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/127251
~ SUPERCROSS Camel Supercross Series: Round 5 ~ Johnny O'Mara (9) got the holeshot in the 250cc main ahead of Rick Johnson (13), defending champ Jeff Stanton (1), Larry Ward (17) and Doug:Dubach (7). Johnson (13) and Jeff Ward (3) battled in the main. Ward passed leader Guy Cooper on the last lap for his first-ever Atlanta SX win; Johnson finished third. Jeff Ward on track in Atlanta By Henny Ray Abrams ' ATLANTA. GA, FEB. 24 o nda's Rick Johnson, the winningest rider in supercross history, said h e'd " n ever been in a race with that many different people in th e lead ." Johnson was one of four riders to lead the Camel Supercross in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, but when' the batt led had ended on the rain-soaked red Georgia day on a cold and windy night, it was Kawasaki 's veteran jeff Ward passing Suzuki's Guy Cooper on the last lap to win the Coors Extra Gold Super Challenge 250cc main event before 43,100 chilled fans . Johnson finished third with teammate JeanMichel Bayle fourth and last week's Seattle Supercross winner Larry Ward fifth . " I didn 't have a good start, but I just kept plugging away, " Jeff Ward said of his 18th career supercross win. " I kn ew if I caugh t them I could do their pace." And he did. For all three top finishers it was their best placings of the year and their first trip to the podium. And Cooper, who was celebra ting his 28th birthday today , was sangu ine about the outcome. "On the last lap Rick Johnson ·p ressured me and J eff Ward cam e up th e in sid e," said Cooper . "That's racing . I think the fans saw some action o u t there ." Although ' Ward , Cooper and J ohnson all led the main, it was a race that belonged to Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw who, except for a brief period midway through the 20-lap main , led from the start until a laterace crash. Bradshaw, a heavy crowd favorite from Charlotte, North Caroline, was involved in a spill with Honda 's Mike Kiedrowski on the 19th lap that dropped him to ninth place, H 8 and he made no attempt to hide his feelings afterward. "He tri ed to make a pass in a stupid place," th e 17-year-old Bradshaw said . "There was no way he could get by there. He said he owed me one, but I feel like it cost me the race." . For his part, Kiedro wski answered, "I went on the outside, he was on the inside. I had a drive and I hita bump and it kicked the back of my bike up and I went into him. " Kiedrowski hit a hay bale and caught a track -lining banner in his rear wheel, slowing him to a 10th place finish, on e position behind Bradshaw. Ward earned $5000 from the $40,000 purse for winning the Supersportspromoted event with Cooper taking home $3000. johnson earned $2000, plus the $1000 Coors Extra Effort award as voted by the media for his hea t race win . , After five rounds, Kawasaki's jeff Matasievich leads the championship chase with 9 1 points, one more than Suzuki's Larry Ward. Reign ing Camel Supercross Champion Jeff Stanton (16th in Atlanta after crashing) is third with 75 followed by Johnson with 72. jeff Ward moved into fifth with 69. i Suzuki's Denny Stephenson won his first-ever supercross final, beating teammate Jeromy Buehl and Honda rider Mike J o nes to win the 15-lap 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Series fina l. Stephenson took over the lead on the third lap when he moved past jones, who managed to hold off Bueh l until the very end of the race when he relinquished the runner-up spot. Cliff Palmer was fourth and Chris Coleman fifth. jones leads the 125 Eastern Regional Series point standings with 35 points to Buehl's 31 and Stephenson's 28.