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'MOTOCROSS . 1251250cc.. Series.. Round S"" MX 338 . ~x AMA NatkinalChalilpionship ------------:----------------- By Kit Palmer Photos by Karl Ockert and Deborah Buckley SOUTHWICK, MA, JUNE 25 eff Emig knows just how close he came to not winning this year's 250cc National round at the brutally rough MX 338 race track in Southwick. Had it not been for a little bit of good luck in the second 250cc moto, he could have just as easily headed bilck to his home in Riverside,. California, with nothing more than a top-five finish to talk about, instead of what actually happened, his first-ever 250cc National win. After a strong and impressive wire· to-wire victory in the first 250cc National moto, Emig looked to be headed to a Southwick sweep after taking an early lead in the second moto. However, Emig's fellow factory Yamaha team rider and homestate hero John Dowd, who finished second in the first moto, decided he had had enough of eating Emig's sandy roost and did something about it. For the first time all day, Emig suddenly found himself not leading the way, and the lead change seemed to fluster the former 125cc ,National champ..Soon after Dowd took over the point, Honda's Jeremy McGrath swooped by Emig as well. Then shortly after that, Kawasaki's Mike LaRocco passed the fading rider, as did Suzuki's Greg Albertyn. An overall win suddenly seemed out of reach for the first moto winner. But... When a blown shock seal knocked Dowd out of the race and Albertyn crashed while trying to make a move on LaRocco, Emig suddenly found himself running· in third instead of fifth. Emig eventually took the checkered flag a long way behind second-moto winner McGrath and runner-up LaRocco. His third-place finish would be just enough J to beat McGrath's 4-1 for the day's overall honor, giving Emig his first 250cc win of his career. '1 felt strong in the first moto," said Emig, who outran Dowd to the checkers after a moto-Iong dogfight. "But in the second (moto) I had stomach cramps well, not cramps, but my stomach was feeling messed up, and I just ran out of strength. But I'm happy 1 won, eSpecially at a place 1 wasn't confident. I'm more of a hard-pack rider, not the loam. But 1still gave it 100 percent." Despite winning, Emig wasn't entirely pleased with his performance, knowing that he nearly blew a sure win. This became came quite clear when a fan yelled at him afterward: "Do the same next week, Jeff." Emig quickly responded, "No. I'm going to win both motos next week." In the second race, McGrath rode what could have been the single best outdoor moto of his career. All of the top factory riders gated at the front of the pack in the second 250cc moto. The three-time Supercross Champion simply outrode them all and eventually crossed the finish line with more than 10 seconds to spare over LaRocco, then Emig, Mike Kiedrowski and Albertyn. And he even rode the last two laps with a broken footpeg that was dangling from his motorcycle after the race. "It was hell, rough," said McGrath of the notoriously grueling Southwick track. "I just hung in there, had some good lines, felt pretty good - till the end there. I got tired. But it (winning) was mostly (in my) heart - I wanted to win so bad." Grabbing third overall, sore wrist and all, was LaRocco, who posted 5-2 finishes, while Albertyn (3-5) and 'Kiedrowski (6-4) rounded out the top five overall. McGrath came to and left Southwick with the series points lead intact, hold- ing an ll-point advantage over Ernig, 208-197. Next in line is Kiedrowski with' 165, while not far behind him lurks Albertyn with 153. _ It was all Suzuki in the 125cc National - well, almost. Suzuki riders Tim Ferry and series points leader Damon Huffman each took moto wins but it was a Honda ridden by Steve Lamson that took the glory. Consistent 2-2 moto finishes gave the Team Honda/l-BOOCollect rider the overall victory over Huffman's inconsistent 5-1 tally. After winning the first moto and getting off to a midpack start in the second moto where he climbed to sixth - Ferry salvaged third overall. Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes (4-3) and Honda of Troy's Mike Brown (3-4) filled out the top five overall positions. The points chase remains extremely tight in the 125cc title chase. Huffman still stands on top of the leaderboard with 190 points, while Brown and Ferry are locked in a tie for second with B5 points each. Hughes currently sits in fourth place but knocking on his back door is his teammate Mickael Pichon, as only one point separates the two Kawasaki riders, 176-175. 250cc NATIONAL Much to the delight of the recordbreaking crowd of 13,000, New Englander Dowd powered his blue-and-white factory Yamaha into the lead at the start of the first moto, but his stint in the spotlight wouldn't last for long, as Emig motored by his teammate before the opening lap was complete. Not far behind Dowd followed McGrath, Honda of Troy's Todd DeHoop and Albertyn. Kiedrowski came around in seventh; Team Noleen/Sizzler /Yamaha's Larry Ward was ninth, and LaRocco 16th. Circulating the track in last plac~ was Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, who was involved in a multi-rider pileup in a tight, uphill, left-hand turn. Before the lap was over, Bradshaw would crash again all alone when his front submerged itself in a soft berm, spitting him over the bars. A frustrated and somewhat embarrassed Bradshaw would complete just one more lap before pulling off with a severely bent footpeg and a tweaked front end. Back out on the track, Emig, Dowd and McGrath w~re playing follow the leader, while Albertyn had sole control of fourth. DeHoop ran fifth for a while before giving in to LaRocco and Kiedrowski, who were involved in their own heated battle. Lap after lap, Emig, Dowd and McGrath raced single-file around the whooped-out track, stopping the clocks at just under two minutes a lap. By the halfway point, Emig appeared to open up a small advantage over Dowd, but never more than three seconds. Then McGrath started falling off the pace quite noticeably. Albertyn soon had McGrath in his sights again and quickly reeled in the Honda rider, then passed him a few laps later. "1 set up my suspension a little too soft and almost went over the bars a couple of times, and that scared me a little," said McGrath. "1 got discouraged and that's when Albee passed me." Meanwhile up front, a lapped rider blocked Emig's line and allowed Dowd . to catch right back up to the leader. But just as lappers had helped Dowd's cause, they also hurt his bid for the lead a lap later while he tried to make a move on Emig. "Some guy rolled over the top of this jump, then pinned it and. completely roosted me," said Dowd. Suddenly Emig found himself with his biggest lead thus far, a lead that would never be challenged again, at least not in this moto. Emig went on to score the first-moto