Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GMOTOCROSS AMA NationalChampionship_25_0/_125_cc_M Ro_un.,.- ds_4 _X_Se_rie_s:_ _ e Damon Bradshaw (11) grabbed the holeshot in the second moto and scored the overall victory via 3-1 moto finishes. It was Bradshaw's first outdoor National win of the year. Bradshaw, Kiedrowski sizzle at Red Bud By Kit Palm er Photos by Kinney Jones BUCHANAN, M JULYi I, amaha's Damon Bradshaw and Kawasak i's Mike Kied row ski each scor ed the ir first overall wins of the National outdoor MX seaso n via 3-1 a nd 1-2 mota performances at Red Bud Track ' N' Trail. Brads haw's win was the hard est to come by as he battled tooth and nail with defendi ng 250cc MX National Ch ampion jeff Sta nton and recentl y crowned Camel Supercross Cham pion jean- Miche l Bayle th ro ugh o ut both 30-mi nu te plus two- la p mo tos. On an ex trem el y hot an d h umid day, Brad shaw led most of the first mot o until he crashed and d ropped bac k to third wh ere he would fini sh th e mot o behi nd winner Stanton a nd Bayle. Bradshaw came ba ck with vengean ce in th e seco n d m oto, nai ling th e holeshot a nd holding o n to a bikelengt h lead for most of the race to score a narrow victory over H on da teamma tes Bayle and Sta nton. Except fo r . the last two laps, the top four riders were never separat ed by mo re than four secon ds. . Stanton finished second overall wit h a 1-3 score, while series points leader Bayle was third via a 2-2 tally. "A fter all that, I can' t believe I gai ned j us t one poi nt," said Brad shaw half jokingly. "Now I'm just 21 po ints behi nd Bayle!" Bayle currently ho lds o n to a somewh at comforta ble series poin ts lead over factory Honda teammate Sta nto n, 151-139, with Bradshaw thi rd wi th 130 points. Y 6 Fin ish in g fourth overa ll wit h a 54 moto sco re was S uzu ki's Mi ke La Rocco, who was a lways within striki ng d istance of the leaders in both motos, whi le fifth overa ll went 10 Ka wasak i 's j eff Ma ti as evi ch who logged consistent 6-6 malo fini shes. I n th e 125cc cl a ss, 1989 125cc Nat ional Champion Kiedrowski came from behind and blew away everyo ne in the first mota , but finis hed second 10 Yamah a 's J eff Emig in the second mot o. However, Kiedro wski's 1-2 ta lly was mor e than enough to secure the overall win and move h im into the series points lead over the defendi ng class cha m pion , Suzu ki's G uy Cooper, 135-125. Cooper scored second overa ll with a 2-3 score, whi le T eam Peak Honda rider Steve Lamson (3-6), Tuf Racing's Ronnie Tich enor (5-'1) and privateer Honda pil ot Erik Kehoe (45) filled o ut the to p five overall. Brian Swi nk, the series class leader going in to the Red Bud Na tional, went 613 for 11th overall , dropping back to th ird in th e I25cc nPint standings with 124 points. An early mo rn ing th understo rm caused an hour-an d-a- ha lf delay in the day's pro gram , with th e first 125cc mota getti ng underway just before 2:30 p.m. , and the last 250cc moto ending at almost 6:30 p.m. Desp ite th e heavy early morning cloud cover, the sun eventua lly brok e out just befor e the first 125cc mot o, whic h o pened the da y's National mot os, and quickl y dr ied o u t th e track , making track conditio ns, for the most part , dr y and dusty. Tempera tures nea rly reached the century ma rk, and combined with th e hum id ity, too k its toll on man y rid ers. 250 National Stan ton, Bayle and Brad shaw shot 10 the front of the pack at the start of the first 250cc mot o, with privateer Su zuki rider Cliff Palmer, Matiasevich. Ward and LaRocco in close pursuit. R u n n in g midpack was l2 5cc YlX World Cha m p io n T ram pas Parker, who wou ld event ua lly work up as far as 12th befor e pulling o ut of the race near the midway po int after casi ng a double ju m p. By th e end of the first lap, Bradshaw had passed both Bayle and Stanton in on e swoop, whi le Palmer dropped back 10 II th, making the to p order read: Bradsh aw, Stanton, Bayle, Matiasevic h , Ward and La Rocco. Brad sh a w , S tanton and Bayl e qui ckl y p ulled away from the rest of the pack, setti ng the stage for what wo uld be a race- lo ng nose-t o-tail dogfig ht amo ng the th ree factory. riders. Bradshaw set a bli steri ng pace tha t was mat ched by both Stanton and Bayle lap after la p , but despi te the close contest, very little passing took p lace. In fact, only once did the positio ns cha nge, and that occurred when Bradshaw cras hed o n the eig h th lap. " I just came off th e uphill double, and when I landed, wharn-o, the front end washed o u t," said Bradshaw. " I was feeling rea lly comfortable up to tha t poin t." Brad shaw q u ickly remou nted in thi rd, a few seconds beh ind Bayle. Despite conti nued hounding by Bayle, Sta nton maintained h is coo l in the heat and hung on for a narrow win, . whi le Bradshaw finished a few seconds behind Bayle. " j MB (Bayle) and Damon pushed me all the way, it was not an easy race ," sa id Michi gan resid ent Stanton in between mOlOS. " At first, I just settled into second and watched Bradshaw until he cra shed. JMB hounded me th e wh ol e way, I thought he wo u ld put the pressure o n a t the end, but I pulled him slightl y. I don 't think I went any faster a t the end , I just stayed th e sam e." " I wasn 't really riding as hard as I co uld've when I was lead ing," said Bradshaw . " I was savi ng my energy for the end, but I cras hed. After that it was hard getting go ing aga in ." Wh ile Stanton , Bayle and Bradshaw battled up front, another .three-ri der group - Matiasevich , j eff Ward and LaRocco - was di cin g for fo urth. About th e ti me that Bradshaw had cras he d , Mati a sevi ch surren de re d fourth to team ma te Ward , and shortly thereafter, La Rocco droppped Ma tiasevich back to sixt h. La Rocco then set o ut after Ward and began cha llenging for fourth, but five laps from the end, his bike started bl owing st eam o u t th e ex ha u st. LaRocco start ed losi ng grou nd to

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