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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127778
.SUPERCROSS Round 10: RCA Dome AMA Su rcro ssSeries INDiAJ'lAPOLIS. IN. MAR. 30 es, Tea m 1-800-Coll ect / Ho nda / Fox's Jerem y McGrath won again. But his 10th straigh t su per cross victory, at the RCA Dom e in Ind ianapolis, was slight ly different th an most of his previous nine wi ns, beca use, for a few lap s during the 2G-lap main event, there was a hint of doub t that he wou ld make it to the checkered flag first . But de spite bein g a p proxima tely five secon d s down on rac e leader Jeff Emi g with a little less than half the race to go, there was one person who had no doubt whatsoever - McGrath himself. After getting off to an uncharacteristically bad s ta rt, McGrath - with "9 Lives" sewn on to the back of his race pants - found h imself in seve nth place halfw ay in to the fir st lap, w ith Tea m Yamaha's Doug Henry lead ing the way and Team Kawa saki 's Emig, McGra th's main concern goi ng in to th e race, running second. And, position ed between McGra th and the lea ders we re so me hard-to-pass riders: Team Suzuki 's Ezra Lu sk , who as o f late has found new speed and confidence; Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes; Team PJI / Atomic ll /Xtreme's Jimmy Bu tt on; and Yamaha' s Damon Bradshaw. Even McGrath admitted that he had his work cut out for him. But the thr ee-time cham p began taking care of business by carefull y picking h is lines o n th e technica l and tr ick y Ind y track and "taking his time." Thus, he began his climb to the top, systematically picking off one rider at a time, first getti ng by Hu gh es, then Button, then Bradshaw, Henry, and th en Lusk, taking him a valuable eigh t lap s. At this point, Emig, wh o had passed Henry on the third lap, he ld a modest five-second lea d over McGra th , who aft er having taken con tr ol o f seco n d was barely gaini ng ground on the Kawasaki rid er. As McGrath inched closer and closer to Emig, the 45,217 spectators, wh o were alread y on their feet, were in anticipation of an epic Emig/McGrath last-lap battle for the wi n. But it would not happen . Just after the halfway poin t, Emig went into a righ t-hand turn all alone, when sud denly his front wheel climbed out of the gro ove and w ash ed out, putting him to the ground. It was as simple as th at. McGr ath and Lusk roosted b y the d owne d rid er, a nd McGra th would go on to record his 10th consecutive win, perhaps using up one of his "9 Lives" in the pr ocess. Emig would eventuall y repas s Lusk late in the race to take second, wh ile Lusk, wh o had finished fourth the previous two races, finally got his podium finish in third . '1 wasn 't worried," said McGrath after wh at might've been his ha rd est-eamed victory of the year. "But on this track that was so tough because of the ruts, you had to be patient. I knew I had about 10 laps left - time was on my side. The key was to be patient and not make a mistake." Em ig wa s visi b ly up se t ha ving squ and ered his biggest opportunity of the year to beat the see ming ly unb eatable McGrath. " It jus t happen ed , in a blink of an eye - it was just one of those thing," he said of his solo crash. "I felt so good, I wa s doing every thi ng righ t, to tally con fid en t. I jus t we nt int o th e tum and the fron t end just skip ped out. It's just so frustrating." Lusk proved at Ind y that he is now a serio us thr eat to McGrath's streak. The Suzuki ride r p aced h im self w ith McGrath for mu ch of the last half of the race before tirin g and letting Emig by . He was happy to be on the podium. "The bike is getting dialed in better and be tt er, and I'm ge tting s tronger and stronger," said the Georgian. Y 12