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GM orDeROSS AMA National Championship l25/500cc MX Series: Rounds 11/4 ~ Mike Kiedrowski passed Ronnie T ichenor late in the first 125cc moto to take the win. then finished third in moto two to take the overall victory and points lead. Jeff Ward won both 500cc motos and capitalized on rival Jeff Stanton's crashinduced. second-moto DNF to take control in the point standings. Wd, Kiedrowski to a r thefro ta C n tSteel ity By Kit Palmer DELMONT, PA, SEPT. 30 ha t was shapi ng u p to be a two wa y dogfight to th e biller end for the 1990 500cc MX Nationa l Championship between Kawasaki's jeff Ward a nd Honda 's J eff Stanton turned into what most lik ely will be a War d runaway for the crown at the Steel Cit y Nat ional. Ward and Sta nton went into the event separated by just two points, bu t a second moto cras h th at sent Stanton to the hospita l with a co nc us sio n now gives Ward a n almost insurmountable points lead. Ward won bot h motos before an estimated 5500 fans a t Steel City, while Stanton DNF mo to two af ter fin ishing second to Ward in the first moto. Stanton was lead ing the first lap of the second moto when he highsided in a section of high-speed double jumps and crashed ha rd. pounding his head into th e ground. The Michigan resident still managed to cli mb back on his motorcycle a nd race for two more desperate laps before pulling off the trac k and ca lli ng it a day. Imm ediately following the race. Stanton was ta ken to a nearby hospital ' wh ere he was treated and released. With Stanton unable to earn any points in the second moto, Ward now W 8 en joys a co mmanding 26-point lead in the series over his Honda rival , 189163. Stanton's H onda teammate Rick j o hnson , who posted 4-2 moto finishes for second overall , hold s fourth in the standings with 132 points. 19 behind Kawasa ki's j ohnny O 'M ara , who fini shed third overall with a pair of third-pla ce moro finish es toda y. Ro und ing out the top five o verall were Tuf Racing's Keith Bowen (5-4) and Honda privat eer Kurt McMillen (9-5). "It feels go od taking over the points lead , but I hate seein g someo ne ge t hurt," said Ward. "I'm sure j eff will com e back for the last two rounds a nd ha ng tough. I feel good, confident. but it's not over 'til it 's over. Anything can happen ." In the 125cc class , defending 125cc National champ Mike Kiedrowski took over the series points lead after the first rnoto when Suzuki's Guy Cooper, the ser ies points leader going into the event, failed to finish the rnoto when a rock broke the engine cases on hi s Suzu ki. As a result, the oil dr ained out of the cases, causing the transmission to d isintegrate. Cooper ca me back and won the second rnoto, while Kiedrowski finish ed third. However. Kiedrowski's 13 tally gave him the overall win for the day. while second overa ll went to Suzuki's Mike La Rocco and his 3-2 rnoto fi n is hes . Suz u ki's R on n ie Tichenor (2-3). Kawasaki 's J eff Emig (5-4) and jeff Mat iasevich (4-5) fill ed out the top five. . Kiedrows ki's poi nts lead ove r Cooper, however. is sli m as just one point separates the two riva ls. 425-424, with two ro unds remaining in the seri es. Far off the pace in th ird wi th ' 315 points is jean-Mic hel Bayle, who brok e his arm in August ai the Washougal National a nd has decided to sit out the remai nder of the series. Matiasevich , the next active competitor, is only th ree points behind Bayle. ''I'm rea lly h a p p y," sai d Kied rowski. "My goal today was to come here. gain some points and get the overall, and that's what I did." For winni ng bo th moLOS Ward ' walked a way with $2000 of the $ 15,000 500cc class purse. while Kiedrowski earned $880 of the $10.000 I 25cc purse. 500cc Nation a l Pennsylvanian Jeff G lass and his Surf Detergent -spo nsored Honda gra bbed the holeshot in the firs t 500cc mo ro , but Stanton quick ly took charge. G lass dropped to second wi th Ward a nd johnson breathing down his neck. It wasn't until halfway through the second la p that Ward blitzed past Gl ass a nd into seco nd place, but Ward had no intentions of staying behind Sta nton for lon g. A few turns la ter. Ward dove to the inside of Sta nton in a turn and forced his way into the lead. Ward, the defending 500cc Na tiona l Champion. didn't gi ve Stanton any cha nce to retalia te, as he immediately started pu tti ng distance o n the Honda rid er. In just a few la ps, Ward had motored away fro m Sta nton a nd was in co m p lete co nt ro l as he steadily in creased his lead. . . " Stanton look ed lik ed he was fighting it (the bi ke) a t the beginni ng." said Ward. "I got by him pretty easy. so I wasn't sure if he was going to stay with me. He dropped off the pace a nd I go t way out there a nd was comfortab le, and when that happened, I rode real relaxed and real smooth ." No one could touch War d, as he . motored away for a n easy win over Stanton. O'Mara worked his way into third ea rly in the race a nd stayed there - u ncha lle nged. T he factory Kawasaki ri der crossed th e lin e ahea d of a serio us dogfigh t between Johnson and Bowe n . johnson and Bowen ba ttled back a nd forth for most of the race. especia lly late in the race when Bowen ' passed Johnson just before the white flag. Johnson q uickly retalia ted and the two riders bumped handl ebar s with J ohn son edging a head of Bowen. Sligh tly a ngered by Bowen 's tactics. J o h nson look ed back over hi s shoulder and mot ioned wi th his han d , as if to invite Bow en to race. T he inciden t seemed to light johnson's fire. as he roosted away from Bowen to finish fourth; Bow en took fift h. Honda rider Fred Andrews was a front-runner the entire moto and ended up finishing sixth ahead of Kawasaki ride rs Gene Naumec and Dag Boyesen , and Honda-mounted McMillen. Earl y' race leader G lass rounded out the top 10. . 1 Nt T he second 500cc moto saw Stanton , Johnson a nd O'Mara three abreast going into the second turn , but it was Stanton prevailing. However. his lead was short-lived when his front whe el ' was hed out when he landed off a jump, causing him to highside over the next jump. In a daze, Stanton climbed bacl{l to his feet , st umb led aro und and eventually remounted his Honda just before the last two riders went by. He" managed to pass a number of riders befo re p ulling off in the mechariics' area two lap s later. According to Team Honda mec hanic Brian Lunnis, "J eff stopped and kept asking where he was . He didn't know wh at was going on, he reall y rang his ,bell when he fell. They (the medics) decid ed to ta ke him to the hospital for observation , bu t he should be okay." I By the second lap, Ward had passed O'Mara and Johnson a nd was given