Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMOTOCROSS e . AMA National Championship 125/250 MX Series: Rounds 2/2 Doug Dubach (12) grabbed the holeshot in the ' second 250cc moto j us t ahead of Michael Craig (59). Du bach finished fourth in the moto and 12th overall. tanton masters outhwick san By H enny R a y Abrams SOUTHW M MAY 17 ICK, A, a nda 's j eff Stanton didn 't mak e i t easy on h imself a t So u thwic k's MX 338 track. T he Sherwood , Mich igan , r ider sta rte d badl y' in bo th rn o to s o n the sa ndy a nd rutted track , but he never even co nsi dered q ui tti ng a nd p ut togethe r 2-1 fin ish es to sco re th e overa ll wi n on a bright a n d breezy d a y i n so ut h e r n . Massach usett s. . " Me and tha t ashphalt don ' t get a lo ng, " Stanton sai d, referring to Southwick 's co ncrete starti ng pad. Sta nton finished the first lap in 14th place in th e first moto and I I th in the second, but " . . . just kept riding my race. I kn ew wh ere everybody was at. [ to ld myself no t to back off. It seems wh en you slow down yo u make mi stak es," said Stanton. And , excep t for th e starts, Stanton 's day was , in fact, mista ke-free. The runner-up was Kawasaki 's Mike Kiedro wski, who finish ed third in the first mo ta a nd seco nd in th e second ' after briefl y leadin g, while T eam Yamaha' s Da mon Brad shaw settled for th ird wi th a 1-6 ta lly. .Bradsha w completely dom in a ted the first mota, pu lling away at ease to win by nearl y 30 seco nds. It was a n aweso me disp lay, but a first-lap cras h in th e seco nd mo ta set him well back and he was never able to ca tch up. H e was cha lle nging for fifth whe n he fell again a nd dro p ped ba ck to sixth. Team Honda's defe nding cha mpion j ean -M ichel Ba yl e ea rned fourth overall with 6-3 finishes, wh ile selfsponsored local favorit e j ohn Dowd, H 8 o f Chicopee, Massachusetts, used 4-5 mot a finish es to finish fifth . After two o f six ro u nds, Stanton leads Kiedrowski by 14 points, 94-80, in the series point sta ndi ngs , wh ile Bayle is cu rrently th ird , three poin ts ahead of fourth-pl ace Bra dshaw, 73-70. In the 125cc rno tos, Suzuki 's Larry Ward had mu ch the same tro uble wi th sta rts as Sta nton, and th e end result was the sa me. Fourth in the first mota, Ward sped to a second mota win to take th e overall ahead of T u£. Raci ng 's Ron Tichenor (3-3) and DG Y Racing Yamaha's Doug H enry of nea rby O xford, Co nnecticut. It was Ward's th ird 125cc National career win , including thi s race in 1989, but the first for h is mech anic Ed Longacre , who joined for ces with th e 22-year -old Ward j ust this year and Ward was quick to congratulat e him . Fo urth and fifth overa ll wen t to Pea k/Pro Circuit Raci n g 's j er em y McGrath and Ka wa sa ki ' s Mike La Rocco, respe cti vely. Like Brad sh aw , McG ra th ran aw a y with th e first rno to, but faded in th e second after running as h igh as fourt h to finish sixth. La Ro cco held on to th e 125cc points lead wi th 85 points. Tich enor is second best with 78, one better than Doug H enry. 250 National As th e ga te fell for th e fir st 30 mi n u te, plus two-lap mota , 40 riders sp un their kn obby tires on th e co ncrete la unch pad, hit the dirt a nd headed u ph ill for a swee~i ng 180 degree right- hander. Yama ha's Brad sh aw led th e charge a nd every minute of-the mot a . Wi th a clear track ahead, th e 19-yearold from Mooresvill e, North Carolina, was able to p u ll a way from th e fray wi th impressive speed. In less th an eigh t m inutes, he'd built u p a nine-second lead a nd he just kept bu ild in g on it. " I got o ff to a good sta rt, rod e sm oo th , and kept up th e sa me pace," Bradshaw said. By th e end, the lead was abo ut 30 seconds. The o n ly race in th e first mot a was for second. T eam Green 's Mike Craig held second for the fir st half of the mota, but o n th e 10th la p was passed by Kawasaki 's Kiedro wski head in g down th e hill fo llowing the start straigh t. Craig eventually faded ba ck to fifth. Wh en Kiedro wski too k over second Sta nton was in sixth, b ut the two-time 250cc National Champion, Sta n to n, was charging harder than a ny rider o n th e tra ck, wi th the possibl e exception of Brad shaw. After completing the fir st lap in 14th pla ce, Stanton p ut h is head down and p icked o ff ri ders wherever he cou ld. " [ just slo w ly wor ke d my wa y through th e pack ," Sta nton said. " I knew Damon was go ne. I was passing gu ys two a t a tim e." Stanton exp lained th at beca use o f the way the sa nd forms, and a ll the big bowl tu rns, it's hard to p ick riders off. " Yo u ha ve to ge t a good pl ace to pas s," he said. Start in g th e fin al lap, Stanton was u p o n Kiedrow ski and passed him in a downhill left j us t after the finish lin e. " It took everyt h ing I had to get seco nd," he sai d. " I was kind of o u t th ere by m yself," Ki edrowski sa id . " I was running fourth a nd I go t by (Larry) Brooks pretty quick and ca ugh t up to Craig about halfway ar ound. Unless you' re a lot faster than th e other guys you have to wait abo u t half a lap to pass hi " im. New En gland favorit e Dowd ra n fifth most of the race, he and Sta nton both moved by Craig o n the 13th lap with Stanton ta ki ng over thi rd a t th at poin t. Craig wo u ld finish fifth a head of Bayle, a nd Suz uki su pport rider Phil La w re nce. P ark wa y C ycl es' Mike Treadwe ll , Facto ry Co n nections' Kurt McMillen , an d Kawasaki's j eff Ward fill ed ou t the top 10. Bradsh aw 's tea m mat e Doug Dubach go t th e hol esho t in the second mota, lea din g Craig, Bayle, Da vid Paq uette an d Kied rows k i i nto th e wooded section of th e track. Brad sh aw di dn't gate very well and go t ca ught in a ma ssive pileup just as th e pack entered th e wooded sectio n. From there on i t was a game of ca tch- u p . " It (the pileup ) was after you go o ut o f sight on th e back ," Bra dshaw sa id. " It was du sty a nd I cou ldn 't see a thing." Bradsh a w added th at he'd go tten hit off th e sta rt a nd was forced back to midpack. . Dub ach led Bayle, Kiedrow ski and No leerr's Sh aun Kalos u ntil the end of ' the fifth lap wh en Bayle made his

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