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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127656
Kawasaki's Mike laRocco had another
disappointing outing after failing and
finishing seventh.
cross final in a row, this one seemingly
wi th ease. The 18-year-old fro m Bainbridge, Geor gia, took over the lead from
DGY Yamaha's Ch ad Ped erson on the
second of 15 laps for an effortless ride in
front of an enthusias tic and highly pa rtisa n crowd.
"I 've been on the ground here in
Atlanta the last two years, " Lusk said of
his change of fortune, wh ich he attributed to his intense concentration. "All
my focus is on racing. I concentrate on
the start, then I concentrate on the rest
of the track. I could hear that I've got a
lot of people out there cheering for me. I
worked really hard . If these guys
worked as hard, they 'd be there too."
Lusk had provided a preview of the
final with his heat-race performance.
Jumping to the front, Lusk and Kawasaki's Robbie Reynard pulled away from
the field, with Lusk pouring it on to win
by better than ni ne seconds. His heatwin time w as over 30 se co nds faster
than that in the first heat, w hi ch was
won by Suzuki's Jimmy Button, a lso
wi th some ease.
"I' m just proud to be from Georgia
and able to come here and win the race
like this," Lusk said after the dominating heat wi n. "So me tracks are better
than others for some riders. I'm real
familiar with this dirt. 111 try to go a little faste r than I did in my heat."
Buttons' comments echoed Lusk's.
"The track reall y su its my riding style.
Hopefully, me and my teammate Ezra
Lusk can go out and put on a show,"
Button said .
In the final, Button got awa y in fifth
place, with Pederson lead ing Rossini
Racing Products/Cycles of Palm Beach's
Tim Ferry, Lusk third, and Mike Brown
fourth on the Jim ' s Motorcycle
Sales/Pro Circuit/Scott/Dunlop-sponsored Honda.
Lusk was one of the few 125cc riders
to fly the triple jumps and on the firs t
la p h e u sed his air time to move by
Ferry into second. On the next lap, he
took over the lead by leaping past Pederson off the east end table-top ju mp .
Brown, now up to third, showed that he,
too, could clear the tripl es, moving past
Ferry on the second lap in the far sid e
tri ples and setting out after Lusk.
Brown took the lead briefl y on the
third lap, until Lusk out-jumped h is
competition in the far sid e triples near
the end of the third lap and took the
lead for good.
Starting the sixth lap, Brown slowed
on the downside of the finish jump letting Ferry back into second place, a spo t
that he would refuse to give up .
" It' s my best finis h, my best start everyt hin g is looking good," Ferry said.
"I think if I was in a little better shape I
could ride wi th him (Lusk), and 1 think 1
can beat him."
After leading the first lap , Pederson
dropped back to fourth, then to fifth on
th e six t h of 15 laps. He began to reassert himself on the seventh lap, dropp ing Brown ba ck to fifth , th en taking
over third from Jim my Button on the
ninth lap. Button held fourth, Brown
fifth and the order of the top five was
set since no one seemed in the mood to
pass.
"I was having a lot of probl ems with
my arms pumping u p," Pederson said.
"1 wasn't riding smooth. 1 want to beat
those gu ys and you have to go for it. 1
think 1 rode fairly well last year . Maybe
I'm getting off to a slow start this year,
and I wan t to win one of these."
a
Craig (108 / 1); 3. [riEl Jeff Sta nton / Mike Kiedrowski
(%); 5. Jeff Emig (93); 6. Mike laRocco (92); 7. Brian
Swink (83); B. Steve Lamson (82); 9. Larry Ward (72); 10.
Do ug Henry (69 ); 11. Je ff Ma tia sev ich (63); 12. Cliff
Palmer (47); 13. Ierom y Duehl (31 ); 14 . Denn y
Stephenson (29); 15. Larry Broo ks (28); 16. Doug Dubach
(25); 17. (TIE) Bud d y Antunez/Ryan H ughes (22); 19.
Erik Kehoe (19); 20. Ky'" Lewis (18).
125 HEAT 1 (20 rid ers, 6 bps, lop 9 transfed: 1.
Jimmy Butron (Suz); 2. Jeff Dement (Y. m); 3. Tun Ferry
(Hon); 4. John Dowd (Yam ); 5. Mike Brown (Hon); 6.
Ba rry Ca rs te n (Suz); 7. Chad Lough (Su z); 8. Doug
Deehan (Suz); 9. Mark Morris (Y. m); 10. Cr.ig Noack
(Suz) ; 11. Greg Nicholson (Kaw); 12. Jim Chester (Y.m);
13. Shane Templeton (Suz) ; 14. Ryan Reynolds (Hon);
15. Ga ry Kellum (H a n ); 16. Chad Miller (Hon); 17.
lames Coy (Hon); 18. Mike McDonald (Suz ); 19. watty
Silva (Suz) ; 20. Jean-Sebastien Roy (Suz).
Time: 5:05.09.
Georgia Dome
AUanta, Georgia
Resu hs: February 26, 1994 (Round 6 of 15)
150 HEAT 1 (20 riders, 8 la ps . top 4 tr ansfer): 1.
Do ug Henry (Ho n); 2. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) ; 3. Mike
Cra ig (Y. m); 4. J.ff Ma riasevich (Y.m); 5. J.ff Emig
(Yam); 6. Doug Dubach (Yam); 7. Buddy Antunez
(lCaw); 8. Jero my Buehl (Yam); 9. Brian Swink (Suz); 10.
Greg Na umec (yam); 11. Dag Boyesen (Yam); 12. Travis
Blackburn (Kawj: 13. Anthony Poccro bb a (Suz) ; 14.
Ch ris Po meroy (Ya m); 15. Da vid Gaylord (Ka w) ; 16.
Au stin Sq uires (Suz); 17. Jim Wa rner (Suz); 18. Bill
W. llin (Suz); 19. Craig Davis (Hon); 20. Rya n Reyno lds
(Hon) .
T ime: 7 mi nutes. 33.17 seco nds .
250 HEAT 2 (20 riders, 8 I.lPS. to p 4 Ir<1ns fe r): 1.
Jeremy M