Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS' AMA 1251250cc National Championship Motocross Series Round 4: High Point Raceway After jus t plainly getting beat In the first moto , McGrath ca me back and smoked everyone In the second moto. He ended up third ove rall, via a 5-1 tally. •• was run n in g o ut o f tra ck . W e hit like t hree lime s o n the last la p - it w as insane ! I d idn' t think Henry was going to be there on th e last lap. He w as on it, and he seemed p retty pumped: ' As for gettin g th ird , Emig figur ed himself in p rime po sitio n fo r the over al l. "Those • gu y s (Albe r ty n and LaRocco) aren't known fo r th ei r co nsis te ncy a nd Hi gh Poin t is a l ways lops ided with t h e scores." 18 " I ju st w a sn ' t co ncentrating an d I wasn 't ri ding w ell," ad mitted McGrath, who too k t h e bad m oto in strid e a nd immedia tely s tar ted thinkin g about th e next m oto. "I' m not d one ye t today. " H e su r e w a sn 't. Ju st like la s t yea r, after a fa ir ly wet a n d slick firs t moto, M cGrath b la sted a rou n d the inside of th e fir st turn a nd took the holes hot fro m Emig , LaRo cco, Albertyn, Henry - th e u sua l s usp ec ts . But within a la p Em ig m ade an aggressive p ass o n th e Honda ri der an d too k over th e lead . A t th e end o f th e lap, it w as Emig, McG ra th, H enry , LaRocco a n d Alberty n . On the fourth la p A lbertyn crashed fo r th e first time and th en jumped off a d o w nhill d oub le a nd miss ed the fol l o w in g corn er o n t he n e x t lap . Bu t through it all, the South Africa n kept charging and ke pt moving to w a rds the fro nt. And s o was his teammate laRo cco, who moved up to ch allenge M cG rath a n d Emig for t h e front s pot. H e w a s soon joi ned by A lbertyn, w ho again got ba ck into the lead fra y afte r his fall. Fo r two laps Albee a nd laRocco wen t at it u ntil Al bert y n pro v ed sim p ly to b e fas ter. H e rushed into third and s ta rted to se t his sig hts on Emig be fore th e bottom fell ou t of his best ride ye t. "I left the corner a t the bottom of th e m echanics ' a rea a n d the fr o n t whe el ju m p ed ou t of th e ru t," said Albertyn of a s p ill t h at cost him two spo ts and a long -a w a it e d overa ll win. "My h a n d slipped from the throttle and my Su zuki jumped righ t out fro m under m e w hen I tried to hold o n with my fingers. I' m no t h ap p y a bou t givi ng u p th e win b y falling, bu t I' m still real pleased to p ro ve to eve ryone that I rea lly can rid e! I th ink I' ll be fine fro m here o n o ut." Rea li z in g tha t Alb ertyn was down and o u t of overall co n tention, Emig saw that it w as time to le t go of McGra th and ba cked off s lig h tly in sea rch of a n ove ra ll win. McGrath w on, w h ile Emig kept h is eye on LaRocco a n d h eld o n to a solid second-p lace perfonnance fo r the m ot o and th e overa ll win. "I didn't kn o w I had the overall until I s to p p e d," s aid Emig, w ho la s t won H igh Point in 1993 as a 12See rider. "I'm real happy to get a win, because we' ve already had three ra ces and I didn' t win, so if I'm going to ca tch u p to Jeremy I had to start today." '1 wanted to win the o ve rall bad, but I can' t co m p lain," said M cG ra th , w ho ha s never won an overall a t High Point. "I' m h aving th e grea test season of m y life. The second m ot o I was aggressive, I w e n t o u t a n d fo u n d so m e lines and I ro de w el l. I'm hap py w ith th at. " LaR oc co w as third in th e m o to and se co n d o ve ra ll, w hil e H enry w as again fourth , bu t fifth overa ll in th e lopsid ed scori ng. Honda o f Troy's Brian Swink, w h o ha s been rid in g very well o u tdoors so far this year, was sixth overall with a 6-7 score, while team mate La rry Wa rd was seven th with a 10-6 sh owing. l~ 'fans who recoqnlzed him, Th~re was even a ' Seth Ruies!" banner hanging on the fences along with the .usual.dis plays ,of loyalty to McGrath, Emig. laRocc o. etc: The likable Ens low. who actually hails from New York but now lives on the West Coast. just returned from South Africa. where, he spent three weeks working on the next "crusty" video " ; '. . ' . . , Th ~ winners of ihe S koal Racing .To p Privatee'r C halleng e Award at High Point were Scott Sheak (125cc) and Kyle Lewis (25Occ). Suzuki Sport /P ro Circult/Answer/Smith-backedS heak's amazing , Two riders who were receiving 'So";e factory and iemi -facto,y support for first moto win and su bsequent second overall finish were good for his the AMA S upercross s eries might,have to go it alone for the rest' ofthe 'second award 'of the series. Nolee n/Sizzler/ Bridge stone/Sidi/ O'Neal- i 996 campaign, Britishimport ,James Dobb was helped .tosecond in ' backed Lewis finished eighth overall in his division with an B-9 tally. edg- .the 125cc West Region SX standings by American Suzuki but is now on his own.. though he gets good ,bac king from surf giant,Quiksilver, And 'ing ninth-place Cliff Palmer for the privatee~ prize . . Rusty Holland, SplitFire/Pro Circuit' s fill-in for, the injured David Pin- ' gree and Chad Peder son. is sa id to be on his own again now that Peder." Among the injured and missing-in-action at High Point were Yamaha's ,Da mo n B.....dshaw. who broke his toe curing a practice session'at the son had returned. Hoilandshoeld bein lineforsome kind of deal In 1997, Deriver S upe rcross. Team Xtreme's Den ny St ephenson. who has' an injured back, and the injured Kawasaki duo of Ryan Hughes and Damon , There might be somet hing to the old one-man, one-truck iheorY of factory: -Collect/ Fox Racing' s Wess ', McCoy once Huffman, Then there's Team Chaparral's Lanry Brooks, who is still mend- riders , Team Honda/1 ' BOO ing a busted elbow. arid Honda of Troy's Mike Brown, who hurt hi~ wrist said: "Box vans win championships," the reason being that the' relationat the St. Louis SX, Local sta r Davey Yezek of F&S Suzuki,qualified on ' s hips betwee n the rider and the mechanic: and the mechanic and the bike are so much closer than when three ,or, four riders travel toge ther. The Sunday but decided to sit the race out with'a,nagging shoulder injury, 1996 season is a prime example: Eve ry 250cc race in both supercross S;"'tt'Su";meni was on hand at th~ High Point Nationals as a gues t 6f 'and the outdoor Nationals,has been won by a one-man, one-mechanic. American' Honda. for .wh orn'he competes in .the AMA Grand National o ne-truck team , ,Jeremy McG.....th won 14 supercrosses and the first" Cross Country and National Hare Scrambles,Series, S ummers won Sat- three Nationals" while, mechanic Skip ' Norlolk did the box-van thing: ' urday's.hare scrambles event on an XR400 and then did umbrelladuty fo; ,JeH , Emig 'and mechanic ,Jeremy Albrecht have won the 'other two McGrath and Steve Lamson on Sunday, signing .autoqraphs all the' ",hile races, while going soloin the Kawasaki big rig, Maybe bi9ger is n't better ' ,' .. . ' ' .. ' " , .. ' " ,, , , '.. for,High Point fans who recognized the Kentuckian from his off-road ' after all.' ,expl its, " , o ' " ,' ' , The dynamic weathe'r c':'nditi~ns ' made' tire and ~~ggl:e se lection a 'problem The q )ening round or'the U.S. Women's MotOc~oss 'Le a g ue Out. , ' all. day long for riders. Ju st before the start of the first 125cc 'mote at High door Championship Series took place during the High Point week. Point. Team Hond a/1 -s oo-Cc nect/Fcx Racing:s Steve Lamson made a .end..The program called for the women to race their firSt moto on S atur- tire ,switch while the starting gate , going from D unlop 490 to a 752 day during the Team Green Spring Amateur Nationals and then do their front. According to mechanic Mike Gossalaar, "The track is a little,greasy -second and final moto between the Pro National rriotos on Sunday, Mal)'- and I'm afraid the 490 will pack up a littlebrt." .Thouqh Lamson seemed land's Amber Hughes was the winner of both motos on her American' happy with his ' last -minute change .. he s uffered an off day at High Point. Suzukr/Cernl c's Racing/ AXO/ProCircuit-backed RM1 25. Finishing sec- , He finished fifth in the first motoand then case d a triple in the second and ' ond and third. respectively. were New Zealander Shelly , H,ickman arid Jammed hIS thumb,-He st ill fin is hed sixth and held on to his considerable Minnesota' s_Shelly