Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127593
~ MOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 125/500cc MX Series: Final Rounds crowne By Kit Palmer DELMONT, PA, SEPT.6 ike LaRocco couldn 't help but thin k back to the last time he came to Steel City Raceway. It was almost a year ago to the day that th e Team Kawasaki rider came to the facility w ith the 12Sec series title all but wrapped up, onlyto effectively hand the crown to season-long rival Jeff Emig after failing to score a single point. in either mo to because of mechanical problems. It was a day he'd just as soon for'get, But LaRocco wouldn't be allowed that lu xury as he found himself in a very sim ilar situation one year later, again at Steel City . This time, however, the story had a much happier ending for the Hoosier. Going into the final round of the 1993 Nati o nal C ha m p ion s h ip 500cc MX Series, LaRocco held a slim nine-point lea d over Team Honda's Jeff Stanton and, after two 30-m inute plus-two-lap motes, he proudly walked away with h is long overdue first- ever AMA Nalional Championship title. Although LaRocco fi n is h ed second overall to teammate and defending champ Mike Kiedrowski on the da y, he did what was necessary to earn the title, matching 3-2 mo to finishes with third-overall finish er Stan ton. " I had to not think about what happened here last year ," sa id LaRocco. " Instead, I just did what I had to do, and it (winning the championship) sure feels good." Unfortunately for Lalcocco, however, he won't be able to wear his long-awaited number-one plate on his Tom , Morgan-tuned Kawa saki next year, due to the AMA's recent decision to drop the 500cc class fro m National Championship status after the 1993 season. "I 'm honored to w in the last 500cc title ever, but I'm sorry to see the 500cc class go," said Lakocco. "I really like the class and it's a lot of fun. I wish we could ride it again." Du ring the cou rse of the short fourrace series, LaRocco scored two overall victori es and racked up a total 0£'184 points, while Stanton ended up second in the series by scoring one overall win and recording a total of 175 points. Third inthe series went to the day's 500cc clas s double-mote winner Mike Kiedrowski, who earned 161 points after being slowed at the start of the series with an injured back. Rounding out the top five in the point standings were , Team Honda's Steve Lamson with 154 points, and Honda-mounted Mike Healey, the top-finishing privateer, with 110 points. Th is year's Steel City National also decided the outcome of the highly competitive 12-race 125cc series, and there was no lack of drama there either. As in th e 500cc class, the 125cc title came d own to the last moto of the season , w ith Emi g and Team Honda's Doug Henry the two contenders after a season of position juggling. Henry, the 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Champion, led Emig, the defending 125cc National MX Champion, by 11 points going in to the final round, but Emig cut that lead to eigh t after winning the first moto, with Henry finishing second. M 14 Doug Henry proudly displays the 125cc number-one plate that he earned at Steel City. In the championship-deciding second moto, the two contenders s u r p rised everyone when they round ed the first lap at the ba ck of the 40-rid er pack Henry had wedged his bike's front wheel in the backwards-falling starting gate, and Emig had crashed with another rider in the third tum. Both riders got underway together and worked their way up through the field to eventually finish sixth and seventh, respectively. By finishing one place ahead of Emig in the second rnoto, Henry earned his first outdoor National title with nine points to spare. "Winning the championship hasn't really sunk in yet," said an elated Henry afterwards. "It seems funny being the champ. It's always somebody else. I . really wasn't nervous; I just tried to go , out there and do my best." Scoring the day's overall win in the 125cc class w ith a 6-1 moto tally was Team Kawa saki's Robbie Reynard, who recently turned pro. The 16-year-old's first-ever Na tional victory was somewh at oversh ad owed by the two championship titles th at wer e on the line.at Steel City, bu t th e wi n was sweet for Reynard nonetheless. "I had no ide a I had won (the overall)," said Reyna rd. "I knew I had won the second moto, but when they told me I had the ov erall I couldn't believe it. That made me real happy." , Second overall went to Emi g (1-7), and Henry (2-6) finished third. Privateer Suzuki rider Larry Ward grabbed fourth overall via fifth- and third-place finishes, while a frustrated Jeremy McGrath of Team Honda ended up fifth overall after turning in two fourth-place finishes. An estimated 7000 spectators lined the 1.8-mile-long Steel City track, which produced lap times that hovered around the three-minute, 45-second mark, making it the longest course on the circuit. SOD National Lance Smail, a privat eer Honda rider from Washington, powered hi s The B ro thers / Pro-Ci rcu i t / Smi th / Bridgestone / Devol/UFO / EBC/ Ceetbacked CR500 into the lead at the start of the first moto, but breathing down his neck were the top three riders in the standings: Stanton, Kiedrowski and Lakocco, Lamson, the only other rider in title contention, gated poorly and was running mid pack. Smail's lead lasted for less than a lap, as Stanton, Kiedrowski, LaRocco and Healey all slipped by the privateer. Stanton was pressured almost immediately by Kiedrowski, and the two swapped the lead twice during the second lap, with Kiedrowski finally getting the upper hand and taking control by the third lap . This set the stage for what would be an extremely close duel for the top spot throughout the rest of the race. Stanton latched on to Kiedrowski's rear fender and matched the Kawasaki rider's every move, lap after lap, while LaRocco watched from a distant third. Meanwhile, Lamson had made up for his slow getaway and passed Healey to take control of fourth place, but was out of striking distance of the first three riders - Kiedrowski, Stanton and Lakocco. With three laps left in the moto, Stanton began turning up the pressure