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.SUPERCROSS .AMA Supercross Series . .Round 9:Texas Stadium (Left) Casey Johnson (58) went after Kev in Windham late In the race . Joh nson ended up pass ing him for second In the 125cc EasllWest main. It was Johnson' s first pod ium . finish. (Below) Larry Ward ran second fo r much of the race before settling for thi rd. ., Ryn o, but then I figured we sho uld stop messing with each o ther and jnove ahead," said Lawrence. "I went to go . back in my no rmal line but the re. was a little d irt clod there an d I fell. After .that I had sweat in my goggles and I had to" take them off. But I felt like Lwas' r eal fas t tonight. I just shou ld have passed Ezra and Larry Ward a little earlier." _ . "I w as happ y w ith th at rac e," sai d Hugh es whose rise to second w as th e most exci ting effo rt of the 250cc main. Hugh es was seventh after onlO lap , sixth a fter. two, fifth after six, fourth after nine, third after 14, and h e finall y p assed Ward for second wi th four laps remaining . "I go t kind of a bad start and it took a lo ng tim e .to get by p eop le beca use there's onl y a couple of places on the track where yo u can get by pe0p le. But I jus t stayed p atient, an d ro de what I feel was a really good race. Lately I haven 't been th at patient and now I'm learning more and more to do that. Hopefully I will be up there with Jer em y by the end of the yea r." "I th ought I had se cond, but th en I sta rte d tr ying to rem ember wher e the p odium w a s a n d I g ot lost, " joked Ward, who w as very pl eased to be a part of th e tro phy presentation for the first tim e in '96. "Ry no got me but I feel good because I rode 20 laps hard, rath er than five or six. Hell, I broke the top 10, which is pret ty goo d com pare d to how I've bee n doing." As far as beating Jeremy goes, Wa rd had this to say: "I' d love to just win a race, period. I haven't won in five or six years, but for righ t now I'm just happy even getting a trophy! I' ve w anted to sh ave th is u gl y mu stach e, but I told m y self I w ou ld n ' t until I got on th e podium. Nex t week I'll be clean-faced an d hopefully back up here." "I'm pretty pleased with fourth, even thou gh for the second weekend in a row I ha d a chance to ru n up ther e in the top th ree but just came up sho rt," said Lusk. "I feel like once I crest the top it will be an easier road from ther e on out." "I just 'want to win a race," admitted Emig. "Points are good and all that, but the most important thing in m y mind is to win a race." "I was happy about just qualifying to n ig ht ," said Hu ffm an, w ho rode in visible pain all night long to finish the main event in seventh . "Tha t one trip le just killed me eve ry time I landed. But once I got into the race I tried my best to just forge t about it. I cou ld n' t rea lly tw ist the throttle w it hou t having to tw ist m y whole arm . I guess seven th isn ' t too bad - I was close to not even ridi ng ." Rid ing ou t the top 10 were near -privateers Swi nk, Craig and Button . do this: Windham looked like he was getting a little tired : ' With five laps to go , Joh nson passed Windham for second and was never threatened with a repass. "Yeah, my arms were pumping up a little bit and I was having a hard time se ttling down," said W in d h am , who do minated the 125cc East-Wes t proceedings just a week ago in Da llas. "I was having trouble with th is track all day long. Those guys had a flow I couldn' t match. At leas t I was the first West guy across the finish line. I'm going to move up to the 250cc for a couple of races now and think abo u t what went wr ong." Picho n crossed the finis h line a few secon ds ahead of Joh nson, who never sto pped charging toward the fro nt. "I w as hoping to jus t get on the podium," sai d Johnson