Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.Rwn~mSS~A~cl~_err_ro_ss_s~_ie_S:R_ou_n_dl _ e Ezra Lusk scored a wire-to-wire victory in the 1S-lap Eastern Regional125cc feature. In his first full season in the 250cc class, Jeremy McGrath finished an impressive fourth. 6 Kiedrowski moved into third when LaRocco briefly dropped his bike in the sand pit. "I jumped into the pit too hard and had to slam on the brakes," said LaRocco. "The back end locked up and that was it." A lap later, Swink dropped his bike in a tum and had a hard time getting it restarted. By the ttme he got it fired, all but two riders had passed and it was Bradshaw, McGrath, Kiedrowski, LaRocco and Stanton running in the top five spots. Six laps passed before there were any more lead changes among the front-runners, then both Kiedrowski and LaRocco moved by McGrath to take over second and third, respectively, after the Honda rider bobbled in the whoops. Meanwhile, Bradshaw had established about a three-second lead, but that would soon change, as the Kiedrowski/LaRocco duel for second carried them up to the Yamaha rider, making it a three-way struggle for number-one honors. Losing sight of the leaders was Stanton, who was holding down fifth. The defending champ just couldn't match the pace being set by Bradshaw, Kiedrowski, LaRocco and McGrath, and was dropping farther and farther back. The only bright spot for Stanton was that the sixth- and seventh-place riders Larry Ward and Cooper - were even farther back and engaged in their own private dogfight. ... Just after the halfway point, Bradshaw decided he had had enough of Kiedrowski and LaRocco's hounding and gave way to both Kawasaki riders. "I basically just took a deep breath and settled back. 1 just didn't want to push it yet," Bradshaw said. Kiedrowski, who is still seeking his first-ever Supercross win, found himself out in front but far from being out of the woods, as LaRocco tightened the screws even harder. Kiedrowski's moment of glory lasted for just one lap, before LaRocco got his way through a section of whoops when Kiedrowski bobbled. From then on, the race was all LaRocco's, and he gradually stretched out his lead to a somewhat comfortable distance over Kiedrowski. But Kiedrowski still had Bradshaw breathing down his back. Bradshaw kept Kiedrowski honest for the remaining five laps, waiting for a mistake that never happened. LaRocco sailed across the finish line the winner, his fist thrUst high in.the air. Kiedrowski took the checkered flag a few seconds later in second, while being closely tailed by Bradshaw. McGrath finished a distant fourth, followed even farther back by Stanton. "I think the reason that 1 do so well here is that I'm more ready for the first race than anybody else," said the quiet and reserved LaRocco. "I guess I'm getting a second chance. Last year I won here but two races later 1 broke my wrist. It really feels good to win, but I just have to keep it going. I feel real comfortable out there, and I wasn't going for blood." Although . one would assume Kiedrowski would be disappointed after coming close to winning his first Supercross feature, he was quite happy with the runner-up honors. "I was trying as hard as I could," said Kiedrowski. "But LaRocco is a real strong rider. He passed me in the whoops; I just went into them (th,e whoops) thinking about something else and crashed. After that I just followed in second." Bradshaw, too, was a happy man. "Points are very important right now, and the wins are going to come," said Bradshaw. "I feel strong enough and the fight is definitely in my eye. The knee feels great and I just have to get my confidence back after being off the motorcycle for five months. There are a couple of little things 1 have to work on, but I'm going to be smoother. I'll still hang it on the edge when I have to, though." McGrath was also pleased with his fourth-place finish. "I can't say I wasn't nervous," said McGrath. "I made some mistakes out there; I hit a hay bale over a jump when I got crossed up over a jump. But I'm happy. Pretty much the oi:tly difference between the 125 class and the 250s is that you have to keep pace the whole race. There's no letting off." Stanton was obviously disappointed with his performance but managed a forced smile afterwards. "I just couldn't get it going, 1guess I'm going to try and do something different." Danny Betley, Stanton's mechanic, said, "He just couldn't get out of his own way!" Cooper ended up finishing ahead of Larry Ward for sixth, and Lamson, who started the feature in ninth, finished eighth. "I got a bad star! because of the pileup, but I felt okay," said Lamson. "Cooper landed on my arm early in the race and that broke my concentration. I know I can run with them, so I'm not happy how it went today." Cliff Palmer finished one spot behind Lamson, while Emig rounded out the top 10. "After the first-turn crash, I tried catching back up, but 1 just ran out of energy," said Emig. "I have this cold and just didn't feel good." Matiasevich wa§, as expected, not at all happy with his 11th-place ride. "I've been practicing and testing on mostly sandy tracks, but here the conditions are as tacky as possible," said

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