Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ REVIEW The 1993 AmericanMXISu ercross season ~ Heat was a factor at many National events during the hot summe r months. Here, Dou g Henry required medical atten tion after winning the 125ce Support class at the U.S. 250cc GP MX at Budds Creek. Damon Huffman came on strong in the second half of the season, proving that he should be a major force next season. Injuries slow ed his progress early in the year. been hard to stop eve n with a full contingen t of healthy rivals. 125ec Nationals The 125cc N ati on al Championship MX Series is widely recognized as a "support class," but in 1993 it offered the best competition of any d ivis io n. Wh ile the Ca mel Su p ercross a n d 250 an d 500cc N ati onal MX Series were in lar ge part runaw ay s for their respectiv e titl e-ea rne rs, th e 12-round tidd ler-class series saw five d ifferen t ch an ges in seri es poin ts lea ders, and the title wasn't decided until the final moto a t Steel City. The o pen ing rou n d at NA TIONALN UMBERS 1994 Number-one riders 2Socc Camel Supercross I I 250cc National Motocross I 125cc NationalMotocross 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 several riders actually feelin g the effects. Californian Kiedrowski swoo ned on the podi um a fte r cl in ch ing th e c hampionship in Troy, and Ho nda's 12Sec ace, Doug Henry, required medical attention at both the U S. GP and the Glen Helen Na tiona l. The win ds of change were stirring at th e s moggy Gl en H el en race, which afford ed motocross fans their first view of th e controversi al new supercrossstyle format. Nex t ye ar, the tradition al p ractice of averaging tw o 30-minute, p lus two-lap mot os to determine a w inner will be history, replaced by a "TVfriend ly" 3O-minu te, pl us two-lap main even t form at that debu ted a t Glen He len. Amon g th e rid ers, opi nions of the new system wer e mi xed , w ith veteran s resisting the move and yo ung guns a little more open-m inded . "I think it's cool," said Yamaha's Jeff Emig . " It probably hurt me a little (Emig was slowed in the main at Glen Helen by carburetor troubl es), but I think it' s more exciting." "It's stupi d," Stanton sa id, disagreeing with Emig . "Motocross has gotten us this far, s o why go. and mess it up? Motocross is motocross and supercross is supercross." 16 500ce Nationals In a year that saw Ste ven Spielb erg re surrect d inosaurs with the film Jurass ic Pa r k, th e AMA w a s in the process of rendering a longtime seri es extinct. After 21 years of competition, the National Championship 500cc MX Series came to an end with a brief four race series in 1993. With manufacturer and team in v olvem e n t on a s teady decline, it was apparent that the sun had set on the big-bore di vision. Defending ch amp Kiedrowski was considered a shoo-in for the title, thou gh Stanton was the se n time n tal fa vorite; the multi-time National and Supercross Champion had never ea rn ed a crow n 45 46 47 48 49 SO 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 aboard a 500. But once aga in it was an up-and-coming rid er who won the title, as Kiedrowski ' s 22-year-old Kawasaki teammate, Lakocco - comp eting for the fir st time ever on a n Op en bike notched two of the four ov era ll wins; the h istoric final 500cc title also served as Lakocco's first National Championship. " I' m honored to w in the last 500cc title ever, but I'll be sorry to see it go," said the Hoosier after the fina l rou nd at Ste el City Racewa y in Delm on t, Pennsylvania . "I really li ke the cla ss, and it's a lot of fun . I w ish we could ride it again." Stanton and Kiedrowsk i, who sp lit wins at the other two stops on the class' fare well tour, were both slo wed by back injuries, and finished second and third, resp ectively, in the final standings. Still, the 500cc series was the only one of the yea r in which