Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127770
.S Supercross SeriesS Round 4: Seattle Kingdome UE C OS PRR AMA SEA 6 By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones rnz WA; FEB. 3 he finis hi ng o rder at th e Seattle Kingd ome round of the AMA Supercross Series ma y have been no different than it was at the previous weekend' s race in Anaheim, but the action in the Pacific Northwest was anything but the same. For the second week in a row, Damon Huffm a n and Steve La mso n fi nis hed second an d third behind the m an expecte d to w in it all - th ree-time Su pe rcross Cha m pion Jeremy McGrath. But this time, McGrath had to work for his wi n, and th e race its elf answered two importa n t questions that die-hard supercross fans have been asking all yea r long: Can Jeremy McGrath still win if he ge ts a bad start, and what if Huffman go t off the line even w ith him ? Wh ile Huffman suffered a m id pack start and rounded the first turn abou t 10th , McGrath wa s nowhere near his usu al position at the head of the pack and was actu ally two spots further back. A run-in with Yamaha 's Jeff Emig about ยท 15 feet out of the starting ga te caused McGrath to bobb le hard, and what followed was undoubtedly the best race of the still-young season. McGrath went to work quickl y and sliced his way to the front of the pack by the halfway point, but Huffman latched on to the champ's rear fender as he went past and wen t to school. " I th ink Huffman was wa tching m y lines," said McGra th . "He saw wh ere I was passi ng every body, a nd I th in k that Damon learns fast." Indeed , h e does . Hu ffm an brought the 38,259-strong crowd to its feet by p ulling alongside McGrath on several occasions befor e finally passing him on lap 15. McGrath stru ck back quickly, but Huffman rem ained a thorn in his side for tw o more laps by returning the favor in the whoops - a section in wh ich he w as v is iblv faster than McGrath. " He (H Uffm a n) w as faster in the who ops . Th at ' s where he g o t m e," ad m itted McGrath . " I th ink his bik e m ay ha ve been w orking a littl e better than mine. But I h ad a co uple spo ts w her e I was faster , l ike befo re the tri ples. It was good to race wit h so meone, to scrap it out. It felt good." In the end, however, a failing clu tch and a s tall in one of th e track' s ma ny tight turns left Huffman mom enta rily po werless with three laps to go, allowing McGr ath to escape wi th his 33rd career win. " It w as a maz ing," said Hu ffm a n, delighted w ith his ride. "That's the first time I've ever passed the guy - he goes so fast. I had to quit thinkin g a bo ut what was going o n - you know, 'I'm chasing McGrath, and this is a su percross race' - and concentrate on my rid ing. My adre n a li ne was definitely going. " The race could be an important turning point in the Kawasaki rider's immediate future, and Huffman agrees. "I know that I can go as fast as him now. All I have to do is act like he's just