Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

All eyes were focu sed on Huffman an d Bradshaw for the start of the 250cc Pro feature, but when the ga te dropped, p rivateers Lawrence and Donald Upton h ead ed th e field as the pack ro unded the first turn. Both Hu ffman an d Bradshaw were buried d eep in the pack, completing the first lap in seventh and 12th places, respectively. Huffman suddenly bega n slow ing. "I came in a little too ho t and the track was watered, and I thought I was going to crash," Huffman sa id. "Then I d id a big swappe r and I knocked the wind ou t of myself on the crossba r pad , and I could n't do nothing for like a lap ." While Hu ffman was recovering Brad sh aw wa s ch arging with a "new fire" that resembled the Bradshaw of old. "I th in k his d esire to win is bac k," said Yama ha team member Mike Guerra . "It looks like's ha ving fun with it agai n, bu t th e whole key to Damon is des ire, and he is show ing more of that now. Damon's about 75 percent recovered from his shoulde r inju ry , bu t he will m ake up for it with hi s desire to win. I think he 'll surprise a few people." Brad shaw did not di sappoint and fough t his wa y into the top three shortly after his teammate Doug Dubach did a header after a big double jump. Bradshaw kept the he at on reign ing East Coast 125cc Sup ercross Champion (Top) Yamaha factory ride r John Dowd got his season off to a pro fitable start by winning the 125cc Pro class. (Left) Honda of Troy's Mike Cra ig was a front-ru nner In the 250Cc class, fi ni shing seco nd to Lawrence. (Bo ttom) David Pingree (29) leads Kevin Windham (38), Dowd (7) and the rest of the 125cc pack. Pingree fini sh ed second. Mickael Pichon for th e next two la ps and pressured him to make a m istake when he went over the top of a berm. "I jumped too far over the jump and I couldn 't take th e turn," Pichon sa id . "I'm a little tired because I just arri ved from France. " . Meanwhi le, Bradshaw moved into second only to be surprised by Cra ig, w ho forced his wa y into second place just before reaching the halfway point. When the riders pulled into the hold ing area for the five minute pause, the ' order was Lawrence, Craig, Bradshaw, Pichon and Huffman. The restart was good for Huffman , who was now only a short distance behind th e lea ders in fifth. Huffman d ogged Pich on for two laps befor e he mad e his move, then set after Bradshaw. Huffman close d the distan ce on Brad shaw, and the two factory pilots battled for th ird. Huffman tried on three occasions to pass Bradshaw, but with each a tte mpt Brad shaw an swered back an d held on . About the same time Craig was pr essuring Lawrenc e for th e lead , but "Factory Phil" held his lines. With one lap remaining, the battl e for the lead became a four-r id er battl e invol vin g Lawrence, Craig , Bradshaw and Huffman. All eyes watched in anticipa tion as each of the four stepped up to the plate and made their individual bid for th e lead, bu t in th e end Lawre nce would hold on for th e v icto ry followed by Craig, Bra dshaw, Huffman and Pichon . " I'v e been riding r eal well la tel y," Lawrence said. "I wanted to come out here and win tod ay. All week long I didn' t think anyth ing but win. I didn't care who was goi ng to be out here. I wanted to win real bad ." Wh ile m os t r ace r s, in cl u din g Lawrence, start the ir mot ocross careers in the 125cc class and wind up in the 250cc ran ks, Yama ha pilot John Dowd has accomplished the opposite. "I don't think that I'm at any disadv an tage riding th e 125cc class this year," he said, "bu t it's kind of a new thing for me. I'm kind o f excited abo u t it .. I th ink I'm going to use that to my advantage." Pro Circuit-backed David Ping ree led the first seven laps of the race but was somewhat disappointed when the race was stopped after the first seven laps . "I don't like the new format so much right now," Pingree said . "That' s because I had a big lead , so that' s kind of a disad vantage for me." Pingree led th e restart but tang led wi th Yamaha 's Kevin Windham. "I got a good drive th rough the whoops and I went inside of Kevin . Then he cut in and tried to take off and get by me, and we just hit . He flew off one side and I got squirre lly and went right off the side of the track. It (the get-together) put a hole in my pipe, but that' s racing." That opened the door for Dowd , who gladly excepted the lead. From the sidelines, former supercross champion Bob Hannah gave Dowd the signal to push 100 percent, and Dowd foll owed th e order to the letter and pulled aw ay for the eve ntual wi n. Ping ree regrouped for second , while Ch ad Pederson, Casey Joh nso n and Hond a su ppo rt ride r Robbi e Rey nard, w ho star te d the race in 27th place, rounded the top five. In o n ly his t hird p r o race, Casey 17

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