Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DAYPALMER SIX BY KIT hew! We can finally catch our breath now that the 1997 AMA Supercross Series takes its first reak since its explosive start four eeks ago in Los Angeles. I'm not exactly sure whether or not 'm surprised that Jeremy McGrath asn't won yet. After all, history has roven that it's not always easy to witch teams and bikes and continue inning like nothing has happened, but hen again, McGrath is the four-time upercross Champion who won 14 out f 15 main events last year. But you have to hand it to him. cGrath is dealing with his thus-farinless season like the true champion e is. He's not panicking, nor is he mak. g excuses. Instead, McGrath is mainaining his cool, keeping focused on the eries points and taking everything in tride. Finishing 15th at the opening ound wasn't what he had in mind, but e dealt with that biow quite well. And asn't it ironic tha t it was his former onda teammate Steve Lamson who ook him out twice in one lap that rought about his double-digit finish? cGrath certainly could have gone on nd on about that, but he didn't. He ew Lamson did not do these things n purpose. Instead, he looked on tne tight side of things. "Hey, I got the oleshot, I'm stoked about that," cGrath said. His third-place finish at LA II was a ig step in the right direction, and so ere his two runner-u p placings la ter n at Phoenix and Seattle. Again, second lace isn't his ultimate destination, but ou would be hard-pressed to tell that y looking at the expression on cGrath's face after those races. He's ways smiling. He even gave Henry a ig congratulatory hug after his rival's econd win of the series at Seattle. McGrath is a class act. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all so ar is Doug Henry. Who !",ould have hought he'd be leading the supercross eries points standings after four ounds? Obviously, not us. You won't ee his name among the top five in our ual preseason supercross predicions. Nor will you Larry Ward's, who is rently second.. . It's not that we didn't think both.ridrs have the talent, but both riders were oming off injuries going into the '97 ason. Ward had injured his ankle durng the off-season and wasn't even YEARS AGO... EBRUARY 22, 1967 t was announced that the Tecate Grand Prix would be returning in '67 after a five-year hiatus due to previous . ts. The GP was billed as the "Poor an's Catalina GP" ...Young Lon Peteron won the 4-Aces Moose Run near ojave, California, on a Triumph, bestng Charles Gates on a Bultaco and eed Price on a Triumph after 90 miles f racing...Honda-mounted Sammy Taner won the 15-lap main event at the scot Park Short Track in California. Cal . aybom finished second on a Harleyavidson and Jim Odom got third on a uzuki. Harley Davidson-mounted Dick ann won the la-lap Consolation Final ver Paul Conserriere on a Ducati and lyde Litch on a Honda...Stu Marshall on the Masters class at the SCTA Eng'sh Trials in Little Rock, California, on a I expected to ride the opening round, let alone finish third. Henry's situation was a little bit different. He had broken his back in '95 and, although he had gotten on the comeback trail last year, he never showed signs of the Henry of old, the Henry who had previously won two 125cc titles. That was until the remaining few' rounds of the 250cc Nationals last year. But was he truly back? Evidently, he is. Welcome back, Doug. There have been plenty of other surprises and bizarre ha ppenings as well, like Greg Albertyn winning the opening round, but, actually, that wasn't too surprising - he was due. And then there was Brian Deegan winning his first 125cc supercross main, then - in celebration - launching his bike off the finishline jump without him on board. The AMA wasn't too happy about that, nor were the folks at ESPN who did not like seeing their film crew p!!Iposefully at risk from a pilotless motorcycle and made their feelings' known about it at the riders' meeting the following week at Phoenix. The 45,000-plus 'spectators liked it, though. After all, their wellbeing wasn't in danger. AMA referee Ron Crandall fined Deegan $500 which created quite a stir. You see, for Crandall, Deegan's maneuver hit just a little too close to home. Many years ago, Crandall was mowed over by Ron Lechien's crashing motorcycle at the Anaheim Supercross and was left with a broken leg and a permanent limp. Crandall does not like seeing any unnecessary risks taking place on the infield, and he made that point quite clear. And then there's Frenchman David Vuillemin winning the 125cc main at Seattle. The folks at Team Chaparral must be shaking their heads. Both Deegan and Vuillemin are former Team Chaparral riders. During the off-season, Deegan left to join Team Moto XXX, and, due to sponsor disputes, Vuillemin and Chaparral parted ways just before the opening round at Los Angeles. Vuillemin, unfortunately, is heading back to Europe for the GPs and is kissing second-place points in the series standings goodbye. But, rest assured, we haven't seen the last of him. Some of the surprises haven't been aU good, at least for the riders involved. Kawasaki's Damon Huffman and Ryan Hughes have had lots of luck thus far all bad. Poor starts and crashes, not to mention a sore knee, have slowed Huffman's efforts, and food poisoning and a seized motor haven't helped Hughes' cause any. Despite turning in an outstanding performance at Phoenix, Hughes has all but written off the SX series, instead looking toward the 250cc outdoor Nationals and a fresh beginning. And who could blame him. He's currently tied for 10th with, of all people, Huffman, only 49 points in back of Henry. In this day and age, that's a long row to hoe even with 11 rounds left to go. Even though Jeff Emig has one win to his credit, he hasn't quite lived up to a lot of people's expectations. Many predicted that if it wasn't McGrath leading the series, it would be Emig. Reason being that Emig is coming off a