Good starts have contributed to Jeremy McGrath's (15) recent success. Michael Craig (24) finished fifth and Shaun Kalos (47) seventh.
engine seized going over a jump; it
completely locked up:' Swink said.
Yamaha-mounted Jeromy Buehl
nailed the holeshot in the second heat
race only to be passed by Kawasaki
support rider Michael Craig, McGrath
and Stanton.
Craig led until halfway through the
third lap when he slid out on the hardpacked ground. McGrath clipped the
downed rider but kept his balance to
take over the lead with Stanton following him into second. Craig remounted
in third just ahead of Buehl.
McGrath went on to win comfortably ahead of Stanton, Craig and Buehl.
Missing the transfers by one spot was
KTM's Cliff Palmer in fifth.
.
"1 tried to get by everybody as fast as
1 could," said McGrath. "It's important
to get out in front early tonight, because
the track is so slick; it's easy to make
mistakes."
250cc Semis
The first of two, six-lap semis in
which the top five riders transfer to the
main' event, featured a dogfight
between Team Noleen Yamaha's Larry
Brooks and Antunez. Antunez was the
early leaqer and he looked as though he
would run away with the win, but
Brooks had other ideas.
At the halfway point, Brooks reeledin Antunez and passed him in a whoop
section and then held him off to score
the win. Suzuki's Denny Stephenson
finished a distant third, just ahead of
Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe and
Yamaha/FMF-backed Ray Sommo.
Once again Swink failed to finish. "I
slid out going up a jump and broke the
handlebars and smashed my exhaust
The track used up every inch of the Tampa Stadium floor, but the Florida clay was hard-packed and slick.
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