Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

next year's Camel Supercross Series sched ule will inel ude only a single points-paying round at Pontiac. The reason offered for the change is that back-to-back rounds are too demanding on the competitors. McGrath took home $8500 from the $70,000 two-day 250cc class purse, while Kiedrowski's share was $5210. In the 125cc elass, Honda's Doug Henry dominated both nights of racing, clinching the Eastern Regional crown with Saturday's win. On Sunday, the 23year-old from Oxford, Connecticut, put on a repeat performance, winning his sixth-straight main event and pocketing $4000 of the $10,000 125cc class purse. "It feels great," said Henry of his first major title. "It really hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will during the week." . Saturday 250cc Both of day one's eight-lap heat races provided some of the best racing of the season, setting the scene for what was to be a heart-stopping main event. In the first knock-down-drag-out affair, Yamaha's 125cc National MX Champion Jeff Emig led the first couple of laps before Suzuki's Guy Cooper LiteJ:ally vaulted himself into the point position' through a set of whoops that was punctuated with a jump, clearing the section in just two leaps. The two continued to bang bars throughout the heat, exchanging the lead several times before Cooper notched the win, much to the approval of the crowd. Emig finished a close second, then stopped on top of a jump and pointed at Copper before twirling his finger around his ear in the universal, "That guy's crazy!" gesture. "The whoops are the toughest thing (on my injured shoulder)," said Cooper, "So if 1 can survive the rest of the. track and jump over all the whoops my shoulder should be okay." Kiedrowski and Suzuki's Jeff Matiasevich secured the last two transfer positions in the heat, while Bradshaw finished fifth and would have to advance through a semi. The second heat proved to be just as thrilling, with McGrath and Suzuki's Brian Swink battling hammer-and-tong all race long. McGrath led Swink until he slipped and fell in a turn, but remounted and passed the Michigan rider with two laps remaining. McGrath stayed in front to the end, and the two 125cc regional champs finished 1-2. Kawasaki's Michael Craig was third, and Stanton fourth. Bradshaw topped the first semi ahead of Honda rider Steve Lamson and Suzuki's Phil Lawrence, and Suzuki's Denny Stephenson bested Honda of Troy veteran Erik Kehoe and KTM's Cliff Palmer in semi two. Team Noleen collected the final two transfers of the night in the last chance qualifier, with Shaun Kalos finishing ahead of Brooks. McGrath led the pack down the start straight in the feature, and with Kiedrowski, Stanton and Bradshaw all getting away poorly, it appeared that it would be another yawner for McGrath. Cooper had different ideas, though, and used his Line through the whoops to sail past the leading McGrath early on, landing just inches from the Honda rider's right arm. McGrath appeared shaken by the maneuver, and Craig slipped by for second on lap two of 20. "Cooper scared the crap out of me when he landed by me, but those guys deserved to pass me," said McGrath. "I was riding like a goon. It seems like every time there's a two-week break in the schedule, my arms start to pump up really bad." Craig snuck by Cooper in a tum after the popular Suzuki rider landed wrong Mike Kiedrowski (3) won Saturday's main event, but crashed on Sunday and finished 11th. Denny Stephenson (:Z3) went 13-7. in the whoop section and tweaked his wrist, and Craig then began to pull away, using Cooper's line through the whoops. The section bit him, however, when he got cross-rutted and went down spectacularly on lap six. Amazingly, the El Cajon, California, rider remounted in time to retain the lead. "I wasn't worried when 1 got the lead," said Craig. "I just knew that I was pulling away. Then I got cross-rutted, and the bike just spit me off. After that I was kind of sore." Meanwhile, Kiedrowski had worked his way up from his seventh-place start, and after passing an uncomfortable McGrath for second, was on Craig's rear fender. Kiedrowski moved into the lead at the midway point in the race, displacing Craig at the base of the uphill into the stands. "Those guys were going really fast at the start, and 1 thought, 'Okay, we'll see what happens later on:" said Kiedrowski. "They all started making mistakes and pretty soon 1 was up front. 1 didn't do anything different (than I normally do)." Bradshaw was also charging, and he moved into second when Craig crashed again in the same whoop section and opted to call it a day. Bradshaw began to pressure Kiedrowski for the lead Of) the 11th lap, only to go down hard in a section of doubles a few laps later. "That section was getting really rutted up:' said Bradshaw. "I was wild through there, but that's probably 'cause 1 was going a little faster, and the other guys were hunting ruts. The bike hit me Phil Lawrence (31), Denny Stephenson (23) and Jeff Ernig (6) battled early in a main. 13

• Cover