Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7: Red Bud Track-N-Trail definitely got the short end of the deal as he lost two of his upper-front teeth and injured his shoulder blade in ,the fiasco. Albertyn and Hughes would continue, although Hughes' bike would seize a few laps later. . Emig held the lead on the first lap until he declined to attempt LaRocco's Leap. McGrath came flying over the obstacle and landed just inches away from Emig, who was rolling over the triple landing zone. Emig ~as more surprised than McGrath, ,though, and gave up the lead in the following comer. "I was in the air and he didn't think I was going to jump it," said McGrath. "It would've really hurt if he would've come over any more. I was content to hang out in second for a while - until the jump. But he didn't jump it. So I made the pass." McGrath began to open up a lead which steadily grew with each lap. At the end of the fifth lap it was McGrath followed by Emig, Swink, Ward, Bradshaw, LaRocco, Button and Team Noleen's Kyle Lewis - who were in a duel - and Rich Taylor, and JeanSebastien Roy. LaRocco was on the move and got by Bradshaw on lap eight to take fifth, and then got around Ward to take fourth on lap 10 - no doubt motivated by his fans and his pride. Bradshaw and Ward battled for a while before Bradshaw got the best of Ward to secure fifth place on lap 11. Albertyn rode like a man possessed after his little mishap at the start, and was up to ninth on lap 11 and would stay there until the end. The finishing order was set and McGrath took the win with Emig about eight seconds back. Swink finished third followed by LaRocco, Bradshaw, Ward, Lewis, Button and Albertyn. Roy took the tail end of the top 10. The stage was set for the second and deciding 250cc moto and Emig was up to the challenge. He grabbed the holeshot with Taylor, Ward, Lewis, Swink, and McGrath in tow. LaRocco actually got a pretty decent start - at least in the top 10 - and was moving well. McGrath was trying to find a way around Swink in fourth, while Bradshaw was trying to do the same with (Above) Brit James Dobb came out and flat smoked the rest of the 125cc field in mota one, but. was exhausted and finished a dismal 35th In mota two. He stili got ninth overall. (Below) Suzuki's Tim Ferry (20) and Kawasaki's Damon Huffman (10) battled for most of the the second 125cc mota. Ferry's (5-2) tally gave him second overall while Huffman's (16-4) netted him 10th. LaRocco, who was in about sixth. McGrath got by Swink on lap two and worked on I,.ewis for a whHe before finally making the pass in the back se<: tion on lap four. Ward now separated Emig from McGrath and he knew it. Ward, held on for as long as he could before McGrath finally made the pass in a drag race out of the corner leading up to LaRocco's Leap. Emig had about a six-second lead on McGrath by the time he got around Ward and the race to the overall victory was going on full tilt. They were turning in some of the fastest lap times of the day at about 2:42. LaRocco was charging and brake-checked Ward to take over third place late on lap eight. Emig's lead had now dwindled to about 3.5 secon,ds and the crowd was loving every second of it - running from one side of the track to the other to watch the ensuing duel. It was Emig leading McGrath followed by LaRocco, Ward, Bradshaw, and then about 12 seconds back came Albertyn, Lewis, Swink, Button, and Hughes 'who was having a much better second moto. On the long sweeping mega-rutted tu'rn that led up towards the starting tower, where most of the passing was going on, McGrath was about a second behind Emig and was making his move. Then, the unthinkable for McGrath these days happened. He cross-rutted and crashed hard on the uphill, basically handing the overall victory to Emig. LaRocco was able to get by McGrath in the carnage, and those two would begin to duel for second. LaRocco, who was being pushed to beat McGrath by his 18,500 fans, rode hard and did hold off McGrath, who was obviously shaken from the highspeed crash - his helmet riddled with clods of dirt. At the finish it was Emig taking the moto and overall win followed by LaRocco, McGrath, Ward, Bradshaw, Albertyn, Hughes, Swink, Lewis and Button. The never-content LaRocco's 4-2 gave him third overall for the day, but he was already looking to the distant future. I'm not really happy with my finish," lamented LaRocco. ''It could've been worse, I guess. My finishes are getting better and everything is starting to cI ick - too bad it's the end of the year. I'm looking forward to next year with Suzuki. I want to get some wins this year and get my bike set up where I like it, and I'll be ready for next year." McGrath was noticeably shaken by the chain of events, but had his everoptimistic outlook in full swing after finishing second overall by going 1-3. "Yeah, I got a little sideways, crossrutted, and went down," explained McGrath. "It's a little hard to regain your composure after a crash like that. I lost three points to Jeft (Emig) today, but I'm just going to put it together fqr the next race in Unadilla." By earning the hard-fought win in the second moto Emig took home the overall win, his second of the year after his win at Mount Morris, Pennsylvania. It was a good day for the man and he was satisfied. "1 felt the pressure and he put on quite a charge," said Emig. "I've got to start forcing him into mistakes like he does to others - like he did today. LaRocco and McGrath were going fast today and I just held my ,composure. It's my second overall (National win) of the year, but 1 won with a 3-2 at Mount Morris and thilt's odd winning without at least one moto victory. Winning motos is what it's all about. 1 want to win at Unadilla, and I've never won there before.", f.N

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