Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127792
MOTOCROSS' AMA 1251250cc National Motocross Championship Series Round 7: Red Bud Track·N·Trail L~. By Cameron Coatney Photos by Kinney Jones BUCHANAN, MI, JULY 7 or the third time in as many races and for the fourth time in the 1996 AMA 125/250 National Motocross Series, it looked as if the American Honda 11-800-Collect I Fox Racing teammates of Jeremy McGrath and Steve Lamson were on their way to winning their respective classes at the 23rd annual Malcolm Smith Racing AMA National Motocross round held at the Red Bud Track 'N' Trail in Buchanan, Michigan. Lamson upheld his end of the equation by turning in 3-1 moto finishes, which were good enough to secure tl1e overall win in the 125cc class. McGrath was halfway to the completion point of his part of the equation in the 250cc class by taking the moto-one win, but Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig had other plans and ripped the equation in half by winning the penultimate second moto and securing the overall victory with a 2-1 moto tally. "The crowd really kept me going all day long, and 1 have to thank them for that," said a satisfied Emig. "I crashed a few times in practice this morning and hurt my right palm and nearly cut my left eye, so 1 wasn't really focused in the first moto until the end. 1 got focused at the end of moto one and 1 just carried it over into moto two." Second overall for the day went to' McGrath, who earned a 1-3 moto score for the day after crasrung pretty hard late in the second moto while trying to overtake Emig. Third overall went to the hometown hero Mike LaRocco, the Team Suzuki rider who hails from near- F 10 by South Bend, Indiana, and put together a consistent 4-2 moto score. After McGrath went down in moto two, LaRocco got by and held the defendingchamp to third place to the delight of his loyal fans. He would have been mugged hap he not. Honda of Troy's Larry Ward looked like the old Larry of last year with his 64 moto finishes and went home finishing fourth overall. Brian Swink made it an even better day for the Honda of Troy team by taking fifth-place overall honors with a 3-8. McGrath still enjoys a fairly comfortable points lead over Emig, 336-296. LaRocco trails them both in third with 232, while Albertyn sits in fourth with 208. Swink sits back in a distant third with 183. In the 125cc ranks, Lamson had a tough time in the first moto after battling with flu-like symptoms the week before and finished third, but had everything in check when he won the second moto and secured the overall win. "1 got sick last week in Mammoth," said Lamson. "1 had a l04-degree temperature and had to go to the hospital. I was worried 1 wouldn't have enough strength for both motos, so 1 rode a Ii ttle tight and conservative in the first moto. 1just smoothed things out in the second moto and went for it." Team Suzuki's Tim Ferry fulfilled some of the promise team manager Roger DeCoster saw in him when signing him to a factory ride by earning second overall with a 5-2 scorl! for the day. It was his first National podium f~sh since Southwick last year. Third overaIl also went to a Team Suzuki rider, Ezra Lusk, who rode smart all day with a 4-5. It was his second podium finish in as many racess after his second overall at Southwick. Team Yamaha's John Dowd was looking good again, especially in the second moto where he raged to the front after a 10th-place start, and his 9-3 moto tally garnered him fourth overalL Fifth place overall was snatched up by Honda of Troy's Mike Brown when he turned in 6-6 moto finishes. He looked strong and fast all day. Lamson now enjoys a hefty 80-point lead in the 125cc point standings with 311 over Dowd in second with 231. Yamaha's Kevin winham is in third with 209 even after winning two Nationals this year. Ferry is in fourth with 185, followed closely by teammate Lusk, who has 176. Track attendance was announced at 18,500 for the Red Bud event and spectators came from all over the Michigan area to see their local hotshoes LaRocco and Swink run the Pro course. The local radio stations touted a 30-percent chance of thundershowers on race day, but only a few drops before the first 250cc moto disturbed the otherwise muggy, partially cloudy, 85-degree conditions. The Tim Ritchie-prepared track was pretty close to last year's design and had plenty of uphills and downhills, but featured a few new sections. The techni.cal quad jump of years past was removed to add another uphill ski jump and, although less technical, provided good outdoor-style rilcing action. The infamous "LaRocco's Leap" was still intact and was about 120 feet in length after takeoff, throwing the riders soml! 50 feet in the air. Most 125cc pilots were attempting the double portion of the jump, while only McGrath, Swink, Emig, and Canadian champ JeanSebastien Roy in the 250cc class were going for the triple landing, which was some 25 feet farther, with any regularity. The track rutted up pretty badly and got a tad dusty at times, but made for good racing. "Fun" was often used to describe the layout. Most riders had nothing but praise for the track or Promoter/Owner Gene Ritchie's program. 125CC NATIONAL Team SplitFire/Pro-Circuit/Kawasaki's Chad Pederson was the surprise hoJeshot artist of the first 125cc moto and was followed closely around the first corner by GW Bank's Buddy Antunez, Ferry, Lamson, Windham, Scott Sheak, and the pack of screarnin' 125s. Kawasaki's Damon Huffman, who was returning to action since injuring his knee in a gnarly endo at the St. Louis Supercross in April, was mired way back in the pack with a lousy start. He would not really be a factor in this race and finished 16th. American Suzuki I Quicksilver I O'Neal's James Dobb got about an eighth-place start and was moving up fast. He was in second place by the end of lap one and riding well. Ferry, who was running in third, went down in a rutted corner and Lamson motored by to take the third spot on lap two. Pederson led for about three laps before Dobb forced the issue at the corner after LaRocco's Leap, by taking the inside line and shutting the door on Pederson to take over first. After five laps, it was Dobb, Pederson, and Lamson running first through