Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

'earned a $1600 share of the $15,000 250cc purse. Lamson went home $1000 richer . 2S0cc National Normally a slow s tar ter , Brad shaw though t he had turned his luck ar ound as he raced off the line in the firs t 30minute-plus-two-lap moto and led th e 40-rider field into the fi rs t turn . Unfortunately, Bradsh aw's lu ck didn't hold out, and neithe r d id his front tire. "I was pre tty excited about getting the hol esh ot , but as I en ter ed the turn mY'fron t end ju st wa sh ed ou t," sai d Bradshaw, w ho retired for the day with a tender left wrist. "I don't think it's broke n, b ut I kn ow that so me th in g is wrong." Kiedrowski was r ig h t beh in d Bradsha w and to ok over at the poin t posi tion, bu this lu ck wo uld soo n run out as well. In the third tu rn, the' '' MX Kie d " fou nd on e of the fe w mudd y patches on the cou rse and begin to slide, but was able to sa ve it as he sla mme d into the next berm. That's when CPE's Scott Myers carne alon g . O bviou s1y pumped to be running in a top- two spo t, Myers was charging too ha rd to avoid the bobbling Kiedrowski and 'sen t the series point leade r flailing . "I though t I had it under control, and th en 'BAM !' I was d o w n ," said Kiedrowski, w ho held no grudges against Mye rs. "I go t up about 30th or so, but I knew that the race was long enough to catch up." While Kied rowski remounted and bega n an admirable charge through the field, Tu f Racing/FMF-sponsored John Dowd took over and pulled out an early 10-second lead over LaRocco, Suzuki's Jeff Matiasevich and Guy Cooper, Noleen Yamaha riders Larry Brooks and Ky le Lewis and a hard-cha rging Lamson. Brooks' ride near the head of the pack ended on lap two, as he lost contro l of his Yamaha while jumping into Gravity Cavity and went over the bars. Brooks was slow to rejoin the race, as his YZ landed in a large p uddle at tpe bot tom of the chasm. Meanwhile, Dowd maintained h is lead over LaRocco, who began to s teadily pu ll aw ay from the ba ttle over third. Lamson appeared to gain the upper hand on t ha t ba ttle while Cooper, Matiasevic h, and Tuf Racing's Mike Healey scrapped over fourth . Healey had come from ou t of the top 10 and looked to be on his way even further up in the pack, but a large rock stopped his charge . "I was righ t on Cooper a nd he swa pped on a big rock," said Healey . "I saw it corne flying off his rear tire and it hit my right wrist. My hand wen t totally nu mb after that and I cou ldn't hang on." By the time the crossed flag carne out on lap seven, signifying the halfway poi nt, Kiedrowski had zipped through the field and moved into four th behi nd lead er Dow d , LaRocco and La mson. Cooper and Matiasevich had been little match for Kiedrowski, and hardly put up a fight as he we nt by. "This is the roughest track I've ever ridden on," said Ma tiasevich, w ho looked stro ng thr oughout the mo to and fi nished a n eve n tual fi fth . "There's absol utely nowhere to let up. And the dust is so bad that you can't see all of the bumps. I rode a little stiff in the first half of the ra ce, but th en I loosened up and started to go good." Up fro n t, LaR o cco appeared to be stalking Dowd, who saw his once-commanding lead shrink to nothing on the 10th lap when LaRocco tu rned up the heat. "I kep t my distance in the beginning of the race," said Lakocco. "The berms are so silty that yo u had to stay out of th em to keep from bl owin g up yo ur motor. I had to stay ou t of Dowd's d ust Steve Lamson (21) leads Mike laRocco (5) out of Gravity Cav ity. The two rivals finished second and third overall, respectively. at the sa me time that I was trying to stay in the center of the track. I just wai ted for him to calm down befo re I made m y move." laRocco gassed it a little harder than Dowd as th e y raced up an d out of Gravity Cav ity, and sailed into the lead as they approached the following comer. "I knew that Mike was back there, and af ter he passed me I knew tha t I could stay with him and maybe get him back," said Dowd, who did indeed stay on Lakocco's heels. Obviously a crowd favorite, Dowd thrilled the fans as he nosed in repeatedlyon Lakocco. Unfortunately, though, Dowd fell victim to the dusty conditions on the final lap when his motor locked up tight as a drum. "It started to slow down a few laps before," said a heartbroken Dowd. "The air filter got packed with dirt, and it eventually sucked it into the mo tor." With that, laRocco cruised to a comman ding win, well ahead of the rest of th e fie ld . Kiedrows ki had overtaken Lamso n on th e eighth lap on the long stra ig h taway near the far side of the track, and he motored horne second after Dowd' s demise. Lamson held on to finish a secure third, well ahead of Cooper, Matiase vich, De Vol 's La nce Sm a il , La w rence an d the ve ry-popular [o]o Keller, who came out of retirement only five weeks earlier. . "I haven ' t raced a National, or even ridden a bike, for that matter, since 1989," said th e 31-year-old New Englander, who credited Brockton Cycle Cente r, Sin isa lo, A rai, Factory Con nectio n, Pro Circu it , Scott and Dunlop as his sponsors. "I started riding and trai ning five weeks ago, and I'm really pleased to do so well . I've been worki ng as a commercial fisherman since I retired, but racing has always been my first love. It's good to be back." Keller, who appeared to weigh even more 'than he did when he was a regular on the National circuit, topped Lewis a nd Kawasaki's Mike Fisher, who rounded ou t the top 10. Kiedrowski grabbed the ho leshot in moto two and for all intents and p urpos-, es, the race was over. LaRocco gated un usua ll y w ell and trailed o n ly h is teammate and Lamson off the line, an d took over the ru nner-up position on lap five when he passed Lamson com ing out of the wooded section of the course. "I wa nted to get by Steve real quick because I knew that Mike wo uld break away, " said laRocco. "I had a couple of little falls on the first lap, but I was able to recover real quick. Lamson was riding kinda wild at first, so I knew I had to be careful when passing him. " When he took over second, laRocco found himself faced with a seven-second gap between himself and the lead er, and slowly but surely gn awed away a t his deficit. By the eighth lap it appeared as if Great Britain's James Dob b scored the 12Scc National class win via 1-4 moto finishes. Jeff Emig (1) leads Dob b (100) and series poin ts leader Doug Henry (15) in the 125cc class. laRocco was in striking d istance, but as they la pped D irt Sq uirt' s A nth ony , Arnar adio, laRocco got held up and,lost all that he had gained. "There wer e quite a few Iappers that held me up, " said laRocco. "But that's all a part of racin g." Kied rowski soldiered on, and greeted the chec kered flag with his fis ts thr us t high in the air some eigh t seconds ahead of laRocco. "I just made sure I did n't crash," said Kied rowski. "The track was so du sty at times that I would look to the next clearing, lean back, gas it, and just hold on. This is the choppiest track I've ridden on." Followi ng the Kawasaki teams ters horne nearl y a minute later was Lamson, who in tum enjoyed a healthy lead over Dowd, who ca me fro m as far back as 25th to secur e fourth. "I was good for about half of the race, then I ju st g o t ti re d ou t," adm it ted Lamson. "There was nowhere to res t; I'm just pooped out. " "T he Kawasaki guys added so me extra foam to my airbox to keep the d ust out in the second moto," said Dowd. "I go t a bad start and had to come fro m 5

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