Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) After winning both matos, Emlg celebrates after taking the checkered flag for the final time and clinching the championship. (Above) Suzuki's Mike laRocco (8) finished third overall. utes-plus. And by the time the two-lap board come out, seemingly every Kawasaki employee in the park, from the team manager to the truck driver, was cheering Emig on and trying to steer lapped riders out of the way. Because the Steel City track is long, lapped riders don't begin to be a problem until late in the race, and Emig ran up on a bunch of them in the final two laps. However, it was McGrath who got the worst break, when KTM rider Kevin Crine, 20th place at the time, moved out of Emig's way but didn't see McGrath coming. Crine inadvertently held up Jeremy for just a few moments, but it was all the time Emig needed to seal up the first moto win. "One down," was the first thing that came out of Emig's mouth as he took off his helmet after the finish. "I know I can win the title now with a second-place finish, but I'm here to win 'em both. I feel like I'm riding as good as I ever have and my Kawasaki is working great, and t~at's '!Vhat it takes to beat McGrath." "My bike was working good and I feel good but Jeff just had a great race," McGrath said. "I was waiting for him to make a mistake· or something, but that didn't happen, then it seemed like every lapped rider got out of the way for him but not me. tm not making excuses or anything because he rode really well, and now my job is going to be that much harder because no one else was even close to us." As the 250cc riders lined up for the final moto of the season Emig held a five-point lead, meaning McGrath must now win and have Emig finish J:hird or worse. As the crowd waited, Yamaha privateer Josh Demuth fouled his spark plug and held up the proceedings for the entire two minutes that the AMA allots for such mishaps. "That probably took a year off Emig's life sitting there waiting for that guy," joked Emig's goggle sponsor Bevo F9rti of Scott. But Emig still had one more holeshot left in him and, from the far inside gate, he rushed over on everyone and McGrath again got squeezed out. This time there was no real pileup to help th situation and McGrath was back in 12th, while Emig led Henr}'j Taylor, Albertyn, Ward, Keeney, Palmer, de facto Yamaha rider Damon Bradshaw, BSY guy Doug Dubach and then McGrath. "Typical Emig move off the start," said a frustrated McGrath later. "He came right over on everyone and 1 never had a chance." McGrath was right, and so began an anticlimactic final moto of the year in which Emig led every inch of the way, putting his Kawasaki through 15 perfect laps, while Albertyn - once past Henry - rode the same quick pace at a distance of about five seconds back. McGrath made it up to sixth by the third lap and then found his way into third by the halfway mark. At that point Albertyn started to close slightly on Emig, but the leader felt the pressure and turned up his pace. Emig rode across the finish line to claim the 1996 AMA 250cc National Championship, while Albertyn never succumbed to McGrath's constant pressure. In his last Team Yamaha ride, Bradshaw finished a fast fourth and had sort of th.e last word by beating teammate Henry. Ward was next, followed by LaRocco, who was also squeezed out on the start by the tactful Emig. Then came Swink, Lewis and Button. "I pretty much knew what I had to do and went out there and got the job done," Emig said as a huge crowd gathered. around him, including his proud father and a handful of his fanatical, afro-wigged Jeffro Fan Club members. "Jeremy has been superfast all year long and the only way for me to insure myself of the title was to go out and win both motos. I'm pretty happy right now and it hasn't really sunk in. But I would like to thank Kawasaki, my mechanic 'JBone: all of the Jeffro fans, and all of the people today w,,"o cheered me on, put up the signs, whatever. It really helped . me to try harder today." "I can't complain," McGrath said about losing the championship. "I've had a great season 'and my Honda was great to me every time. Today, I guess it just wasn't my turn. Jeff had the momentum today, I didn't. He earned the win today." CN Steel City Raceway Delmont, Pennsylvania Results: September 1,1996 (Round 13 of 13). 125 MOTO 1: 1. Kevin Windham (Yam); 2. Steve Lamson (Hon); 3. 'Damon Huffman (Kaw); 4. Michael Craig (Hon); 5. John Dowd (yam); 6. Buddy Antunez (Kaw~ 7. Scott Shea!< (Suz); 8. Chad Pederson (Kaw~ 9. Ezra Lusk (Suz); 10. Michael Craig (Hon); 11. Davey Yezek Jr. (Suz); 12. Tony Lorusso (Hon); 13. Brock Sellards (!

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