sh fourt h overall in th e series and to p privat eer in the class. ''I'm happy how things went, but I wo u ld've liked to have done better," said th e for mer Su zuk i factory rider. Ka wa sak i ' s Je ff . Ma ti a sevi ch secured fifth overa ll in class via co nsistent finish es. T he 1989 West Coast Su percross Champion ra n in fifth p lace for most of the first mot o before ge tti ng pa ssed by ·priva teer Honda rider Larry Bro ok s la te in th e race. In th e second mo ta , Matiasevich go t off to a m edi ocre start, around 15th, bu t str uggled into sixth by mote's en d. In w hat ver y well cou ld be hi s last appearance on the Suzuki factory team, t he "O 'Show", J ohnny O' Mara, fini sh ed sixth o n th e day wi th a 9-6 tally. O' Mara was ru n n ing in fo urth b efo re fallin g behind Tichenor on the last lap of the seco nd m o to , Jeff Stanton (7) led Bayle (111) and Ward (5) early in the first 500c moto. Stanton later crashed and finished fourth . 8 rowski wo u ld fall o r break. It never ha p pen ed. Brad sh aw eas ily won the moto, while Kied row ski cro ssed th e fini sh line a di stant seco nd, bu t with the Cha mpio ns hi p titl e in hand. "1 lo st th e ( 125cc Eas t Coast) Supercross ti tle to Damon (Bra dsha w) by o ne point ea rl ier th is year, and I guess I'm ge tti ng him back for th at on e," sai d Kied row ski , who was gr in ni ng from ea r to ea r. "There 's so much go ing th rough my head righ t now, bu t it sure feel s great to win it." " I loved the competi tio n ," said Bradshaw . " I worked hard a nd ro de m y best tod ay - I'm proud of tha t. Cha m pions have to ride sma rt, a nd th at 's just wh at Mik e (Kiedrowski) d id ; he rode a smart race and now he's ch am p. " LaRocco had one of the bes t rid es of h is career, worki ng h is way up from n inth lO fin ish seco nd in th e fir st m o to. U n fo rt u na tely fo r LaRocco, h e co u ld n ' t q ui te repea t th at performa nce in the seco nd mot o as h e finished eighth. H o wever , it was good enough to land h im third overa ll f or th e da y a nd fift h overa ll in th e ser ies. Aft er co lli d i ng wit h Suzu ki's Ronnie Tichen or wh ile ru nn in g in seventh p lace in the first moto an d dropping back to 10th , Sch m it's fast sta rt in th e seco nd moto, where. he led for two laps, helped h im secu re fourt h overa ll for th e day wi th a 10, 4 score . T he Pro-C ircu it-sp onsored O 'M ara wa s not in co ntention for the 125cc Cham p io ns h ip title, since he on ly ro de the last half o f t he seaso n after co mpetin g in the 250cc Nat ional s durin g th e first half of th e series. Off the track, O'Mara 's long-time m ech an ic a n d fri en d , Jim Felt, a n no u nce d hi s re tirement fro m turn ing wrenc hes. After II years on th e circuit a n d winning th e G olden W ren ch Aw ard six ti mes, Fel t decided it wa s time to m ak e a change. " It's tim e to move on," said Felt. " I've been doing this for a long time, now , a nd th ere's n o real pl ace fo r adva nce me nt. I'm hoping to stay in volved with th e sport, somehow, not necessa ril y wi th Suzu ki, or to s tart m y o w n m ountain bikebuild in g busin ess." ~ Felt first started wren ching for fo rmer MX sta r John DeSoto with Ka wasak i ba ck in 1972. Felt a lso wre nc he d for for me r cha m p io ns J immy Weinert a nd Bro c Glover. Kaw asa ki's J eff Emig (7-7), Suzuki 's Ty Davis (8-8), Bro oks (5-9) a nd Honda 's La rry Ward ( 11- 10) fille d ou t the to p 10 in th e I25cc class . In th e seco nd