Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ SUPERCROSS AMA Camel Supercross Series:Round 15 ~ ~ I..: ~ C'J O'l O'l ........ Chris Young (85) and Larry Brooks (30) dueled for holeshot honors, while Damon Bradshaw got stuck behind Jeff Stanton (2). Bradshaw and Yamaha Team Manager Keith McCarty moments before the first heat. By Ki t Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones SA:\ JOSE. CA, JUNE6 n front o f a n ear sell-ou t crowd a t Sa n J o se' s Sp arta n Stad iu m , Team Ya m ah a ' s Dam on Br ad sh a w pulled o ff wh at is pe rhaps th e most important win o f hi s yo u ng career. After performing yet a nother co mefrom -beh ind wi n in the Coors Ligh t Challe nge fea ture with 30, 124 fans looking o n, the popu la r 19-yea r-o ld I 6 rid er from North Caro lin a, moved ba ck into th e Ca mel Supercross Ser ies p oint s lead with ju st on e rou n d rem a ining. Brad sh a w went in to th e San Jose Su pe rcross tra ili ng defending Ca mel S upercross -C ha rnp io n J ean -M ich el Bayle by th ree points but left wi th a si x-poi nt cus h io n over Ba yle's Honda tea mma te J eff Stanton, 3 12-306. Bayle crashed a n d injured his shou lder on the fourth lap while running th ird, a nd ended up ninth. That dropped th e Fre nc hman back to third in th e series point stan d ings with 302 points. " It's h ard to put into words h ow I feel righ t n ow, " said Bradshaw. " I 'm rea lly h a p py for m ys elf a n d for Yam aha , bu t this series isn 't o ver yet. Any th ing ca n ha ppen ." Not on ly d id Bradsh a w move in to the seri es points lead, but h e p u t h is na me in the record book with hi s ninth Camel Supercross Series wi n of th e . year , th e most by a rider in a si ngle seaso n. Ba yle previo u sl y h el d the record o f eigh t wins, set last year. In a ll , Brad sh aw has 17 Supercross wins to hi s cred it. Bradsh a w took the checkered flag o n hi s Bri an Lunniss-tun ed Yam aha YZ250 a lmost eig h t seco n ds a head o f ru nner-up Sta n to n , whi le last yea r's Sa n J ose surp rise winner, Ya maha 's Doug Dubach , was th ird . Ro u nding o u t th e top five were Suzuki's Gu y Cooper a n d T u f R a ci n g ' s R on Tiche nor. Bayle, who said over th e stad iu m 's p u blic a ddress system aft er wi nni ng h is heat race earlier in the even ing, th a t ' he really didn 't care if he wi ns th e Camel Supercross Ser ies o r not, was running third in the race wh en he ran o ff th e track a nd centerp u nc hed a h ay bale. He remou n ted arou nd 10th but never mad e a cha rge to th e front, claiming he. h ad separa ted h is left sho u lde r in the cras h . "T he crash wasn 't m y fault: I was h it from behi nd, " sa id Bayle afterwards. " I was riding good up to that poi nt and tha t's wh at ma tters. " I' m pretty ban g ed u p ," ad ded Ba yle. " I'm no t go ing to ride (the) L.A. (Sup ercro ss, July II ). And th ere' s no way I'll be ready for Hangtown (250cc Na tio na l MX ) next week ." With Ba yle finishing n inth and say ing h e won't ride th e resch eduled Los Angeles Supercr oss , this leaves th e door all but wide ope n for Bradsha w, who now has an exce lle nt cha nce of capturi ng h is first-ever Camel Supercross title, despite th e fact th at twotime Supercross champ Stanton is on ly six points behind. Eve n Team H on da 's ra ce co ns u ltant, five-time 500cc MX World Champion Roger DeCoster, sa id it doesn' t look good for Stanton. " Da m on is o n a ro ll right now," DeCoster sa id. "He's been winnin g, so it's going to be tough (for Stanton to wi n th e cham p ionship ). Even if J eff wins (in Lo s Angeles), Da mon will . ha ve to fini sh worse than third, and th at do esn't seem likel y the wa y he's been riding lat ely. " . Stan ton is op tim ist ic. " A lo t can happen between now and the chec kered flag at L.A., " said Stanton . "There 's two Nationals between now and th en ." In t h e Wes ter n R eg ion a l 125cc Supercross fea ture, Team Pea k/Pro-s Ci rcuit/Splitf ire/Honda rid er J erem y McG rath clinc hed th e series cha mpionship for th e seco n d tim e in a ro w a fter a thrilling co me- fro m- be h in d rid e. After ge tti ng bumped co mirig off th e starting ga te a n d ro u ndi ng the first turn nearly dead la st, McG ra th spent m ost o f th e race passing riders until slip ping by teammat e Buddy Antunez four laps from th e en d to take the lead. McGrath crossed th e fin ish line ju st a h ea d o f runn er-up Ant u nez an d T yson Vohland. "Trn really p roud to h ave won a race like that," sai d McGrath , wh o needed on ly to place 12th o r better to clinch th e ch a m p io ns h ip . " O nce yo u 're used to winning, you don 't feel like losing." The San Jose win was McGrath 's six th of the year. H e ha s won all but one of the West Co ast Regional 125cc features this yea r. H e was beaten by recently crown ed Ea stern R egional 125cc Supercross Champion Brian Swink and Doug Henry in a co m b ined West /East Regi onal feature ea rl ier in th e year at H ouston, For sco ring the 250cc win , Bradsh aw took home $5000 of th e $30,000 purse, while McGrath wa lke d a way with $2000 o f 'th e $ 10,000 125cc class p urse. 250cc heats Sha un Kal a s gave Bradsh aw fits in th e first o f two, eight- lap 250cc hea t races, th at eac h advanced th e top four ri d er s directly to the ma in. The Noleen/ Yama h a-backed rider from Arizona edged Bradshaw out for the holeshot and held him at ba y for the next five laps. The two Yamaha pilots pulled away from th e rest o f th e pack as th ey kept th e large cro wd o n its feet. Ka la s and Bradshaw put o n an exci ting show as they fought for the lead. Bra dsha w fina ll y put a move on Kalas tw o laps from the en d , a nd it was a pass tha t took tw o straightaways to co m p let e. Bradsh a w greeted th e chec kered flag a pproxima tely two seco n ds a head of Kal a s. Wh ile Bradsh aw a nd Kal a s di ced up front, former Supercross cha mp Stan ton spent mosi o f th e race a ll a lo ne in third aft er a fifth -p la ce sta r t. Dubach, last yea r's San J ose Supercross winner, kept Stanton honest but had to settle for fourth. Finishing fifth , one spot o u t of a transfer , was Suzuki 's Larry Ward, who wa s just ahead of Yamaha su p po n rider Mik e Ch amberlain and No leen Yamaha 's Larry Bro ok s. Suzuki 's Brian Swink nailed th e

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