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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127560
eSUPERCRaSS AMA Camel Su ercross Series: Round 4 I Jeremy McGrath (15) grabbed the lead at the start of the 250cc main and was never headed. Jeff Stanton (1), Brian Swink (19) and the rest give chase in the first comer. Seattle win makes two straight for McGrath By Paul Carruthers Photos by Kinney Jones and Brian Barnes SEATTLE, WA,JAN. 30 f Jeremy McGrath indeed represents the future of the Camel Supercross Series then apparently the future is now. For the second week in a row the 21year-old Californian and his Team Honda CR250 ended the night atop the winner's rostrum in a Supercross final. This victory, which came inside Seattle's Kingdome, was in stark contrast to McGrath's win the previous weekend at Anaheim Stadium. Anaheim belonged to McGrath from the beginning. He finished·a comfortable second in his heat race, started second in the main and then took the lead and raced off to an easy win over defending series champion Jeff Stanton. Seattle, though, saw McGrath faced with adversity for the first time in his young 250cc Supercross career. For starters, McGrath was bed-ridden for most of the week following his Anaheim I 6 win, his flu keeping him off a motorcycle until Friday. Then in his heat race the two-time 125cc Western Regional Supercross Champion got stuck in the starting gate and was left well behind the pack. He battled back to finish seventh, and was forced to ride a semi for the first time this year. That he won, but even McGrath had doubts as to how much his flu-weakened body had in reserve for the main event. As it turns out, it had just enough. McGrath nailed the holeshot and withstood the constant pressure of twotime 125ec Eastern Regional Supercross Champion Brian Swink, beating the Team Suzuki rider by only a few bike lengths. It was Swink's best finish of the season thus far. Mike LaRocco, another of the new generation of supercross stars, finished third on the factory Kawasaki. And what of the established stars? Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw gave it his all in coming from behind after a mediocre start in the main, charging up to third before giving way to LaRocco on the final lap after a heated battle. Fifth place went to three-time series champion Stanton, who started well but never seriously challenged for the lead. . In becoming the first two-time winner of the still-infant 1993 season, McGrath pocketed $5000 of the $35,000 250cc purse and, more importantly, took over the series points lead. With 12 races remaining in the 16-race series, McGrath leads Bradshaw in the standings by five points, 84-79. laRocco moves into third with 78 points, just five clear of Stanton (74) and six clear of Team Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski, who is fifth with 73 points after finishing eighth in Seattle. 'Tve still got a lot to learn," a modest McGrath said after winning his second straight race. "You learn every race. I was pretty tired because of the flu, and I knew I'd be very tired at the end." A crowd of 38,542 witnessed what may be the final Camel Supercross round at the Kingdome, due to a ban on tobacco advertising at sporting events in King County. With Camel holding the titlesponsor contract for AMA Supercross through the 1994 season, it is highly likely that the series will be forced to give the Northwest a miss next season. Reportedly, a one-event exemption on the ban was supposed to be in effect for this race, but documentation proving such a concession never rna terialized. Thus, the Camel banners that were in place on Saturday morning were voluntarily removed by Camel representatives prior to the start of the event. "It was a promoter (SRO/Pace)/ sponsor decision," AMA Pro Racing Director Roy Janson said. "It had nothing to do with the AMA. The sponsor

