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/127666
Round 13: Seattle Kingdome Bradshaw was in a similar situation three years ago when he injured his knee at an outdoor National a few weeks before th e final and ch ampionship-deciding supercross round in Los Angeles, where he lost a seemingly sure title to Jeff Stanton. Finishing fourth in Seattle, after running second early in the race, was Lamson, who was passed by LaRocco for third on the eighth lap, while Team Noleen/Sizzler Restaurants/Xtreme/ Yamaha's Larry Ward fulfilled his goal for the night of finishing in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Yamaha's Jeff Emig, Honda/I-800-COLLECT's Doug Henry, Suzuki's Jimmy Button, Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe and Team Noleen's Larry Brooks. The finish of the IS-lap, 125cc West Coast feature was a nail-biter. Team Splitfire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes led throughout the race, only to have his once comfortable lead shrink to a bike length, as series points leader Damon Huffman worked his way up Jeremy McGrath (1) nailed the holes hot ahead of teammate Steve Lamson (4) and Suzuld's Denny Stephenson (27) In the 250cc faature. A flat rear tire two laps from the finish prevented McGrath !rom winning the race and clinching the championship. By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones SEATTLE. WA, MAY 7 f there's one person who lives by the words " neve r gi ve up" it's Team Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski. For the second round in a row, ~~. the factory Kawasaki rider from Canyon Country, California, proved that a supercross ain't over 'til it's over. Kiedrowski came back from a seemingly impossible six-second deficit on series points leader jeremy McGrath to win his second Coors Light Challenge main event of the year in front of 33,281 spectators at the Seattle Kingdome. Two weeks earlier at the Dallas Supercross, Kiedrowski also came from behind and reeled in McGrath, but the two riders crashed into each other while battling ' for the lead on the last lap. Despite the fact that his teammate Mike LaRocco went on to win th e Dall as race, Kiedrowski kept his slim championship C1. .hopes alive b y finishing second - one ~ sp ot ahead of McGrath. ... 1n Seattle, under the concrete roof of 00 the Kingdome, Kiedrowski had one goal ...... - to finish ahead of McGrath, who could ~ clinch the '94 championship if he '0:::' crossed the finish line ahead of both ,..::; Kiedrowski and LaRocco. When it was all said and done, Kiedrowski suc cessfully accomplished his goal via fast rid- e e 6 ing, a lot of perseverance and a little bit of good luck. Bu t things looked bleak for Kiedrowski early in the 2Q-lap feature, as McGrath shot out to an early lead and quickly established a six-second cushion. Kiedrowski soon took control of second place after passing McGrath's teammate Steve Lamson and slowly narrowed the gap on McGrath until only three seconds separated the two rivals with three laps left in the race. But with two laps to go, McGrath landed off a triple jump and something suddenly didn't feel right to him; the back of his bike began to wallow around the track. " I could feel that something was wrong. My back tire went flat; there's a big slice in the rear tire:' McGrath said after the race. "Instead of risking it, I had to let Kiedrowski and LaRocco by." And so the championship chase continues on for at least one more roun d in San Jose, California, on Jun e 4. For all intents and purposes, McGra th needs to just "finish" the San Jose race and th e championship and the $30,000 Camel poin ts fun d check will be his for the taking. But there's no doubt McGrath wanted to clinch the title in Seattle, knowing good and well that there are two unpredictable outdoor National rounds yet to be run before the San Jose race. As you may recall~ the now-retired Damon Ryan Hughes won the 125cc West Coast main event In dramatic fash ion. He survived a laterace charge by series points leader Damon Hu1Iman, who ended up second.