Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 13: C levelan dStadiu m Ohio hosted Its first AMA pro supercross race at Cleveland Stadium. Also lor the first time, spectators were allowed on the Infield at a supercross event. He almost didn't get a way quick enough for Emig, who touched McGrath's back wheel at the completion of the first lap . Freight-training right behind him were Henry, Ward, Hughes, Craig, Dowd, Kiedrowski and Lawrence, who actually let everyone go off the start and cut across from outside to inside to better his position. McGrath started pulling away slightly as Emig seemed to tighten up. "Doug was right on me and I was maybe thinking about that a little more th an going forward : ' said Emig of his short, early fade. '1 guess he made a mistake after we battled a little bit and that gave me so me breathing room." Henry pushed back up to Emig and was looking a little faster, especially through the triple jump sections. Finally, after five laps, Henry overpowered Emig in the Sturns, only to have Emig do a gutsy leap back in front of him off the tunnel jump. Moments later Henry almost ran off the track after the fini sh, g ivin g Emi g en ough room to get away for good. "I made some little mistakes here and there and the lappers did mes s me up," said Henry of his third-place ride. "I was trying to stay with Jeff, but I just couldn't do it. I'm not sure what happened that he and Jeremy were able to get away from me like that. There was a problem on the triples and yellow flags were eve ry. wh ere. I'm not sure if those guys were jumping it or not, but I was losing time somewhere." The problem occurred as Craig lay on the stadium floor about 10 feet past the last jump of the triple. About one-fourth of the riders on the track were doubling through the yellow flags and then taking the third obstacl e as a single. . "I got close to second and third when Henry and Emig were bouncing into each other but when the yellow flag come out I just let them go and settled for fourth ," said Ward . "I rode good enough to get about fourth and that's where I ended up." "Th at' s just racing, I guess," reasoned Henry. "Sometimes you get the lapped riders, sometimes you don't. I'm really happy about getting on the podium twice in a row." "I felt like I was on Jeremy's pace the whole time and at the end I just wa nted more laps," said Emig. "Whe n the white flag came out it was just like the Hangtown National. I was thinking, 'W hy does th e race have to end? I still have more work to do!' I feel like I can win at an y time, but it just takes that little bit of extra adrenalin e." "The ch a m pions hip w a s th e most important thing for me tonight," sa id McGrath. "That had to come first , but I knew it was go ing to come pretty easily in these last three races, so I was going for it tonight. I didn't want to just take fourth and I didn't wa nt to have anything happen , becau se I was being careful. Now I got two races to go and I'm on it. I got nine wins and I want 11." When asked how he felt ab out bein g tied in career wins with the supercross icon Rick Johnson, McGr ath sa id, "It's awesome. It's something that I never, ever expected to actually happen to me. I never thought about being ranked wit h him when I was a kid . H e was a n ido l th en a nd ev en thou gh I'm compared to him I still look up to him as if I were a little kid . It feels great to be recognized as someo ne who is as good as him . Some peo ple might say I'm better but I'll take 'as good: for sure." "Fou r th is okay fo r tonight," rea ~ so ne d Wa rd, w ho extended his po ints cu shion on Mik e Kiedrowski in th eir battle for the su percross vice-cha m pi onship . "I g o t some p oints o n Mike tonight. Wh en I saw that he wa s back a little bit , I sta rted to rid e a little more cautiou sly than I migh t'v e otherwise. I thought he w as right beh ind me on ce but it ended up bein g John Dowd . Mike is definitel y on m y -mind a li ttle bit because I really want to ge t second in the seri es . Once I saw that it wasn' t him behind me I just thought th at I would stay right where I wa s." "I started okay and got into fifth on th e first lap," sa id Hugh es. "I battled with Larry Ward and John Dowd for a while but Dowd crashed. I spent the night ca tching Larry, then he 'd pull away, then I'd catch him again, then he would pull away. I got fifth and that was about it." "I thin k Kied rowski missed a gear or so met hing and I wa s right there to take advantage of it," said Dowd, who fin ish ed seven th . " It was a good way to end the race because I kind of fumbled ther e at the beginning. I went to pass Ward in the roc ker section and it kind of tw eaked my wh eel and threw me over the bars. I couldn't get it going for a couple of lap s. I'm kind of bumming now becau se I think I could've got it to the top five wi tho ut the fall." "My race wa s in the shitter," sa id Kiedrowski after finishing eighth. "My start was n' t ve ry good becaus e I wa s lined up on the othe r s id e of th e box. Cra ig a nd I wer e go ing together for a lon g time a nd I got by him a nd th en Dowd . I was k ind o f catching up to Hu gh es bu t then Swink passed me . We all stayed the same until almost the end and then I we nt into a turn with a d eep rut on the last lap and the bike went into neutral. Do wd passed me back in th e last couple of turns." . "I w a sn 't thinking about Ward at