mo to , Larry Ward was running in th ird before being slowed by a flat rear tire. Aft er a disappoi nt in g seas on, Keh oe look ed to en d th e series, and m ost lik el y hi s four-year relationship with Suzu ki, o n a h igh no te, aft er finishing fourth in th e first m ot o. But a 10th-place sta rt and a tan g le with Cooper in th e secon d mot o , resulting in both rid ers going down, put Kehoe o ut o f the race a n d dropped h im to 13th overa ll for th e day . Suzuki 's Tiche nor a lso look ed stro ng a t Unadilla but h ad noth in g to show Ior it. While running th ird in th e fir st m ot o , he went down after co lli di ng with Sch m it. In the seco nd m ot o , h e redeem ed himself wi th a fou rt h -p lace finish , despi te starting a lmost mid-p ack . His 26-4 tally was good enough for 12th overa ll. By win n in g both rn o tos, Bradshaw ea rned a total of $ 1200 fro m a $10,000 125cc class purse. • Results 125 : 1. Damon Bradshaw (Yam) 1-1; 2. Mi ke Kiedrowski (Han) 3-2; 3. Mik e LaRocco (Yam) 28; 4. Donnie Schmit (Han) 1OM4; 5. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) 6-5; 6. Johnny O'Mara (Suz) 9-5; 7. Jeff Emig (Kaw) 7-7; B. Ty Davis (Suz) 8-11 ; 9. Larry Brooks (Han) 12-9; 10 . Larry Ward (Han) 11 -10 ; 11. Henry (Yam) 13'9; 12 . Ronnie Tichenor (Suz) 26 -4 ; 13 ; Erik Kehoe (Suz) 4 ·13; 14. Steve Childress II (Suz) 15-12 ; 15. Jimmy Gaddis (Suz) 14-13 ; 16. Guy Cooper (Han) 12-16; 17. Jeromy Buehl (Suz) 1B-15 ; 18. Keith Bowen (Suz) 16-35 ; 19 . Jimmy 8utton (Han) 22-17; 20. Chad Pederson (Yam) 17 -32 ; 21 . Stacy Cook(Hon)21 -1B; 22 . Barry Carsten (Suz) 20 -19; 23 . David Gaylord (Han) 1925; 24. Brian Austin (Han) 24-20. 500 : 1. Jean-Michel Bayle (Han) 1-2; 2. Jeff Stanton (Honl"4 -2; 3. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 3-3; 4. Rick Johnson (Han) 2-7 ; 5. Micky Dymond (Yam) 7-4; 6. Doug Dubach (Yam) 5-5 ; 7. Kurt McMillen (Han) 6-10 ; 8 . JoJo Keller (Han) 9-B; 9. Fred Andrews (Hon)8·11; 10. Tom Carson (HonI 10-13; 11. John Dowd (Kaw) 12-12 ; 12. Shaun Kalas (Yam) 356; 13. M ike Fisher (Kaw) 11-16; 14. Steve Lamson (Yam) DNF-9; 15. Mickey Kessler (Kaw) 13-17; 16. Keith Johnson (Kaw) 34 -16 ; 17. Greg Zitterkopf (ATK) 20 -15 : 1B. Jason Buttle (Han) 14-22; 19. Jeff Hicks (Han) 17-19; 20. James Kapitan (Han) 16-20; 21 . David Hand (Han) 15-28 ; 22. David Paquette (Han) 19-18 . AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. Mike Kiedrowski (479); 2. Damon Bradshaw (476); 3. Guy Cooper (445); 4. Donny Schmit (405); 5. Mike laRocco (382); 6. Jeff Matiasavich (337); 7. Larry Ward (326); 8. George Holland (31 B); 9. Erik Kehoe (249); 10. Ty Davis (225); 11. Ronnie Tichenor (180); 12. Todd DeHoop (173); 13. Denny Stephenson (172); 14 . Jimmy Gaddis (171); 15. Jeff Emig (126); 16 . Steve Childress II (104); 17 . Johnny O'Mara (102) : 18 . Dale Spangler (89); 19. Larry Brooks (78); 20 . M ichael Craig (75). AMA NATIONAL CHAMPtONSHIP 500cc MX SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. Jeff Ward . (271): 2. Jeff Stanton (250); 3. Rick Johnson (199); 4. Doug Dubach (190); 5. Jean -Michel Bayle (175) ; 6. Steve Lamson (147) ; 7. Fred Andrews (126); B. Kurt McMillen (112); 9. Ron Lechien (106); 10. Shaun Kalas (102) : 11. Michael Fisher (99); 12. Micky Dymond(98); 13. Tom Carson (77); 14. Chris Coleman (591;.15. Brian Manley (56); 16. Tyson Vohland (55); 17. Joe Maurer (52); .18. JoJo Kell er (50); 19 . Jeff Hicks (42); 20. Keit h Johnson (42).

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