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
Despite a major fir Hum pileup that claimed many of th e top riders in th e fir st mot o , Ward pr evailed with a not he r rn oto win. In moto two, Lechien dom in at ed a nd Ward was co n ten t wh er e he was in second pla ce, kn o wi ng th a t Sta nton wasn ' t a threa t in the mot a . War d took th e overa ll wi th a 1-2 tally, w h ile Sta nton sett led for seco nd wi th a 3-3. J o h n so n found th at the ch es t injury he su ffered the p revious week in Mil lville was more seri ous th an first though t as h e pain ful l y stru gg led to 2-8 scores. H e withdrew fro m th e American l\1 X des Na tio ns tea m to recupera te during the mon th off u ntil th e next Nati on al. Wa rd experienced his on ly real "s lip" wh en the series resumed at th e Broo m e-T ioga 'a tio na l in Bingh amton. New York . A cou p le of falls, plus lingering illness, kept War d o ut of the hu n t for th e overa ll; instead he went 5-4 for fourt h. Sta nton took adva n tage of War d 's off da y by taking the overa ll victory with a 3- 1 score, a nd the H onda rider closed th e ga p on Ward 's poin ts lead to just six. Bayle returned to the U.S. after winnin g th e 25 0cc World Champion ship cro w n a n d wa s second overall. Meanwhile , John son suffer ed what he said wa s a " frustra tin g " third overa ll. It wa s apparent a t this Ca l i fo rni a n Steve L am so n , secured .fo u rt h o vera ll with a 6-4 tall y. Lam son would eve ru ua ll v fin ish si x th in th e series a ' to p priva teer, rid ing a Do wn ers Grovebacked Yamaha . T he sixth a nd fina l ro und o f th e series too k p lace at nad illa. After passing tea mmat e Bayl in the first moto, Stanton fou n d hi mself o u t in fron t wh ere he needed to be, with Ward running in third. If the Honda rider fin ished a hea d of Wa rd in th e rnoto, the n ta n to n sti ll ha d a ch a nce for th e Champion sh ip headi ng into th e seco nd m ot a . Bu t a few la ps later, Stan ton 's hopes vanis hed wh en h e crashed a nd Bayle, Wa rd and J oh nson go t by. Bayle set th e pa ce for the rem ainder o f the moto, whil e Ward rod e co nserva tively. Late in the race johnson slip ped by . Ward a nd th e finishing order was Ba yle, Joh nson. Ward a nd Stanton. Bu t th e Cham p io nsh ip was Ward 's. Sta llion ca me back a n d easily wo n the seco nd moto , bu t a ll eyes were focused on Ward, w ho had becom e th e first ri der ever to win cha m p io n sh ips in all four cla sses. Ward wo n hi s first Na tional title in 1984 in th e 125cc class; th en took two 250cc cha m p io ns hi ps in '85 a n d '88, a Su percross ti tle in '85, a nd thi s vea r th e 500 cc N at ion al C ham pions h ip. O"l 00 O"l - Yamaha rider Steve l am son, from Pollock Pine. Ca lifornia, was the top privateer rider in the 500cc Nationals. He finished sixt h in th e series. Kawasaki's Ron lechien was in contention for the 500cc National Championship tit le before break ing his leg in Binghampton, Ne w York . 4 • • • Yamaha's Micky Dymond (2 3) had another season plagued by mjunes, and Honda's George Holland (3) called it a career after the 125cc Nationals. point that J ohnson would m o st likely lose h is number-one plate for th e seco n d time this year. Ward came back in full stre n gth a t th e teel C ity National in Pen nsylvania with a pe rfect I-I sco re. Bayle pushed a nd shoved h is way into seco nd with 2-3 mot a fin ish es. Stanton lo st th e grou n d h e had just gaine d on Ward, settling for third o ver a ll 'wi th a 1-2 co m bi n a tio n . . J ohnson took fourth overa ll. Lech ien 's bid for th e Champio nship ca me to a n end in th e fir st m o to a t Steel Cit v w hen he crashed and fra ctured th e femu r in h is right leg. The injury will ' ca use Lechien to miss most o f th e Superc ross and 250cc ou tdoor Na tion a ls in 1990. And the n it wa s o ff to Budds Cr eek, Marylan d , wh ere Wa rd , agai n, do m in at ed . He easily wo n both mot os, whi le Sta n to n stayed a lm ost in stri de of th e po ints leader wi th seco nd overa ll via 3-2 scores. Ward ex tended his series points lead over Sta n to n to 24 points, 23 1-207. " It rnighr've tak en m e I I years to do it , but I'll always be th e first to h ave done it," sa id J eff Ward. Ward was honored at th e annual AMA Pr o Awards Banquet o n th e Queen Mar y in Long Beach , Ca liIornia , whe n h e received th e presti g io us AMA P ro Athlete o f th e Yea r award. " I' m re a l ly m oved, " sa id an o bvio us ly su rp r ised Ward as h e accep ted th e a wa rd. " Wh en I h ea rd the list o f names of grea t rid ers who ha ve recei ved th e awa rd . . . well , this ca ps m an y, m a n y yea .rs o f racing ." • Results AM A 500cc NA TIONAL CHAM PIONSHIP M X FINAL POINT STANDINGS, 1. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 27 1; 2. Jeff St ent on (Hon) 250; 3. Rick J ohnson (Hon) 199; 4 ..Doug Dubach (Vam) 190; 5. Jean·M iche l Bayle (Hon) 175; 6 . Steve Lamson (Vam) 147; 7. Fred Andrew s (Hon) 126; 8. Kun M cM ill en (Hon) 112; 9. Ron Lach ien (Kew ) 106 ; 10 . Sheun Kalos (Yam) 102; 11. M ike Fisher (Kaw ) 99; 12. Micky Dymond (Yam ) 98 ; 13. Tom Carson (Hon) 77; 14 . Chris Coleman (Kaw) 59; 15. Brian M anlev (Kaw) 56; 16. Tyson Vohland (Kaw ) 55; 17. J oe Maurer (Hon) 52; 18 . J oJo Kell er (Hon) 501 t 9. J eff Hicks (Hon) 42 ; 20 . Keith Joh nson (Kaw) 42 . 7