Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

doing the same to Ward and Lawrence. Henry wa s running am on g th e leaders for a whil e before cras hing. Sw in k kept Lusk w ithin reach for ove r half th e race un til crashi ng b ig time. "Over th e big d ouble th at on ly McG ra th and I were d oublin g, 1 came up a little sho rt and grabbed a handful (of thrott le )," ex p la ine d Swi nk. Th e cras h took nearl y a full straightaway to comp lete; he was uninjured in the spectacu lar get-o ff but his bike's handlebars were bent beyo nd being ridable. Swink reti red to the pi ts. Emig inherited third, including a lot of real estate between him and second pla ce Lusk . Lawrence, meanwhile, had pas sed Ward for fou rth, while Lewis afte r hi s 16th -pl ace sta rt - h ad tak en over sixth from Albert yn, wh o had just pa ssed LaRoc co and Antunez. At th is p oint, Alb ertyn' s bik e looked to h ave develop ed some kind of rad iator p roblem, as steam, or wh at wa s thought to be steam, was pour ing out of his bike. "The d rain plug at the bottom of the fork came loose," sa id Albertyn. "Every time the fork would compress, it wo uld squ irt oil on the exhaust pipe. 1 really didn't notice it. 1 didn't know anything w a s wrong, b ut I d id lose m y fro n t brake for a while when the oil got on the disc." By the 15th lap, the pack had become fairl y sp read ou t with McGrath wa y out in front, Lusk alon e in second, as wa s Emig in th ird, th ou gh Lawren ce, who was holding down fou rth, had Ward to worry about. Lewis was now comp letely settled into sixth, followed by Albertyn, Antunez, Ramse y and Palmer. A bit back chased Craig. who had just passed LaRocco for 11th oLaRocco started out in sixth but su ffered another one of his off nights and simply worked his way backward ins tea d of forw ard . He would eventuall y finish a discouraging 11th, saying afterward, 'T d rather not talk about it." Emig closed the gap on Lusk quickly on the last few laps and actually nearly passed .the Suzuki rider through a rocker section just before taking the checkered flag. "I wasn't putting go od laps together," said Emig . "I started feeling stronger towa rds the en d and the race crept up on me. Wh ere th ey h ad th e mechanics standing. it wa s pretty hard to read you r pit board. I reall y d idn't know where 1w as." Lusk was happy with second. "I rode sma rt and felt rea lly goo d ," said Lusk. "McG ra th wa s m aybe a ha lf-second a lap fas ter than me. I'm getting my confiden ce back and I'm getting stronger an d stronger." Lawrence was also h a p p y w ith fourth, while Ward had to be conte n t with fifth . He was followed by Lewis, Albert yn, Ramse y, Antunez and Palmer. Eleventh we nt to LaRocco, who was nea rly lapped by McGrath . ext ca me H enry, Stephenso n, Bue h l a n d Hedden. Craig ended up 16th after having to stop and pull a banner ou t of his rear w heel. Roy finished 17th, Swink 18th, Bu tt on 19th an d DeH oo p 20th, thou gh non e of the last four rid ers finished the race. 125cc Dobb an d Windham both wo n their res pec tive 125cc heat races, setting the stage for what man y though t would be a Dobb /Windh am shoot-o u t to the finish. But thi s w oul d not be the case, as b o th Casey Johnson and Windh am ga te d cleanl y w ith Dobb gettin g left behind in the d ust. " I bogged the bike off the line, then I go t m y ar me d locked u p with so meone:' sa id Dobb . "Then I go t taken out in the second comer." This chain of eve nts effectively ended a ny h op es Do bb had of winni ng th e 125cc West Coast Championshi p, and what hope he d id ha ve lef t w as comp letely erased w hen he pulled off the track about the 10th lap. (Opposite page) This was the closest anyone got to Jeremy McGrath (1 ) In the 250cc main at Denver. M cGrath roosted away from the pack, winning the fina l round of the year. Right behind him are Ezra Lusk (34) and Jell Emig (2). (Right) Kevin Windham wrapped up the 125cc West Coast Series Championship with a so lidwin at Denver. (Below) For the first time, M High ile Stadium In Denver, Colorado, hosted a round of the AMA Supercross Serles. Ju st over 30,000 spectators turned out. (Bottom sequence) Brian Swink barely saved this endolloopout only to run out of track. Hewas running third before this crash. ..... "I cased it over a jump and broke the (right) footpeg off," said Dobb . Knowing th at he had th e ch ampi onship all but clinched, Windham wanted to end the series on a winning note and set hi s sig h ts on Johnson . On the six th lap, Windham made his move and passe d the Kawa saki rider for the lead . Fr om th at p oin t on, th e ra ce an d the cham pio nship was all Windham 's, as he o pened up a comfortable lead, letting Johnson, Ashkenazi and Gonzalez fight ove r second. Perhaps the surprise rider of the night was Gonzalez, who ran a strong third for most of the race before getting passed by Ashkenazi . Both Ashk ena zi and Gonzalez inherited second and third when Johnson washed out while trying to make a move o n Windham. Johnson re co vered in fourth and came back and passed Gonzalez with two laps left in the race. Gonzalez, wanting to fin ish o ut the season on th e podium, made a la st lap, all-or -nothing pass a tt e m p t on Joh nson throu gh a rocker section, and ju s t w hen it lo o ke d as th ou gh he might m ak e the pass, a lapped rider got in Johnson ' s wa y, and he veered off to the right, di rectl y into Go nza lez' path. Gonzalez rammed Jo h nson from behind and crash ed . Ch aparral Racing's Michael Brande s w as ri ght there to take advantag ed of Gon zal ez' mi sfortune to take fourth a t th e fin is h, making the top fiv e Win dham , A shkena zi , John son, Br and e s and Gonza lez. "Casey rode a great race," said Windham. "I definitely had to work for it." "My hal's off to Kevin, " said Johnson. "I sure wanted to go out (end the seas on) with a bang. but just couldn 't do it tonight. " Ashken azi was all smiles . "I cou ld n' t be happ ier, " h e said . " I go t secon d ton ight, moved up to third in the stan dl~ ings; I'm stoked."

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