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/127218
home just inside th e to p five. Suzuki pr iv at eer J ohn Dowd sur pr ised everyo ne with a third overa ll finish at th e fourth ro u nd in Southwick , Massachusetts. Sta nto n co nti n ued to roll in . ro u nds five a nd six, while Ward tem pora ri ly left th e runner-u p spo t a t the. fifth ro u nd du e to a crash on the first lap of a moto. With th e title in his hand a fter a fourth-pl ace finish in the first moto of th e last round, Stanton's string o f overa ll victories ended wh en he cra sh ed a nd p ulled ou t o f the fin al mot o. Kawasaki's Ron Lechien had poor finis hes th roughout th e series an d only broke the to p five overa ll three 90; 14 . Rick J ohn son (HonI84; 15. Danny Storbeck (Han) 73; 16 . Kun McMillen (Han) 70; 17. Larry 8r ooks (Han) 57; 18. Ray Somma (SUl) 49; 19 . Jean-Michel Bayle (Han) 45 ; 20 . Tom Carson (Han) 40 . 500cc National MX Series Ward had fire in his eyesw hen th e 500cc Nat ional Series got underway a t. th e Sp ring Creek Mot ocross Park in Mill vill e, Minnesota, for he was tired of p laying second fiddl e to Sta nton a nd he kn ew th at a 500cc National Cham p ionship wo uld giv e him th e honor of bein g th e first rider to win ti tles in a ll four maj or AMA mot ocross classes (Su percross a nd 125,250 a nd 500cc National ). . Ward was unsto ppabl e in Minnesota. He o u td ue led his teamma te Donny Schmit (9) rode a privateer Honda at the 125cc Nationals and was a top contender throughout the year. He finished fourth in the series. Team Honda's Rick Johnson won the first five Supercrcss races of the year before injuring his wrist at the first 250cc National at Gainesville. . . once again finish ed th e season th ird. Schmit was the top privateer at fourth , whil e ' Yam ah a 's Mike LaRocco p u t in several strong performances near th e end o f the season to cla im fifth. Results AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS , 1. M ike Kiedrowski (HonI479; 2. Damon Bradshaw (Yam) 476 ; 3. Guy Cooper (Han) 445 ; 4. Donny Schmit (Han) 405 ; 5. Mi ke laRocco (Yam) 382 ; 6. J eff Matiasevich (Kaw ) 337 ; 7. Larry Ward (Honl 326 ; 8. George Holland (Han) 318 ; 9. Erik Kehoe (SUl ) 249 ; 10. Ty Davis (SUl ) 225 ; 11. Ron Tich enor (SUl) 180; 12 . Todd DeHoop (SUl ) 173 ; 13. Denn y Stephenson (Kaw) 172; 14 . Ji mmy Gaddis (SUl) 171 ; 15 . Jeff Emig (KawI126; 16. Steve Childr ess II (SUl ) 104; 17. Johnny O'M ara (SUl) 102; 18 . . Dale Spangl er (Sull 89; 19. Larry 8ro oks (Han) 78 ; 20 . Michael Craig (Yam) 75 . 250cc National MX Series 6 Wh il e Sta nton d omin ated th e Supercross Series after J ohnson was injured, he also step ped into th e top spot in the 250cc National s, winning five of th e seven even ts. In th e ope ning ro und a t Gainesvi lle, Fl orida , ' d efendin g ch a m p J ohnson was elim inated before th e firs t lap began. During p racti ce, p rivat eer Dann y Sto rbeck landed o n J ohnson o ff a ju m p , severel y injur- ' in g J ohnson 's wr ist. Fren ch man J ean -M ichel Ba yle made hi s o n ly 250c c Na tio na l appeara nce at G ainesvill e's Gat orba ck MX Par k a nd too k the overa ll victo ry. His one-point lead would va nish since he was re tu rni ng to Europe where he later won the 250cc World Champions hi p. Stan ton fin ish ed seco nd overa ll ove r J eff Ward , who was riding h is first race since injuring his foot at the beginning ofthe season. T he next three ro unds turned into a Stanton/Ward par ad e as the two riders often pulled away from the pack. Suzuki's J ohnny O 'M ara co uld usually be found in third a fter he worked u p from poor sta rts , and Yam ah a 's Doug Dubach found hi s tim es, including h is win a t th e fin~1 ro und. J ohnson returned to actio n for th e last two rounds where he finis he d third overa ll a t eac h even t. Su zu ki's R on T ich enor w a s a no ther rid er co ns isten tly in th e top five in a lmos t every mot o , and he ended the series tied with Lechien for th ird in the sta nd ings . Results AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES FINAL POINTS STANDINGS , 1.' Jeff Stanton (Han) 306 ; 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 290; 3 . (TIE) Ron Lechi en (Kaw)/Ron Tichenor (SUl) 198; 5. Shaun Kalas (Yaml.176; 6. Doug Dubach (Yam) 172 ; 7. Fred Andrews (Han) 169; 8. Johnny O'Mara . (SUl) 163; 9. Micky Dymond (Yam) 141 ; 10 . Denn is Hawthorne (KawI124; 11. Keith Bowen (SUl) 123 ; 12. M ike Fisher (Kawl 106; 13. Jeff Hicks (Han) Lechien a nd J ohnson for a I-I sweep. Johnson ga ve War d a run for hi s money early in th e first mot o but cras hed and dropped to fifth a t the checkered flag. After a medi ocre start, Lechien worked up to fin ish second with Stan ton third. Ward easily won th e' second moto over Lechien, wh ile Stanton , again , settled for third. Ward left Minnesota with a sixpoint lead o ver Lechien and 10 over Stanton. T he next round was held on th e hilly a nd scen ic track in Washougal , Washington, a nd Ward left with a nother wi n. After the 13-race 125cc National Championship Series. the title was decided in the final moto at Unadilla .