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/127659
Round 8: Hoosier Dome and 11th, respectively, af ter riding together throughout much of the feature. "I was riding good at first, but I've been sick since after Daytona, and 1 just hit the wall," said Lamson. "1 was beat at about eight or 10 laps. That 's the way it goes, though." Another rid er who has had better days was Te am KTM ' s Pa lmer. The Oklahoman was running as high as 12th when his bike bega n sm oking badly, the sym p tom of a leaking radiator. Palmer dropped out on the 13th lap . (Left ) Ezra Lusk returned to winning form at Indy, topping hi s heat race and the 125cc main evenL (Below) Heat race winners Jeremy McGrath (left) and Jeff Matlasev lch joke before th e main. (Bott om) Indeed he has. affected by his tender an kle. "It (the ankle) wa s still warm, so it d idn't ge t s tiff on me," sai d McGrath. " It rea lly didn't slow me down at all." Whil e pressurin g Cra ig fo r th ird place, McGrath got another scare wh en the Yamaha rider lost momentum wh ile ju m p ing th e finish-line doub le. " He (Craig) bogged and cased it on the landing, and 1 was right behind him," said McGra th. "I kind of lea ne d it ov er to keep from land ing on him, but 1 landed rig ht nex t to h im , a nd his bike was bouncing back up. 1 hit my han d, and he was hold ing on to my arm to keep from falling off his bike. I was thinking, 'Oh, man/ I'm go nna crash .'" " We go t all tangled up and were d raggin g each other off the bikes," said Craig. " It was close." McGrath decided he had had enoug h of fourth place, a nd passed Craig and Matiasevich on the fifth and sixth laps, resp ectively. "1 started off good , bu t 1 su re d idn't '<:t' finish that way," said Matiasevich, who 0"\ eventually fin ish ed se ven th. "1 tensed ~ up and wasn't flowing with the bike." Once in second, only Emig stood between McGrath and victory, and the two riders a ren' t e xa ctly the best o f friends. Still, the predicted conflict failed to ma terialize, as McGrath stalked his rival for several circuits before moving cleanly by on the 10th lap . "1 was happy to be in front," said Emig. "1 just made a m istake in the wh oop s, and he happen ed to be close eno ugh to cu t to the inside. Every body was screwing up in those whoops . One time 1got behind Denn y (Stephenson) in that section, and yelled at him to move over. He looked back and fell down. " Emig d idn't give up once passed, but was n ot abl e to serious ly threat en McGrath. Still, th e champ didn't seem able to pull aw ay convincingly, either. Mea nwhile, laRocco was putting on one of his patented charges, and sa t in th ird after tr ip ling past Cra ig on th e 11th lap . The two finished in those positions, with Kied rowski putting on a charge of his own to finish fifth. "1 got a decent jump on the sta rt, but 1 kind of got pul led on the straight and then pushed out in the first tum," said the 250cc National cha mp. "1 worked up to fifth and just kind of rode around. 1 wasn' t being aggressive enough. " Huffma n fi nished si xth, t h e bes t result in his brief 250cc class career. "1 go t a good jump (on the start), but we use ca rbon fiber silen cers, and it wa s hard to hear the bike," said Hu ffman . "1 don't think 1 shifted up. 1 rod e my own lines and 1 felt pretty good. I tucked in behind Stanton a nd Lamso n and 1 thought they 'd tow me through th e pack, but it didn't work out that way. I picke,? some good lines a nd pa ssed them. Matiasevich was seventh ahea d of Swink and Henry. Stanton and Lamson were indeed struggling, finis hing 10th 125cc Robbie Reynard and Lusk each poste d a w in in th e tw o h eat races, and Doug Ston e topped the Last Chance Qua lifier in the 125cc division . Lusk pulled the holesh ot d own the long start straigh t in th e I S-lap main even t, with Reynard not far behind. Button, however, was way back in the pack, moving up to 10th by the end of lap one. "1 got a good jump, bu t I'm so heavy fo r a 125 that 1 ge t pull ed on long straights," said the lanky Suzuki pilot. "1 p roved at Gaine sv ille th at 1 can get a g o o d start on a 250 . When I came arou nd the second time, the p it board said, 'Yogi - first: and 1 thought, 'Why can't he get a bad start?'" The race had all the ingredients for a good dice between Lusk and Reynard, but Reynard began to fade and the bat tle never m at eria lized. "1 dropped in behind him and tr ied to make a pass, but 1 kept making mist akes," said Reynard. "1 backed off to try and sm ooth