Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMOTOCROSS e ,--- AMA National Championship 125/500(( MX Series: Rounds 1012 Home state hero Donny Schmit return ed from Eu rope to contest the 125ccdivision. Jeremy McGrath nego tiates a huge rut that had many riders struggling all day long. r reservoir was hitting on the pipe," said Fisher. "I would 've kept going, but the pipe was bent and the bike d idn't have enoug h power to mak e it up that hill." Healey took ad vantage to nab fifth in the moto, a nd Palmer put on ano ther imp ressive charge to pla ce sixth after a poor start. Ta ylor was an impressiv e seventh. 8 125cc National Emig pull ed one of h is typ ic a l holeshots in moto one, wi th McGra th and Henry in second and third, respectively. Honda of Troy's Todd DeH oop sat in fou rth ahea d of Yama ha's Doug Du b ach a nd Suz uki 's Brian Sw ink. Dowd was also nea r the front, but several other riders encountered probl ems in the early going. "I got a real good jump, but I went down in some mud and cam e out around 25th," sa id Suzuki's Phil Lawrence, who sw itched to th e 125cc class after the 250cc series end ed. "We've been having bike p roblem s all d a y, " said Su zu ki s up po rt ri d er Larry Ward, after his bike came to a stop in the first turn. "It runs okay d own low, but it d ies if yo u try to hol d it w ide open. We do n' t know wha t it is." "I got a decent start, bu t some stupid idiot that co uldn ' t co n trol hi s own m o torcycle ca me alo ng a nd ran into me," said Suzuki's Jimmy Bu tton. "I got up in abou t last, and it was really hard to pass." Damon Bradshaw's season -lo ng p r obl ems con ti nued . " Someo ne spl ashe d me in that back section, and I wen t blind and cr ashed , " th e Team Yamaha rider said . Out front, Henry was all over th e leading Emig, and the two battl ed hamm er-and-tong fo r severa l la ps, with Emig keeping the Honda rider behind him. McGrath continued to hold d own third, but couldn't main tain the torrid pace of the leadin g d uo. A few sec onds behind McGrath, a horrendous battle began to develop over fourth place, involvin g Del-loop, Swink, Dubach, D owd , h om es tate favori te ' Donny Schmit - two-tim e MX Worl d Cham pion, Su zu ki' s Damon Huffma n and Lusk. Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes was also involved in the skir mish, though he had crashed and was a lap d own. The gro u p circu la ted th e track in a tig ht b u nch , swapping posit ions bac k and forth. "What a bat tle!" said Dowd. "I had to figh t the w hole moto, from start to finish. I was trying to pass people and people we re tryin g to pass me. It was wild!" Swink emerged from the battle and secured fourth place, then se t ou t after McGrath. Up front, Henry continu ed to pound ' away a t Emig, finally ge tting by w hen the Yamaha pilot d rop ped his YZ in a muddy turn. "I just dropped it in a soft corner," said Emig. "Then two laps later, I did the same thing. It couldn 't have been more exact." . Emig lost no more positions, bu t had lost too much groun d to Henry and had to settle for second in the moto. Henry cruised to the win. "The moto wen t grea t," sai d Henry, the Eas tern Region al 125cc Supercross Champion . "The only place yo u could pass was in the whoops, so I'd try to get right up behind him and pass him there. Finally he crashed and I passed him." McGrath fin ished a d ist ant third , wi th Swink running out of time and settling for fourth. "I had a real good rnoto," said Swink . " I got a decen t st art a nd worked on passi ng p eople. I started catchin g McGra th, but he was probably pa cing himself." Dowd was fifth, with an exhaust ed Lusk cross ing the line in sixth. "I'v e been sick all week," said Lusk. "I've had a flu, and I'm all congested. I'm completely drained." Dub ach was se ve n th, w ith Schmit eighth a nd Huffman n inth. DeHoop slipped back to 10th after inadvertently unhooking the wire on his gogg le'S electrical vision-clearing