Kann. The girls were included in', the trophypresen- '. points lead over Yamaha rider J ohn DOwd (169 to 136) in the standings. ' ,tation,along with the pro riders and were handed their trophies and cham- ' , " : " , ' . ,: " pagne by a pair of Red RiderS : supe rcross and motocross star' J eremy " The way the AMA put the su percros s and outdocir National sc hedule McGr:ath an d off-road idol Scott Summers: Hughes . who is 16 years old. " toget her this year. r the first real break the nders .qet started after Hi h g Point. The next two wee kends are open on the calender after ,19 races in had to have help ope ning the first champagne bottle of her career by McGrath, Then. in one of those what-comes-around-goes-around things , the last 20 weekends., The word ,"vacation" was floating through the pits Sunday afternoon, "I'm so ready for a vacation: that' was ali i could think that make life grand. Ms: Hughes hosed down McGrath and S ummers. , ' ' about in the fi rst mota ." admitted ,Jeremy McGrath,'who deserves one The aforementioned Team Green Spring Amateur. N;'tionals will heck of avacatior after winning '17 on 9 races so far in 1996, "The secprobably keep its 'title as the world's billgest one-day motocross race . as . ond moto I just told-myself. 'You' can' t do that. You Can't 'start vacation well over 1000 amate~ riders partlClpate~ In the program,'lncJudlng just early: I got aggreSsive all over aqaln, " After the race; 25Occ-elBsswinner about every top amateur and rninicycle racer in the Eastern United States. ' ,JeH Emig said ,his '900d byes to his fellow riders and friends because ' One nder absent. however. was Florida 's Ricky Carmichael , who is ,"I'll be missing for about eight days: i don't want to see 'a.motorcycle, I stlll recoven ng from ,a sep arated shoulder. Carmichael's name stili 'came , don't wantto talk about motorcycles. I don) want anything to do with-this ' . " up several times, a s the 16-year-old flyerwasrumored to have already ' for the next eight days'. then I'llbe back," ,inked a pro deal foc l 997: with Kawasa ki and Splitfire/ Pro Circuit, He will . .. ' ,' , ', . . " '. ", ' coriipete in se lected Eas tern regipn supercross and National events . , The 1996 Higli Point Nationals marked the 2Oth ,anniversBl)' of.the , ", , " " ...' .. ' , , , popular outdoor event. The track was foundedIn the fall of 1976 and The first ,125cc ,qualifying heat had the look of a Pro National itse lf, as ' host ed an AMAP io National for the fi rst time the next year,,The track sits .s everal big names had,to participate in order 'to' make the 40-man main. in a valley on the, Holbert famil , farm and. acco rding to the 20th anniver y ev e nt : Ho nda of Troy' s Mike Craig , Suz ukls Ezra Lusk and , sal)' ,sciuvenir proqrarn.iwas d esill'ned in part by the Maico' motocross ,HondillPrimal lmpulse 's Robbie Reynard went to the gate with the rest , teem back in, '76: At that ,time, Sylvain Geb oe rs , Adolf Weil arid Hans of the, hopefuls and,allth ree promptly cra shed on the first lap, Each of .Ihe " Maisch were trave1i.~g the Trans-USA Series with tea m manager Selveraj three still qualified, and they all finished in the top '10 overall in the actual ' " and s topped' by the newtrack for some pract ice between East Coast 125cc Pro National. : " . . " events, But aramsto rrnkeptthe European ,s tars from riding their bikes ; . .. ' .. ..' , " , ,,,' ,. , , , ,',' " a nd instead they jus t didawalkabout 'of the faci1i.iy. Nct.likinqwhat they Among "th" non-qualifiers for S unday's Pro National was "Crusty Demons ' saw: the Maico stars took it upon themselves to 'redesign High 'Point by' a , of, Dirt videostar S.et h Enslow, who flew in from Californi with the plaCing sticks and s tones around the fields. The la}iout thliy came up with , ~elp of Rorick's Cycle of Canton, Ohio, and Racer -X Illustrated, Ens low is stili the general design 20 years later: " " " . ' . cras hed in both his heat race 'and the last chance qualifier and failed to ' : ', ' , ' ' .ms ke the program'. though he did get lots . .cheers from the High Point of .. ' . . ; ', on a

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