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/127275
~MOTOCROSS ; 15th Annual MX Grand National Championship _ • I 0 O"l O"l .......-04 • w.-'. "' O"l e-r ..... r.n " ,. ~ co ~ ~ Jeff Dement (27) an d Ezra Lusk (298) won the 80cc Stock and Modified Expert (12+) classes. bu t it was Dem en t wh o captured the Minicycle Grand National Cham p ionshi p. J eremy McGrath (shown) edged out Ryan Hughes for the Motorcycle Grand National Champ ionship title; McGrath won the 125cc Stock an d 250cc Modi fied classes. Dement, McGrath steal the spotlight at Ponca City c I By Kit Palmer P h otos by Tim Simpson and P almer PONCA CITY OK, AUG. 8- 1 , 2 uzuki-mounted Jeff Dement and Kawasaki rider J erem y McGrath earned the highly touted Mini cycle and Motorcycle NMA Coca-Cola Grand Na tio na l Cham p ionship titl es afte r rackin g up highest consistent p lacin gs in the two 80cc Stock and Modified Expert (12+) classes (Minicycle Cha mpionsh ip), and th e four Stock and Modified 125 an d 250cc Pro division s (Motorcycle Cha mpionship). Dement; from Spring, T exas , too k the Minicycle nu mber one trophy by winning th e 80cc Modi fied Expert cla ss and fini shi ng second in the Stock division , which was won by teammate Ezra Lu sk. Dement's 1-2 overa ll finishes in both classes earn ed him th e Mini cycl e titl e, whil e L u sk wa s knocked o u t of cha mp io nsh ip cont entio n after a first mota DNF in the 80cc Stock Expert class . McGrath's ti tle, on the o ther hand, wasn 't as clean cu t as Dement's. After compe ting in the four P ro classes 125 and 250cc Stock and Mod ified Pro - McG rat h h ad co llec ted 1- 1-2-4 overall finishes, while his Kawasak i T eam Green teammate Ryan Hug hes had earn ed 1-I-3-4 finishes . McGrath nip ped Hugh es for the overall Mo torcycle Cha m pionsh ip by just o ne point. S 18 As it almost a lways does at Po nca City , rai n p layed a major role at th is year 's run ning of the Nationa l Morospo rt Associa tio n (NM A)-sanc tio ned a nd AM BUCS-hos ted GN C event, Early morning th understorms Sat urday and Su nday turn ed mu ch of the J.3-mile MX track into a quagm ire of ax le-deep mud and stan ding wa ter. T his gave .wh a t m an y o n loo kers though t was a big advantage to the Eastern rid ers com peting in the Pro and Expert classes at Ponca City, such as Michi gan 's Brian Swink, South Carolina's Ha nk Moree and Georgia's Lu sk. But it wa s the southern California rid ers McGrath and Hughes, a n d T exas reside nt Dement , who prevailed in the da mpness. "I reall y didn't like th e mud at first ," said Sun City 's McGrat h, " bu t the more I rode in the mu d, the more I began to like it. I feel rac ing in the m ud is a good learning experie nce for me, since I don 't get a chance to ride in it very much at home. Mud is someth ing everybody is goi ng to have to dea l with if they're goi ng to rid e th e Nationals." , In compariso n to previo us Pon ca City GNC events, the pit area at th is year 's race was described by some racers