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/127653
,'•AMA P R R S Round 4: JackMurphy Stadium S Supercross Series ' S:' UECO I• • By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones SAN DIEGO, CA, FEB, 5 - eremy McGra th surprise d no one Iby wi nning the Coors Light Chal... lenge ma in even t at San Diego's Jack Mu rphy Sta dium. In fac t, it wo uld've been more of a surp rise had he not w on . Afte r all, the defen d ing champ had already aced the three pr evious rounds in O rlando, Houston and , last week in Anaheim, where he scored his easies t win of the young season. But his win at San Diego, in front of 26,561 spectators, was a little bit different than the other three; this time there was some doubt as to whether or not he could win his fourth supercross event in a row when the 2G-rider field lined up for the start of the 2G-lap main event. How could this be, you ask? Well, for the first time since last year, the defending champ had to qualify for the feature via a semi after tangling with another rider during his heat race earlier in the evening. In that sem i race, McGrath finished second to hometown favorite Mike Craig after an exciting race-lon g duel. This meant that for the first time this year, McGrath had lost in a head-to-head race! And to top things off, the 22-year-old from Murrieta, California, was feelin g the effects of a bad h ead cold a n d w as h a vin g tr o ub le breathing. O n th e o th er side of th e coin, El Cajon 's Cra ig was having a spectacular night. Despite having to ride a semi after crashing (with McGrath ) in his heat race, Craig was overflowing with confidence for good reasons: he had flat-out beaten McGra th ea rlie r tha t night , he h ad a vocal hometown crowd backing him up, and he had gained the momentu m that McGrath had suddenly lost. If you were a gambling man, no one would've looked at you strangely had you put your money down on someone other than McGrath 'in the main event at San Diego. But despite having the cards stacked against him, McGrath and his Skip Norfolk-tuned Tea m Honda /l -800-COL LECT CR250 still prevailed in the end, albeit not by much. Craig, on his Team Yamaha -backed YZ250 led for nearly 12 la ps befor e lettin g fatigue and McGr ath's relen tless houn d ing ge t the best of him. Once out in front, McGrath set a fast but ener gy-c on serv ing pace that jus t barel y carried him to the check: ered fla g ahead of K awasa ki' s Mike Kiedrowsk i, who put tog ether a laterace charge that carried him past Craig and right up to McGrath ' s r ear tire through the last few turns. So, once again , it was McGrath in the spotlight after record ing his fourth win of the season and the 14th of his career. Team Yamaha 's Mike Cra ig (19) led winner Jeremy McGrath (1) for 12 laps In the 20lap feature. Craig, from nearby EI CHjon, ended up third but his claim to fame was beating McGrath head-to-head In an ~ earlier semi final.