Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

n estima ted 12,500 fans looked on, as J eff Emig (left) passes 125cc leader Erik Kehoe. Ward as hi s bike began to overheat . nd ping badly. Two laps from the finish , La Ro cco pitted to add water to the radiator and pull ed back on to t he track just a fter Ma ria sevich had roosted by. Despit e th e overheating prob lem, LaRocco closed o n Mariasevich and passed him on th e las t lap, m a king th e to p fi nishing order read: Stanto n , Bay le, Bradshaw , Ward, La Ro cco and Matiasevi ch . Finishing I distant seve nth wa s KT M 's Mike Fis her, while Yamaha's Doug Dub. ch . who sta rte d th e moto n ear th e a r k of th e pa ck, finished e ig h th. ea rn Green Kawasaki 's Larry Brooks nd T u f R a cin g ' s Keith Bow en 'o un ded o u t th e top 10. ' abbed th e hol esh ot in Brad shaw gr h e second mot o wi th Sta n ton, Bayle nd LaRocco in tow . Dubach cha sed hem in fifth pl ace, wh ile bo th Ward nd Ma tia sevich were m ired a t the back )f the pa ck . ' Once aga in , Brad sh a w, Stanton an d ay le, with LaRocco in th e tri o 's draft, ul led a way from the pack a n d set th e ua ge fo r a no ther close battle. Bu t just s had occ ur red in the openi ng mot o, h ere was ver y little pa ssi ng . The first of o n ly two pa sses in th e n oro among th e lead ers took pl ace o n h e fifth lap wh en Stanton pushed rad sh aw to th e ha y bal es th ro ugh a urn and held o n W th e lead for th e ext two laps until Bradsh a w passed im back. The seco nd a nd fina l pass for th e ea d didn 't happen until two laps from h e end wh en Stanton fai led to clear I double jum p , whi ch forced him to ingl e jump th e fo llow ing set of o ub les. T hat gave Bayle more tha n n ou gh room a nd he sai led by Sta n to n md into second. " I messed up ove r th e first double md didn 't have the momentum to clear he second doubles," sa id Stan ton. "I felt like I was faster out th ere but I just couldn 't pass." Bradshaw cro ssed the finish line approximately two seconds a head o f Ba yle, w ho held a six-second adv antage over Sta n ton. La Rocco was nipping at Sta nton 's heels as th ey crossed th e fin ish line. Spending th e enti re moto all a lone in fifth and fini sh ing in th e same position was Dubach, while Matiasevich worked his wa y up to six th . Ro u nd in g o u t th e top 10 wer e Fisher, Brooks, Rodn ey Smith and Ward. " I just felt rea lly good o u t th ere ," sa id Bradshaw. " Whe n Stanton passed me it just mad e me mad and I wanted - to pass him back. It was a to ugh race." " Yo u just ca n ' t mak e mistakes lik e th at in long, hot races, " sa id Stanton. " I j u st lost my mom entum a fter th at a nd th at was it." Ba yle, wh o ad mitted ly doesn 't lik e racin g in th e h ea t, sa id, " Yo u ca n't go wid e o pe n th e wh ol e race o r yo u' re going to cras h a nd get hurt, yo u have to co nserve ene rgy." Ward, wh o won both mOlOShere last year whe n it was even hotter , sa id, " I a lmost got knocked down right at th e sta rt, th en I fell twi ce o n th e first lap, it wa s so du sty yo u co u ld n ' t see a ny th ing. I wa s low on ene rgy today a nd I don't kn ow wh y." 125 National Yamaha 's Jeff Em ig roosted in to th e lead a t th e start o f the firs t 125cc Nat ional mo to but cra sh ed befor e th e fir st lap wa s com p leted , "1 went into th is bowl turn and th e front end was he d ou t," sa id a battered Em ig , who sporte d cu ts o n hi s ch in a n d a rms. " 1 ca rtwhee led wi th th e bike a n d it landed o n top o f me." Em ig rem ounted near th e ba ck of th e pack and even tua lly worked u p a nd finis hed 13th. Winner Bradshaw (11), runner-up Jeff St an ton (I) a n d third-place Jean-Michel Ba yl e (8) spe n t th e majority of both motos th is dose and in this o rd er, In heriting the lead when Em ig went down was Team Peak Honda's J erem y McGrath, who hadn't raced since th e June 15 San Jose Supercross in order to a llo w a broken leg he suffered at the May 26 Mt. Morris to heal. McGrath held the from position for the next four laps until he began to fade back to seven th. " 1 just got tired," said McGrath. " I didn't want to take the risk o f crash ing a nd getting hurt. I just hav en't been able to ride lately', so I'm a little ou t of shape. " After sta rt ing th e mo to in fourth, Kied ro wsk i moved in to th e number one p ositi on after p assing McG ra th a nd staye d th ere for th e duration o f th e rnot o . By th e m idwa y p oint, Kehoe h ad moved in to seco nd, but kn ocking at hi s back door was defending 125cc N at ion al Ch a mpi on C o oper a n d Tea m Peak H onda' s Steve Lamson. Keh oe held Cooper a t bay u n ti l th e privat eer went down. "Someone a head o f me bl ew o u t a berm a n d my from wheel was he d o u t a nd h it a b ig hol e," sa id Keh oe. " As I was running back to my bike , Cooper wh eeli ed right over it. " " I was , co nce n tra ting so h ard o n making th e turn I didn 't see his bike un til th e last moment,' sai d Cooper. " It was either Erik or hi s bike. " Keh oe qu ickl y remoun ted but not b e fo re C o ope r and Lam son h ad motor ed by. T iche nor 'fi led in behind Keh oe but co u ld n ' t make a pass, maki ng th e to p five finish in g orde r Kied ro wski , Cooper, Lamson , Keh oe a nd Tich en or. Tea m Peak Honda 's Brian Swi nk p as sed teamm at e McGrath on the la st lap for sixth. Kawasaki 's Tyson Voh land landed eig h th , ju st ahead of Downer Grove Yamaha's (DG Y) Jimmy Button an d Suzu ki's Buddy Antunez. DG Y's Doug H enry, the overall winner at th e March 24 Hangtown National , was 11th. "It took me a little time getting aro u nd McGra th , but o therwise, I had a n uneventful mot o ," said Kiedrowski. "Once I passed him , I was on m y o wn." " I think th e heat is a 'big factor," sa id Cooper. " A lot o f g uys were fad in g , I know I burned u p a lot of energy," Keh oe bl a sted h is H onda in to th e ear ly lead in mo to two a n d quickly estab lis he d a sizeab le lea d o ver 'Emig, McGrath a nd T ich en o r. At one point, Keh oe enjoyed a n eigh t-seco nd lead, but by the ninth la p, Em ig had reeled in th e. form er factory Suzuki pilot. " I wa s ridin g we ll a n d feel in g good," said Keh oe. "At the midway poin t I started p acin g myself , th at was m y first mi stak e, because I sta rted slo wing down. T he n whe n I sa w Emig co m in g , I co u ld n't pi ck my speed back u p a ga in . It wa s hot ou t th ere, and I h aven 't been raci ng o n a regular basis like th ose gu ys have bee n." Just pa st th e h alfway p oiru . .Emig darted undernea th Keh oe in a tu rn a nd took co m mand. With in two laps, Em ig had stretc he d h is lead to six seco n ds , 'whil e Ki edro w sk i m o ved in a n d zap ped Keh oe for seco nd . But with o n ly a few laps rem aining, Kied rowski had n o cha nce o f ca tch ing Ernig, who 7

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