Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·> O O R S ·: . . ." :- ' . Round 6: Red Bud Track 'n Trail M T C O S:· 'A 1251250cc National Championship-MOtoerosSSeries' MA Tra By Kit Pa lme r Pho tos by Kinney Jones BUCHANAN, MI, JULY 3 or the second consecutive week, Kawasaki tea m m a tes Mike Kiedrowski and Mike LaRocco provided a show in the 250cc National c1ass that won't be soon forgotten. This time the stage was the long, hilly Red Bud Track 'n Trail MX track located near the small town of Buchanan in sou thern Michigan. In both rnotos, the two Mikes ba ttled for the lead, all alone, just as they had done the p revious week a t the Southwick National in Massachusetts. And just like last week, the two riders traded 1-2 moto finishes. This time, the only difference was that Kiedrowski, aboard his Shane Nalley-tuned 10<250, finished ahead of series points leader laRocco in the day's final overall column, instead of the other way around, like in Southwick. At Red Bud, Kiedrowski came out on top in the allimportant, tie-breaking second moto, resulting in his third-straight National win at this venue. F (Above) Mike Kiedrows ki (1) perhaps had visions of things to come. He and teammate Mike laRocco would later collide while dicing for the lead. As a result, Kiedrowski lost a chance of gaining six points on series leader laRocco, and would later be fined $1000 for ghost-riding his bike Into laRocco after the race. (Left) Jeff Emlg (6) scored the overall win In the 125cc class via a sparkling comlt-frombehind ride In the second moto. Here he chases down Steve Lamson and Ryan Hughes In the first mete. - However, taking the overall win was more or less jus t a second thought for the defending cha mp who, for the second week in a row, failed to put a dent into laRocco's armor, since points are awarded on a moto-by-rnoto basis. For three weeks now, laRocco, w ho hails from nearby Sou th Bend, Ind ian a, has maintained his slim eight-point cushion over Kiedrowski. He left Michigan with . 278 points and Kiedrowski sits in second with 267. "I t's kind of frustrating to go tw o races withou t gainin g any po ints," sai d Kiedrowski. The race didn't go without some controversy, as the two riders - Kiedrowski and laRocco - once again banged handlebars, this time in the first moto, resu ltin g in Kiedrowski crashing and effectively ruining his chances of a firstmoto w in. By day's end, both riders were fined by the AMA for their actions both on and off the race track. Kiedrowski retaliated for LaRocco's knockdown pass in the first moto by launching his bike - riderless - into the side of his teammate as they returned to the pits. More on that later. With the series now at its halfway point, no one but Kiedrowski and LaRocco have won a moto - with both of them having walked away with three first-place trophies. Finishing third on the day was Team Honda 's Jeff Stanton, who turned in two consistent third-place rides, while privateer Jeff Matiasevich, on his NCY-backed Yamaha, finished fourth overall with an 8-4 tally. Team Yamaha's Mike Craig completed the top five with a 4-9. He gave the Kawasaki team something to worry about early in the first moto when he blasted into an early lead and quickly opened up a modest advantage, only to surrender the top spot to Kiedrowski and laRocco later on. But Jeff Emig d id give th e Yamaha sq uad somethin g to chee r abo ut at the end of the day, and proved to the huge Red Bud crowd th at when he wants to win , there is no stopping the Southern Californian . He accomplis he d thi s b y coming back from a mid pac k start to win the second moto and record his second overall victory of the six-race season with a perfect 1-1 tally. "I just got m y act together," said Em ig of his brilliant second-mote charge. "I wanted to pu t in a good moto, and the crowd cheering me on really gave me an extra boost." Series points leade r Steve Lamson, of th e 1-800-COLLECT /Honda team, ended u p second overall with a consistent 4-2 showing, slightly extending his advantage over teammate Doug Henry, who went 2-6 on the day. Henry led some of the second moto before dropping back with severe muscle cramps. Team Splitefire/Hot Wheel /Pro-Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes finished third with a 3-3. Henry and Suzuki's Ezra Lusk rounded out the top five overall . Lamson now enjoys a comfortable 24-point lead over Henry, 245-221, in the series standings, while Hughes is third wi th 212 points, just one point ahead of win ner Em ig, who has DNFed two motos thus far. Lik e Kied ro ws ki, th is was Em ig's third con secu tive wi n at th e Red Bud Nationa l. Both riders ea rned th e firsteve r National wi ns in th eir respective classes at Red Bud, as well. 2SDcc NATIONAL Craig looked nearly unbeatable early in the first of two 3O-minu te-plus-tw olap motos, as he aggressively put his Brian Lunniss-tun ed YZ250 to the front of the pack and quickly p ulled o u t a

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