Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eSUPERCROSS AMA Camel Su ercross Series: Round 3 .. e Damon Huffman, currently third in series points, flew to his first win in the 125cc class. Guy Cooper (7) started poorly, but mounted a crowd-pleasing charge to seventh place. jump like that all the time in practice, so 1 don't think he was scared; 1 know 1 wasn't. Besides, if we got too close, he could've just jumped over onto my bike, and we'd come down together! A good start is really important on this track. 1 got a third (on the start) and 1 hope to get as good a position in the main." Stanton finished third and Craig took the final transfer spot. Suzuki-rider Jeff "Chicken" Matiasevich and Bradshaw finished fifth and eighth, respectively, and proceeded to the semis. 8 250cc Semis Emig grabbed the holeshot in six-lap semi number-~:>ne, while Japanese rider Kohji Ohkawara went down hard over a double jump, but was fortunately unhurt. Lamson took up the chase after Emig in second place, but Emig was tripling the same section of jumps that Swink had been clearing, and he began to cushion his lead. KTM-mounted Cliff Palmer rode a distant third, and Yamaha-rider Jeromy Buehl was fourth. Team Noleen's Larry Brooks settled into the.. fifth spot, which was the final transfer position to the main, and the top five were set. "I actually feel better now that 1 rode the semi:' said Emig after his win. "It gave me a chance to figure out some of the jumps and stuff. 1 think (riding the semi) was an advantage." Bradshaw led Suzuki rider Denny Stephenson off the start in the second semi, and Honda-mounted privteer Buddy Antunez moved up to third. Stephenson passed Bradshaw, but the Yamaha rider passed him back on the third lap and took over the lead for good. Antunez then moved around Stephenson for second place on the next-to-last lap. Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe, circulating the track without a rear fender, tried to pass Stephenson for third on the last lap, but the Suzuki pilot held him off. Matiasevich overcame a bad start to secure fifth place on the final lap. "Riding a racetrack like this is a joke, and 1 wish 1 didn't have to do it," said Bradshaw after coasting over the finishline jump with the win. Antunez, who is contesting his first season in the 250cc class, finished a respectable second, and transferred to the main for the second-straight week. 250cc Last Chance Qualifier Young easily handled the six-lap last chance qualifier, which transfered two riders to the main. The Extreme/Shoei/ Maxima/lOO%/Scott/Race Tech-sponsored rider from Hemet, California, pulled the holeshot and was never headed. Team KTM's Keith Johnson secured the number-two spot early on, and it appeared that the top two riders were , set, but Suzuki support rider Larry Ward had different ideas. After a horrendous start, Ward slashed his way through the pack and moved into third at the beginning of the fourth lap. Ward began to pressure Johnson on the final circuit, and attempted to pass him in a turn, but Johnson blocked Ward on the exit to maintain control of second. With just two comers left before the finish, Ward slammed into Johnson, knocking him off the track and securing the final transfer spot of the night. A frustrated Johnson was left with a derailed chain, failing to make the main event for the first time this season. "My wife was due to have our second baby yesterday, but she hasn't had it yet, at least the last 1 heard," said Young. "You know the saying, 'baby needs a new pair of shoes?' well, 1 figured I had to make the main." 250ccMain Kehoe had the quickest reactions out of the gate, leading everyone down the start straight in the 2D-lap feature, but Stanton powered into the lead on the first lap when Kehoe bobbled in the whoops. McGrath, who was running third, also passed Kehoe on the first lap. Kiedrowski was back around seventh, and Bradshaw was eighth. Suffering from early problems were Emig, Cooper, LaRocco and Swink, all of whom were near the back as the first lap was completed. "I was really relaxed on the start, but too relaxed," said Cooper. "I was sitting there looking down the line, when all of a sudden the gate dropped and everyone went;.! wasn't even ready. Then in about the second tum, Emig came along and didn't even try to keep from hitting me." "I don't really know exactly what happened," said Emig. "Coop came around on the outside of me, so 1 don't know if it was my fault." "1 started around sixth, and Swink landed on me, so 1 was dead last," said laRocco. "I clipped somebody's rear wheel over that one jump where everyone was slowing down to get a run at the triples," said Swink. "Everyone was coming, so 1 just kind of curled up into a -little ball. When 1 got back up, everyone was gone. 1 don't remember hitting LaRocco; maybe I crashed in front of him and that messed him up." Meanwhile up front, McGrath began to pressure Stanton for the lead, and the duo pulled slightly ahead of the pack. Kiedrowski started working his way forward, but almost went over the bars in the whoops. Kehoe was still third, and Craig was riding strong in fourth. Bradshaw had worked !).is way up to fifth place. At the beginning of lap three, McGrath powered his Skip Norfolktuned Honda by Stanton and into the lead and other than barely avoiding crashing over a jump shortly after taking the lead, he strutted to his first-ever Camel Supercross victory. Behind McGrath and Stanton, Kiedrowski had worked up to fourth place, and soon passed Kehoe over the finish-line jump for third. "I started around seventh and worked my way up to third, but there was already a pretty good gap:' said Kiedrowski. "I tried to move up, and 1 was catching them a little, but they got it back. 1 just stayed about three to fOUr seconds behind them." Trying to work his way to the front before the leaders could get away, LaRocco was putting in one of his pa ten ted come-from-behind perfor; mances, overtaking riders seemingly at will on a track that many said was nearly impossible to pass on. laRocco was particularly fast in a corner that was preceded by a steep jump, where he would slam into the face of the jump

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