later. "I had to stop thinking about Ke vin b eh ind m e an d ju st keep look ing in front of me. The last two laps I was b ein g re al ca u tio us, telling m yself, 'Yo u go tta stay u p! You go tta sta y up!' And I did it. "Th is is w ay m ore than I ex pecte d tonight, " admitte d Johnson. "Pichon has a number-on e p late w hich means he's pretty mu ch th e b e st a t th is, and if Windham keeps it up he's going to have one, too. Ju st to be able to run wi th these guys - and ac tually pass Windham that's a great feeling." Sch n ell finished an unspect acu lar fourth ahea d of Dobb and Dowd. Next came Tennessee's Nathan Ramsey, who led a string of Suzuki riders : Tim Ferry, Davey Yezek , Scott Sheak, Travis Preston, Jeff Hedden an d Barry Carsten . Texas Stadium Irving , Texas Results: March 23, 1996 (Round 9 of 15) 125cc In a sign of things to come , Picho n beat Windham in the first 125cc heat race. The oth er win went to the vetera n Dowd. And in th e 125cc LCQ th e top thre e riders were G reg Schn ell , Kim Ashkenazi and Charl ey Bo gard - a ll three of whom h ave finishe d on the pod ium in main even ts this year. Wh en the m ain got un der way Pichon, was agg ressive from the get-go . "My jump off the gate was not so good, but as soon as we got off the gate, I pushed Dowd a little bit," said a smiling Pichon. "Windham got the lead on the straight, but I went wid e open in to the turn and used him for th e berm. I hit him, so I nearly got the holesh ot." Windham w ould retai n the lead at th e en d of th e fir st lap with Pich on, Team Chaparral's Greg Schne ll, Casey Johnson and Su zuki p rivateer N ath an Ram ser in tow. 12Scc Western Region al contender Jam es Dobb was sixth, Suz uki teammate Tim Ferry eighth, and Dowd 15th halfway through the first lap. Pich on w as ob vious ly faster in th e blue-groove comers, showing the same throttle-control ability in the bermless comers that French legend Jean-Michel Bayle once .possessed . On the third lap he did a slick out sid e-in block-pass on Windham to seize the lead, a move that few people h ad expected. After all, Pichon spen t the last tw o 125cc East West sho wdo wns sta ting tha t he would n ot try to race th e West 's Wind ham be ca u se o n ly Eastern ri ders counted toward d efending his title. But in Dallas, Pichon w as all abo ut beating Windham . But on the sevent h lap, with a lead of abo u t fou r seconds, Pichon crested the firs t big jump before the whoops and found a d owned Ch arl ey Bogard right under his wheels. "Tha t was the AMA gu y - they are all sleep ing," said Pich on of th e caution flagger who stood on the outsid e of the ju m p and failed to signal wh ere on the track th e downed rider w as. "The gu y cras he d and they held the flag without m o v in g o r a nythi ng . I d idn 't kn ow wh ere the gu y w as because I could not see over the jum p. I jus t lan ded on his fo rks and, boom, went over." Pi ch on was lu cky tha t Win dham also got ta ngled up in the mess a nd was una ble to make a clean break in the second time he was out front. "I was a little bit tired after I got up, so I knew it was time to get right back past him," said Pichon of Windham. "I tried to pass him many times but many times he cut over on me, so l just hit him like this (claps his hands) and I push him to get past. Kevin, I know, is better than he was (tonight). I don 't know if he had bad line s or what. But I rode goo d - th at's wh y I won. And the best thin g to happen w a s th at Dowd d id n ot d o so good. " Indeed, Pichon' s Eastern riva l made a block-pa ss on James Dobb for fifth in the last turn, only to leave himself out of position at the finish-line jump where Dobb was able to pass him back. While Pichon and Wind ham were mixing it up for the lead, a quie t Joh nson was find ing a fas t rhyth m on h is ow n