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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127790
MOTOCROSS' . ANA 1251250cc National Championship Motocross Series By Kit Palmer Photos by Karl Ockert 6 SOlITHWlCK, MA. JUNE 23 earn Honda's Jeremy McGrath and Steve Lamson are becoming quite the pair. For the second week in a row and the fourth time this year, the Red Riders duo have registered the overall wins on the AMA National Championship circuit, this time at the brutally rough and sandy MX 338 track in Southwick. Sure, Honda might have the smallest tearn in town, but they have the biggest win record. Between the two - McGrath and Lamson - they have accumulated nine wins in the six-race-old series. McGrath has won all but one 250cc moto (11 of 12) and Lamson seven 125cc motos. Of the two wins today, Lamson's was the hardest earned. Both times, the defending 125cc National Champion had to come from behind after bad Rounds 6/6: Southwick, MA starts. He managed a win in the first moto, but could not make up the lost ground on one of the many local favorites at Southwick, Team Yamaha's John Dowd. Dowd, from nearby Chicopee, Massachusetts, took over the lead early in the second moto and not even Lamson could do anything about it. Unfortunately for Dowd, a first-moto DNF ruined any chance he had for an overall win or even a top-five finish. Instead, second place went to Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk, who put to good use a pair of fine starts. Lusk basically led 99.9 percent of the first moto before making a bobble that led to Lamson passing the Suzuki rider a half a lap before taking the checkered flag. Another good start in the second moto resulted in a third-place finish, giving the Georgian second overall, his best National finish of the year. For the third time this year, privateer Suzuki rider Scott Sheak earned a trip to the podium with a third-place finish after posting 5-4 moto finishes. Rounding out the top five overall were Yamaha's Kevin Windham and Honda of Troy /Sinisalo's Mike Craig. But McGrath was the man of the hour. The Team Honda/l-BOOCollect/Fox Racing rider thoroughly dominated both 250cc National motos on the very unforgiving and energy-sapping Southwick_track. In the first moto, McGrath was challenged in the early going by Team Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, who was, as McGrath put it, "riding like the old Damon," at least for a while. Bradshaw just couldn't match McGrath's blistering pace the whole .race and eventually let the defending 250cc champ have it his way. Bradshaw did, however, hold on to finish an unchallenged second for what was one of his best performances since his mid'95 comeback. . Just like the first moto, McGrath was put to test early in the race, but this time by Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig, who suffered his series-worst ride in the first moto with a sixth-place finish. Emig came back with fire in his eyes in the second moto and jumped out to an early lead but just could not produce any distance between himself and McGrath. It was only a matter of time before McGrath would pass him, and when he did, the Honda rider pulled away for his fourth straight moto win. Emig still went home ",:ith secondplace hOl1ors, just ahead of another local hero, Team Yamaha's Doug Henry, who dropped off his wife, Stacy, at the hospital on the way to the race that morning. A few hours later, Stacy Henry went into labor with the couple's first baby. After going 4-5 on the day, Henry immediately left the track for the hospital. In the series point standings, McGrath now enjoys a solid 42-point