Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Andrews so ldiered on in fourth, and had a brief resp ite from an y pressure from behind when Matson fell in the first turn . But near the end Cooper, wh o had forced his wa y by Dowd, made a cha rge at Andrews th at came up just sho rt a t the finish line and too k the fifth a nd fina l tra nsfer po sit ion to the mai n. After fin ishi ng fourth in the first 125cc hea t. James Eickel ho lesh ot th e second 250cc heat but was qu ick ly passed by Stan to n, From th en o n th e race belo nged to th e defe ndi ng Ca me l Supercross cham p a nd he pulled away to a n easy win. Eickel su rre ndered second to Mik e Kied rowski a nd th en was passed by La Rocco. Kiedro wski co uldn' t mak e a dent in Stanton's lead. whi le La Rocco co u ld n 't make u p a ny grou nd o n runner-up Kiedrowsk i. Eickel contin ued to slide bac k when Keith Bowen go t by. and Mike Fisher, who had crashed on the first lap and ree n te re d th e rac e o ne la p d o wn, provided a n in teresti ng bailie wi th Eickel as well. The battle appeared to tire Eickel as he slowed lat e in the race and Dag Boycsen ca me u p to grab the fifth and final transfer position behind Bowen . Dou g Dubach jumped into first a t th e start of the third hea t and led for a la p befor e Matiasevich passed .him in th e tu n ne l. Ma tiasevich was gone a nd wo n easi ly whi le Dubach came under fire from J ohnny O 'Mara, Phil La wrrence, Ron T iche no r and J eff Ward. wh o had charged up from a poor stan. Tiche nor went do wn when a ha y ba le ga ve way at th e top o f a berm. th en a co uple of laps later Du bach a nd Ward went down in a whoop sectio n whi le running seco nd a nd th ird. " I hit a rut an d just went down." said Dubach . who cras hed again one la p la ter wh en Rodney Sm ith flew into him. " I had to cha nge my line to avo id Du bach , a nd whe n I set my front whee l down in a big hol e it took the ba rs out o f my han ds," said Wa rd. O ' Mara had a clear sho t a t seco nd and had a rela tively easy ride into the main . while La wrence ca me under attack from Erik Kehoe and Wa rd. Lawrence hel d the two rid ers o ff for two la ps, but as th ey ro de up the fa ~e o f th e fin ish lin e j u m p both Kehoe and Ward charged by o n either side for third and fourth . Title contenders Jeff Stanton (I) and Jeff Matiasevich carried a race-long battle for fifth all the way to th e finish line. Denny Stephenson (27) was unchallenged as he fIew away with his seventh 125cc Eastern Regional main event win. 250 Semis Matson Jed th e sta n o f th e first sixla p sem i th at wo uld tra nsfe r th e to p two into th e main with Fisher on the bubble ahead of Dowd and Dan n y Pa la di no . Fish er a nd Do wd .p ushed past Mat son o n th e first lap. a nd Ma tso n stayed in to uc h for another la p before he fell. Fish er pulled several seconds a hea d and took the wi n whi le Do wd cruised in for seco nd. . Tiche nor a nd Du bach controlled th e ea rly pan of sem i two ahead of a fierce battle for third between Carlo Coen, Kurt McMi ll en and Ra y Sorn rno. T iche nor led - u ntil he cras hed in th e whoops a t th e halfway poi nt. wh ich allowed Dubach to go uncontested to the win. Som mo dro pped out with cl utch p rob lems wh ile a haulin g Coen, Mc M i llen and Jason Upsh aw a ll passed T ichen or. Tiche nor was quickly back on the gas and m ana ged to slice th rough the ba ttle ahead of him to earn seco nd. Just after being passed Co en and Mc Mill en locked bars iri th e wh oo ps and went ' dow n , fell o ff the pace. Both Naumec a nd U ps haw passed Mus selm an o n the fourth lap. th en the two riders ba tt led to th e finish with Na u mec fin ishi ng first by a bike length to gra b the o n ly ticket to the mai n. 250 Last Chance Qualifier 250 Main Pal adino a n d Ma r k M us sel man traded the lead early in th e six-la p LCQ. Mu sselman took co n trol but G ene Na um ec a n d U ps h a w h a d charged up to challenge as Paladino Br ad sh a w led the 20-ride r fie ld ' th rough the first tum a t the stan o f the main while Matiasevich esta blished him self in second ahea d of J eff Ward. Larry Ward, Bayle. Sta nton. Cooper a nd Kied ro wski. J eff Wa rd passed team ma te Mat iasevich at the beginning of lap two while Bayle got by Larry Ward an d closed up o n Mati asevich . Cooper fell way back and eventually finished I I thowhile teamma te LaRocco moved in beh ind Stanton. La rry Ward sli d back to seventh o n th e th ird lap a nd was left behind by th e top -six freigh t train o f Bradsh aw . J eff Ward, Ma tiasevich, Bayle. Stanton a nd LaRocco. For several laps th e six rider s ra n nose-to-ta il. a nd o n lap five both Matiasevich a nd Bayle managed to slip by Jeff Wa rd. Moments lat er Bayle passed Mat iasevich , and a lap lat er Ward got past too . " I missed my br ak e after a double a nd Bayle got by," said Matiasevich , Bayle spent a couple of laps reeling in Bradshaw. then the Frenchman closely followed Bradshaw for another two laps before he found a spot to get by. " He mad e a little mistake and rode a bit slower through th e wh oops," said Bayle. " I went just right and passed 7

• Cover