Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Opposite page) Perfect record: Ever since tuner Skip Norfolk (right) and Jeremy McGrath paired up five years ago , they have recorded five stra ight supercross championships -two In the 125cc class and now three In the 250s. (Above) Mike Brown (26), here leadi ng Mlckael Pichon (101) and Tim Ferry (23) early In the 125cc main , wen t on to win his second race of the year. Region final point standings. With French import Mickael Pichon having already claimed the championship, just three points separated Brown and Yezek in their battle for second . Brown holeshot the main event and was never headed, though Suzuki factory pilot Tim Ferry did all he could to overtake Brown and help third-place Yezek, piloting a F&S Suzuki, hold on to second in the standings. Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Pichon was fourth after a midrace faux pas and British rider James Dobb was fifth on Honda of Troy equipment similar to Brown's. In summing up the now-completed East Regional series, Brown said "I would've lik ed to win the series, but I missed a couple of races, so J guess second is okay." . The first-ever AMA professional supercross held in the state of Ohio attracted a smaller-than-expected crowd on a beautiful, warm Midwestern day. An announced attendance of 25,543 were scat tered about the spacious Cleveland Stadium, home of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns. The nice weather was a welcome change from a week of unsteady rain that left the dirt wet and hard to shape. The track was designed to stay off the football field in the middle of the stadium, which allowed race co-organizers Pace and SRO to allow spectators the opportunity to purchase $10 ticket upgrades to sta nd in the infield for the first time. Access was p ro vi d ed by a steep tunnel jump that, when combined w ith the low, rounded jumps, deep berms and rolling whoops, gave the C leveland track an old-school flavor . However, passing was at a minimum in both classes. In the 250cc.class the first five riders after one lap were in the exact same order at the end of the race: McGrath, Emig, Henry, Ward and Hughes. And in the I25cc class the first and second place riders were in the same order in the first turn as they were in the last. But even without much passing, fans were treated to some close, aggressive riding and close finishes in both main events. 250cc Honda of Troy's Mike Craig holeshot the first 250cc heat race as the pack thrust down the extremely short start chute into a tricky-but-jurnpable step-up. Henry, Ward and Yamaha's John Dowd filled in the next couple of positions. Dowd almost landed on Ward after the second set of triples, an action which seemed to inspire Ward to get away from Dowd right away and get after Craig. He passed the semi-privateer on the second lap and kept going forward, but his progress wou ld end in second as Henry rode confidently out front. "Winning Dallas definitely boosted my confidence for tonight's main event," said Henry after his heat race win. "I don't think of the other riders any differently than I used to . I just know that because I beat them all once, I know I can do it again." Ward ended up second ahead of Craig and Dowd. Not making a direct transfer was Kiedrowski, who fell in a corner and los t too m uch time to get close to the last qualifying position. Emig and Hughes holeshot the second hea t race bu t, like a vision of thin gs to come, McGrath trip led rig ht past him for the lead . The soon-to-be three-time champ who was wearing a MotoWorld camera on his helmet. Hughes ended up fighting with Emig for second as McGrath pulled away, and Hughes proved to be victorious this time. Suzuki's Greg Albertyn moved past KTM's Tony Amaradio for fourth on the second lap to seal the qualifying order. As the other riders were rolling off the track, McGrath spoke to floor announcer Larry Maiers about the record. "It really wasn't one of the goals in my life to be the all-time best supercross rider," said McGrath about getting to Johnson's 2S-win standard. "It's something that I never really thought possible when I was a little kid, but tonight may be the night." When asked about just settling for a .title-clinching fourth-place position instead of risking everything for a race win, Jeremy was adamant. "I am definitely not riding for fourth-place tonight. I am riding for win number 2S tonight, I just wa nt to get the start and get the win:' Kiedrowski put in a workman-like performance to win the first 250cc semi, leading the whole race on his factory Kawasaki. "T he track is getting better," said Kiedrowski after his cameo appearance in the second round of qualifiers. '11' s a little bit better the second time around. You need to get a good start here for sure:' KTM's Jeff Dement put in a fine ride for second place and Pennsylvania's Mike Jones was a solid third in his first supercross appearance in several rounds. He was able to beat the former factory tr io of Buddy Antunez, Phil Lawrence and Denny Ste phenson, the latter of which was forced into the last chance qualifier. The second semi saw heat race crash victim Brian Swink dominate the proceedings, opening enough room for himself along the way to try a few cancan moves for the fan s on the white-flag lap. Suzuki privateer Cliff Palmer was second ahead of Noleen/Sizzler's Kyle Lewis, Brian Deegan and Barry Carsten. In the LCQ, longtime pro Larry Brooks was the winner on the third oleen/Sizzler Yamaha in the field , while Amaradio was a steady second. The unfortunate Stephenson did not make the main event after a first-turn crash put him too far. back to recover in six short laps. The main event saw the Iightningquick Emig blast into the first turn ahead of everyone, but McGrath was going even faster when they hit the second comer. "What can I say? McGrath just blasted past me ," said Ernig. "He was just on fire right there at the beginning. After that I didn' t really slow down but I did have to settle down a bit:' "I did that triple and Jeff was right in front of me, but I just wasn't going to wait," said McGrath of his quick pass for the lead. "There was a jump on the inside but it was only halfway in the track, so I just pinned it and cut inside of him. After that I just wanted to get away as fast as I could because th e track wasn't very rutted up at all. I wanted to just get outgo. I felt like I was riding like it used to happen when I would get out front and just go."

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