Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

McG ra th was never p ressu red as he op ened u p a huge lead and w ou ld go on to take a rather uneventful win. "I was relaxed all day, watched videos in the truck. A couple of times I go t squi rrelly out there, so I'd jus t back off Ii little." Brown held down second early on but Ward was rea dy to po unce and d id so on the sixth lap, after Bro wn' s ti re started going flat. "I wanted to ge t by Brow n earlier and save m y tear-offs," Ward said. "It was ha rd to pass beca use you had to get off the main line." Hughes, who had injured his jaw in his h e a t race, ra n fou rth for a w h ile be fore succumbing to Al bertyn, th en crashing in the whoops, which let Wind ham, Hen ry, Emig, Craig and Swink all by . Albertyn w as h aving one of his bet- Emig wen t on to take the w in a few seconds over Hugh es, who cra she d after taking the checkered flag, and Albertyn. Lus k p assed Lawrence at the halfway point and held on for fou rth place and a di rect transfer to the m ain. Law rence, Team PJI/Xtreme/Ato mic 22' s Jimmy But ton, Team Yamah a' s Doug Henry and Windham, and Ward ha d to go to the sem is. Mc Gra th e dged o u t loca l favorite Team Yama ha's Damon Bradshaw and Brown. for th e h oleshot in the se co nd h eat ra ce, and s ho wed th e Ch arl otte crowd 'th at, even thou gh he's from California, h e knows h ow to r ide in the mu d . The cha mp wou ld put over a second a lap on Br own , w ho s pent the whole race h o ldi n g fe llo w Honda of Troy rid er Brian Swi nk at bay. Not far behi nd Swink was another HoT rider, Mike Cra ig. McGra th cru ised to victory w h il e pe rforming a few " cl icke r s" fo r th e cro w d on the w ay. Brown su ccessfu lly held ba ck Swink for second, while Crai g bough t a tic ket to the main in fourth . Finishin g one spot out of the money was Team Suzu ki ' s Mike LaRo cc o , wh o s pen t m o st of th e ra ce try ing to get around Great Western Bank /Innovation Sp orts' Buddy Antunez, who fini shed sixth . . "It's going to be hard to follow anyone out there," sai d wi re-to-wire winner M cGrath . "The s t art is goi ng t o b e every th ing in the main ." Lawren ce be at everyone to th e firs t tum in the first semi, but Windham go t the be tter d ri ve d ow n th e stra ig h t to take the lead , whil e Duba ch w as left behind lying in the mud after crashi ng in the first tu m . W ind h am d o m in a ted t h e ra ce, pul ling o u t a comfortable lea d over Ward, Lawren ce and Henry. Th e o nly re al ra cin g invo lved Lawrence and Henry, wh o w e re dicing closely over third place. Lawren ce came ou t on top of th e b att le, finishing ju st a head of Hen ry, whose only supercross wi n came in th e mud at last year's Dalla s Supercross. Tak ing the last ticke t to the m ain wa s Button , wh o rod e all alon e in fifth all race lon g. . The ICh arlotte crowd came to life in the seco n d se m i, w hen Bradsha w ju m p ed ou t in to th e ear ly le ad after holesh otter Ty Wa llace, on a """M, fell in the slippery first tu m. Before the first lap was h alf over, Bradsh aw h a d already d ev el oped a five-se co nd lead over Kaw a s aki o f Mi s s ou r i' s Doug (Above) Honda of Troy/Sinisalo's Larry Ward returned to the podium with a s econd-place finish. (Right) Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham made his first appearance on the podium In the 250cc class after taking a solid third. St one, G re at We stern Ban k' s Den n y Stephenson , BSY' s Gene Naumec and Wallace. Back in the pack was LaRocco, who also crashed in the first tu m . By th e en d of the fir st lap, Bradsha w's lea d had increased to over 10 seconds , then 15 and finally almost 20 seco nds by the time it was all over. LaRocco steadily worked his way up throu gh the pack, while Na umec moved into second af ter passing Stephe nson and Stone . At the h alfwa y point, LaRocco had co n trol of th ird but cou ldn't ca tch N aumec by the end of the race. St ephenson h eld on to fo urth, wh ile Antunez passed Team Noleen's Kyl e Lew is late in the race to take fifth . In the LCQ, where the top two finish ers transfer to the mai n, a th ree-w ay battled shaped u p involving BT Racing's Mike Jones, Su zuki rid er Cliff Pal mer and Lewis. It was a close race until, on th e last la p, Pal mer d id n' t ge t enough air to clear a step-up jump and his front wheel faced a tab letop and endoed . This gave Jon es and Lewis an easy run to the finish, wi th Jones tak ing the win. McGrath simply outpowered everyone to the first at the start of the IS-lap m ain. "We m ade so me changes to the engine; m y bike was killer," McGrath sa id . "It p ull e d so ha r d d o w n th e stra igh ts. I was totally stoked to get the holeshot. After tha t it was all a matter of being smooth and take the fast lin es. I felt fast and smooth and w asn 't goi ng over m y head." ter rides of the season, running as high as thir d after passing Brown. However, h e didn 't last lo ng in th ird w he n h e case d it over a triple and both Brown fl at tire an d a