Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Larry Ward (11) and Steve Lamson (5) battle for position . Ward finished second aga in. and is still s econd in the points standings . (Below) Mike laRocco strugg led with traffic and took third. (Below left) Mike KiedrowskJ (7) reels alter slamming with John Dowd (1 4). Jeff Emig (6) and Steve Lamson (5) avoid the mayhem. "We went stiff, but the tracks have a lot of tight turns," said LaRocc o. "O u r practice track is a lot faster. I'm really happy with the bike now. " Perhaps the biggest news of the night was the fact that someone put a legitimate pass on McGrath, and that someone was hometown hero Mich ae l Ray Craig, who also led much of last year's race. "Sting Ray" stung early on lap one, but soon surrendered to the champ and slipped to an eventual fourth - not bad for so meo ne who crack ed his sho u ld er blade just three weeks ago . Craig was foll ow ed b y H ond a /lBOO-Co lle ct co h o rts Doug Henry a n d Steve Lamson, and Yamaha teamsters Jeff Emi g and John Dowd . Kawasak i' s Mike Kied rowski and Honda of Troy's Brian Swi nk com p leted the top 10. McGrath isn't the on ly rider wi th a p er fect poin ts total thus far, as Te am Suz uk i's D am on Hu ffm an wo n h is fou rth 125cc 'Western Regi on al SX fea tu re in as many tries. Huffman led from t h e ge t-go, th ou g h a rc h -r iva l Ry an H ughes a lso g ated we l l. The S pli tFi re / Pro C ircu it/ Kawa saki ace coul dn 't repea t h is wi n of a ye ar ago, however, and actua lly gave u p second to Tea m Suzuki ri der Craig Decker. H ughes wa s trai led by his teammate David Pingree in fourth, with Atomic 22's Ch ad Pederson completin g the first five. 250cc The first he at race offered what was p erhaps the best action of the evening, w ith H enry and Ward spend ing all e igh t laps squabbling over the lead. Ward finally used a block -pass to take the top spot for good on lap seven, and made his po int by looking back at the Honda rid er over a triple. laRocco finished a di stant third, with Lam son and Kawasak i priv ateer Ph il Lawrence followin g. "I've been getting beat by a red bike in th e mains, and I ain't go in g to get beat by a red bike no more!" boasted Ward. Hea t two saw McGrath get by Dowd on lap three and pull away to an easy wi n. Dowd held third, with Craig, Emig a n d Kie d ro wsk i co mple ting th e to p five. "I think I' ve go t a lot of guys psyched out, wh ich is good for me," said McGrath. Swink survived a scary-looking heatra ce cras h with Gr eg Alb er tyn to w in his sem i, pulling a can -can to celebrate. Albertyn was next, and Honda of Troy teamm ate s Mike Br o w n an d Tod d DeHoop wer e third and fourth, respectiv ely. Rounding out th e top five and trans ferring to th e main was KTM ' s Tony Amaradio. Frenchman Frederic Bolley wa s the semi -two victor, with a stru ggli ng Mike Kiedrowski head ing factory KTM rid er Jeff Dement and Honda privateer Mike Chamberlain. Fifthwent to Noleen /Sizzler/ Yamah a's Larry Brooks. Brooks' teammate Kyle Lewis easily topped th e Las t Chance Qualifier, and Honda pri vat eer Buddy Antunez held off Lawrence for the final transfer spot. ' Lawrence ma y not have qualified even had he made the pass, as he ju m ped a double under a yellow flag. Cr aig turned he ads when he shot his H onda of T roy CR250 by th e fa cto ry ma ch ine of initial leader McGrath on one of th e firs t s traigh ts in th e ma in . McGrath fo ll owe d fo r a lap be fore block-passing the EI Cajon resid en t in a tigh t turn. "I was ki nd of surprised to see him d o that," sa id McGra th . "I figu red I' d better make my move quick and try to ge t away." That h e d id , while behind Craig, a third -placed Lam son tri ed to hol d off th e adva nc es of Wa rd . A fter several lap s of s tea dy pre sslj re , th e lanky Yam ah a pilo t fi nall y pu lle d ra p a ss th rou gh the whoo ps on lap seven. "That' s the best I 'rod e since I came ba ck (fro m a chest injury)," sa id Lamso n, who even tua lly s lip ped to sixth. "The only p roblem is I'm still getting a li ttle tired , I've b een traini ng, but it takes a while to catch up, I think." Once by , Ward rapidly eli m ina ted Craig's advantage befo re us ing a blockpa ss a t th e mid w ay poin t. From th en z:J o n, Ward ma in tained McG ra th 's pace fro m about 11 seconds back, nabb ing ~ his second runner -up finish of the year ':": , and celebrati ng with a no-footer. . ~ " I w a sn 't e xpe ctin g it to b e th at M easy," said McGrath . " I rode a little ~ tight in my he at, but I came back and talked to Gary (Semics, his trainer), and he go t me to relax ." LaRocco had gotten 'a good ju mp out of the ga te, but alo ng with teammat e Kied rowski, got pushed wi de in the first turn. He was mired mid pack as a result, but moved up quickly un til enco u ntering Honda te a mm a te s La m s on a n d Henry. "Both of the m were all over," said LaRocco. "The track was on e-lined, but they we re definitely using all of it." LaRoc co finall y took th ird five laps from the end, and that was the bes t he could d o. I;;:l 7

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