Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 2: Houston Astrodome By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones HOUSTON, IX, JAN. 22 hortly after the conclusion of the Orl ando Sup ercros s series opener, much of the talk began to center around Team Kawasaki 's Mike laRocco. Sure, defendin g champion Jere my McGrath had raced to his 12th career superc ross win and kicked off his titledefend ing seaso n in grand style, but it was ru nne r-up LaRocco who kept the fans on the edge of their seats by charging through the field and closing in on the qu ick-starting McGrath. For McGrath's competition, laRocco was a sign of hope - perh aps the newest su percross sensation wa sn't unbeatable, after all. Man y insiders felt that a better sta rt on laRocco's part, or a few more laps in the race, could have mad e the d ifference - even McGrath admitted that he co ul d n' t ha ve gone any faste r. But after the smoke cleared at round two of the IS-sto p series, those same insiders found themselves silenced . Yes, McGrath agai n emerg ed the victor, but this time the story was much different. Afte r rou nding the first tum mired in 13th pl ace, McGra th lived u p to his "Showtime" moniker as he sliced through the field to take his second consecuti ve win of the series. . " Tha t had to be th e hard est o ne ever," sa id the Team Honda /l-800COLLECf rider. "As soon as I got that lousy start, I thought to myself, 'Okay, here we are. This is the test tha t everyone's been waiting for.:" Had grades been handed ou t for that test, McGrath would have received an "A. " Wi th a p pare n t ease, McGrath stalked his competition and wo rked his way thro ugh the field with the precision of a seasone d veteran. One by one, McG rath p ick ed o ff his competitors before moving into the point position on the 10th of 20 laps . But what a bo u t the highly-t outed LaRocco? Th e fact ory Kawa saki rider suffered his usu al lackluster start and began the race only one position behind McGrath, but was unable to match the champ's every move through the field. It took the quiet Indianan three laps more than McGrath to race past the other s, but once in to second, he qu ickl y made up the difference. With six laps to go, it looked as if LaRocco had more than enough time to complete the previous week's unfinished business, but he would soon learn that when it comes to McGrath, catching and passing are two completely different tasks. "I caught him pretty quickly, but I knew that if I was gonna pass him, I'd have to force it," said a visibly disapCl:. pointed LaRocco afterwards. "That's 0\ twice now that I've had the speed to r-t win, and twice that I haven't..I'm pretN" tYi disappointed .in. myself in that 1 sense, I it ,10 niL Ln tn' , ca Ea ch time LaRocco looked set to make his move, McGrath simply clicked it up a notch and pulled away to safety . ~ "Man, if it weren't for LaRocco, I ~ think the field would be hating it this season," said McGrath. "I wasn't too worried about coming from the back of S e e C 2 6 I,,;. 10 " the pack because I knew that the fastfast guys weren't up ther e. I knew he was behind me." And just who were the not so "fastfast guys" that McGrath referred to? Perhaps the most head -turning of the bun ch was Team No leen /Siz zl er / Yamaha rider Larry Ward. After passing hol eshot-grabber Jeff Emig on lap one, Ward turned in an inspired ride at the front of the pack that lasted nine laps. At one point, Ward extended his lead over the rest of the field to ove r thr ee seconds, but fatigue began to set in and the former factory Suzu ki rider faded to an eventual seven th. .~ ro 1~Man, I get the f arty Ball.Award this week," joked Ward, who also led the series opener for a number of.laps. "I know I have the speed and mental cond itioning to win, I just need to change my training program." After overtaking Ward, Emig en joyed the lead for barely a lap, as McGrath and LaRocco wasted little time in closing in. Emig did, however, manage to stay with the leaders for a number of laps before settling into a distant third. Emig's factory Yam aha teammate, Mike Cra ig, followed at a distance back in fourth, while Honda 's Jeff Stanton trailed even further back in fifth. Craig seemed to lack his usual flash, after a first-tum run-in during his qu alifier left him with a painful left knee . Stanton's main-event charge was also affected by a heat-race mishap. A rare miscalculation by the 17-time supercross winner left him daz ed, visorless and without confidence in a particularly'ciricls~ .,,~ tion oi-~e .t:!'~ck. t 16:>rln9bi 9r!t . r e ! ',,!p ~ .!h E;; oddest s !gh ~ g f~t~ evening was !hat of four-time)''!i!ti~IBI MX Champion Mike Kiedrowski circulating the track at the back of the pack. After starting just inside the top 10, the Team Kawasaki rider crashed and was . pinned under his machine for what seemed like an eternity before rejoining Usually a fast-starter, Jeremy McGrath suffered a terrible start and was lorced to race through the fiel d route to the 13th supercross win 01 his career. e n the race. Kiedrowski could manage no better than 15th at the finish. '1 don't know what to say," said last year's seri es runner-up. "I felt better . than I d id last we ek, I just had some really bad luck." McGrath 's perfect record gives him a six -p o in t lead ov er LaRocco in the Camel Supercross Points Fund, 50-44. East met west in the combined 125cc regional su~r~s main, and when the black and ~~ ~ew it was Team Suzuki's Ezra L~!s ';Vho grabbed the glory for his east coa st counterparts. Lusk's teammate, Jimmy Button, followed him hom e for the second week in a row, while west coast rider Damon Huffman made it a Suzuki sweep by finishing third. Tea m Splitfire/Hot Wheels/ Kawasaki rider Ryan Hughes finished a

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