Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ 1989 Camel Supercross and 125/250/500cc National ! Loo ing bac at a.season O'l _ ' Jeff Ward (5 ) started the 1989 season on the w rong foot when he injured his ankle at the Anahe im Supercross . ho ' would've th ought last J anuary tha t Ri ck J ohnson wo uld not win a t least o ne champions hip ti tle in 1989? Wh o wo uld' ve g uessed tha t a th ree-digit rider wo uld win th e 125cc National Cha mp io ns hi p number one pl at e? And who wo u ld' ve predi cted th at She rwoo d, Michigan 's J eff Sta nton, wo uld dominat e the Camel Su per- . cross and 250cc National Championship Ser ies like he did ? IL was a crazy year for mot ocross a nd su pe rcross , that's for su re, and it a ll began o n a coo l win ter 's ni ght in so u the rn Ca liforn ia. W 4 Camel Supercross Series Nearl y 70,000 spec tators ' fill ed An ah eim Stadiu m in California o n Jan ua ry 28 to witness the o pe n ing ro u nd of the )5-rate, 1989 Camel Su percross Series, a nd it wi ll p rob ab ly be best reme m bered as the o ne that go t away from T eam Suzuki's John ny O'Ma ra. O 'Mara fou nd him self lead in g the 21-ri der pack with defe nding Super-' cross Cha mpio n Ri ck J ohnso n o n the prowl back in seco nd p lace. O' Mara's lead co ntinued to grow as the 68,i42 spec tators chee red him o n. And then it ha p pe ned . O' Ma ra's dream ride tu rned into a ni gh tm ar e whe n h is Su zuk i caine to a sudden halt wit h a broken steering stem . While O 'M ara wa lked back to the p its, J ohnson, wh o was nursin g a sore kn ee whi ch he had · inj ured . d uri ng the o ff-seaso n, had tak en over th e lead , en joyi ng a fiv e-second cus hio n over J eff Stanton. J ohnson eas ily won the race over teammates Sta nton, G uy Cooper, Suzuki's Erik Keh oe, Kaw asaki 's Ron Lechi en and priva teer rider Brian Manley. Man y fan s at Anaheim were co urio us a bo u t a new na me tha t had surfaced in th e o ff-seaso n - Dam on Brads haw. In Novemb er of 1988, th e 16-year-o ld fro m ' Ch arlo tte, No rt h Carolina, surp rised th e world with the overa ll win a t th e J apan Su percross . But Bradsh aw di dn 't ma ke it to the main event af ter cras h ing in a hea l race a nd injuri ng h is bac k. Ka wasak i' s J eff Ward , wh o many were predi ctin g wo uld be J ohnson's main threat for the titl e, in jured hi s foo t during practi ce a nd was un abl e to qua lify for th e main event, th us scor ing no poi nts. The inj u ry ended th e fo rm er tw o -time Su percross Ch ampion's hopes for a th ird titl e, for he would be sidelined for the next five ro u nds of th e series. T he series th en ro lled into Sea tt le, Washington, for a doub leh ea der a t the Kin gdome two weeks lat er, and J ohnson cleaned hou se by swee ping both da ys o f racing a nd extended hi s series points lead to 21 over Sta n to n. J ohnson's win strea k co n tin ued the following week a t San Diego' s J ack Murphy Stadium in California , an d Sta n to n took seco nd with Brad shaw third. J ohnson held a com ma nd ing 20poi n t lead over Stan ton going into the next even t in Miami, Florida, February 18. Once aga in , J ohnson wo n th e race, hi s fifth win in a row. Bayle LOo k second, while Stanton, Yam ah a 's Mik e LaRo cco a n d O 'M ara rou nd ed o ut the top five. But no t on ly did J o h nson win a nothe r Supercross a t Miami , but the victor y pushed Johnson over th e top as the winningest rid er in Supercross h is to ry, bypassing Bob H a n na h , who had held the record with 27 Gucer wins. Jeff Stanton (7) was the only double-title winner in 1989. The factory Honda rider won both the Supercross and 250cc National Championsh ips, A week. lat er in Atlanta, Georgia's Fulton County Stadium, J ohnson's five-race win strea k ca me to an end. Whi le di cing for th e lead with Stanton , J ohnson slid out and, effectively, handed th e race to Stanton. J ohnson fini shed seco nd a head . o f O 'M ara, Lechien , Cooper a nd LaRocco. Next o n th e agenda was th e gruel lin g Daytona Su percross in Florida. But missin g from th e day's entry list was J ohnson , who had injured hi s wri st a t th e G a in esvill e 250 cc Nation al o pe ne r, held betw een th e Atl anta and Daytona Super cr os s rounds, J ohnson would be sid elined for th e rest o f th e Camel Supercros s Seri es a nd wha t was shaping up to be " his" titl e was now up for gra bs, with Sta n to n the rid er everyone else would hav e to ca tch. At Dayton a, Lechien looked like a su re winner until th e exha us t valve gove rno r gea r in hi s Kaw asaki sheared a ll its teeth two laps from the fini sh, g iving Stan to n h is secondstra ig h t Su percross vic to ry a n d shooting him into th e series points lead. Lechien limped across th e fini sh line in fifth behind Stanton, Ward (ma king h is first Supercro ss a p pea ra nce s ince An ah eim ), LaRocco and T iche no r. Sta nt o n's win strea k conti n ued a t the H ouston Astrodome in T exa s, but ca me to an end in T ampa , Florida. Sta nton was seeking his fourth stra ig h t victory, but while running th ird and chas ing down Ward a nd O 'M ara , h is Hond a sto p pe d with a brok en transm ission. Stanton wat ch ed from th e infield as Ward held o ff O 'Mara for th e win. Despite sco r i ng n o points in T ampa , Stanton was still sitting pretty with a com ma nd ing points lead over teammate Cooper going into T exas Stadium. Ward won th e T exas race, bu t not : without a fight from Stanton, Sta.nIon cra shed on the last lap while leading and handed Ward hi s second win in a row. Stanton fini sh second, with Lechien , Cooper and O'Mara finishing third through fifth. The gree n wave kept roll ing as th e series blew into Pontiac, Michigan, for the seco nd a nd fin al doublehead er o f th e season. Kawasaki's Lechien a nd Ward were th e big winn ers, whil e Sta nto n went a co nse rva tive 5-2. Stanton left his home sta te with a co mforta ble 33p o int lead over Coo per, whil e Lechien moved into th ird, 4 1 po in ts behind. Lech ien was th rea tening. Stanton came back two weeks later a t th e Meado wlands in Eas t Ruther ford, New J ersey, a nd fin all y got hi s fourth win o f the series. Ward was th e ea rly lead er in th e rai n-soa ked main but dropped o ut with transmis- sion prob lems, Yamah a' s Mick y Dym ond ended up second in what would be hi s best Su pe rcross performance of th e yea r; injuries slowed Dymond's progress th roughout the 1989 season. Third went to O 'Mara foll ow ed by Cooper, Honda's Larry Ward and George Holland, and Dubach . The Oklah oma State Fairgrounds, in Okl ah om a City , h osted th e seco nd- to -las t ro u nd of th e Camel Supercross Series, and all that Stanton needed to clinc h th e Ch ampionship was to finish II th or better. Armed with th is knowledge, Stanton

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