Lakocco di dn't have to sit out a round becau se of inju ries, a nd ju dging from the speed he d ispla yed throughout the season, he w ould have Gatorback Cycle Pa rk in Gainesville, Florida, .se t the stage for a great season when McGra th and v eteran Erik Keh oe sl ugged it ou t in the second moto, in an impressive di splay of hard-fought ra c in g . Aft e r chasing M cG r a th fo r m ost o f th e m o ro, Ke h o e p a s sed h im with th ree la ps rema ining. McGrath made a last-ditch effort to ge t back aro und, but in wha t was easily the mostphotographed maneuver of the season, Kehoe pinned it over th e uphill fini sh-line jump and held off McGrath. Honda's Henry, who would even tually secu re the titl e, go t o ff to a sl ow start and finished fo u r t h in bo th mo tos. McGrath still ea rned the overall win at Gatorback, but 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 % 97 98 99 Jeremy McG rath Mike Kiedrowski SteveLamson Jeff Stanton JeffEmig Mike laRocco DougHenry Damon Bradshaw Brian Swink LarryWard OiffPalmer GuyCooper Erik Kehoe JohnDowd Ezra Lusk PhilLawrence MichaelCraig DamonHuffman Jeff Matiasevich Ryan Hughes Jeromy Buehl DagBoyesen Mike FISher ToddDeHoop Denny Stephenson limFeny Mike Healey JamesDobb Larry Brooks Doug Dubach RobbieReynard Jimmy Button Rich Taylor Shaun Kalos Scolt Sheak RaySommo AnthonyAmaradio Barry Carsten Jeff Dement Lance Smail Rick Ryan JimmyGaddis JasonMcCormick Davey Yezek Mike Jones Brian Carroll Mike Treadwell Buddy Antunez Chad Pederson Brian McElroy Kyle Lewis Bruce Stralton KurtMcMillen JeffCurry Matthew Crown BrianDeegan Donald Upton Kevin Crine James Kapitan Earl May Jeff Pestana William Dzielak Joe Dengler l David Gaylord Scott Myers AndyStacy CarlVaillancourt Jeff Glass KeithJohnson JoJo Keller Grayson Goodman Brian Manley Fred Andrews TomOowers Gene Naumec JoshSteel ' NathanRamsey Jean-Se bastian Roy Greg Bowen ChrisYoung KohjiOhkawara Tony Graves Mike Metzger PedroGonzalez TysonVohIand JimNeese JasonKrempin David Pingree JeffY enlzer Mike Brown A.J. Whiting Anthony Paggio Mike Chamberlain Craig Noack ChadLough Scott Carler JamesEckel Jeremy McGrath MikeKiedrowski DougHenry Murrieta, CA Canyon Country, CA Pollock Pines, CA Sherwood, MI Riverside, CA South Bend, IN - Oxford, CT Mooresville, NC Linden, MI Aorence,SC OklahomaCity,OK Stillwater, OK Saugus,CA Chicopee, MA Bainbridge, GA Menifee.CA E1Cajon,CA Saugus ,CA La HabraHeights, CA Escondido, CA LondonOll Lenhartsville PA , E1Cajon,CA Hudsonville, MI Omaha,NE Wesl Palm Beach. FL CostaMesa, CA Corona,CA EICajon,CA Tustin,CA OklahamaCity OK , Coming.NY Ketchum,lD Phoenix,AZ Germantown, NY Capistrano Beach, CA Can yonLake. CA Bayville. NJ Humble, TX Lancaster, CA SanJ05e, CA Las Vegas, NY Vancouver WA . Ml.Pleasant,PA Export, PA' Vineland, NJ Rumford,ME Moreno Valley,CA Fort Dodge. ]A Ridge Manor. FL Rosamond, CA Earlville, NY Beacon,NY Saginaw,MI Metam MI· ora, Bellvue,NE SunCity ,CA Mechanicsville, MD Colts Neck. NJ Tallahassee, FL laCrosse WI , E.Hartford, CT Chatsworth, NJ Kalamazoo, MI CitrusHeights, CA • Rockford, lL Drummondvllle, CAN Duncansville, PA Pembroke, MA Plymouth, MA Plano, TX Huntington Beach. CA Salem,OH Santee,CA Brooksville, FL W.Milton, OH Hixson, TN Quebec, CAN Orion. MI Hemet.Ca Chatsworth, CA Cres well,OR Quail Valley, CA Houston, TX Sacramento,CA Whil"'lt, NC Austin, TX Scottsdale,AZ Carlisle, PA Gray, TN Sherman Oaks, CA Tampa,FL Placentia, CA Guttenburg. ]A Tazewell, VA Londonderry, NH GroveCi , OH 812 80 1 665 654 640 635 S35 472 469 442 400 380 339 331 327 325 VB 276 250 205 201 183 180 180 179 176 166 158 154 153 148 147 145 140 131 117 95 86 82 80 77 71 69 63 58 55 54 54 53 53 51 SO 49 42 42 4\ 38 38 37 37 35 33 32 31 31 30 28 28 26 26 26 24 23 20 20 20 20 19 18 17 17 14 14 14 12 12 12 12 U 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8

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