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SMOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 125/250(( MX Series: Rounds 2/2 m Privateers' dayat Hangtown By Nate Rauba S ACRAMENTO, CA, MA 24 R. muddy mess tu rned OUI to be a dream co me tru e for a pair o f p riva teers. While many of th e factory sta rs co m pla ined a bo u t th e horribl e co nd itions a t Prai rie City OHV Park, New Eng la nders Joh n Do wd and ' Do ug H enry p ressed on to wi n th eir fir stever Na tio na ls in th e ra in -sho rte ned event. And in th e 250cc class , on ly two fa ctory-s u pported r id ers, H on d a ' s J ean -Mich el Bayle a nd Su zuki 's Mi ke La Ro cco, even fin ish ed the race. H enry's win was th e fir st-ever by a p ri vat eer in th e I25cc Nat io na ls, whi le Dowd 's victory was the first priva teer wi n in the 250cc cla ss since Ala n Kin g rod e a H onda to victor y at Hangtow n in 1984. Prior to H angt own , Do wd 's best fini sh was a th ird overa ll at th e 1989 Southw ick , Massach usettes, 250cc Na tional. H en ry's best was fifth o vera ll a t last year's fin al 125cc Na tiona l a t U na dilla . Afte r a five-yea r dro ug ht , rain in u ndated the regi on the week prior to th e even t. T here was more rai n th e day prior to the event . a nd as qua lifiers were run in the morning to thi n th e fiel d down to 40 rid ers per class , a light d rizzle tu rne d int o a dow npour that wo uld last for th e rest o f the da y. As water ran off th e hill sid es, a small river bega n to flow in th e middle o f th e co urse, flooding several sections. Many of th e top factory rid ers go t toge the r a nd ur ged AMA Pro fessio na l MX Manager Roy Janson a nd referee Ron Crandall to cancel th e event, bu t the y refused a nd th e Nat ionals were ru n on a rerouted course. H owever, th e p rogram was shorte ned to one 30minute plus two -lap mot o per cla ss with standa rd points being paid, but th e purse was doub led si nce th ere wouldn 't be a second moto. And wh o says yo u ca n 't hav e close racing in a m udba th? T he 125cc Nationa l feat ure d eig h t lead ch a nges a mong four riders before H enry passed Team Suzu ki's Buddy Antunez on the last la p for th e win. The DGY Racing-backed rid er from Fairfiel d, Co n nec ticu t, ga ve Yamaha its fir st win in two yea rs a nd vaulted h im from fifth to secon d beh ind defendin g 125cc Nati on a l cha m p Guy Cooper in th e point sta ndi ngs. Suzu ki's Cooper . who a t o ne point enco u ntered ig nitio n troubl e, finished sixth a nd leads H en ry 62-56. " It feels great, I' ve never felt better," said 21-year-o ld H enry, who was still ela ted nea rl y a n hou r after he crossed th e chec kered flag. T h e mudd y co n d it io n s wer en 't m uch o f a problem for H enry. " We ru n cha m p io ns h ip series in New Eng la nd , and you ca n 't go and see if it's a muddy da y a nd leave," H en ry said. " You ha ve to race ." H en ry led a t two ot her points in the race . He firs t in he ri ted th e lead whe n T eam Pea k/Pro Circui t H onda's Bria n Swink slid down ea rl y in th e mot o, b ut q uic kly ga ve it up to Su zuk i's Ta llon Vohland. H enr y aga in wen t into th e lead wh en Vohland retir ed , but th is time Antunez sna tched itawa y before H en ry made h is last-la p pass to claim 1200 of the 10,000 I25cc purse. H enry als o collected nearly 1000 in continge ncy mo ney from his sponsors which incl u de Sh o e i, S i l ko le ne, Answer, Dun lop, P ro C ircu it, Alumilite , 100% a nd CTi. Yam aha doe sn ' t A J ohn Do wd became the first privateer to win a 250cc National since 1984. Doug Henry sco red th e Iirst-ever win by a priva teer in 125cc National compe tition. post co n ti ngency for th e Nat ional _ Champions hip MX Series. In the 250cc class , Dowd caugh t a nd passed form er 125 and 250cc Wo rld Cham p ion J ean-Michel Bayle twi ce before he pull ed o ff th e win. Bayle led fro m the first lap o f wh at wo uld be a IS-lap mo to , a nd at o ne poi nt had what appeared to be a n ins ur mo u nta ble adva ntage. As a ll but o ne of Bayle's facto rysu p ported riva ls d ropped o u t o f th e ra ce with mech an ical trouble, Ba yl began to ease hi s pace and Dowd, wh o had starte d fourth, closed in. The 25yea r -o ld from Chi copee, Ma ssa ch usettes, passed Bayle o n la p II but immedi a tely fell in a slick corn er. But a lap lat er Dowd passed him for good to co llect his biggest pa yda y of hi s ca reer. Do wd ea rned 2000 of th e $15,000 250cc p u rse, but he mor e tha n dou bl ed th a t wi th a $5000 conti nge ncy bon us fro m H onda a nd mu ch more from o th er spo nsors h e sa id wer e Ans wer, Sil ko lene, FMF, Scott , Sun star, RK Cha in. Factory Connection, Acerbi s, Shoei a nd Parkwa y Cycles, a New Engla nd dea lersh ip loca ted near hi s hometown. " It (the win ) hasn 't rea lly su n k in yet," said Dowd. " It feels good tho ug h, I kn o w that. " Like H enry, wh om Do wd says he ca me up th rough the New Engla nd Sports Committee ra n ks wit h j ust a few yea rs ago , th e win boosted Dowd from fifth to seco nd in th e 250cc Nation a l Ch ampionsh ip points sta nd ings after jus t two ro u nds of th e seven -round series. Bayle, wh o eas ily o u tdista nced LaRocco a t th e finish line, leads Dowd 69 -56 . Def e n d i n g 250 cc N at iona l Champion J eff Sta nton dropped to third with 47 after he went off the track a t the start the n dropped o u t wit h mecha ni cal problems whi le movin g th rough th e pack. As Sta nton led a group of riders ca ll ing for th e ca nce latio n o f th e even t, th e Vet Pro exhibitio n event sho wed th at th e track was ind eed passab le as 36-yea r-o ld Eric McKenna grabbed the ho lesh ot a nd strea ked away to wi n $1000 in th e IO-Iap race. Dave Coupe rod e the en ti re race in second despite fa ll i n g o nce , w hil e P e te M urra y . wo rked hi s way in to th ird early in the race and sta yed th ere to th e fin ish . l25cc National By the time the 125cc cla ss left the line nearl y two hours after the sched u led I p.m. starti ng time, o nly abo u t half of th e estima ted 2500 specta tors re mai ne d to ' see the clo se race in pou ring rain . 'Bria n Sw in k was th e o n ly rid er to emerge fro m the first turn wit h a clea n jersey, as Henry, Ta llo n Vo hl and, Antunez, Cooper, Step henso n a nd 1989 125cc Na tional Cha mpion Mi ke Kiedrowski slogged a lon behind him. By the second lap, th wa ter cross ings were a lready fill ing u wit h bi kes. . O n the th ird o f wh a t wo u ld be a 14ยท la p moto He nry go t th e lead for the first time wh en Sw in k fell. " I sta rted sliding, ca ug h t a rut a nd h ighsided.' said Michigan 's Swi n k, who dropped ou t of th e top 10. Voh land , th e local favorite from Sac ra men to. gave th e fans some thi n to cheer abou t whe n he assumed the lead a short tim e la ter. For severa l laps Voh la nd held a sli m lead over Henry,