Damon Bradshaw (4) passed Jeff Matiasevich (partially hidden) on the first lap of the main and rode on to the win. Stefan Everts (II I) gated third , but finished ninth.
Guy Cooper (5) lapped Keith Johnson (29) en route to his second place finish .
Bradshaw forges ahead
w Houston win
ith
By Donn Maeda
Photos by Da vid Goodspeed and Kinney Jones
HOUST
ON,TX. JAN. 1
8
hings weren ' t looking too good
[or T eam Yamah a's Dam on Bradsha w when he lined up for the
20·l ap Coors Light Challenge in the
Houston Astrodome. The 19·year·o ld
sensa tio n from Moorseville, No rth
Carolina, had struggled through his
heat race, and was forced to earn a spot
in t~e night 's ma in event th ro ugh a
T
6
semi.
" I cou ldn 't get 0(( the lin e straigh t,"
said Bradshaw, who gated near the
back of the pack in both races. " I guess
it was just du mb luck."
At th e sta rt of the main event,
though, Bradsh aw's lu ck turned good
as he followed on ly Kawasak i's J e£(
Mati as evic h o u t of th e fir st turn.
Bradshaw stor med into the lead before
th e completion of the first lap and went
o n to score the ninth Camel Supercross
win of his career in convincing style.
The victory also catap ulted him from
fou rt h to first in the seri es po int
sta ndings, but he'll be the first to admit
that the season is far from over.
"Sure, th e win gi ves me a lo t more
co nfi de nce," sa id Bradshaw , who
pocketed $5000 of the $30,000 purse.
" We still have 14 races left, and I' m
goi ng to ride every race as if I'm last
in points."
Bradshaw's tri um ph came in front
of a cro wd of 40,3 12, nearl y 8000
spectators more than last year's event,
Matiasevich, sti ll on the mend after
breakin g his femur in la te 1991, ran
second for over ha lf of the 20·lap main
event, but tired an d faded to sixth at
the fin ish.
" I j us t go t tired, it 's as sim p le as
that," said the 22·year-old from La
H abra Heigh ts, Cal ifornia. ''I'm just
happy to be running out front like 1
was, especially since 1 had to take so
much time 0 (( to let my leg heal. "
Finishing second was Team Suzuki 's Guy Cooper. The 29·year-old
Oklahoman gated sixth and muscled
hi s way past Matiasevich on lap 15 to
secure the ru nner-up po siti on, but was
never a threa t to Bradsha w, who
crossed th e finish line some 14 seconds
ahead.
" I drew II th pick on th e lin e, which
isn 't good at all, so when 1 came o ut
