Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127572
eS&~crOSSwA~cl~_err_~_ss_en_'~_:R_OU_~_13 in the feature and finishing a disappointing 12th. Second on the night was McGrath's teammate Steve Lamson. It was Lamson's best finish of the season, his previous best being fifth, which he has done three times before. Lamson grabbed the 'holeshot and led for a lap and a half before getting passed by McGrath. From that point on, Lamson held control of second place, despite strong challenges by Team Yamaha's Jeff Emig on the last lap. Emig finished third, while Team Kawasaki's Mike Craig and Team Suzuki's Guy Cooper rounded out the top five. Missing from the lineup was defending champ Jeff Stanton. Stanton, who suffered a concussion in a crash a week earlier at the Pontiac Supercross, was a no-show at Indianapolis. Stanton said earlier in the week that he felt fine and wanted to race the event, but his doctor said that he should wait one more week before racing again. As a result, Stanton dropped from third to fourth in the series point standings, trading places with Bradshaw, who, like Kiedrowski, had a rough night. While running seventh late in the race, Bradshaw suffered a solo crash, then another, which ultimately dropped him back to 13th where he finished. He is currently 79 points behind McGrath. The Indianapolis Supercross marked the return to action of local hero Mike LaRocco, who lives in nearby South Bend, Indiana. The Team Kawasaki rider won the opening round at Orlando but then suffered a broken wrist in a practice crash and has been sidelined since. LaRocco won the opening heat race, but a crash early in the feature relegated him to ninth. "I'm just glad to be back, but I'm a little disappointed how things turned out," said LaRocco. "But my wrist doesn't feel too bad." The event also marked the finalround of the Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross Series, and the IS-lap feature was won by Team Honda's Doug Henry, who had already clinched the title a week earlier at Pontiac. Henry, riding a Ron Heben-tuned Honda CR125, came from behind before taking the checkered flag in first place ahead of Kawasaki Team Green's Davey Yezek and Downers Grove Yamaha's (DGY) Chad Pederson, who earned runner-up honors in the series. e Jeremy McGrath's win at the Hoosier Dome makes it possible for him to clinch the title at the next race in Pasadena. McGrath again atthe Hoosier Dome By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones and Jim Talkington INDIANAPOLIS, IN, APR. 24 ho else but Jeremy McGrath? The 21-year-old Team Honda rider did it again, winning yet another Coors Light Challenge main event, this time in front of 46,346 spectators at the Hoosier Dome. It was McGrath's eighth win of the series, and with just three rounds remaining on the schedule, the 250cc class rookie is now just one win shy of tieing the all-time single season win record of nine set by W 10 _ Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw last year. But more importantly, McGrath can realistically clinch the series championship title if he wins at the next round in Pasadena, California, on May 15. At the Hoosier Dome, McGrath scored the win in much the same manner as his previous seven wins, taking command early in the race and pulling away on his Skip Norfolk-tuned Honda CR250. ''I'm stoked," said the southern Californian of his victory. "It's the starts. I tried to get out in fron t early and gain as much time as possible, and everything just worked out." McGrath now holds a co~anding 52-point lead over next-in-line, Team Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski, 296-244. Kiedrowski, who has won two rounds this season thus far, had a night he'd just as soon forget, crashing three times 250 Heats The first of two eight-lap heat races, which transfer the top four riders directly to the main event, featured crowd favorite laRocco. The Hoosier gated fifth, behind teammate Kiedrowski, Lamson, Suzuki's Denny Stephenson and Team NoLeen Racing/Yamaha's Larry Brooks. During the lirst lap, Stephenson and Kiedrowski dropped back when they knocked handlebars coming out of a tum, and by the end of the second lap, LaRocco was running second and closing in on Lamson. By the halfway point, two separate battles had broken out one between Lamson and laRocco for the lead, and the othe~ involving Kiedrowski, Yamaha's Jeff Emig, and Suzuki's Guy Cooper and Brian Swink for third through sixth. Then LaRocco took the lead when Lamson bobbled and crashed hard in a section of whoops and dropped back to sixth. LaRQCco went on to take the win, while Kiedrowski settled into second at the finish. Emig broke free of Cooper and Swink to finish third. A Cooper/Swink last-lap dice for the last direct transfer spot came down to the final turn when Swink made a lastditch attempt to pass his teammate but came up inches short as they sailed over