Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

San Diego say~goodb~e to,Johnson R ick J ohn son is slow ly losi ng one of his best friends , but o ver 32,000 of his ho metown fans helped mak e sayi ng goodbye a littl e easier in Jack Murphy Stadium , The two-time Supercross Champion and the winningest rider in supercross history announced at the beginning of the season that this would be his final year, and the promoters of the San Diego Supercross - the Mickey Thompson En te rta i n men t Group arranged a special pre-race tribute for the 26-year-old rider who was born and raised in nearby EI Cajon, " I'm saying goodbye to something that's been'rny life, my best friend, " Johnson said. "This friend of mine is dying, and it 's hard to let go, But I know it's the best thing for me to do. " J o hnson was pres ented with a special plaque from MTEG president Bill Marcel commemorating Johnson's achievements, which include three supercross wins at the San Diego facility. Johnson also received a letter of recognition from an other San Diego native, California Governor Pete Wilson. The Tetter was read over the stadium's public add ress system , and was followed by a few words from a third San Diegan, multi-time National MX Champion Broc Glover. "I had a speech planned, but.I'm at a loss for words," Johnson told the crowd, Riding with a helmet painted like the football helmets worn by the hometown San Diego Chargers of the .Na tional Football League, Johnson finished eighth in the main event. He said later that the tribute added a bit of pressure. "I know there's no next year , this is the last tim e to race a motorcycle in San Diego," he said . Johnson has struggled to overcome the serious wrist injury he suffered in 1989 at the peak of his career. J ust prior to the injury J o h nson had won the first five supercross events of the season and had broken Bob Hannah's supercross win record in the process. The new lywed Johnson may be back to race i n the stad iu ms next year, on ly' behi nd th e wheel of an off-road truck. No firm pl an s have been made, Johnson says, but he would like to compete in off-road racing trucks before an eventual move to car racing. Lechien, who is allowed to co mpe te o n a work furlough program while serving time for a DUI conviction, ran as high as fourth in th e fir st heat befor e he fell in a long whoop secti o n . Lechien held a transfer po sition in the second semi before he fell in the sam e place, then T y Davi s edged him out of the final transfer position in the Last Chance Qualifier. Kawasaki 's J eff Ward 's struggl e started wh en he crashed in th e second heat , went off the trac k wh ile lead ing . the second semi, th en fin ally q ua lified for the main event by walking away with th e Last Chan ce Qualifier. All the ext ra track tim e appeared to be an advantage to Ward as he pulled in behind Stanton at the start of the main. Ward sta yed within striking distance fo r six laps befo re a no the r cras h kn ocked h im back to 13th . " I just couldn 't stay on the trac k with my wrists ," Ward sa id referring to the sprains he suffered two weeks ago in Houston. ' ~I was thinking too . much and taking it easy. My hands kept co mi ng off th e bar s." Ward rega in ed two posi tions to fini sh 11th. When Ward cra sh ed, Yamaha 's Damon Bradshaw took up the chase . of 'Sta nton. Bradshaw , who q ua lified for th e main by win ni ng the first semi after stalling twi ce in h is heat , had been o n Ward's tail up until the cras h , and their battle allo wed Stanton to gain a slight advantage. Bradshaw , how ever , is struggling through a slump of his own and beg an dropping off the pa ce to a sixth place finish. H e's still third in the sta ndings, 21 points behind Bayle. " I didn 't feel good, 1 gu ess; I'd rather not talk about it," was all Bradshaw would say. That left the door open for Bayle, who Bradshaw had displaced on th e first lap. Wh en Bayle assumed second on lap eigh t, he was nearl y five seco nds behind Stanton. The Frenchman spent the next