system. Moto two aga in saw Emig in control off the start, and Henry was again chasing in se co nd . Lu sk wa s th ird a n d McGra th, after a poor start, was quickl y up to fourth. "I got a terrible start, but I pa ssed abou t six people in th e firs t turn a nd then about four more down in the sand whoops," said McGrath. Bradshaw and Schm it were also running strong, but Schmit's hopes for a top finish in front of his home crow d came to an end on the second lap . "I was following a g uy a n d he hit a ba nk a nd went 'doink,' and came to a dead stop. I hit him and it completely crushed my pipe. My bike would barely run ." Lusk p ass ed McGrath and beg a n pressuring Henry in second, but wen t dow n in the whoop section and slipped back to fifth. " I wa s try ing to sw itch lines in the who o p s, a nd I swapped and wen t down:' said Lusk. H enry also got out of sha pe w hile a tte m p tin g a p a ss o n Em ig in the who op s, bu t mana ged to save it. A sh ort d istance behind the top five, Robbie Reynard , w ho cr as hed in th e firs t m oto, led a no ther tou gh battl e invo lving D owd , Huffm an, Button, Swin k an d Hu gh es. Huffman dropped back, however, wh en he had some trouble with a sea t-high rut that had developed in the sandy back section. "My righ t foot got kicked off the peg and got stuck between my rear tire and th e m u d flap ," sa id Huffman. "I sa t there for abou t a lap, and finally a gu y hop ped ove r the fence and helped me get loose." Emig avoi ded the line that had bitten him twice in moto one, and managed to pu t a sligh t lead on Henry. Henry mad e a final run, but got out of shape in the sand whoops and we n t flying off in to the trees. ' "I got a rear flat around the halfway point , when I hit a rock tha t Emig had thrown u p;" sa id Henry. "The o nly pla ce I could try to charge was in th e san d wash. It doesn ' t hu rt too m uc h w hen you fa ll in the sa nd , so I ju s t decided to go for it. I guess yo u coul d say I went over the bars." H enry remounted in tim e to ret ain seco nd, crossi ng th e lin e well behind Emig, wh o circula ted the track with his fist raised in the air. "I like to start first and I like to finish first," said Emig, making it sound easy. "Doug tried to tell me he go t his flat tire at the halfway point, but there' s no way., I don't care who you are, you can't ru n th e pa ce h er e w ith a fla t. I kno w, because I got one last year. "I've got to race hard all the way up until the final moto (of the yea r). This is no time to s ta rt be in g conservative. I really wa nt that championship." "I' m s till only five points down, so I'm going to try like hell to win the last two: ' said Henry. McGrath was a close third after Henry' s fall, with Lusk finishing fourth. Rookie Reynard placed fifth ahead of Bradshaw. "I alwa ys hav e a hard time getting by Dubach," sai d 16-year-old Reynard, who's obviously completely recovered from the b roken wrist he s uffered in early June. "After I passed him I started gaining on everyone else. I got kind of tired in the las t couple lap s, but I kept riding hard anyway." Dowd finished seventh, with Button eigh th . Hu gh es wa s ninth a nd Sw ink .10th. fN Results 500 M OTO 1: 1. Mike La Ro cco (Ka w) ; 2. Je ff Sta nton (Hon) ; 3. Steve Lams o n (Hon); 4. Mike Fisher (Kaw); 5. Mik e Kiedrowsk i (Kaw); 6. Cl iff Pal me r (KTM); 7. Keith John son (KTM); 8. Rk h Taylor (Hon) ; 9. Dag Boyesen (Yam ); 10. Andy Stacy (Kaw): 11. Rick Ryan (Yam ); 12. Bru ce Str a tton (Hon); 13. Ja mes Kap ita n (Ha n); 14. Lee Erickson (Kaw); 15. Earl Mar (Ya m); ]6. Ma tthew C row n (H an); 17. Jimmy Eick e (Ha n); 18. Ma rk Morris (Yam ); 19. Gene Naumec (Ha n); 20. Dar rel Ma rtens (Kaw); 21. Roby Leach (Ha n); 22. Kip S andell (Ya m); 23. Michael Keating (Ha n) ; 24 . John Young (Kaw); 25. Ch ris Ridg eway (Kaw); 26. Mi ke Kati n (Ha n); 27. Aaron Kopp (Ka w ): 28. Brad ley O'Boyle (!

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