spectacular year-end finish in the '96 250cc Nationals, where he beat McGrath head-to-head for the title. Fur. thermore, a World Supercross title in between would certainly give Emig even more confidence and would come out swinging in the '97 AMA 'Supercross Series, or so you'd think. Emig did land a knockout punch at Phoenix, but otherwise, the 250cc National MX Champion is off to another lackluster, or perhaps cautious, start. He's currently fourth in the series. Lamson, Team Honda's lone soldier, seems to be trying a little too hard, as • evidenced by his eighth place in the series standings. It's probably because of those big shoes he's trying to fill. Lamson has shown he has the speed to win but crashes, two of them coming in the first turn, have relegated him to ninth in the series - so far. However, Lamson, like McGrath, is a champion and certain!y has the talent and capabilities to tum things around. He's done it before. While it might be true that Team Honda isn't having one of its better SX series, you probably won't have to feel sorry for them for long, because Honda has always had the knack of producing champions, seemingly at will. Remember when they lost seven-time champ Rick Johnson to an injury in 1989? Many people thought Honda's reign was over, but his replacement Jeff Stanton gave Honda six championships, and when he retired, McGrath came along and gave them another five. Who will it be now? ScottSheak,perhaps? Rumors have it that Honda is consid- Triumph. Jim Wilson and Bob Kulek Sr. finished second and third, respectively, also on Triumphs. Broc Glover and Bob Hannah kept up their end of the deal by winning the 125cc Pro and 250cc Pro classes, respectively...CN took a look at "bike-packing" through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, including the Mammoth area. David Emde won the 250cc and Open GP classes at an AFM Road Race at Ontario Speedway in California. In the Open Superstreet class, Kawasakimounted Wes Cooley beat Ducatimounted Cook Nielson and BMWmounted Reg Pridmore in a pre-Daytona showdown. 20 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY 23, 1977 he Husqvama team of Larry Roeseier and Rolf Tibblin beat everyone to the finish at the 340-mile SCORE Parker 400. Tom Kelly and Bob Balentine finished second overall, first 250 on a KTM, the 250 Husky-mounted team of Rick Finger and Ric Secor finished third overall and Mitch Payton and Jeff Kaplan took their Husky 125 to 11th overall and first 125...Bob Grossi and his Open-class Suzuki put a stop to Yamaha's plan of winning all three Pro classes for the second consecutive week at the Florida Winter AMA MX Series in St. Petersburg by beating Rick Burgett in both motos. Factory Yamaha riders T 10 YEARS AGO... FEBRUARY 25, 1987 am Honda's Rick Johnson stopped Jeff Ward's win streak by winning the San Diego Supercross over another local favorite, Kawasaki's Ron Leemen. Honda:s Micky Dymond fin- l1 ering putting Sheak in the 250cc class for the outdoor Nationals. Makes sense to me. It certainly would seem strange for Team Honda not to be represented in the premier 250cc class in the Nationals, and Sheak certainly would be capable of representing Honda well. Last year, Sheak nearly won a 125cc moto at the series opener at Gainesville as a privateer, so just think what he's capable of doing at the same track, but on a full-on factory-prepared motorcycle. This would be a good year for Sheak to break into the 250cc class. Honda's decision to keep Lamson in the 125cc class in the outdoor Nationals makes perfect sense, too, especially now that McGrath has jumped ship. Lamson has been the fastest U5cc rider in 'the country the past two years and he's got two ti ties to prove it, so why not keep Lamson on a 125 for one more year? By keeping Lamson in the 125cc class, it will give Honda at least one very realistic chance of winning a title this year .. And that would mean an awful lot to Honda, because the last time Honda went a full year without at least one major motocross! supercross title to its name was in 1981, some 16 years ago. That's a pretty impressive streak and one worth continuing. Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham would like nothing more than to be the spoiler. Obviously, the AMA Supercross Series is certainly enjoying one of its best starts ever. The questionable backto-back LA events proved to be successful, and who would ha'!e thought that Phoenix would pull one of the largest SX crowds ever? Seati:le had one of its largest crowds ever, too, and in just four events, we've seen three different winners and three different brands of motorcycles represented on the top 'step of the podium. Had Ward hung on to his lead in Sea ttle, it would've been the first time since 1976 that four different riders on four different bikes won the first four main. events of the series. They were: Tony DeStefano (Suzuki), Jimmy Weinert (Kawasaki), Jimmy Ellis (Can-Am) and Marty Smith (Honda). Luckily, this break is a short one, and when the series resumes on February 15th in Indianapolis, we'll get our first look at the 125cc East Coa t competitors, and who knows what that will bring? fN ished third while Ward finished seventh after two previous wins. Honda-mount.ed Kyle Lewis won the 125cc class, followed by Eddie Hicks and Lowell Thomas Jr. on Kawasakis .., Cagivamounted Doug Dubach, Suzuki's Willie Surratt and Honda's Brian Myerscough won the 125, 250, and 500cc Pro classes, respectively, at the sixth round of the CMC Golden State Nationals at Sunrise Cycle Park in Adelanto, California...CN conducted an interview with road racer Calvin Rayborn III... Husky's Dan Smith made the first ~tep toward winning his second consecutive AMA National Hare & Hound Championship when he tOdk the win at the first event of ihe year in Fremont Valley, California. Honda-mounted Dan Ashcraft finished second and Dale Knapp finished third on a Husky. fN 59

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