Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ SUPERCROSS ·AMA Camel Su~rcross Series: Round 14 d a ' s J er em y McG r a th ea rned yei a not h er win , this tim e a hea d of Ka wasak i Team Green's Ryan H ug hes a nd home state- favori te J eff Dement. McG rath led from th e drop of the ga te and went o n to a n unch all en ged victory, crossi ng th e finish l in e approximat ely four seconds ahead of Hugh es. McG rath 's fifth win o f the seaso n gi ves him a seem ingly insurmountabl e lead , 145 to 105, in the Western Regio na l 125cc Supercross Series point sta nd ings over T eam Peak teamm ate and defendi ng Western Reg iona l cha m p Buddy Ant un ez, wh o fin ished fourth. Suzuki 's Brian Swin k cli nched the Ea stern Regi on al 125cc Supercro ss title earlier in th e year a nd opted to co m pete in th e 250cc division, wh ere he fin ish ed sixth in th e main even t. T he black clo uds overhea d threaten ed a ll day, bu t it wasn 't until the racing ac tio n go t underway th at the rain ac tua lly started falling. Luckil y, the pr ecipita tion never go t worse th an a heavy sp rin kle, perhaps th e hardest co mi ng during th e 25Occ'main event.' ~ Winner Dam on Brad shaw (4) passed defending champ Jean-Michel Bayle for the lead late in th e 250cc feat ure. Pit board talk: T uner Skip Norfolk reminded Jeremy McGrath to "Use Hea d" whi le leading the 125cc feature. McGrath went on to score his fifth victory of the year. Bradshaw closes in on Bayle with Dallas win By Kit Palmer Photos by Da vid G o od speed "I 10 IRVING, TX, MAY 30 don 't care wha t people say, thi s is pure pr essure! J eff Sta nton a nd th ose guys might say th ey're ca lm a nd act so cool, but th at 's a bunch of b.s, I can ' t wai t for thi s series to be over with ," said a some what reli eved Da mon Brad sh a w, shortly after he scored his record-tieing eight h Coors Li ght Cha lle nge victory of the year in drama tic fashio n a t Texas Stadiu m. "The series ti tle is go ing to go do wn to th e last race, tha t's for sure." Per ha ps Bradshaw' s referen ce to " pr essure" had a lo t to do wi th th e ma n ner in wh ich he won - th e ha rd way . Bradshaw held a three-second lead over series poi nts leader J ean-Michel Bayle o n the fourth lap o f th e 20-lap feature event, but slid o u t on the rainsl ickened track. The 19-year-o ld factory Yama ha pi lot from Moo resvill e, North Carolina , th en turned in a rid e to rem ember as he came from behind a nd repassed Ba yle with fi ve laps to go . The 40,7I9 sp ectators o n hand went wild as Bra dshaw sailed hi s Brian Lunniss-tuned Yam ah a YZ250 across th e finish line just two seconds ahe ad of Bayle's Cliff White-p repa red H onda CR250 to eq ua l the reco rd o f eigh t supercross wins in a seaso n, set last year by Bayle. But more im portantly, Bradsh aw sliced Ba yle's ser ies po ints lead in half with j ust two races to go . Bayle, th e defe nding Ca me l Supe rcross Ch am pio n, now has a slim th ree-po int adva ntage o ver Bradshaw, 290-287. T h us addi ng to th e " pressure." Ba yl e' s teammat e J eff Stan ton ent ered the T exas ro u nd seco nd in th e sta nd ings, two points behind Bayle, but dropped to third in the sta ndings a fte r fi nis h i ng fourth . Tw o -tim e Camel Supercross Cha mp ion Stanton now has 284 po ints after a fourth p laceshowi ng. Stanton spe n t th e entire fea tur e wor ki ng his way up through the pack after gett ing o ff to a poor star t. Kawasak i 's Mik e Kiedrow ski fin ished a so lid th ird in T exas and is now fourth in the series sta ndings with 233 points. The Dall as Su pe rcross offered co m 'petito rs a $45,000 purse, with $35,000 of that up fo r grab s in the 250cc class , $30,000 in the main event a nd $5000 in th e last cha nce qualifier. Bradshaw 's win ni ng share was $5000, wit h Bayle earni ng $3500 for second, ,Kiedro wski $2000 for th ird, a nd Sta nton $1750 for fo u rt h. In co mpa riso n , J eff G lass, th e las t p lace finish er received $1000. In th e co mbined Eastern / Western Reg ion al l 25cc Su pe rc ross Se ries feature, Team Peak /Pro-Circui t/He n- H eats Neither o f the two eig h t-la p 250cc hea t races featured much exci temen t, at least not near th e fro nt. Bradshaw started thi ngs off by jam m ing inio the ea rly lead in th e first heat. H e quickly opened up a co mfortable advantage a nd wou ld eventuall y greet th e checkered [Jag with approximately eigh t seconds to spare over runner-up Stanton. Brad shaw' s win ni ng heat race time would turn o u t to be th e fastest o f th e ni gh t. Stanton spe nt most o f th e race dicin g with Swin k, wh o event ua lly cras hed after tangl in g with tea mmate Cooper in a turn a nd dropped to eighth. J eff Ward was th e ben eficiary of the Swi n k/ Cooper cras h, as he slipped into third. Cooper reco vered quickly, a nd the fin a l fini shing o rde r was Bradsh aw , Sta nton , J eff Ward and Cooper. Suzu ki's Lar ry Wa rd rounded o u t th e to p five, o ne spo t o u t of a transfer. Desp ite scori ng a seemi ng ly easy w in, Brad sh aw was n ' t totally pl eased with h is performa nce. " I rode my best, but I ho ped to do bett er," said Brad sh a w. " I was a good d istance (a head o f Sta nton ), but I wasn 't happy with th at di st ance, cons idering how ha rd I rode." Th e seco nd heat wa s owned by Bayle. After passing Kawasaki 's Jeff Mari a sevi ch o n th e fi rs t la p , th e Fren chman sim p ly motored away from the pack a nd crosse d th e fin ish line five seconds a head of second-pl ace Matiasevich . A few seconds behind Ma tiasevich ca me Kiedrowski , who held a safe dis tance on 'fo u rth -p lace finish er Denn y Stephenson. Tuf Racing' s Ron Tich en or nipped No leen Yam aha's Lar ry Brooks for fifth , but both rid ers had to rid e th e semi s. " O nce I go t o u t front I just tried to be smooth a nd set a good pace," said Bayle. Semis Swi nk domin at ed the first of two sixla p sem is th at eac h offered five tickets to the main event. Swink led every lap and took th e checkered [Ja g going a way. Swin k's nearest rival was Larry Wa rd , wh o broke free from a bat tle with Du bach and Kaw asak i 's Mike Craig. Ward finished second, a safe di stance a head of Dubach , Craig and KTM's Keith J ohnso n. The rest of the pa ck h ead ed to th e last ch a nce qualifier. T he seco nd semi featured ano ther runaw a y win, thi s time it was turned in b y S u zu k i- mo u nted Tich en o r.

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