Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ B mnEW~w~~~_m_M_sS_~_~:_b_~_d_1 7 ~ Leader Jeff Matiasevich (7) and Guy Cooper (5) collided and crashed on the last lap. Damon Bradshaw (left) and winner Doug Dubach (right) celebrate on the rostrum. Db c u ahshocks'em with wild SnJose win a By Kit Palmer P h otos by Kinney Jones SAN JOSE, CA, JUNE 1 5 he 28,816 spectat or s who filled Spartan St adium won't soon forget this year's San J ose Coors Light Ch all en ge 250cc main event, but 27-year-old Dou g Dub ach will n ever forge t it. Dubach , a six-year veteran of supercross racin g , sco re d hi s fir st- ever victory in wh at man y people said was easily the most exciti ng supercross race they've ever seen , a race tha t featured five lead changes. Taking full advantage of a last-lap collision by frontrunners J eff Matias evich and Guy Cooper , Dubach a n d h is fa ct orybacked Yam aha YZ250 inher ited the lead a nd scored th e win by half a bik e length over teammate Damo n Brad shaw, wh o started the 20-lal1 feature dead last aft er getting stu ck in th e ba ckwards-fa lling starting gate . Costa Mesa, California's Du bach became the fifth different rider to win a Camel Supercross this season. " Wo rds are hard to come by right now ," said an ela ted Dubach after the race. "T his is no do ubt the hi gh light of my career. My voice is hoarse fro m T 12 screaming at the top of my lungs th e whole victory lap. I was so happy!This is a dream come true." Dubach 's pr eviou s best fin ish in a Camel Su percross came in 1988 wh en he finished th ird a t the Los Ang eles Supercross. Since then and prior to hi s win at San Jose, hi s best finish was fourth last year a t Las Vegas. Despite getting nipped by Du bach at the fini sh lin e after a brilliant comefrom -behind performan ce, Brad shaw spo rted an ear-to-ear gr in and reacted 'after the race as if he had won. " I feel great about my rid e and I'm rea l excited for Doug getting his first AMA Supercross win ," said Brad shaw, who has eight Camel Supercross wins, including thr ee -this season. " I got stuck in the start ing gate, and I'm glad I was able to com e back aft er being dead last and fin ish second. I'v e hu ng it on the edge a lo t of times, but I think that was the best I've ever hung it on the edge . T h is one goes abov e all the rest." AMA National MX Tech Ins pector Mike Showen descri bed Brad shaw's mi raculous ride by saying, " I thought I was wa tchi ng Bo b Hannah ' o ut there." Hannah, a three-time Supercross Champion, was well-know for hi s a ll-o u t, go -for-it riding style that -earn ed him 27-career Supercross wins, one sho rt of the all-time win record held by Ric k Johnso n. No t on ly was Bradshaw happy that his teammat e had won, but he had to be happy over the fact that he had ga ined two precious points o n third pl ace finisher Jeff Stanton in the battle for second place in the 1991 Camel Su pe rcross Seri es poin t sta n din gs. Second pa ys $30,000, $10,000 more th an third. Bradshaw no w has 298 points to Stanton's 290 with just the June 22 L.A. Supercross remain in g on the schedu le. Sta nton's Ho nda teammate, J ean-Michel Bayle, who finished 12th a fte r fa lli ng w hile runn ing seventh, cli nched the series title one week prior to the San Jose event in Oklahoma City a n d nabbed the $100,000 Camel jackpot. Matching his best Camel Supercross fini sh of the year was KTM's Mike Fisher who finished fourth for the fourth time, whi le Suzuki's ' Mike LaRocco ro u nded out the top five. Tea m Peak Anti-Freeze/ProCircu i t/ Ho n da -bac ke d J erem y McG rath wrapped up the 125cc Western Region al Supercross Series title by fin ish ing ninth in the 125cc feature, desp ite racing with a broken fibula bon e in his lower right leg. McGra th injured the leg at th e May 26 Mt. Morris 125cc National but was fitted with a specially-made brace that he wor e under his boot. . " T hey (CTi) mo lded a brace around my lower leg that also covered half my foot, which gave me support," said McGra th . , CTi's Mike Raring, who designed the brace; said, " It was made ou t of high-density po lyurethane plastic that deflected the pres sure to a stronger portion of his leg, whi ch is the tibula. Jeremy bro ke the fibula wh ich only holds about 10% of the pressure of the bod y." "Now I don't have to race next week in L.A.," said McGrath. ''I'm goi ng , to let my leg heal and get read y for the I25cc National Series (tha t resu mes in Buch an an , Michigan , July 7)." Winning the 125cc feature fo r the, second week in a row was J eff Emig, giving Team Yamaha wins in both classes at San Jose. The ru nner-up in the I25cc class was McGrath's teammate Steve Lamson, whil e Kawasaki Team Green's Michael Craig finished third. For winning the 250cc main, Dubach collected $5000 of the $30,000 purse, and Emig went home with $2000 of the $8200 125cc class p urse. Cooper, who is seeking his first-ever Camel Supercross win, was do wnrigh t mad at Matiasevich for performing wha t Cooper descr ibed as a " stup id" move that caused both riders to dash whi le ba ttling for the lead on the last lap. Cooper had just passed Ma tiasevich for the lead , when the Kawasaki rider collided with Cooper in a lefthand turn. Both riders went down in a heap with Matiasevich recovering in sixth and Cooper eighth. Cooper's anger was co mpo unded by the fact that he and Mati asevich also tangled and crashed in the main event at th e Oklahoma City Supercross. Cooper, however, wasn't the only one upset with Matiasevich's aggressive ridi ng , as AMA refer ee Ro n Cra ndall fined the Kawasa ki rider $500 for " un necessary contact and endangering ano ther rider." T he fine was the heaviest ever slapped on' a rider in the hi story of AMA Supercross racin g. Pending furt her investiga tion by the AMA, he could be fined ano ther $500. 250 Heats Bradshaw and Matiasevich quickly got the crowd on its feet in the first of two eight-lap heat races, which wo uld transfer th e to p four finis hers directl y to the main event . The factory

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