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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127833
(Left) Team Suzuki/Suzuki of Troy/FOX'S
Jeremy McGrath got a good start but a fall
while trying to pass Lusk early in the main
relegated him to third.
(Below) Yamaha's Doug Henry (20) got
around, Team Manchester Honda's
Damon Bradshaw (10) just before this
comer. Team Honda of Troy'S Larry Ward
(6) is in the process of crashing, costing
him valuable positions.
ing closely. LaRocco passed Palmer
before the step-up jump and rode
uncontested for the remaining five laps
to the checkers, Palmer went down in
the corner after the finish line, letting
Anderson and Bateman ride by for second and third, respectively, However,
Palmer came back and again took over
second place where he would finish.
Anderson held third, but Bateman
missed his transfer when Pro
Circuit/Answer-backed James Eickel
and SMP /Noleen-sponsored Jeff Tilton
both got around him late in the race.
Frenette and Tomohiro Shibiyama
finished first and second, respectively, in
the Last Chance Qualifier to fill the last
two spots available for the main event.
MAIN
Bradshaw had the best reaction time
off the starting gate in the main, then
blasted off the outside berm in the first
turn to edge out Yamaha teammates
Lusk and Henry for the holeshot. Ward
was in the shuffle along with McGrath,
Swink and Button. Emig came out of the
first corner in 11th, while Albertyn
would pick up his factory Suzuki after a
crash in the whoops during the first lap,
Henry had visions of victory and
passed Bradshaw in the corner before
tj1e step-up jump at the end of the
·lect's Greg Albertyn, who fell in the
whoops after the start and recovered in
last place. Team Chaparral/Yamaha's
Phil Lawrence had his top finish of the
year in ninth and F&S Suzuki/Factory
Connection's Cliff Palmer claimed 10th.
HEATS
.The first 250cc heat was a definite
glimpse of the turbulent main event to
come as Henry, McGrath, Lusk and
Ward battled heavily for the first half
of the race. They were all up there at
the start along with Washougal
MX/TMR's Ryan Huffman, Button and
Team Green/Kawasaki of Carrollton's
Jeff Dement.
Ward led for a few laps but McGrath
was able to get around him just before
the finish-line jump on lap three and
Henry followed. Lusk started working
on Ward and disposed of him shortly
thereafter, and Dement and Lawrence
soon followed suit. At the finish it was
Henry, McGrath, Lusk and Texan
Dement taking the last direct transfer to
the main. Lawrence settled for fifth,
with Ward, Huffman and Button closing
out the top eight.
The second hea t was all Emig as he
snagged the holeshot and pulled three
seconds on the field by the end of lap
one and rode to the win. Bradshaw,
LaRocco, Albertyn and Swink battled
for the remaining transfer positions.
Bradshaw passed Albertyn for second on the first-lap shuffle, and the two
riders finished in that order. LaRocco
slowed himself down considerably
when he cased it in the whoop section
giving Swink an easy opportunity for
fourth and a trip to the main. LaRocco
had to go to the semis with a fifth-place
finish, and Palmer got sixth after being
there for much of the race.
Button began to pressure Bradshaw for
fourth when the two came together in
the air, with Bradshaw catching a part of
Bu tton's motorcycle on his wrist. Bradshaw promptly pulled over thinking his
wrist was badly injured, but soon
resumed racing in eighth place.
McGrath ran patiently in the top five
before moving around Button and then
Henry on lap eight to take over third.
Button began to pressure Henry and the
two collided, sending Henry to the pits
with a lacerated and broken left hand,
and Button went careening off the track
and hopped back on just behind laRocco in fifth.
.
"1 sucked up the triple and made
some time on Henry," explained an
apologetic Button. "He jumped it on the
outside, and 1 thought he was going to
go to the outside. 1 think when he heard
me, he tried to jump to the inside and
came up a little bit short on the double,
moved left and, 1 believe, 1 landed on
his clutch hand. 1 got shot off the track
and lost a position or two.
"1 feel bad about the incident with
Henry," Button added, "because he's
battling for the points lead and all. We
both ride for Yamaha and 1 don't want
to jeopardize maybe a Yamaha winning
the championship, but 1 was definitely
not tying to take him out."
Henry saw it differently.
"Jimmy Button was going to be a
hero and jumped to the inside and took
me out," Henry said on his way to the
hospital. "My hand is cut up really bad.
1 think his handlebar landed on it."
Meanwhile, LaRocco was holding off
Button and Ward until his bike suddenly locked up in the whoops and promptly stopped, giving Button and Ward
fourth and fifth, respectively.
The top six stayed the same until lap
17, when LaRocco, who had restarted
his bike, went down after the finish line
jump when his bike again locked up.
His night was over.
"We really don't know what happened yet," .LaRocco said, "1 thought it
was the rear brake but it doesn't seem to
be that. We just don't know yet."
Back out on the track, Swink
assumed sixth with LaRocco's departure
and held a good lead over Bradshaw,
Albertyn and Lawrence.
Up front, the pack raced on and
stayed close with Emig taking the checkers with a three-second lead over Lusk.
McGrath wa~ third, followed by Button,
Ward, Swink, Bradshaw, Albertyn,
Lawrence and Palmer.
l~
Houston Astrodome
Houston, Texas
Results: March 22, 1997 (Round 9 of 15)
F&S Suzuki/JT's Jeff Hedden
holeshot the first semi with Ward,
Lawrence, AXO-backed Jason Frene.tte,
and Button running close behind. Ward
and Button got around Hedden midlap
and Lawrence was running third by lap
two. Huffman moved around Hedden
near the mechanics area step-up jump
and the transfer order was set, although
Butto.n and Ward battled over the top
spot with Button actually making a
short-lived pass after the finish on lap
four.
Ward grabbed the checkers over a
hounding Button, followed by
Lawrence, Huffman aI)d Hedden.
Palmer had the holeshot in the second semi with Pro Circuit/JT-backed
Erik Anderson, LaRocco and Del Amo
Mot?rsports Matthew Bateman follow-
·whoops, which had become one of the
three or four prime passing spots on the
track. Ward began to hound Bradshaw
but tipped over while trying to make a
pass in an 5-turn before the finish and
dropped about five positions. Emig
worked his way through the pack,
around LaRocco and into fifth by lap
three.
The top four riders - Henry, Bradshaw, Lusk and Button - raced closely,
sizing each other up in every section of
the track, Bradshaw popped out of a rut
in a slick corner allowing Lusk and
Emig, who had deposed Button a lap
prior, to move into second and third,
respectively,
.
Quickly, Lusk zapped Henry before
the finish line, and Emig followed suit a
half a lap later at the step-up section.
250 HEAT 1 (S laps. 1-4 transfer to main): 1. Doug
Henry (Yam); 2. Jeremy McGrath (Suz); 3. &ra Lusk
(Yam); 4. Jeff Dement O