Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eULTRACROSS MickeyThompson Off·Road Championship Gran Prix Series: Round 7 ~ J eremy McGrath worked his way up from a seventh-row start to claim his fourth 250ccU1tracross main event win of the season in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Michael Craig followed McGrath through the pack to finish second and extend his points lead over J im Holley, who missed the main after a heat-race crash . McGrath storms Los Angeles Ultracross By Donn Maeda LOSANGELES. CA, JULY 21 eremy McGrath sto rmed u p from a sevent h-row start to claim the 250cc Ultracross win at th e Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championsh ip J Gran Prix in th e Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The win was the IS-yearo ld Kaw asaki Team Gr een rider's fourth of the series and he did it in front o f mor e than 46,000 fans wh o came to wa tch th e off-roa d truck, bu ggy, ATV and motorcycle sho w. McGrat h 's T eam Green teammate Michael Ray Craig finis hed second and padded h is points lead in the series when defending U1 tracross cha mp Jim H oll ey crashed in h is heat race and su ffered broken rib s, a bruised kidney a nd aggravated a prev ious sho u lder injury. Holl ey, who expects to be back for the next round in September, stilI held on to second in the sta ndi ngs bu t trails Craig by 79 po ints, 390-311. Lo well Thom son , who fin ished th ird , remains thi rd in the standi ngs ahead of McGra th. Normall y timed qual ifyin g is held early in the day to determine the fastest riders, who are then placed near the back of the starting grid to provide more passin g action for the spec tators. But du e to a large number of en tra nts , qual ifying was dropped and two, seven-rider rows were used to start each heat race. The main used the tradi tion al Ultracross format of severa l tworider rows with the heat winners at th e back. Tracy Momerone gra bbed the holeshot a t the start of the first qualifying ' heat, but he was quickly (hissed by Craig. The Kawasaki T eam Greenl Thor/Bell/OaklevI M axi mail OO%/Pro Circu it/Life's a ikach/CeetiRenthall Acerb is/Dunlop-spo nsored rider then set the pace with Holl ey movin g in close behi nd. A few lengths behi nd Holl ey, Randy Moody and Ru ss Wagema n scooted up into thi rd and fourth. Holl ey began to pressur e Cra ig for the lead, and on la p th ree of the sevenlap race pulled alongside the leader as they approached a series of double jumps. Holley came u p short in the last set, was th rown from his bike an d was then taken to the hospi tal for his injuries. Mea n whil e Der ek Nar vi g se t a bl istering pace and had sliced through the field after a last-pl ace start. Natvig sailed into fourth when he ou t-jumped Wageman down th e peris tyle. Natvig tried to get Mood y too, but spun out in th e fin al turn and had to settle for fou rth. Up front , Craig look a convincin g win while Thomson , who had avoided the downed Holley, worked up into second ah ead of Mood y. McGrath stole th e holeshot in th e second qualifier but was sur prised when Ch ris Young blew pas t him in the second turn. Mike Young and Tommy Clo wers follo wed. By lap two Larry Brooks charged up to Clowers' fender from h is second-row start and ap p lied pressure. Clowers bob bl ed as th ey clim bed in to the peristyle and Broo ks emerged in front when they reappeared. Up front, McGra th gained on Ch ris Young as only he and Craig were trip ling a set of jumps on the front stra igh t. McGrath was breathing down Youn g's jersey and took th e lead as th ey descended fro m th e peri style. Mike You ng was next to reel in Chris You ng and squeezed und er him in a tight turn . Soon after being passed, Chris Young bega n to feel the pressure from a hard-charging Broo ks. T he two riders made contact a few times , but Chris You ng hu ng tough and held on to third at the finis h. McGrath crossed the line with a comforta ble lead over Mike Young. . Monterone grabbed th e holeshot at the start of the main even t with Shawn Wynne, Chris Youn g and Wageman in to w. You n g quickl