several laps slowly closing the gap to the lead er. When Stanton ra n off the track in a tight, banked turn just after the fini sh line, Bayle had · closed to within two seconds. " T here was a rut, 1 hit it too fast and high-sided over the hay bales," said Stanton. " I was riding as fast as I could, with no risk," said Bayle. "I came back a littl e o n Stanton and pu t a little p ressure o n him and h e ma de a mistak e." Once o u t front, Bayle rode th e remain ing six laps mistake-free with Stanto n foll owin g several seconds beh ind. Near th e halfway po int Ma tiasevich had a battle with Kiedro wski that saw the two riders bump several tim es. Mat iasevich fina lly stu ffed hi s team mate and moved into third in Bradshaw's demise. He was never a threat to Stanton. " It 's time to sta rt moving peo p le o ut of th e way and ride like 1 did last year," sai d Mariasevich. " I' m being too generous to everyo ne ou t there. I tr ied everywhere to get around Kiedrowski, and kn ew 1 co uld get him . H e didn't sh ut off and 1 did n't sh ut off and we collided." " He took my front end o ut," sa id Kiedrowski. " I mad e a coup le o f mistakes after that, but started go ing a bit faster near the end." Kiedrowski was ga ining o n Matiasevich la te in the race, but the checkered flag cut his charge short. Fisher, who began th e main in 10th, had charged up and wasn't too far behind Kiedrow ski at the fin ish . " I always had my sights set o n Kiedrowski , but when he passed Bradshaw , he go t away," said Fisher. " I couldn't pa ss Bradshaw righ t awa y. 1 just hammered as hard as 1 co uld." Larry Ward passed J ohson fo r seventh o n lap 14and held his pos iti on Mike Fisher continues to im prove on the factory KTM as he passed several riders on his way to his second consecutive fifth -p lace finish . to the finish . J ohnson dropped ba ck, but was under no pressure from Ryan Hughes at the finish line. " Riding the 250 is easier, but th e compe tition is much tougher," said 17year-o ld Hugh es, who normally co mpetes in the 125cc Eastern Regional ' Supercross Series and was riding hi s first-ever 250cc supercross event. " It (ridi ng the 250) will be an ad vantage for th e I 25cc series becau se I'm picking u p experience from the best riders." Follow in g Hugh es at th e finish was last year's 125cc Eastern Reg ional Supercross champ Denny Stephen son, J eff Ward, and a number of privateers headed by T eam Green Kawasaki/Pro Circuit/Shoei-backed Larry Brooks of EI Cajon in 12th. Brooks ran second for severa l laps in the first heat before dropping back to finish fourth, the last tran sfer po sition in the heat. Suzuki 's G uy Coope r finished 18th after he crashed o n the second lap wh en he shifted into neutral enterin g a long w hoo p sect io n and injured his shoul der slig h tly . Yam aha 's Do ug Dub ach started the race wi th a knee injury su ffered in a heat race cra sh and pulled o u t after a lap in or der to ga in o ne po int for fini sh in g last. Dubach d rop ped from sevent h to ninth in th e point sta ndin gs. . Tuf Racing's Ron Tichenor missed th e event du e to a hand injury su ffered while practicing earl ier in the week and dropped from ninth to l l th in the standi ngs. 125(( Main Tea m Peak /Spl itfire/Pro Circu it Ho nda teamma tes J erem y McG rath and Steve Lamson contin ued th eir dominat ion in th e 125cc class, fini sh- Bradsh aw (ri gh t) had a long ta lk with mechanic Brian Lunniss after h e finished sixth in th e main. ing 1-2 for the th ird straight time in th e 125cc Western Regi onal ma in event. It wasn 't easy for either rider. McGrath sta rted in the middle of the pack, but by lap fou r of th e 15-lap race he moved into a five-way battle for the lead. Michael Craig led that battle over Lamson, Je ff Emig, J immy Button and McGrath. Button , who briefly led at the start, had mechan ical problem s o n lap five and fell o ne la p behind. Lamso n pressured Craig until he fo und an ope n ing o n the ni nt h lap, and McG rath charged thro ug h as well. 7

• Cover