Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127559
; SUPERCROSS AMA Camel Su ercross Series: Roun_d3 _ ~ A total of 55,817 fans watched Jeremy McGrath win his first-ever Supercross at Anaheim Stadium. Attendance was the best so far this season, but was down from the previous two years. McGrathflies to first-ever win at Anaheim By Chris Jonnum Photos by Kinney Jones ANAHEIM, CA, JAN. 23 veryone knew that it was just a matter of time before Team Honda . rookie Jeremy McGrath would score his first Camel Supercross win - the only question was when. Well, the time has come. After running near the front in the first two rounds only to fade when his nerves got the better of him, 21-year-old McGrath started in second position and and then passed teammate and defending champion Jeff Stanton to win his first AMA-sanctioned Coors Light Challenge in front of an enthusiastic 55,817-strong hometown crowd in Anaheim Stadium, site of what is arguably the most prestigious supercross race in the world. "I'm stoked!" said McGrath, who resides in nearby Murrieta, California. "I knew I could win, but everyone was trying to rush me. I think it was just a matter of putting in some time and gaining the experience. I didn't get nervous like I did the last two weeks; I just concentrated on my riding." McGrath was the 125cc Western Regional Supercross Champion for the past two years as a member of Team Peak/Pro Circuit, but joined Team Honda this year to contest the 250cc division. Many people, including Stanton, are predicting that McGrath will be the sport's next big star, and his win put him one step closer to proving them right. Stanton and Team Kawasaki's SOOcc National MX Champion Mike Kiedrowski, who are both seeking their E 6 first win of the season, finished second and third, respectively. "I'd like to win one, but (third place) is a good finish, and it's a long series," said Kiedrowski, referring to the fact that the series consists of 16 rounds. "I didn't want to take any chances or do anything stupid." While McGrath's win was an obvious crowd-pleaser, Team Suzuki's 31-yearold Guy Cooper stole the show for the second-straight week, with an awesome late-race aerial display that had the crowd on its feet. Cooper suffered a terrible start and completed the first lap near the back of the pack, but came on strong in the latter half of the race, effortlessly sailing over a couple of jumps that no one else was even attempting. Cooper's effqrts carried him to an eventual seventh-place finish. "I just waited for everyone to fade," said Cooper. "I think I gained a lot of time on the jumps, 'cause I was psyching out the other riders. If I could just get a better start in a main, I feel like I'm riding fast enough to where I could win." Two weeks of some of the heaviest rains southern California has experienced in decades had many people worried that the course would be a muddy quagmire, but the skies cleared a few days before race day and track builders put in an admirable last-minute effort to have the track ready in time. Not all riders were pleased with the finished product, however. "Everyone's talking about how tech- nical it was, but that wasn't the problem," said Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, who had what for him was an off-night, finishing fifth. "They just tried to pack too much into too small of a space, so they ended up with all these tight turns where you couldn't pass. I'm not making excuses, because everyone had to ride it, but they should've used an over-under bridge or something." For his win, McGrath collected $10,000 of the $50,000 250cc class purse in the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group-promoted event, and leaped from sixth to third in the series point standings, with 59 points. Bradshaw still clings to the lead with 61 points, and Kiedrowski is second 'with 60, but Stanton and LaRocco are also :n the hunt with 58 points each. With three races having been completed in the 16round season, only four points separate the top five riders. For the third-straight week, a racer collected his first-ever win in the 125cc class, as 17-year-old Team Suzuki rider Damon Huffman of nearby Saugus, California, was the top gun in the second round of the 125cc Western Regional Series. Like McGrath, Huffman chose his "hometown" race to make his mark, and his teammate Phil Lawrence was the runner-up for the second week in a row. "There were so many things going through my mind, and I started to make a couple mistakes towards the end," said Huffman. "But I rode good, and I'm proud of myself." Huffman collected $2000 of the $10,000 12Scc class purse, and moved up one spot to third in the series point standings. Last week's winner, Team Splitfire/Hot Wheels/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Jimmy Gaddis, finished third and maintains his series lead with 45 points, just one point ahead of Lawrence. 250cc Heats At the opening two rounds, the winner of the fastest heat had failed to win the main, so the Coors Light Silver Bullet bonus had rolled over to Anaheim, and stood at $3000. Suzuki-mounted Chris Young led the pack to tum one in the first of two eightlap heat races, each of which transfer four riders to the main event. His lead was short-lived, however, as Kiedrowski had his eye on the bonus money, powering by Young through a section of whoops and immediately setting a blistering pace, quickly pulling away from the pack. "I was driving down here and adding (the Silver Bullet money) up, and I thought that would be pretty nice to win, " said Kiedrowski, who has yet to win a Camel Supercross main event. "Once I got in front, I tried to keep a good pace to set the fast time, in case I won the main. When you get in that position, you definitely think about the bonus money." At the end of the first lap, Kiedrowski led Team Honda's Steve Lamson and Yamaha's 125cc National MX Champion Jeff Emig, who