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/127678
Round 8: Kenworthy's MX Park (Left) Mike laRocco continued his dominance In the 250cc class, secu ring his fifth win of the season. (Below) Damon Huffman utilized his supercross skills to top the 125cc class. He still hss a shot at the series tit le. I I By Chris Jonnum Photos by Kinney Jones TROY, OH,jULY 24 espite the warm, sunny weather, Ohio bird watchers went home from this weekend dis appointed, as sightings of airborne fowl were few and far between. And who could blame the feathered creatures fo r remaining grounded? - what with the skies of the Buckeye State being so cluttered. The world's most talented pilots flew the highest-technological machinery available at the world-famous Dayton Air Show, while just down the road, the reg" ulars on the professional motocross cir- : cuit did likewise at the jump-fi lled Kenworthy's Motocross Par k. And most in the estimated 15,000~strong Kenw or thy 's crowd felt th ey'd witnessed the better display of aerial maneuvers. The st ars of th e show were Team Kaw asaki's Mike LaRocco and Team Suzuki's Damon Huffman, each using second-mote wins to bomb the competition in th eir respective d ivisions. Despite the absence of his injured team- 3 mate Mike Kiedrowski - the only other rider to win a 250cc overall this year LaRocco's mission was anything but easy. Customary poor take-offs in both motos left "Th e Predator" faced with likewise-customary come-from-behind charges, and LaRocco could charge no higher than third in the fir st moto. Camel Supercross Champion Jer emy McGrath led the flight formation in that outing, and chased Honda /l-SDO-COLLECf teammate Jeff Stanton in the early go ing of moto two, but LaRocco shot down the Red Riders and collected his fifth win of the series. "It feels good to get the overall," said LaRocco. "1 need all the points I can get." The skies are now relatively clear for the 23-year-old LaRocco, as he holds a commanding 106-point lead over Kiedrowski in the series standings, 373267. With Kiedrowski likely grounded for the remainder of the season, LaRocco's lead is in reality 129, as Team Boyesen /Penske / Yamaha 's John Dowd fifth at Troy - is third in the standings with 244. The situ ation is not at all similar in the 12Scc category, which seems to enjoy a different class leader with every round. Coming into the Kenworthy's Air Show, the man in that position was Team SplitFire/ Hot Wheels/Kawasaki rider Ryan Hughes, fresh off his first-ever victory the week before . A first- mote crash knocked Hughes unconscious at Troy, however, and allowed Honda/l -SOOCOLLECf's Doug Henry to regain the top spot in the standings. The defending champ used I.V.-fed fluids to out-s mart his pesky stomach problem and win moto one, but came up just shor t of Huffman in the second race. Henry's 1-2 punch matched series points with Huffman 's 2-1 combo, but the latter rider's tie-breaking second-moto win earned him th e limelight that comes with an overall victory; it was the second time in his career and this season that Huffman has enjoyed that limelight. "Th is is one of my favorite tracks," sai d Huffman. "I got th ird here last year, and I did even better this year. I kind of feel like I'm overdue. I've been ge tting some bad starts and running back in the pack. I was second in the poin ts and then I slipped back where 1 don' t feel like I belong . Now hopefully I can stay up there and not blow it like last time." With four rounds remaining, several riders still stand realistic shots at bringing ho me the series title, as jus t 43 points separate the top five. With 306 poin ts, Henry enjoys a slim eight-point advantage over teamma te Steve Lamson - third at Troy - while Hughes is another 11 back with 287. Huffman rests fourth with 273, while Yamaha's Jeff Emig - the '92 champ - has 263. 250Cc NATIONAL McGrath fired his number-two Honda down the long start straigh t and into tum one with the lead,.a position he would never relinquish. Dowd was on his tail for the first few turns, but was soon enough displaced by Team Noleen / Sizzler/Yamaha rider Larry Ward. Stant on completed the first of 14 laps in fourth ahea d of Suzuki's Jimmy Button, while LaRoccolanguished back in 11tho Ward dogged McGra th for the lead for several laps, while Dowd, Stanton and Button all went at it for third a few seconds back. Each of the riders in the