Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.S P R R S Round 13:Charlotte Motor Speedway UE C OS ."A S MA upercross Series . • • eS 'ell rIS SI • I\'e Finishing second was Picho~ 's only threat to the title, Yamaha's John Dowd, who was mired in th e m iddle of th e pack off the start. But the rea l surprise was th ree-d igit rider Robbie Ska g gs fr om Lawren ce, Ka nsa s . Th e Team G r een Kawa sa ki rider had earlier won his heat race for the first time of h is career, then led the first three laps of the main event - before Pichon zapped him. He held do wn second for a while befo re Dowd got by him tw o laps from the finish. Despi te press u re fro m Suzu ki o f WinstonSal em / Pe rform ance En g ine erin g's Nathan Ram sey late in the race, Skaggs went on to finish on the podium, taking third . Ramse y fini shed fourth , just ahead of Su zuk i s u p port rider Scott Sheak. Due to the long lap times, the number of laps were reduced in every race. In the 125cc cla ss, th e heat races were cut from si x to four laps, th e LCQ to three laps and the main event from 15 to 10 laps. The 250cc class ran five-lap hea t races, four-lap semis, a four-lap LCQ, and the fea tu re w as cu t ba ck from 20 lap s to 15. 250cc Emig, Team Suzuki's Albertyn, Great Wes tern Ban k /Innovation Sports' Phil Law rence, Hu ghes and Lusk fought for th e all-im portant holesho t in the first By Kit Pa lmer Photos by Karl Oc kert CHARLOTTE, NC APR. 20 , ~ or the first tim e, the AMA Su per~ cross Series visited the hom e of the "good 0 1' boys," NASCAR's Charlotte Motor Speedway, and were greeted by th e longest su pe rcross tra ck the sport ha s ever seen. But a heavy do se of rain a few hours prior to the eve ni ng's progr am left the track - built on the triova l's in field - a muddy mes s and the rid ers fig htin g for th e o ne dr y li ne around the long track, which measured over a mile and a half. After wi nning his heat race, Team 1-800-Co llect/ Honda/ Fox's Jer em y McGrath said: "The sta rt will be ev erythin g in th e m ain even t. Th ere ' s on e good line o u t th ere a n d everyone wants it." He finishe d off by say ing, "To n ig ht co u ld be a differ ent story," meaning that he knew th at his win streak was definit ely at risk. McGr ath, lik e everyone else on th e sta rt line for the main eve nt, knew tha t get ting the holeshot - or at least a good start (something he hasn 't been getting lately) - wo u ld make or break him, and 'if the re was a ny ti me that h e rea lly need ed the holeshot, it w as now. And he got it. McGrath beat everyone to the first tum an d would occupy that "one goo d line" all to himself the en tire race, while everyone e lse on the track w as busy dodging roos ts an d pulling off tear -offs. For all intents and purposes, th e race wa s over afte r th e first tu rn , as th e recently crowned four -time champ had clear sailing an d pulled away from the p ack , ev entua lly takin g the checker ed flag nearl y 20 seconds ahead of the next rid er, H onda of Tro y / Sinisalo's Larry W ard . It w a s M cGrath 42 nd caree r su per cross victory. "I was so pumped to get the start," a relieved and happy McGrath said . "That w as the ke y ." McGra th w as pumped I (Above) The race was all but over at this point, as Team 1-B O O -ColiectlHondalFox's Jeremy M cGrath (1) nailed the allimportant 250Ccholeshot In the slick, redclay mud at the Charlotte Supercross , which was held for the first time on the Infield of Charlotte Mo.tor Speedway. McGrath extended his perfect record to 13 straight wins. (RIght)Mlckae l Pichon was the man of the hour as he clinched the Eastern Regional 125cc SXChampionship · for the second time · after winning the 125cc feature. enou gh to execu te a "Superman" ov er the finish-line d oubl es. The 31,820 fans in atte nd ance loved it. McGrath wasn't the only one stoked . So was hi s tuner Skip N orfolk, whose las t-lap pit-board message to hi s rid er was "You Are Bad! " Also "bad " was Ward, who spent the early part of the race dicing with' teammate Mike Brown. Ward passed Brown for second place on the sixth lap then set his sights on McGrath, who had already opene d up an insu rmou ntable l l-second cushi on . "I thou ght about trying to catch Jeremy, but h e was so far ou t in front it jus t wasn't worth it," said Ward, w ho celebra ted his birthday on Friday. Finishing on the pod ium for the first time in th e'250cc cla ss was Yama ha 's Kevin Windham , who leads th e 125cc West Coast Supercross Series. Windham rounded th e first lap in seven th a nd fou gh t his wa y up through the pack. "It really feels great, especially to catch up through the mud." Fourth went to Kawasaki' s Jeff Emig, while Yamaha' s Doug Hen ry ro u nded o ut the top five . Sixth was claimed by Suzuki's Ezra Lusk, while Brown had to settle for seventh after his rear tire went flat on the third lap . In the 125cc East Coast mai n, Team SplitFire / Pro Circuit /Kaw asa ki's Mickael Pichon clinch ed his secon d title an d d id so in grand st yle by winning the main eve nt. Pichon went into the Charlotte Supercross needi ng on ly to fini sh 10th o r b ette r to clinch th e cha mp ionship. No problem. Pi chon grabbed th e lead on the fou rth lap and never look ed back for his six th win of the season. "I w anted to cl in ch th e champ ion sh ip so bad ton ight," a very happy Pichon said . "I do not like to race for the championship at the last race (in St. Lou is next week )." 250cc heat race, an d it wa s Emig who emerged from th e flying m ud in the lead ahead of Albertyn, H u ghes and Lawrence. Emig found the h o t line around th e track as h e opene d u p a modest lead over the pack, while a close battle developed between Albertyn and Kaw asaki's Ryan Hugh es. The tw o went at it for a couple of laps until Hughes found th e el u siv e " m a g ic traction " down one of the lon g straig hts and shot int o second place.

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