Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ . MOTOCROSS AMA National Chameionshie_12_52 / _50_cc_M_XSen es_:_ou_od_s_ _ _' R 6/6 _ e turn just ahead of Jeff Ma ti asevich (7) at the start of th e first 250cc moto as eventual winner Larry Ward (10) goes wide . Cooper, Matiasevich crank out wins at Kenworthy's By Nate R auba Pho tos by T o m Strauman a n d R auba "Y TROY, OH, JULY 28 6 ou do n' t know how good it feels to win ," said Kaw asak i's J eff Mat ia sevi ch a fter he scored th e overa ll win in the 250cc class a t th e WAZU/ Screen wo rks 125/ 250cc Na tio na l MX at Kenworthy's MOIO' cro ss Pa rk. Ma tiase vich had reaso n to feel good since it was h is first-ever 250cc National win and hi s first major victory this year. Guy Cooper was feeling good as well after he conquered th e 125cc class in front o f the estimated 11,000 sp ectators wh o fill ed th e Ken wo rth y farm in so u thern Ohio. But defe nding 250 cc Nati onal Cha mp ion J eff Stanton wasn 't feeling so well following a fir st-mote cras h that left him with a n inj ured elbo w. H e st ru gg led o n 10 fini sh sixth in that mo to a nd pulled o u t after a lap in rnot o two, effecti vely end ing a ny hopes he had o f wi n ning hi s th ird stra igh t 250cc National ti tle. J ean· Michel Bayle didn 't feel good a bo ut h is H on da tea m mate bein g h u rt , but he co uld feel a certain joy knowing tha t he's no w virtuall y ass ured o f clinchi ng the title a t th e fin al 250cc • ationa l next week in Massachusetts. Bay le lead s Sta nto n in th e po int sta nd ings, 237-201. Sta nton is th e on ly rid er wi th a ma th em ati ca l cha nce of ca tch ing Bayle si nce Yam aha 's Da mo n Brad sh aw , who was a close third in th e stand in gs co mi ng into th e event, cras he d in th e firs t turn a t th e sta rt o f mo to one a nd inj u red h is u p per arm, puttin g a n end 10 h is day a nd his cha nces o f winning th e titl e. Ba yle a lso went down in th e melee as Suzu ki 's Larry Ward emerged with a lead that he wo ul d keep throughout t he 30-m in ute plus two-l ap rn o to. Mati asevich held second the entire race to finis h th ere, a hea d o f Yama ha 's Do u g Duba ch. Suzuki's Mik e La kocco, also in volved in th e first turn pi leup, worked up 10 fourt h while Bayle charged fro m about a half a la p down 10 claim fifth. Bayle led from start to fini sh in moto two as 22·year-old Matiasevich cru ised to second once again aboard h is J erry Campbell-prepared KX250. The two runner-up perform ances ga ve the so u thern Californian the o verall win a nd 1200 of the $15.000 250cc purse. Dubach and Larry Ward finish ed a di stant 3-4, each unaware th at th ey were in co n tentio n for the overa ll honors - Ward need in g to p ass , Dubach , a nd Dubach 10 pass Ma tiasevich . Instead , War d ended u p seco nd overa ll a nd earned 1350 in p urse mo ney, whi le Bayle claimed th e fina l spot on the podium . Althou gh Bayle's lead in the standin gs in creased from 10 1036 poi nts over Sta nton, he wasn' t celeb ra ting just yet. " You never kn ow, a stup id thin g like th e first rnoto sta rt cou ld ha ppen aga in," said Bayle. There were no problems in th e 125cc Na tional, a nd after workin g to the front ea rly in the first 30·mi n ute plus two -lap rnoto, Ka wasa ki's Mik e Kiedrowski ran a way 10 th e win . Yam ah a' s J eff Emi g led th e start, a nd he o n ly gave up o ne position to Kied row ski on hi s wa y 10 seco nd. Cooper a ttacked Em ig on two occasions, but a midrace bobble a nd a cras h o n th e last lap left th e 29-year·old Oklah oman a d istant th ird a t the finish. Emig led most of th e second rnoto , but just a few laps from th e end Coo per m ounted a c ha rge a n d thi s ti m e success fully passed him . Coope r jetted his Mars ha ll Plu m b-tuned Suzu ki RM 125 10 a two -seco nd wi n over Emig, as Kiedro wski was forced to fight hi s way 10 th ird a t th e fin ish . " I needed a n overa ll win, " said Cooper, who a long with Kied ro wski earned 880 o f the $ 10,000 I25cc purse. " It sounds a lot better than seco nd ." The overa ll victory d idn 't a dva nce Coope r in the point standings as he a nd Kiedrowski matched points at th e end of th e da y for thei r 3· 1 rnoto fini sh es. Cooper still trails Kiedro wski, th e 1989 I25cc National Champion, by 15 po ints, 230-215, after six of 13 ro u n ds . Ern igs pair o f seco nds adva nced him to third in th e sta nd ings wi th 170 points. " H e (Em ig) sho wed th at he ca n run up there," sa id Coope r. "It's (the race for the title) not go ing to be just between me a nd Kiedrowski." Afier enco u nt ering ex treme hea t a nd humi di ty th e pr eviou s week in Virg inia, the riders go t a break w hen race day dawned with clouds coveri ng th e sou the rn Ohi o farmlands. The tempera tu re sta yed in th e 70s until it increased slig h tly wh en th e cloud cover cleared as th e seco nd l 25cc mota was o n th e track. T he Kenwort hy's tra ck is rather u ni q ue fo r Nati onal co m petitio n. Built o n what was o nce a cow pasture on the banks o f th e Great Miami Riv er , the g ro u nd is co m p letely flat a nd 10 co u nte r that, man y su pe rcro ss-type obstacles were built into th e course. "What I'd giv e for on e natura l hill ," sai d p ro mot er Don Kenworthy, wh o leases th e land loca ted betw een the river a nd field s producing corn, soybean a nd whea t cro ps, from hi s uncle who farms th e land. Qual ifiers were required to thi n th e 82 ent ra nts in th e 125cc class a nd 74 in th e 250cc d ivision 10 th e 40·rider Na tio na l fields, a nd as a n added bo nus a $1000 purse provided by the local Pepsi bo tt ler was split up among th e to p fin ish ers in each q ualifier. 125cc National Emig grabbed th e holeshot at th e start of th e first mo to wi th AXO / P ro Circuit-backed privateer Erik Kehoe right behind him. Kehoe ran into trouble on th e first la p whi ch a llowed Suzuki 's Buddy Antunez, Kiedro wsk i, Peak /Pro Circuit H onda rid er Steve Lamson a nd Cooper through. "Com ing o ut o f th e first co rner, either th e plug fou led or th e ign itio n went, " said Keh oe. "After th e first lap I cha nged th e p lug , a nd th at sta rted to foul as well. " Keh oe rod e severa l laps and kep t th e cro wd entertai ned with stylish aer ia l rnanuevers o ver th e jumps before he was forced to retire. H e al so DNF moto two after a hard cras h. Antunez held o n 10 second for abo u t a lap u nt il Kiedrowsk i passed him , th en o n th e third la p Kied ro wski passed Emi g to tak e the lead. "I wasn 't fami liar with a set o f jumps, a nd Kiedrow ski just went through faster ," sa id Emi g. At th e sa me tim e the lead cha nged hand s, Cooper moved past Antu nez to claim third and quickl y clos ed in o n

• Cover