Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

" I put an icepack on my stomach where the handlebar ha d hit me," said Ward . "T hat caused the mu scles in my stomach to cra mp up real bad - it was pa infull But every thi ng turned o u t to be fine." The seco nd 250cc moto saw Stanton, who no w hel d a 12-po int lead o ver Ward, rocket in to the ear ly lead ahea d of La rry Ward, Kurt McMillen, Dubach , LaRocco, O 'Mara , J eff Ward, Fisher and Matson. Bradsha w, however, was left lying on the gro u nd in th e first turn. He apparently clipped the rear wh eel o f O'M ara, h ighsided off his Yamaha, a nd was run o ver by ano ther rid er. Bradshaw, co mp lain ing of pain in hi s neck and upper back areas, was carr ied off the track by a stre tcher a nd wa s airlifted to a nearby hosp ital. Bradshaw was treated and released from the no spita I Sunday ni ght. " X-rays were taken whi ch reveal ed no broken bones, but he is bea t u p prett y good ," sai d Keith McCarty, th e Yam aha MX team man ager. " He still has pa in in his sho ul der and u pper back area and he'll have mor e X-ra ys taken as soo n as he gets hom e. Hi s face, including his right eye, is black and blue. (Bu t) he sho u ld be fine." Meanwhile, befor e the first lap was compl eted, Stanton cras hed when he go t hung up in a rutted turn , handing Larry Ward a h uge lead. T he Honda rider re covered in seco n d wit h La Rocco , O 'Mara , McMillen and Jeff Ward hot on his tail. Wh ile Larry Ward enjoyed a sixsecond lead up front, J eff Ward was chargi ng throug h the pac k. " I was having troubles comi ng up," said J eff Ward. "T here were so man y guys. I was getti ng roosted so bad it was ha rd to pass. So I just stayed in a groove; I knew g uys wo uld fade and crash. " By the midway point, Jeff Wa rd had moved in to th ird after p a ssin g LaRocco and set of] after Stanton. Wa'rd sig nifica nt ly closed the gap o n Sta nto n when the Ho nda rider, agai n, washed o ut in a turn . " L uckily Stanto n fell ," sa id Ward . "After tha t I ju st reeled him in . I buin ped him a cou p le of ti mes, bu t he did n 't pu t up that mu ch of a figh t. He let me by; he kn ew wha t he had to do." Once into seco nd , Jeff Ward set his sights on La rry Ward and reeled him in, 1 too . With a few laps rema ining, J eff slip ped by Larry, ma king the top o rder J eff Ward , Larry Ward, Sta nton , La Rocco an d O 'Mara. 'Larry Ward stayed right with J eff Ward for th e rem aining laps a nd finished j us t a few yards behi nd him for his best career rn ot o fin ish . ' Three laps from the fin ish a lapped rider go t in front of me over the double doubles; I hi t hi s rear wh eel and had 10 single them," said Larry Ward. "That's when J eff (Ward) really got right on my butt, After that he just o uts marted me and got by me, I tried to stay with Wardy to the end just to prove that I'm gelling stro nger." Finishing a distant third was Stanton , thus clinching hi s second-career 250cc National MX Championship. " I fell twice - stupid lillie jumpo u t-of-the-ru r-stide -o u t-ty pe deal s," sa id Stanton. "But 1 knew I just had to finish and that would do it. " Rounding out the top five were LaRocco and O 'Mara, " 1 go t my bad starts as usual," said La Rocco. "I was up there today but not as far as 1 wanted to be. I wa nte d to win this one." Fisher, . wh o fin ished sixth in th e rno to and sixth o vera ll for the day, wra p ped up top privateer honor s in the series points standi ngs in seventh. Larry Ward (17) captured third overall in the 250cc class, which was a career best for the factory Suzuki rider. Jeff Ward (3) passed early leader Johnny O 'Mara (9) in the first 250cc moto, but later crashed twice in the moto. " T his was the hardest year ever for me," sa id Fisher. " I had to do a lot myself th is year, like drive to the races a nd be my o wn mechanic wh en m y dad couldn ' t make it. There were a lot of times I had to sit on th e start ing line by myself, but it was all wo rt h it. I'm happy." Finishing sevent h overall was Johnson (7-7). followed by Matson (19-8), Bowen (11-10)and Bradshaw (3-DNF). 125cc National Suzuk~s Buddy Antunez led the first 125cc moto aft er lap on e, but he was closely chased by Bayle, Yam ah a rid er Jam es E ick le , Surf Det ergentsponsored J eff Gl ass, Suzu ki rider J erom y Bueh l, Kawasa ki pi lo t T allon Vohl and, Coope r, Kied ro wski a nd Suzuki-mounted T odd DeHoo p. Durin g th e second lap, tho ugh , Ba yle took o ver the numb er o n e pos ition and im mediat ely jumped o ut to a commanding lead . By the third la p Bayle's lead was already up to over six seconds o n Antunez, who now had hi s hands fu ll with team mate Cooper. It o nly too k Cooper a few tu rns to pass Antu nez, but by that ti me, th e da mage wa s a l ready d one , as Ba yl e h ad extended h is lead to over 10 seconds. For th e rest of the race, Cooper tried reeling in Bayle but to no a vai l. Instead , Bayle maintained about a 1012 second lead , whi ch he held down to th e wire. ' " I tried to put a lot of distance betw een me and him (Cooper) and keep it th at way," said Bayle. "Lgo t a good start, which really helps beca use you don 't have to work so hard to pass people." " Bayle is rea l good in th e tigh t stuff, bu t I'm a litt le faster in th e fast stuff," said Cooper. " Bu t th is track this year seems to have more slow stuff." Whi le Bayle and Cooper cruised out in fro nt and gr abbed the first two spots in that or der, a huge bail ie for third developed between ri ders Antune z, Matiasevich , T allon Vohland, Buehl, DeHoo p , Kiedrowski and Eickel. But i t was Kiedro wski making all the righ t moves, as he moved up through the field , despite having to pu ll off his goggles when hi s vision became o bscured du e to the len s being covered with swea t. Kiedrowski , a lo ng with Matiasevich , event ua lly broke free from the war, letting the rest have at i t. Kied row ski soo n sett led into a comfortable th ird and fini shed there ahead of Mati asevich, who finished alone in fourth . Behind Mati asevich ca me Vohland, Antunez, Buehl and DeH oop. Eick el dr opped back to 13th. " It 's rea lly hot out there," said Cooper in betw een rnotos. " I' ve got to pu t the pressure on Bayle. I'v e go t to make it seem like a long moto for hi rn and wear him do wn ." Unfor tu na tely for Cooper, he didn 't even get close enough to see Bayle's du st the entire mo to , despite gelling a good j ump off the ga te in the second mo to. " I had a good jump but I went too 7

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