Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

finis hed second and third, res pectively. Kaw asak i's Ryan Hugh es was fourth in his first. race back after tearing ligaments in his th u m b , a nd '93 Camel Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath suffe red a horrendous start but advanced to sixth. Henry reclaimed the series points lead with a 327-point total, so Emig is again second, and 11 points back with 316 . McGrath remains third wi th 296 poi nts. Hen ry pocketed $2000 from the $1 2,500 125cc class prize, and Lus k earned $1200. The competition was the first-ever Natio nal MX he ld a t the sou thern California facility, which hos ted the U.s. 500cc MX GP the p revious three years. The Mo tolink-promoted, event, w hic h was billed as EBC Brakes Motofest '93, also afforded the claimed 15,000 spectato rs on hand a gli mpse of motocross' fu ture, as it marked the tria l run for the new "supercross-style" form at that will be used exclusively next year, according to Roy Janson , A.MA's pro racing director . In both classes, tw o heats advanced 16 rid ers each to the m ain ev en t, wit h the rema ind e r going to a last chance q ualifier. From the LCQ, eight riders adva nced to th e 40-rider main even t. Traditionally, and throug hout the rest of the season, two 3D-minute, plus tw o-lap mo tos have been utilized. At Glen - Helen, doub le points were awarded, in orde r that the eve n t results would carry the same importance as those of a "normal" National, where riders ea rn points in each mota . Rid ers' opinions of the new system were di vid ed , with appro ximately half in fav or of it and the othe r half opposed. The season's rem aining fou r rounds will use the trad itional two- mote format. 2SOcc National laRocco holesh ot the first I S-minute plus two lap heat race and w en t on to sco re the w in in what turned out to be an eig h t-lap race. Lamson challenged the Kawa saki rid er and even led for two la ps, but se ttled for second at the finish. Yamaha ' s Dam on Bradshaw looked impressiv e on his way to a third-place fin ish, and privateer Brian Manley of Pla centia, Californi a , was a strong fourth. Cooper pla ced fifth after putting on a show for the appreciative crowd. Every lap, whether by himself or in the midst of a heat ed battl e, Cooper would pull a g iant clicker over a large riser jump that was cut in to the side of a hill, and the fans respon ded by lean ing over the fence, cheering, and waving their shirts and hats at the showy ve te ra n. Cooper continued to pull the maneuver all day long. "I was riding really stiff on press day Friday," said Cooper, "a nd showing off like tha t let me loosen up a little. That was the only way I could have fun in this 9Q-degree heat." Cooper was low in his estimate of the temperatu re as thermometers soa red above the lOQ-degree mark wi th nea rby , Sa n Be r n ard in o record ing a high of 105 in mi d -afte rnoon. Honda's defending champion Jeff Stanton topped the second hea t race by a comfortable margin, though he ha d to work up from a mediocre start and pass Suzuki's Jeff Matiasev ich . Do wd fin o. ished third ahea d of Yamaha priva teer Lance Smail, a n d Dona ld Upton was fifth. "T h a t w a s p rett y easy, but there w asn't anyone in my race , so it didn't reall y mean anythin g," sa id Stanton, w ho was competin g for th e first tim e since w renchi ng hi s b a ck be fore Hangtown . "My ba ck still hurts, and I haven't been able to do anything .over the past few weeks." Tu f Racing-sponsored Mike Healey, wh o ,had dropped out of his heat race Steve Lamson (21) led the 250cc class, but sli pp ed back to secon d. Damon Bradshaw (8 ) and Jeff Matiasevich (12) pursue. with mechanical trou b le, led the last chance qualifier from start to finish. Despite h a v ing m is s e d seve ral rounds with an injured wrist, Bradshaw snared the holeshot in the 14-lap main event, leadin g the first lap and sho wi ng a h int of th e awesome speed he possessed last year. Following the Yamaha pilot were Ma tiasevich a nd Kawasaki tes t rid er -Mik e Fis h er, with Lamson, Dowd and LaRocco close behind. Stanton was mired back in 12th, and he moved even further back after crashing on th e first lap. La w re nce clea red the first tum 11th. "Something in my rear wheel broke in m y heat race, so I just ro de around and tri ed to qualify," said Lawrence. "That gave me a bad sta rting position wayan the outside (for the ma in), and I got pushed out in the first tum." Bradshaw immediately began to pull away, but slid his front end upon lan ding fro m a downhill drop-off near the end of the first lap. While he recovered withou t incident, Bradshaw landed sideways over the same obstacle on the following circ ui t, losing control of his bike and allowing the cha rging Lamson into the lead . "I felt good," said