ll - and Windh am got h im . As th e white flag ap proache d, w ith McGra th and Ward both lo ng go ne, a five -way ba tt le d evelo p ed over th ird through eighth involving Brown, Windham, Alber tyn, Emig and Hen ry. Th ree la p s from th e e n d , Albertyn end oe d har d when he nosed into a double jump, sendi ng hi m and his bike cartw heeling. . "I got hit in the face by a rock jus t before the jump an d couldn't see squa t," Albertyn sai d . "It blinded me . Man, I could've had a podium finish tonight an d I th rew it all away." Windham ended up taking third over Emig and Hen ry, while Lus k settled into si xth after a 13t h place sta rt . Bro wn went from third to seventh in the span of three laps, while Br ad sh aw , w ho ga ted poorly, we nt from 16th to eighth at the finish. Ninth went to Craig, while Bu tton rou nded out the top 10. 125cc Ka w as a ki Te am G ree n's Robb ie Skaggs won his first-ever 125cc hea t race and di d so in fine style, by ou td ue ling Team Yamaha 's John Dowd. Skaggs led from start to finish, whi le Dowd tagged along in second. PJl/X tre me/ Ato m ic 22 / Burnsville Yamaha 's Co ry Keeney fin ishe d th ir d ahead o f Team Green's Shaun Pero lio and Suz uki rider Ch arley .. Bogard. Defending cha m p Pichon easily won the second heat, while Lancaster Sport Cycles / Applied Racing's Josh Demuth claimed second ahead of F&S Suzu ki's Davey Yezek, Team Suzuki Sports' Scott Sheak a nd Brom ley Suzuki 's Ba rry Carsten. F&S Suzuki's Andre Pene won the LC Q over Suzuki Ca na da 's Dou g Dehaan. . Sk aggs gated clea nly in the m ain event 'an d found himself lead in g the way, w hile Pichon and Dowd bounced int o each o ther down th e s tart chu te wit h Dow d getting the short end of the stick. After the firs t lap, it was Skaggs leadi ng the way fo llowed by Te am Chaparral's Brian Deegan and Pich on , while Dowd came aro und in 11th o Deegan gave Pichon a tough time for a while, as the two traded places a cou ple of times before Pichon took sa le control of second. The Frenchman then set his sights on the leader Skaggs, and it was only a matt er of time before Pichon was breathi ng down his neck. Skaggs was ridi ng well but Pichon was unstoppable as he sailed by Skaggs over a do uble jump and into the lead. Pichon quickly open ed up a cautiou s lead, while Skaggs cru ised by himself in second. Deegan had his hands full with Sheak, Ramsey, Dowd an d Suzuki rider Grayson Goo dman . Deegan and Sheak ba tt led back and fo rt h be fore Sh e ak moved into third, the n both Goo d ma n and Dowd go t around Deegan shortly thereafter. After wor kin g so hard for thi rd , boih Ram sey and Dowd we re qu ick to spoil Sheak's n ight by getting a ro u n d the Suz uki rider, relegating him to fifth. A lap later, Dowd go t aro u nd Ramsey and began h is attack on Skaggs for second place. Two laps from the finish, Dowd closed in on the Kawasaki rider and jumped past h im o n a step-up ju mp . Dowd actually gained some ground on lead er Pichon, bu t wi th only a lap and a half to go he had no cha nce of catching th e n e w champ. Skaggs h eld on for th ird, ahead of Ramsey, She ak , Goo d man an d Deega n. , "Me an d Mickael kind of bumped on th e start and ca me out kind o f ba d ," Dowd sai d. "I saw him but I just ran out of time. I felt good once I go t going." Skaggs was ecstatic abou t his ride. "I wen t out ea rly a nd walked th e tra ck, looked a t all t h e differe n t line s, watched McGra th, and tried hi s lines out on the parade lap," Skaggs said. I kne w th ese guys (Pic hon and Dowd) are fast andmy gra ndfathe r told me he (Pichon) was comi ng. I didn't want to challenge him, because I didn't want to cha nge any thi ng . I wanted to keep ridin g m y ow n race. Th e s a me with Dow d ." "I was very surprised (by Skaggs)," Pichon said. "He had some good lines and was very fast, but I was mor e w orried about Dowd." 1:-; Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte, North Carolina Results: April 20, 1996 (Round 13 of 15) 125ce HEAT 1 (9 riders, 4 laps): 1. Robb ie Ska ggs (Kaw ); 2. John Do wd (Yam); 3. Cory Keeney (Yam); 4. Sha un Per ot ic (Kaw); 5. Ch arles Dale Bogard (Suz ); 6. Brian Dee gan (Ho n); 7. Ton y Loru sso (Hon); 8. Jim Neese (Hon) ; 9. Gr ayson Good m an (Suz ); 10. Do ug Deh aan (Su z ); 11. Mich ael Tr ea d w ell (Suz); 12. Jeff Ye ntzer (Ka w); 13. A d a m Humphre y (Su z ); 14 . Chad wick Shepard (Su z); 15. Neil Woe rne r (Suz ); 16. Ch uc k Wh irley (Yam) ; I i . Steve n Herman (Suz ); 18. James Join er (Yam ); 19. Joe l Den gler (Suz); 20. Andre Pene (Suz ). T im e: i min u tes. 10.180 seconds t zsec HEA T 2. (9 riders transfer, 4 laps): 1. Mirkael . Pichon (Ka w); 2. Josh Dem uth (Yam); 3. Davey Yezek (Suz); 4. Scott Shea k (Suz); 5. Nathan Ramsey (Suz ); 6. Barry Cars ten (Suz); i . David Kratz (Suz ); 8. Jim Chest er (Su z ); 9. Tom Cl owe rs (Suz ); 10. Mark David Culton (Hon); 11. James Po voln v (Kaw); 12. Ma rco Dube (Hon ); 13. Keith Troccoli (Su z ); 14. Chad Kresg e (Su z); 15.

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