.SUPERCROSS .Round 3:Anaheim Stadium
AMA S
upercross Series .
By Davey Coombs and Donn Maeda
Photos by Kinney Jones
6
ANAHEIM. CA. JAN. 28
Tea m H on da /l-BOO - Co lle ct / Fo x ri der Je remy
McGrath continued to dominat e the 1996 AMA Supercross Series by scoring yet
an o the r ru naway w in
aboard his Skip No rfo lk tuned CR250. This time, his
win came at Anaheim Stadi um in front
of a record crowd of 65,264 fans.
McGrath had a nea r-perfect n igh t at
what he cons iders to be his hometown
supercross, w inning both h is heat race
and the 22-lap main even t to keep h is
perfect 1996 winning record in tact . The
victo ry a lso m a r k ed h is re cordex te n d in g 32n d caree r w in in AMA
250cc Supercross racing .
Finishing about 10 se co nds behind
McGr at h was an other local star, Team
Kawas aki ' s Damo n H u ffm a n - who
stoo d on the pod ium for the first tim e in
his 250cc career . Filling ou t an all-Californian p od ium w as McGrath's fell ow
Honda box-vanner, Stev e Lam son , who
hail s from the no rthern part of the state.
This year ' s edition of th e Ana heim
even t m arked the sixth year in a ro w
that McGrat h has step ped into the winner' s circle ahead of everyone. In 1991
an d '9 2, Mc G r a th wo n the We stern
Region al 125cc main event on Pro Circu it-backed Hond as, and he's won the
250cc class every year since he became a
full-fled ged member of Team Honda.
"This is my favorite event of the yea r
and I came here to win," said McGrath,
who hails from nearby Canyo n Lake. "A
lot of m y frie nds and family come out
h ere to wat ch a n d this was th e first
p la ce I ever won a 250 m a in, so I' m
always goi ng to be pump ed for a win
here. An d I'm here to stay. I'm still a
pretty yo u ng guy and I've got a few .
years left in me." McG ra th is 24 yea rs
old.
McG rath felt welcome at home at
Anaheim, but the event was do wnright
rude to tw o of his closest riva ls for the
title. Yamaha's Dam on Bradsh aw ' s race
(in h is first visit to th e "Big A" since
1993) turned into wh at cou ld on ly be
d escr ibe d as a nigh tm are. Bradshaw,
second in poin ts comi ng in to the event
a fte r tw o -s tr ai ght p od ium fi ni s hes,
failed to qu alif y d irectly int o the main"
event from bot h his heat race and semi.
He su ffered the ind ignity of makin g the
250c c main ev en t by w inning th e Last
Ch a nce Q u alifier, w h ich also gu a ra ntee d h im a terrible p ick at the starting
g a te . Br a d sh aw s tarte d o u t poorl y,
passed ju st a few riders, then cras hed