Bradshaw, "but I landed sideways and went off the track. I hit a hay bale ,and couldn't ge t my leg unstuck from it." A s hort d istance later, Bradshaw swapped and fell again after the finish line jump, then slipped back th ro ugh the pack. He admittedlater tha t he was effected by the heat. La Rocco was on the gas, pass ing Matia sevich for second place on lap five. He cou ld n't ma ke much of a d ent in Lamson's five-second advantage, until the leader sud den ly began to fade near the midway point. " I wa s a littl e n e rv ou s, b u t I felt good," sa id Lamson. "Then I sta rted to have trouble breathing because of the smog. I'd try to take a deep breath and I'd start coughing. laRocco caught me and tried to pass me o n th e fa rt hest p oint of the track, and 1 just kind of let him go. " Meanwhile, Lawrence w as p u tt ing on what was arguably his most impressive rid e of the series . The lanky Suzuki pilot passed four rid ers on the first lap, th e n m e th o dica ll y worked his wa y through the ranks until he sat in third place b y lap s eve n . When LaRocco . grabbed the lea d from Lamson on lap 11, Lawrence was attempting a final charge at the leaders. " I co uld see Lamson and LaRocco, a n d I wa s go in g ab out the same as them," said Lawre nce. " I tried to ca tch them , but I co u ld · tell the r e wa sn't enough time , so I backed off." laRocco cruised to the fini sh wi th a 15-second lead on Lamson. "I didn't have to ride as hard without. Kiedrowski her e," sa id LaR occo , who sewed up second place in the po int stand ings despite missing round one in Gai n esville, Florida, wi th a broke n wrist. "Second ' s pretty good, but it's still second. I th in k I co u ld've had a chance (at the title) if I didn't get hurt. It woul d h a v e been t o u gh w ith Kiedrowski winning the las t three, b ut I'd have been faster, sooner." Finishing thi rd , his best-ever overall ' result in the 250cc class, was Law rence, with Dowd fourth and Cooper fifth. "I think this is one of the most challenging Nationals there is," said Cooper. "It's like a local race for a hundred guys, and they're all fast. Ma nley passed me a nd I tho ug h t h e was gone, b u t h e d ropped out a couple laps later. I got a mediocre start and worked up, and that looks b etter tha n holes ho t ti ng a n d falling back. I go t fifth for the day and. fifth for th e season, and th at's ab ou t w ha t I wa s hop ing for. " Nort h County YamahalYok ol Bieffel Motul/Dunlop / Scott/ MMF-spons o red Upton fin ish ed in a very respectable sixth pla ce, with Fisher seventh and Yamaha pri vateer Jeromy Buehl eig hth. Buehl was ad ministered oxygen, after crossing the line. After completing la p o ne b ack in 27t h pos it ion, Te am Green off-reader Ty Da vis worked hi s way up to a n inth-pl ace finish, and Anthony Amara dio comp leted the top 10. 125cc National McGra th holeshot the first hea t race, but Henry got by a few turns into the race . Henry appeared to have the wilt in the bag, but h is rear tire wen t flat and McGrath w as able to get by two laps fro m the finish. Hu ffman w as third ahead of Downers Grove Yamaha 's Jeff Deme n t and RRP's Tim Ferry. . Emi g pulled the h oles ho t in heat number two, then stre tched his advantage all the way to the finis h. Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe crossed the line a distant second, with Lusk, Team Suzuki's Brian Swink and Suzuki p riva teer Mike Metzger following. , Honda private er Terry Pars ons topped the last ch a nce qua lifi er a fter passing Honda of Troy's Todd DeHoop on the opening lap. Em i g snared one of h is typi cal holesho ts in the 14-lap main event, with Henry mo ving up close behind aft er a few tu rns. Metzger was third, wi th Kawasaki's Michael Craig in fourth and Lusk fifth . Huffman started in approximately sev enth place, and McGrath was back in 17th after ma king contact with Emig on the sta rt. "It woul d be nice if Emig and I could race fair and square," said McGrath. "I mean he's fast, and I think I am too, but he pulled a stupid-assed move on the sta r t a n d cut over on me. I w as w ay back, and then I hi t another rider when I was landing from a double:' When in forme d of McGrath 's comments, Emig ch uckled and sa id, "I may h a ve g otten cross-r u tted o u t of th e gate:' Henry stay ed with Emig for the first two laps, then powered by on a drifting uphill turn on lap three. Emig bobbl ed and lo st consid erabl e time, but still managed to keep ahead of Craig, who w as by then in third p lace. "I th ought he (Emig) was going to back off, and we almost touched," said Henry. " I think he may have hit his handl ebar on the d irt bank, beca use he kind of went off the track:' Henry p u lled away sligh tly, and a few lap s la te r, Emig's troubl es co m- 13

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