Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

of th e fi rst m ot o . Fifth w ent to McGrath's teammate Jeff Stanton, with Team Suzuki's Brian Swink, Honda of Tro y' s Todd De H oop, No leen/ Sizzler /Yamaha's Kyle Lewis, pri vateer Keith Johnson and Kawasaki Team Green's Jim Neese filling in the top 10. While most motocross facilities are loca ted far from town in pastures or fields (or worse), Motocross 338 sits in a pictu resque patch of woods on the edge of Sout hwick, a small tow n near the Massachusetts/ Conn ecticut border. The claimed 10,000 spec tators were treated to pleasant (albeit humid ) race cond itions, than ks to a rai nstorm Satu rday night that gave way to clear, sunny skies on Sund ay morning. 250CC NATIONAL , McGrath got the ball rolling with a moto-one holeshot, completing lap one with Swi n k and Dowd on ' h is ta il. Neese and Team Suzuki riders Phil Lawrence and Jimm y Bu tton were other s tro ng starters , an d LaRocco, Kiedrowski and Stanton we re all in the top 10 after lapone. (Ab ove) Perfect conditions awaited riders and spectators at the beaut iful MX338 track, noted for Its san dy surface. (Left) Ryan Hughes (22) and Damon Huffman (20) fight for th ird place In the second 125cc race . Huffman took the pos it ion and was third overall. (Right) Runner-up Mike Kiedrowski (1) prepares to overtake Jeremy McGrath (2). who led much of the open ing 2S0cc moto. While Swink faded, Dowd took over second un til being passed by a charging Kiedrowski on lap eight. Kied rowski was seven seconds down on McGrath at the time, bu t he needed just six laps to close the gap. On a long, chopped-u p straight, Kied rowski pulled up alongside McGrat h, mov ing by over the following d rop-off. He pulled ahead from that point, taking the easy win. "1 knew I'd get him," said Kiedrowski. "1 figu red he'd tire out. 1 li ke th e track, and 1 felt good. The only problem is all the sand, that sticks to your face and everything." Lakocco got by the fading McGrath with three of 18 laps remaining, but was too far down to threaten Kiedrows ki. "My arms didn't pump up; 1 just got a little tired, " expl ained McGrath. "1 swapped and screwed up on on e lap, which kind of slo wed me d own. I'm happ y, th ou gh. Th e track is wei rd . Abou t every fourth lap, the berms get blown out and you have to go in the middle. Then the next lap it's fine again ." Dowd was fourth ahead of Stanton and Lawrence, who was riding the best he has since being inju red early in the year. Swink was seventh. "1 was happy to get a good start," said Swink. "1 practiced all week on a concrete gate . Most guys had trouble spinning, and 1actually wheelied and had to back off. After that 1 jus t go t ti red, and m y arms pumped up ," Button dropped out when he swapped and went down hard over a d rop-off, and Team Yam ah a ' s Mi ke Craig quit when his YZ250 broke its rod . Taking a rare holeshot in moto two, laRocco put his Mike Lakocco Sr.-tuned KX250 into turn one with Dowd nipping at his heels. McGrath and Stanton were close behin d, with Kiedrowski completing lap one in seve nth place. McGrath took over second for several laps, but fell victi m to Kiedrowski, who was again making short work of the pack. Kied rowsk i w as six secon ds in arrears of laRocco wh en he took ove r second, and the champ reeled in th e J eader in seven revolutions of the challenging ci rcuit. Once within reach, Kiedrow ski tried a pass on the inside line of a rough downhill, but got out of shape as the riders ente red the following right-hander. LaRocco' s righ t peg took ou t several of Kiedrowski's front-wheel spokes, an d Kiedrowsk i fell to th e gro und, his impressive cha rge having gone for na ught. "1 caught uptohim, and it's hard to get around, so 1said, 'Okay, man, 1gotta do it!", said Kiedrowski. "1 pulled up alongside him and he had the momentum. We hit and he kind of dragged me along for a few feet, and 1 got pulled to the ground." " We mad e co ntact, and 1 was n' t going to give it to him," said laRocco. " He caught my peg and I kind of dragged him down. I'd have done the same thing. If we'd hav e (played team tactics), we'd be babies out there." After being passed by Stanton early on, Dowd passed th e fo rme r ch amp back late in the moto to finish third ."1 like this track, but sometimes 1 wonder if it's got me jinxed," said Dow d. " 1 wasn't sure how strong he (Stan ton) was goi ng to be at th e end of the .mo to, 1 saw him ge tti ng a Ii ttle sloppy, and I said, 'Okay, I've got him. :" Stanton he ld o n for fourth and McGrath was fifth after stopping for a fresh set of goggles. 125CC NATIONAL Henry d rew a cheer from the crowd when he put his Pete Steinbrecher-tuned CR12S at the front of the pack off the mo to-one star t. Lamson wa s second, and the two Honda riders quickly pulled awa y from the third-placed Emig. Lamson passed cleanly on the fifth circuit, and stayed o ut front until just five laps remained. At that point, Henry got by in a turn, but Lamson quick ly ju mp ed back in to the lead . He nry passed again o n a d ow nh ill, sending the crowd into a frenzy . "My arms started pumping up, and 1 could barely hang on," said Lamson . "1 felt good before he passed me." Back in the lead, Henry pulled ahead a few seconds and scored the moto win. "He (Lamson) was rid ing good," sai d Henry. "1 wasn't holding back, but I wasn't surprised when he passed me. 1 know it's a long race here, because the sand tires you out." Emig wa s a distan t third, just in front of a charging Lusk. "1 got some banners in my rear wheel, which kind of messed up my rear b rake," said Lus k. " 1 might've been able to catch up to him (Emig) sooner if it wasn't for that. The lappers were really slowing me down." Huffman rode conse rvatively to finish fifth. Lamson holeshot moto two, b ut Henry was in front at the end of lap one. Lamson stayed within one or two seconds of his teammate until aro und lap 10, when he faltered and fell approximately five seconds back. He made a despera te charge in the final few laps, closing to Henry's rear wheel with just a few tums remaining. Henry barely managed to hold him off, and the two crossed the finish line within feet of each other. 7

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