Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

in the 125cc class. "Now you can go out and push all the way in both motos. That's racing!" 500cc National The first 500cc moto got off to a rocky start when many riders went down in the first tum, includ ing the man carrying the number-one plate - Kiedrowski. The Kawasa ki rider re mo un ted a t th e back of the pack, while his teammate LaRocc o took co m ma nd out in front. Al so goin g down were La ms o n a nd Healey. Ru n n ing in secon d - much to the d eli ght of th e larg e crowd - was McCo rmic k, w hil e Sta n ton chased in third. It took two full laps for Stanton to pass' McCormick, wh o nearly passed him right back. By the time Stanto n had fir m ly taken control of secon d p lace, laRocco had already ope ned up a small lead, and McCormic k found himself all alone in third. Runni ng a d istan t fou rth was Do na ld Upton , who was closely chased by Rich Taylor and Mike Fisher. Back in ninth and climbing was Lamson. By th e halfwa y point, La Ro cco stre tched out his lead ov er Stanton by a p p rox im a tely fi ve seco nds, .w h i le McCormick fell off the pace but still had room to breath over Lamson, who had worked his way up to fourth after his first-lap crash. At th is po int the only question left w as, did McC ormick have enough strength to hold back the hard-charging Lamson? The answer was no. With two laps to go, Lamson ca ugh t up to and passed the local hero to take over third place. " I started getting tired the last couple of lap s," said McCormick. "Man, I wanted to beat Lamson so bad! Oh well, I'm still pretty happy." Sta nton sligh tly close d th e ga p on LaRocco but would even tually throw in the towel tw o la p s from the finis h. laRocco went on to win the rnoto, crossing the finish line approxima tely 13 seconds ahead of Stant on, who backed off the throttle significantly .during the last two laps to conserve energy. Taking the checkered flag o ne mi n ute behi n d Stan ton in third was Lamson, then a few seco nds la ter came McCormick. Fisher finishe d fifth , a nd Mike Healey to ok sixth. . Afte r crashin g o n the fi rs t lap, Kied row ski worked his way up to seventh. Anoth er lo cal fa vorite, Lance Smail, from Kent, Wa shin gton, wa s eigh th and Taylor a nd Da g Boye sen rounded out the top 10. Initial front -runner Upton dropped back to 13th. Another first-turn tan gle claimed a few riders a t the sta rt of the second moto, one of whom was McCormick. "A couple of guys high-sided into me an d 1 had no place to go," said the JT Raci ng / Brid g es t on e / Ts u b a k i / Powerba r/ Ren thal/ SND Design s/ProCircuit /Brothers Hond a / Hillsb oro Honda & Su zu ki-sp onso red McCo rmick. He reentered the race nearly last and would eve n tua lly climb to 12th. " I worked too hard to catch up and I go t tired," added McCormick. "That was as far as 1 cou ld go." All th e top Nat ional con te nders made it through the firs t turn cleanl y with Lamson leading the way ahead of Kiedrowski, Hea ley, La Rocco and Stant on. After two laps, Healey dropped back to fifth behind Stan ton and would gradually drop off the lead pace. laRocco and Stanton were the riders to watch as they pr essured Kiedrows ki for second. Thi s gave Kiedrowski the added extra incentive to pa ss Lams on which he did on the seven th lap . A lap later, though, both laRocco and Stanton slip ped by Lamson, and contin ued to hound the champ. Kiedrowski's re ign out fron t only Mike Kiedrowski (1), Steve Lamson (21), LaRocco and Jeff Stanton spent the first few laps of the second 500cc mota this close. las ted tw o la ps befo re LaRocco too k over; two laps later, Stanton moved by Kied ro wski. Du r in g those two laps, though, laRocco made good use of the time and str etched out his lead to seven seconds over Stanton. "By the tim e I got by Kied row ski, he (LaRocco) was gone ," said Stanton. "I was pretty comfort ab le w he n I was runnin g four th; wa tching all the lines and w ait in g to make m y mo ve . But LaRocco made his move before me; got seven seconds on me a nd it wa s all Winner Jeff Emig (1) was chased by Ezra Lusk (43) in both 12Sccmotos. ove r." LaRocco maintained that seven-seconds cushion to the checkere d flag for the overall win. "It's my first time on a 500 and I felt rea l good ," said LaRocco. "A ny win is good, and right now I'll take what 1 can get." "I' m not really satisfied with second, bu t taking in to considera tion that I've been injured for six weeks, I guess I'm some what ha p py," said Stanton, who has been bothered by pu lled muscles in his back for nearly two mon ths. who al so p assed La ms o n, Kiedrowsk i late in the race, finished third. . "1 want to go out and win, no t get sixths and fourths ," sai d Kied rowski. "But I'm just too beat up. 1 should be winning . I felt goo d early in the race, but my back just got so re. I cou ld n 't even stand up on the bike." Healey he ld o n to a d is tant fift h, while Fisher, Smail, Taylor, Cliff Palmer and Boyesen r0UI'lded out the top 10. 125cc Nationa l The first 125cc moto fea tured close racing but little passing, at least among the top four finishers. Emig nailed the ho leshot, just ahead of Lusk, Swink a nd McGra th. Suzuki rider Larry Ward and Henry completed the first lap in fifth and sixth, respectively. Lap after lap, Emig and Lusk played cat and mou se, while, at the same time, pulling away from the rest of the pack. Lu s k matched Emig's every m o ve throughout the race bu t co uld n't quite ge t clos e en o ug h to mount a serious challenge for the lead. Towards the end of the race, Lus k backed off some and that let Emig get out of reach. "My arms pumped up a bit and he was able to get away," said Lusk . Emig went on to win the moto with a few seconds to spare over Lusk. Swink was a d istant third and he had 17

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