y disp la ced Monteron e and tried to get away from the field, bu t Brook s raged through th e pack and onto Young's rear fender. Just when it looked as if Brooks would pass, he lost contro l and went down. Since th ey had won their heats, McGrath and Craig -bega n from the seventh row and had to work their way through the field. McGra th weaved through traffic, usi ng the triple jump to his adva ntage man y tim es. Craig followed close beh ind, but seemed to have more difficulty passi ng some of the riders. McGra th moved into third behi nd Thom son on lap th ree and swoo ped past him in the far corne r. McG rath then set his sights on Young and began to ea t away at the distan ce separa ting them, finall y pu tti ng his Wh ite Bros.! AXO/Kl em m Resea rch / Scott/Tsu baki /Bell/ CTi/Kohler Kollors/Du nlop/Ceet-backed Kawasak i into the lead wh en he ou t-po wered Young up th e peristyle. Once out front, McGrath immediately began to establish a lead. Craig flew past Thom son over the tripl e jump to take over thi rd on the fifth lap of th e eig h t-la p race. Young soon felt th e p ressure as Crai g po wered into his shado w, and as the two rid ers negoti at ed the peristyle Cra ig sai led back down to the Col iseum floor past Young to take over second. Alth ou gh Crai g began to close in on McGrath, it seemed as if he was content to sta y in second. . . "Jeremy and I knew that it would be on e of us wi n ning," explaine d Craig. " Before th e race we figured on following each other as we worked throu gh traffi c, and it tu rned out pretty good. Once we got into first a nd second, I didn 't reall y push it, With Holl ey ou t, I figured on settling for secon d and the p o in ts ins tea d o f pushing it and ris king goi ng down." Thom son was not content in fourth , how ever , and set after Young. After sha dowing Young wh ile looking for a way to get by, Thomson seemed a bit su rp rised when th e Suzuki rider backed off as they exited a tig h t tu rn. Thom son mo tored into third but was unable to gai n on Craig. " After McGrath and Crai g go t by I heard someo ne behind me holding the thro ttle wide open and thought it was Brooks," said Youn g. " After those ru nins durin g th e qualifier I didn 't want to get taken ou t." McGrath took th e win and thrilled the crowd with a clicker over th e finish line jump. Craig followed close behind wi th Thomson , Young and a recovered Brooks cross ing th e line next. "Th is tr ack is real good, " said McGrath. " I felt prett y confident on it and felt th at I had a good chance from the sevent h row. Crai g and I were the o nly ones jump ing the triple, and I knew it would make it easier to work through traffic." "Things went well, " said Thomso n. " I feel that I rode well and did the best I cou ld. (McGra th and Craig) were jumping a section I wouldn' t do, so I don 't know if I cou ld've caught them ." I:N Results HEAT I: 1. Michael Craig (Ka w); 2. Lowell Thomso n (Yam); ,. Randy Mood y (Ka w): i . Der ek Nat vig (Kaw) ; 5. Russ Wageman (Suz); 6. Tr3C)" Monterone (Yam); 7. Ra y Crumb (Kaw); 8. Bu tch Smith (Ya m); 9. T odd Leh ma nn (H o n); 10. Ryan Carli5 1 ~ (Kaw); II. Tim Win slow (Suz): 12. Clinl J on es (5Ul ); U . J im Holl ey (Ya m ); Ii. Nicky Po unds (5 Ul). HEAT 2: 1. J eremy Mt-Gralh (Kaw): 2. Mike Young (Ya m); 3. Chri s Young (5 Ul ); 4. Larry Broo ks (Kaw ): 5. Tommy Clowers (Kaw); 6. Sha wn Wynn e (5 Ul) ; 7. Shane 'Tri ttler (Kaw); 8. David Bagwell (Hon ); 9. Dan Fres h (Yam ); 10. Jar Alhey (5 Ul); 11. Dam on Kemp (5 Ul) ; 12. Michae Roe (Hon ); U. Igna cio Rivera, J r. {Hen ). MAIN: 1. J erem y McG rat h (Kaw); 2. Michael Cra ig (Kaw); 3. Lo well Thom son (Ya m); 4. Chri s You ng (Suz); 5. Larry Broo ks ( Ka w) : 6. Russ Wa ~man (Suz); 7. Shawn Wynne {Suz}; 8. BUICh Smit h (Yam ); 9. Ra nd y Mood y (Kaw); 10. Derek Natvig [Ka w); II. Tomm y Clowers (Kaw); 12. Tracy Monteron e (Yam); 13. Todd Lehman n (H on ); 14. Sha ne Triuler (Kaw); 15. Dan Fresh (Ya m ); 16. J ay Alhey (5 Ul) ; 17. Micha el Roe (Hon); 18. David Bagwell (Ho n ); 19. Mike Young (Ya m); 20. Ryan Carlisle (Kaw).

• Cover