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/127664
Round 12: Texas Stadium races. At th e controls of the lea d b ike was fa ctory Yamaha rider Em ig, w ho pu lled the h oles h o t a hea d of Te a m Honda/I-80O-COLLECT's Steve Lamson, LaRocco and Suzuki's number-one 250cc rider Brian Swink. Rounding the first lap near the back of the pack as a result of a first-tum pile-up were Yamaha rid er Jeff Matiasevich, Kiedrowski, and Honda-mounted Rich Taylor. A couple of bobbles dropped Lamson to fou r th beh in d Emig, LaRocco and Swink. Emig settled in to a comfortable pa ce, with laRocco matching his every move. Lap after lap, Emig and laRocco p layed follow the leader as they broke away from the rest of the pack. But befo re laRocco had the chance to stick a wheel underneath Emig's Yamaha, the leader landed short over a step-up triple jump and went ca rtwheeling over the handlebars. laRocco found himself with a huge lead over Swink, who had plenty of breathing room over Lamso n. Emig re-started in fifth behind Honda of Troy's Todd Del-loop, passing him on the last lap to earn a trip to the his teammate Kiedrowski, but with only one point to spare; 218-217. Jeff Stanton, who finished sixth in the feature is a distant fourth with 189 points, 11 points ahead of Emig. Perhaps just as exciting as the 250cc Coors Light Challenge was the combined East/West Coast 12Scc feature which was won by Team Suzuki's Jimmy Button, after having pushed and shoved his way to the front from a fourth-place start. But most of the action took place behind him in what was a nail-biting, five-way battle involving Team Splitfire/Pro-Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes, West Coast series points leader Damon Huffman, Suzuki's Ezra Lusk and Hughes' teammate James Dobb. Positions changed no-less than 15 times among these racers as they mixed it up throughout the IS-lap race. Lusk emerged on top of the battle, ahead of H uffman an d Do bb. H u ghes crashed twice and en ded up 18th. Butto n's win was perhaps overshadowed a bit by Lusk, who clinched the Eastern Regional 12Scc Supercross Series title. Going into the fi nal East Coast round of the year at Texas Stadium, Lusk enjoyed a IS-point lead over Button, w ho had little hope of catching up in the poin ts race. "I'm just glad it's all over with; it's a big relief," said Lusk, the new champ. (Above) Privateer MikeJones carried a little too much speed going Into the first tum in the 250cc feature and crashed Into the hay bales, pitching him over the bars. He landed on another portion of the track but crawled to safety before gelling used as traction. (Right) Jeremy McGrath (1) squared off this tum to pass Jeff Emlg (6) and to keep from gell ing passed by teammate Jeff Stanton (5). Emlg finished fourth, Stanton sixth; "Now I can go ou t and be calm and race the 250s." "I'm happy I won, but the championship sure would've been nice ," said Button. !'I may have won the battle, but I lost the war." Lusk finished ou t the season with 231 points while Button ended up with 219. Third in the series went to RRP's Tim Ferry with 176. Ferry finished seventh in tonight's 125cc feature. This year's Texas Stadium track was very similar in design to that of last week's track at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, but warm temperatures kept the track hard-packed and dry. 250Cc For the umpteenth time this season, a Yamaha rider out-powered the rest of the pack to the first tum to start things off in the first of two, eight-lap heat ...After running off the track and sla mming Into a hay bale, Kiedrowski strugg led to get back on the track, while McGrath mounted and restarted his bike. Meanwhile, MikelaRocco (7) raced past them both, and two turns later, sa iled over the finish line Jump with the win.