Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

on Kiedrowski a nd moved to within inches of the leader. But a small bobble while negotiating a long, tough, whoopfilled u p h ill section all b ut e n ded Sta n to n 's . cha n ces of p assing Kied rowski. "I jus t slid out a little where it wa s slip pe ry a n d r oc ky , " sai d Stanton between motos, "On e mis take, and that was it." Th e bobb le costStant on onl y a few b ike le ngths on Kied ro wski, but tha t was enough for the defending champ to score a narrow w in. "Wha t a race!" sa id Kied ro ws ki. "I would pu ll away, make a m istake and he wo uld catch me. Then I'd p ull away again, only to make ano th er mista ke and h e would ca tch m e aga in. That's ho w it wen t for the whole race." "I d idn't feel too bad out there," said Stanton, while relaxing in a lawn chair between motos. "I came up one shy of wh a t I wanted, but it's not ov er yet. I have to kee p my head up and no t make any mistakes in the second moto." LaRocco finished a safe third in the mo to, losing only two points to Stanton in the title chase. Fourth went to Lamson, who finished with a comfo rtable advantage on . Healey, who in tum finished a safe distance ahead of KTM's Cliff Palmer, Kawasaki rider Mike Fisher, Smail, local favorite Mike Jones and Kawasaki rider Dag Boyesen, Privateer Rich Taylor, fifth in the point stand ings going in,finished 11th. Onl y seven points separated La Rocco from Stanton going into the fi n al moto of the season, but it was Jones who set the pace early in the second m oto, ju s t ahead o f Lamson, Kiedrowski, laRocco and Stanton. The private er Honda r ider from nearby Export, Pennsylvania, wa s still hanging on to the lead going into the second lap, bu t it wouldn't last. Halfw ay through the lap, both Lamson and Kiedrowski s li p p ed pa st Jones, th en a few tu rn s later, Kiedrowski powered by Lamson up the long uphill section. There was no catchi ng Kiedrowski at th a t poin t, who q uickly put distance between himself and Lamson. Moments late r, LaRocco go t by Lamson, making the to p order Kiedrowski, LaRocco, Lamso n and Stanton. N ot w anting to interfe r e wi th Stanton's bid for the title, Lamson let his teammate by and into third , but the former Supercross and 250cc National Champion just couldn't catch laRocco. Toward s the e n d o f th e rnoto , Lamson saw that Stanton had no chance o f ca tch in g LaRocco and he started putting the pressure on h is teammate. But Stanton answered by picking up his pace s li g h tly and keep ing ahead of Lamson. Up front, Kiedrowski continued to pull away and scored a see mingly easy win ahead of the new 500cc champ laRocco. "1 jus t feels great getting the championship," said laRocco. "I finally got the number-one plate. Now I jus t ha ve to go out and get some more." "I knew by winning I wouldn't hurt laRocco's chances for the title, so I jus t went for it ," sa id Kiedrowsk i. "I' m happy for Mike. He deserves it." Roundi ng out th e top fi v e in th e mo to was Hea ley, who passed Taylor in the series point standings to claim fifth place and top p rivateer honors. Taylor, who dropped from fifth to seven th in the standings, went 11-8 on the day for 10th overall. , Finishing one spot behind .Healey in both the overall results and in the point stan di n gs was Fishe r, while Boyesen, Taylor, Jones a nd Honda rider Bru ce Stratton rounded out the top 10. Steve Lamson (21), LaRo cco (5), Stan ton (2) and winner Mike Kiedrowski (1) battled for the last time in the SOOcc class. • 125 National Honda of Troy's Todd DeHoop started things off in the first moto by nailing the holeshot. DeHoop held the lead for the first three laps before getting passed by Ernig, who finished the first lap in fourth behind De Hoop, Reynard and Team Suzuki's Brian Swink; Henry was fifth off the start. Henry followed in Emig's wake and soon had control of second pl ace . For the next four laps, Henry was content to si t in second place and watch Emi g's lin es. But just past the halfw ay point, Henry overshot a berm and cartwheeled off the track. H e g ot back up and remounted jus t ahead of a close duel for third p lace between Jeremy McGr a th and Swink. "I got crossed up in so me ru ts a nd went over the bars," said Henry. "I hurt my wrist in the fall and it hurts p retty bad." With Emig now way ou t in front, McGrath didn't make any se ri o u s attempts to pass his teammat e Henry, but had his hands full with Swink. Jus t afte r getting the white flag, Swink finally passed McGrath an d made a s trong charge on Henry, who crossed the finish line inches ahead of the Suzuki rider. A d is tan t fou rth w ent to Team Suzuki Sports /Oakley / Pro -Ci rcu it / Dun lop/Bell-backed Wa rd, and Re yna rd fin ished a cl o se sixth. Reynard's ride wa s hampered when his arm went numb afte r getting stung by a bee just before the start of the mo to. Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, Kawasaki 's Ryan Hughes and former 125 and 250cc World Champion Donny Schmit rounded out the top to. Schmit had spen t the entire race working his way up through the pack after crashing ou t of 12th place on the thi rd lap . 'Going into the seco nd a nd championship-deciding second rnoto, Henry n ow led Emig by just e ight po ints. When the ga te dropped, thou gh, Henry saw his title hopes all bu t disappear as his fro nt wheel got trapped in the backwards-failing star ting gate. "I saw McGrath's bike creep forw ard and [ just took off," said Henry. Emig later admit ted tha t he was probably to b lame when he crept forward fir st and triggered McGra th to inch fo rward , which in turn caused Henry to get trapped. Henry entered the. first turn nearly dead )ast, and Emig was near the front of the pack. But when the field flew out of the third turn, Emig was p icking up himself out of the dirt. Jeff Stanton (2) de sperate ly chased M ike laRocco (5) in the second 500cc mota. Robbie Reynard scored his fi rst Nati onal win in the 125cc class at just 16 years of age. 15

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