Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BM eR AMA National Championship 125/250(( MX Series: Rounds 717 oro ass e Keeping cool was a high priority at Troy, Jeremy McGrath tried an electric fan. Sixteen-year-old Damon Huffman posted a 6-3 mota tally to finish third overall in the,USee class. Robbie Reynard returned to acti on after an injury but faltered in the heat while running sixth in the first mota. ed feeling it (the heat)," said Kiedrowski after the race, with a wet tow el draped ov er his he ad and neck. "I kn ew h e (laRocco) was there, but I knew I had to pace myseU." "Mike (Kiedrowski) was riding good:' said laRocco. "It was a good race; I just didn't have enough to get around him." Cooper ended up fourth overall via 74 moto finishes, while Dowd wrapped up fifth with a 6-5 tally. With Stanton a noshow, Dowd mo ved into fourth in the series point standings. "I'm real happy:' said Dowd. "I'm not really a supercross-kin d-of-guy, so I'm pleased that I did well here." 8 125ceNational The first 125cc Nationa l moto was by far the most exciting moto of the day. Things got off to a rocky start when many riders became involved in a first-tu rn pile-up, including Honda's Jeremy McGrath, Kawasaki Team Green's Scott Sheak, Honda of Troy Racing' s Erik Kehoe, and previous round winner James Dobb, the British member of Team Splitfire/Hot Wheels/Pro Ci rcuit / Kawasaki. The Englishman remounted and rode half a lap before pu lling off the track with what turned out to be a broken arm, resulting from the crash. Dobb had missed much of the early part of the season with broken wrist. Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk was th e early leader until Emig forced his way by on the second lap. Lusk would soon drop to fourth after getting passed by Henry and teammate Brian Swink, but Lusk's moto wo uld come 'to a soggy end a few a laps later when he got crossed up in a rut, causing him and, his bike to veer off the track and into a pond. Lusk's bike was completely submerged in water and had to be completely tom down and rebuilt in between motos. Meanwhile, Emig was setting the pace out in front, while Henry was charging in second place and gaining on the leader. Twenty minutes into the race, Henry was glued to Emig's rear fender and the dogfight for the lead had commenced. Lap after the lap, the two series con tenders played follow the leader, usually never separated from one another by more than a few bike lengths. On the last lap, Henry pulled out all the stops and gav e it all he had to pass Emig. While charging down a series of doubles and tabletop jumps, Henry pulled up alongside of Emig and the two riders went into the next turn side by side. Henry over-jumped the last double and actually passed Emig, but went too wide in the follow ing corner. Henry's extra momentum allowed Emig to cut ba ck underneath the Honda rider and resume the lead. It was now a sprint race to the finish, and Emig held on for a narrow win over Henry . "We both went w ide op en, but he went too wide into the tum:' said Emig. "Towards the end of the race, I was coastin g through the turns and not really charging like I should've, but I was trying to save energy." Swink crossed the finish line all alone in third, whi le Suzu ki/Pro-Circuit rider Larry Ward and McGrath ro unded out the top five. Suz uki's Damon Huffman improved on a midpack star t to fin ish sixth, wh ile Kaw asaki's Mike Cra ig - in his first National since breaking an anklegrabbed seventh ahead of Team Suzuki's Jimm y Bu tt on. DGY Raci ng ' s Chad Pederso n finis hed ninth, while Kehoe roun ded out the top 10. In h is first race si nce brea king his I wrist, Reynard was running as high as sixth before pulling off the track due to heat exhaustion. Once again, Emig found himself leading the wa y early in the second moto, while McGrath once again found himself picking up his bike after slid ing ou t in the first tum: Lusk, on his rebuilt Suzuki, settl ed into se cond a head of H enry, Sheak, Ward, Button and Kawasaki Tea m Green's Davey Yezek. Twel ve minutes into the race, Lusk still had control of second, but it wouldn't last for long as he crashed and dropped back in the pack. Henry inherited second, approximately seven seconds behind the leader, Emig. At this point, everyone was preparing for another Em ig/Henry duel to the checkered flag. By the 20-minute mark, Henry closed to within four seconds of , Emig, but tha t would be as close as he wou ld get. Henry began feeling the heat and started to back it off a couple of notches. On the last lap, Emig enjoyed a 3O-second lead over Henry, who still had plenty of room over Huffman, who held on to post his best-ever National moto finish of third . ' "I saw Doug coming, but after a while, I realized I was making mistakes but he wasn't gaining on me:' said Emig. "I just kept remembering what I was told once,

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