and movin g u p from third. . "I got a pret ty goo d start, but once I moved in to th ird I s aw wher e th ose guys (Pichon and Windham ) were kind of slowing d own becau se th ey were block-passing each other," sa id Joh nso n, who had never been on a Su percross podium be fore. "I started to gain on them and I started thin kin g, ' Man, I can 125 HEAT 1 (6 laps , top 9 tr.l nsfrr): Mickael Pichon (Kaw); 2. Kevin Win dham (Yam); 3. N athan Ramse y (Suz ); 4. Casey Johnson (Kaw ); S. Jeff Hedden (Suz); 6. Brian Deegan (Kaw ); 7. Ton y Lorusso (Han); 8. Tom Clow ers (5uz); 9. Scott Sheek (Suz); 10. Ie rom y Buehl (Kaw); 11. Ryan Huffman (Han); 12. Greg Schnell (502); 13. Jim Neese {Hon}; 14. Ja son Fre nette (Kaw ); 15. Dustin Nelson (Ka w ), 16. Alex McElyea (So2 ); 17. Pedro Gonzalez (Hon); 18. Jeff Willoh (Hon); 19. Andre Pen e (502 ); 20. Chri s Whee ler (502) . T ime: 6 min., 5.65 sec . 125 H EAT 2 (6 lap s, top 9 tra nsfer>: 1. John Dowd (Yam); 2. Travis Pres ton (5uz): 3. Davey Yezek (502); 4. Tim Ferry (502); 5. James Dobb (Suz); 6. Rusty Hollan d (Kaw); 7. Jeff Pestana (Hon); 8. James Eickel fYam ); 9. Barry Ca rsten (5 uz ); 10. Kim Ashkenazi (Hon); 11. Charley Borgard (Suz); 12. Brian woolsey (Ka w ); 13. Heath Voss (H a n); 14. Corey Keeney (Yam ); 15. Shane Trit tler (5 uz); 16. Robbie Skaggs (Kaw ); 17. Shaun Perolic (Kaw); 18. Shane Lawson (Kaw): 19. Cameron Tay lor (Suz); 20. Ryan Terl ecki (Ha n). T im e: 6 min., 15.53 sec. 125 LC Q (4 lap s, top 4 tr an s fer) : 1. Creg Schne ll (502); 2. Kim Ashkenazi (Han); 3. Charlie Bogart (502); 4. Ryan H uffm an (Hon ); 5. Robbie Skaggs (Kaw); 6. je remy Bue hl (Kaw); 7. Sha un Perolio (Kaw); 8. Pedro Gonzalez (Hon); 9. Chris Wh e el er (5 uz); 10. Jason Frenette (Kaw); 11. Ryan Ter lecki (H a n); 12. Hea th Voss (H on ); 13. Jim Neese (Hon); 14. Brian Woolsey (Ka w ); 15. Co rey Keeney (Yam); 16. Cameron Taylor (502); 17. Shane Lawson (Kaw); 18. D us tin Nelson (Kaw); 19. And re Pene (502); 20. Jeff Wh iJIoh (H o n ); 21. Shane Trittler (502); 22. Alex McElvea (So2). Ti me: 4 min., 12.24 5«. • 125 EASTERNfWESTERN MAI='l (22 riders, 15 laps) : 1. Mickael Pichon (Kaw) ; 2. Casey Johnson (Kaw); 3. Kevin Windham (Yam); 4. Greg Schnell (Suz); 5. lames Dobb (Suz); 6. John Dowd (Yam~ 7. Nathan Ramsey (Suz~ 8. Tim Ferry (5~ ); 9. Davey Yezek (502); 10. Scott Sheak (Suz); 11. Tom Clowers (5uz); 12. Travis Preston (502 ); 13. Jeff Hed den (Suz); 14. Barry Carsten (Suz); 15. James Eickel (Yam): 16 . Tony Lo russo (Han) ; Ii. Kim A.. hkenazi (Han); 18. Brian Deegan (Kaw); 19. Rus ty .. H o llan d (5uz); 20. Ryan Hu ffm an (H on); 21. Cha rley Bogard (So2); 22. Jeff Pes tan a (Hen). Ti me: 15 min .• 28.41 sec. Mar gin of victory: 5.21 sec . 12S WESTERN REG IONAL SUfERCROSS SER IES POINT STANDINGS (After 6 of 8 ro unds): 1. Kevin Windham (120/ 4 wi ns); 2. Jam es Do bb (lOS); 3. Greg Schnell (97); 4. Kim Ashkenazi (70); S. Michael Brandes (64); 6. Casey Johnson (55 ); 7. David Pingree (52); 8. Jeff Wi!loh (46 / 1 w in ); 9. Ped ro Go nza lez (45); 10. Da vid Vuillemin (45). 125 EAS T ERN REGIO NA L SU PE RC R O SS SE RIES PO INT STANDINCS (Aft er 6 of 11 ro unds): 1. John Do wd (122/1 win); 2. Mickael Pichon (121 / 3); 3. Tim Ferry (9S); 4. Nathan Ramsey (78); S. Scott Sheek (60); 6. Brian Deegan (57); 7. Cory Keene y (54); 8. Davey Yezek (51); 9. Tommy Clowers Jr. (44 ); 10. (TIE) leff Cu rry /Jim N eese (43). 250 HEA T 1 (8 laps, top 4 transfer): 1. Jeff Emig (Kaw) ; 2. Doug Henry (Yam); 3. Ryan H ughes {Kaw): 4. Damon Huf&nan (Kaw); 5. Mike Craig (H a n); 6. Jimmy Button (Ya m); 7 . Jeff H edd en (5 uz ); 8. D e nny Ste p h en so n (Ka w); 9. Ke lly Andris (H on); 10. Alex McElyea (Yam ); 11. Ty Wallace (KTM ); 12. Brian Stone (Kaw); 13. Andrew Catanzaro (Han); 14. Mark Easley {Ka w ]: IS. Scott Carter (Han); 16. David Castillo (Kaw);