Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

RW~RCROSSAD~I~_m_ro_~_se_rie_S:R_~_d_9~~~~~~~~~ ~ point cushion over Suzuki's Phil Lawrence, w!:'o finished eighth in Dallas. Gaddis has 109 points to Lawrence's 102. Henry earned $2000 from the $10,000 125cc class purse. Jeremy McGrath (1S) snared another holeshot that led to another victory, his fifth of the season. He enjoys a 17-point lead in the series. Steve Lamson (21) finished a season-best fifth; Mike Kiedrowski (3) earned second. McGrath returns to winning ways at Dallas By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones and David Goodspeed IRVING, TX, MAR. 'l7 t might not have been the most exciting supercross feature in memory, but that's just fine for Team Honda's Jeremy McGrath. The Team Honda rookie who has taken this year's Camel I 10 Supercross Series by storm, recorded his fifth Coors Light Challenge feature victory of the season in front of 37,746 spectators at Texas Stadium, and he did it in the same manner as his previous four wins - by leading from start to finish. The 21-year-old from Murrieta, California, powered his Skip Norfolktuned Honda CR250 into the lead at the drop of the gate and never looked back. He was never seriously challenged in the 2D-lap feature. "I don't mean to make 'em boring, but I'll tell ya, that's the way I like it," McGrath said. By scoring the win, McGrath stretched his series points lead to 17 over Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski, who finished second in the feature after passing teammate Michael Craig on the last lap. McGrath now has a total of 199 points to Kiedrowski's 182. Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, seventh on the night, dropped to third in the standings with 175 points. Defending champ Jeff Stanton finished a distant fourth, while his Honda teammate Steve Lamson was a season high fifth. The Dallas Supercross win was another confidence booster for McGrath, who after winning four straight rounds came up short in the two rounds preceding Dallas. "I think it's all confidence," McGrath said of his recent success. "Everybody said that Daytona (the previous Supercross round) would be tough and I wouldn't do good there, but I got second, so I know now that I can do good anywhere. Plus, after having a two-week break, I know I haven't lost anything. I'm really stoked right now." Not only did McGrath earn points, but he also took home $5000 of the $35,000 250cc class purse, while Kiedrowski earned $3500. In the combined Eastern/Western Regionall25cc Supercross feature, Team Honda's Doug Henry recorded his third win of the series, but unlike McGrath in the 250cc class, Henry had to work for it. Henry gated sixth in the IS-lap feature and labored to the front of the pack by the seventh lap, and despite strong challenges by Team Splitfire/Hot Wheels/ Pro-Circuit/Kawasaki's Jimmy Gaddis on the last two laps, Henry hung on to score the win. Gaddis finished second ahead Team Suzuki's Damon Huffman. Henry now enjoys 16-point advantage over Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk in the "East Coast" Series, 139-123, while Gaddis moves into the series lead in the "West Coast" division with a seven- 2SO Heats After a two-week break, the lengthiest in the series, many of the top-seeded riders came into the Dallas Supercross for the first race of the second half of the series with new attitudes, including Bradshaw. "I have to treat this race like a new season; I have to hang it out a lot more to win. I haven't been doing that lately." Three-time Camel Supercross . Champion Stanton, who is still seeking his first win of the series, said, "From here on out it's crunch time. I have to get on the podium every time if I'm going to (successfully) defend my title." Bradshaw lived up to his "new" season predictions by scoring the win in the first of two eight-lap heat races, each of which advance the top four riders directly into the 2D-rider feature. After getting off to a sixth-place start, Bradshaw picked off riders one by one until he was in second place by the sixth lap. A lap later, Team Suzuki's Brian Swink, who had led from the start, crashed and handed the lead and eventual win to Bradshaw. Swink recovered in third place right in the middle of a heated battled between Lamson and Kiedrowski. The three riders dueled to the finish, and after Bradshaw had already taken the checkered flag, Lamson barely held down second place just inches ahead of Swink, then Kiedrowski. Suzuki's Jeff Matiasevich, who has been hampered by ·a sore back since the opening-round, finished fifth, one position out of a transfer. Kawasaki's Mike Craig gave McGrath a run for his money in the second heat race. Craig led for the first four laps before caving into the series points leader. McGrath went on to win easily, while Craig faded back to third and allowed Stanton into second. Team Noleen's Shaun Kalos finished fourth after making a late-race pass on Team Suzuki's Guy Cooper. 2SOSemis Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe led most of the first of two six-lap semis, from which the top five riders transfer to the main event. Kehoe would eventually give way to Suzuki's Denny Stephenson but still hold on to second place at the finish. Third went to Matiasevich, while KTM's Cliff Palmer finished fifth. Cooper and Pro-Circuit Suzuki rider Larry Ward pulled away from the rest of the pack in the second semi. Ward kept close tabs on Cooper for the first four laps but made no serious attempts to pass. Back in third, Team Surf Detergent's Jeff Glass was busy trying to hold back Jeromy Buehl and Yamaha's Jeff Emig. Both Buehl and Emig would eventually pass Glass, making the final finishing order Cooper, Ward, Buehl, Emig and Glass. 250cc Last Chance Qualifier Honda rider Rich Taylor, FMF / Yamaha-backed Ray Sommo and Yamaha Japan/Holley Racing's Kohji Ohkawara fought hard over the last two transfer positions in the LCQ. Although the racing was close, there was no passing until the last lap of the six-lap race. Taylor hung on for the win just ahead of Sommo, who survived a tremendous last-lap charge by Ohkawara. He made a desperate attempt to pass Sommo in the last tum only to lose a position to fellow countryman Ryuichiro Taxahama.

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