all," added Kiedrowski. "I was thinking abo u t my own race and going as fast as I co u ld, but the track was kind of on elined and hard to ge t arou nd gu ys." The only guy on th e tra ck w ho mad e any . real progress was Honda of Troy's Brian Swink, w ho rose from a 16th pla ce start to an impressive sixth-place finis h. 125cc As h e did in hi s h eat r ac e , Mik e Brown holesh ot the main event and did his best impres sion of a disappearing man . Brown d id four p erfect la ps to open a sma ll lead on second-place Ferry and then rode a d efen sive race for the rest of the night to hold on to the win. "I go t a good start and I just went out and rode as hard as I could," said Brown of his rac e-winning performance. "On the last few laps a couple of lapped riders slowed me down and Ferry caught back up to me. On the last lap I thought he was going to get me, but he didn't, and I ended up pulling off the win. The triples messed me up a coupleof times, but I just tried to get over them every time and ride fast to the finish . It was so crowded at the end I di dn't even see the w h ite fla g co me out. I ju st to ok th e ins ide in every com er and held him off." "I was trying to stay close to Mike at th e beginning but a few lapped ride rs got in the way and I lost abo ut five seconds ," said Ferry of Brown's early getaway . "A fter that there wasn 't many places to make up time'so I just tried as hard as I could to catch back up. I just ran out of time at the end." Pichon, a close runner-up to Ferry in th e second 12Scc heat race, was third right away but a fourth-lap spill allowed Dobb and a frustrated Yezek to motor by him. "I didn't go for three (on the triple) right after the start and it really hurt me," said Yezek. "A lot of guys passed me there and I had to work my way around everyone else while those guys were out front by themselves. Brown and Ferry took off and they just got away. I got stuck behind James Dobb and he wasn't picking too many good lines. I couldn't get around him and we just dropped back. By the time I got him I was out of time. I have to give Mike and Tim credit for rid ing as fast as they did. They really earned it tonight." "I needed to finish right behind Mike because he was only three points behind me, " added Yezek. "Mike's got a lot of confidence right now and he ' s really hard to stop. I guess third place tonight a n d in th e series isn't too bad, but I know I could've done better." Ferry, in jured for part of th e series with a broken jaw, still finished fourth in the final rankings . "The injury could've been a lot worse than it was," said Ferry of his broken jaw . "I broke it in three pl aces but now it feels pretty good a nd it doesn't affect me when I ride. I just need to get my training back up to where I should be . I mean, I was just sitting on the cou ch for three weeks ea ting through a straw! I don't know exactl y what I'm doing next year, but I really want this title." 1"X Cleveland Stadium Clev eland, Ohio Results: May 20, 1995 250 HEAT 1 (6 laps, 4 rid ers tr.an sfer): 1. Dou g H enry (Hen): 2. Lar ry Ward (Ya m) ; 3. Mike Cra ig (Hen); 4. John Dow d (Yam); 5. M ike Kiedrowski IKaw): 6. Phil Lawrence IKaw) : 7. Bud dy Antunez (Ho n); 8. Denny Stephenso n (Suz); 9. Mike Jon es (Ho n): 10. Kevin Crine (KTM); 11. Larry Brooks (Yam); 12. Jeff Hed den (Ho n): 13. Brad Quear (Kaw): 14. Trevo r Vines (H en ): 15. Tim Pustelak (Suz); 16. Bryan Bellinger (Suz); 17. Spencer Smith (Yam); 18. Jeff De ment (KTM); 19. Jim Neese (Hon); 20. Da vey Castillo (Kaw). Tim e: 6 min., 3.08 sec. . 250 HEAT 2 (8 laps, 4 transrer): 1. Jeremy McGrath (H o n) : 2. Ryan Hug hes (Kaw): 3. Jeff Emig (Yam) ; 4. G reg Albertyn (Suz ); S. Kyle Lewis (Yam); 6. An thon y Amara d io (KTM); 7. Bria n Deegan (Ho n) ; 8. Cliff Palmer (Suz ): 9. Carl Valliancou rt (Hen) : 10. Gen e Na umec (Yam); 11. Mike H ogan (Hen): 12. Cha d Coon (Han) ; 13 . Ste phen Kreider (Han); 14. Jo n Hed den (Ha n); 15. Pe te Mal yj (Kaw): 16. Lenny Baker (Suz); 17. Barry Carsten (Suz): 18. Mar k Pillion (Ha n); 19. Brian Swink (Hen): 20. Mark Morris (Yam) . Time: 5 min ., 59..49 sec. 250 S EM I 1 (6 laps,S riders transfer): 1. Mike Kied rowski (Kaw): 2. Jeff Dement (KTM); 3. Mike Jones (Ho n): 4. Bud dy Ant u nez (H o n) ; 5. Phil La wr e nce (Kew), 6. Denny Stephen so n (Su z); 7. Kevin Crine (KTM); 8. Larry Brooks (Yam); 9. Jeff Hedden (Hon): 10. Davey Castillo (Kaw); 11. Brad Quear (Kaw); 12. Trevor Vines (Hon) ; 13. Tim Pus tela k (Suz); 14. Bryan Bellinger (Suz); 15. Spencer Smi th (Yam ); 16. Jim Neese (Hen). Tim e: 4 min ., 31.11 sec. 250 SEMI 2 (6 laps, 5 riders trander): 1. Brian Swink (Hon): 2. OiH Palmer (Suz); 3. Kyle Lewis (Yam); 4. Bria n Deega n (Hon): 5 . Barry Ca rsten (Suz); 6. Antho ny Amara dio (KTM); 7. Gene Naumec (Yam); 8. Ca r l Vallian co urt (Han) ; 9. Jon H edd en (H an ); 10. Step hen Kreider (He n): 11. Mike Hogan (Han); 12 Peter MaJyj (Kaw); 13. Chad Coo n (Ha n); 14. Lenny Baker (502); 15. Mark Pillion (Hen): 16. Mar k Morris (Yam), . Time: 4 min .•34.79 sec. 2SO LeQ (6 laps. 2 riders transfer): 1. Larry Brooks (Yam); 2. Ant ho ny Am aradio (KTM); 3. Kevin Crin e (KTM); .4. Carl Valliancourt (Hon); 5. Dav ey Castill o (Ka w ): 6. Gene Naumec (Yam); 7. Denny Stephenson (Suz ); 8. Iim Neese (Hon); 9. Jon Hedden (Hon); 10. Jeff Hedden (Hon); 11. Mike Hogan (Hon); 12. Stephen

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