Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Riding what used to be Mike Craig 's Yamaha works bike, Dowd, of the BoyesenlPenskelYamaha team, grabbed the holeshot in both 250cc motos. Here he leads Team Noleen riders Kyle lewis (middle) and Larry Ward. (Above) It was nice to see someone that was actually happy to win a National· actually, John Dowd was more than happy. (Below) Lamson (4) nailed the holeshot ahead of Damon Huffman (20), Henry (1) and Robbie Reynard (33) in the second 125cc moto. later when La Rocco o utrode Dow d through the track's toughes t section - a long whoop-filled sandwash. LaRocco im m ed ia te ly left Dowd be h in d and quickly opened up about a 10-second lead . ' La te in the ra ce, the top positions were fairly spread out and there was little passing going on anywhere. LaRocco fini shed way ahead of Dowd, who in ~rn took the checkered flag some 13 seconds a head of McGrath. Stanton, w ho at one time in the race had actually passed McGrath, slipped back to fourth, while Ward finished a d istan t fifth . Then came Brooks, Suzu ki' s Bri an Sw ink, Button , Lewis an d Do ug Du bach. On ce again, Dowd pulled a mons ter holeshot on th e Brian Lu n niss-t u ne d Yamaha in th e second m oto, onl y this timethe differ enc e was tha t his m ain concern - LaRocco - had a terrible gate, rounding the first tum near the back of the pack. "I spun (the back tire) on the line," said LaRocco of his start. "Then I tangled with someone in the first tum." Miraculously, though, LaRocco passed over 20 riders before the first lap was completed. "In the whoops 1 just pinned it down a line that nobody was using," he said. The first time around, Dowd had opened up " sizeable lead over Sw ink, a Stanton, Button, Ward, Lewis and McGrath. Knowing that LaRocco was mired back in the pack, Dowd used the opportunity to gain as much real estate between him and the Kawasaki rider as early as possible. "I realized that this was my shot and I didn't want to blow it," said Dowd. "I kn ew 1 had to ride as hard as 1 could but not make mistakes and save energy. This was my second chance (of the day)." " Stanton kept Dowd within his sights, but could never really challenge the Yamaha rider. "Actually, that was probably the best thing for me," said Dowd. "Stanton kept me pushing." With six laps to go, LaRocco passed Stanton for second, only to find a sevensecond gap between himself and Dowd. Could LaRocco catch Dowd in the few remaining laps? That was the only question left. LaRocco quickly reeled in the Yamaha rider and when the two-lap signal came ou t, only a few bike lengths separa ted the two riders. Surprisingly, a lap later the distance was the same. " "Oh, I changed lines in the whoo ps and got a little out of shape; 1 was trying to get out of his roost," said LaRocco. Tha t mistake was all that Dowd needed to han g on and take his second career National win . "I was going crazy those last two laps," said Dowd. "Mike is known for his late-race charges, so 1 rode those last laps as hard as I could; I gave it all 1 had. " La Ro cco rode a b r illiant race but wasn't exactly happy w ith the outcome after coming from so far behind. Because LaRocco has the series title all bu t won, he reall y didn't need the win at Sp ring Creek - or so you'd think. "I go ou t there to win every time," said LaRocco. " It doesn't matter if 1 have a (bi g) points lead or not. " Finishing third again was McGrath, but he had to work for it. After starting the moto in ninth, McGrath clawed and scratched his wa y to the front on what many of the riders agree is the toughest track on the circuit. "It's definitely the roughest track of the year, " said McGrath. "There's a variety of terrain - sand, hard-pack, loam y berms, ruts, uphills, downhills and that section - those whoops for giants. I had problems keeping my momentum toda y." Stanton again gave McGrath a run for his money, hold ing the Supe rc ro ss champ off until two laps from the end. "Hey, he (McGrath) dug deep down and did what he had to do to get around me," said Stanton . "I know my limits and that was it." Button managed to keep Ward at bay all moto long for fifth , while Dubach rod e well and was rewarded with seventh. "I love this track," said Dubach, who more or less retired after the end of last season. "I went out of my w ay to get here, and it w as fu n. 1 also h ave to thank Beach Sport Cycles (Coacoa Beach, Florida) for shipping my bike here." Swink faded back to eighth, finishing just ahead of Lewis and Jim Neese. 125CC NATIONAL · Lamson blew into the lead at the start of the first 125cc moto just ahead of teammate Henry, Emig and Honda rider Mike Brown. Crashing in the first tum was Suzuki rider Chad Lough, and also getting off to bad sta rts were Hughes and Suzuki's Ezra Lusk. Hughes crashed in the second tum, losing his back fender in the process. Up front, Henry began putting pressu re on the leader, while Emig watched the duel from a few bike lengths back. By the third lap , Henry had overtaken Lamson and inched out a modest lead. By the midway point the top riders were evenly spread out: Henry, Lamson, Em ig, Brown, Chad Pederson, James Dobb, Cra ig Decker, Tim Ferry, Huffman and David Pingree, though a few late-race duels would break out before all was said and done. It was at about this point that Emig began making his move. He soon reeled in and passed Lamson, who was showing signs of having some kind of problem. "Mud jammed in between the cases and the brake pedal," Lamson said later. "The back wheel was locking up, and one time 1 crashed on a downhill when the back tire wouldn't free up." Despite the sticking back brake, Lam- son managed to hang on to third, while Emig hounded Henry. Eventually, Henry got a little out of shape and Emig moved in for the kill. Within a few turns, Emig extended his lead by a few bike lengths and would - three la ps la ter take the checkered flag going away. Henry fini shed a distant second, and Lamson was way back in third. The Englishman Dobb, who now lives in Corona, California, worked his way into fourth after having passed Brown five laps from the finish. Ferry ended up sixth, followed by Huffman, Pederson, Hughes and Pingree . Lamson and Henry were at it again early in the second moto, while Emig was mired in 10th. Settling into third was Kawasaki's Robbie Reynard, who finished 11th in the first moto . Just behind Reynard were Hughes and Dobb, while Lusk was the top Suzuki rider in sixth. But two laps later, Lusk did a faceplant in the sandwash whoops, effectively ending his day. Two separate battles broke out early one involving Lamson and Henry for the lead, and Reynard and Hughes for third. Up front, Lamson was setting a blistering pace, but Henry was matching his every move. This went on lap after lap until Henry began making a charge late in the race; he managed to really make his presence known to Lamson, -g, ~ ....-4

• Cover