Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

riders would have the same amount of wins at four apiece, so the tie would be broken with the rider having the most second-place finishes. Based on that Emig would win. Finishing between Emig and McGrath at Charlotte was Emig's teammate Ryan Hughes (fifth) and Honda of Troy's Larry Ward (sixth). Hughes was making his return to the same venue where he suffered a nearly career-ending injury when his broke his jaw. Mike LaRocco, back on the Suzuki team after itting out the previous round at Pontiac, fini hed eighth, right behind his teammate McGrath. Finishing ninth was Honda of Troy's Mike Kiedrowski who, like McGrath, suffered a flat tire, but late in the race. Rounding out the top 10 was Chaparral/Yamaha'sJimmy Button. Button's teammate Phil Lawrence ended up 11th after starting off in ninth, while Washougal M.X-sponsored Ryan Huffman took top privateer honors in 12th. National Arenacross Champion Buddy Antunez finished 13th, just ahead of Manchester Honda Racing's Damon Bradshaw. Suzuki rider Anthony Pocorobba ended. up 15th, followed by Yamaha te t rider Doug Dubach, Kawasaki Team Green's Mike Jones, Kanes' Sports' Mike Katin, SMP's Grayson Goodman and Honda of Troy's Mike Craig, who pulled out of the race while running second early on after jamming his wrist landing from a triple jump. HEATS AND SEMIS Hughes jumped out to the early lead in the first 250cc heat race and quickly began pulling away on the long track. By the end of the first lap, he held at least a three-second cushion over LaRocco, Lusk, McGrath, Craig and Kiedrowski. McGrath had the holeshot but bobbled in the first turn and had to work his way to the front again. He soon' caught up to LaRocco and Lusk who were mixing it up for second place. Lusk soon got around LaRocco, who now had his teammate breathing down his neck. The two Suzuki riders went at it for a while until McGrath slid by and started working on Lusk. During the third lap, McGrath got by him, too, and suddenly found himself in the lead when Hughes, who was way out in front and seemingly in control of the race, suddenly went down in a whoop section and was briefly trapped underneath his fallen motorcycle. McGrath rode right past the Kawasaki rider and into the lead. "Going through the whoops, th.e bike just hooked up and kind of jerked my hand off the bars," Hughes said. "I wasn't really ready for it, and I just splatted into the face of a jump. r was just trying to win, you know? I've got to pay my mechanic (Ron Wood) a hundred bucks now. Every time 1 fall 1 have to give him a hundred bucks. He's going to be a rich SOB at the end of the year." Lusk stayed glued to McGrath's rear fender the rest of the way with the Suzuki rider taking the win. Third went to LaRocco, followed by Craig. Finishing one spot out of a transfer was Kiedrowski, in fifth. Hughes ended up a disappointing ninth. The second heat race saw Emig grab a confidence-boosting holeshot but before the first lap was completed, he was passed by Windham, who immediatelyopened up a big lead and ran away with the win. Emig lost sight of the high-flying Windham, and just like the previous 'Tin sure he (McGrath) knew there was a green fender there and he went a little wide, pushing me a little wide," Emig said. "I mean that's just part of racing. 1 would've done the same thing." McGrath had his share of problems in the first turn as well. He hit neutral and lost a number of places and completed the first circuit in sixth place. Getting through the fi rst turn unscathed was Windham, followed by Craig, Lusk, Ward and Albertyn. ext came McGrath, then Bradshaw, Kiedrowski, Lawrence and Antunez. Windham led 'the way and Craig latched on to the Yamaha rider, but it was only for a couple of laps. Craig had just been passed by Lusk when he mistimed a tricky, multi-double/triplejump section. round in Pontiac, had Bradshaw knocking on his back door. But, unlike the Pontiac race, this time Bradshaw managed to get around Emig, who, a half straightaway later, went down in a turn. As he struggled to get up, Ward, Albertyn and a couple of other riders rode by him. Bradshaw closed slightly on Windham at the finish. A little ways back, Ward finished just ahead of Albertyn. A distant fifth went to Lawrence, while Emig salvaged a sixth and had to go to the semis. Emig was not happy. "That was a low point of my week," Emig said. "When you come to th.e race, you've been working hard, training your ass off all week long and you come out in the first race and you flounder, oh boy. 'Yeah, here he is, the guy leading the points and can't even keep his bike on two wheels: rt wakes you up. 1 was pretty bummed. But you have to come back. I might be down but I'm not out." Hughes made up for his earlier heatrace mistake by scoring a wire-to-wire win in the first 250cc semi. Suzuki rider Anthony Pocorroba got the holeshot but Hughes was by him in a flash and was gone. After getting by Pocorobba on the first lap, Kiedrowski kept an eye on Hughes throughout the race but could never get close enough to perhaps force another Hughes mistake. Kiedrowski settled for second, while Thor / Primal Impulse/Honda's Buddy Antunez got around Pocorobba for third. Pocorobba held on to fourth, while Jones bought himself a ticket to the main in fifth. One spot out of a transfer position in sixth was Cliff Palmer. There was little .doubt that Emig would cruise to victory in the second semi, and the factory Kawasaki rider did just that. He smoked everyone to the first turn and led from there on out. Kawasaki rider Ryan Huffman ran a strong second the whole way, never letting Emig get completely out of his sight. Lawrence finished a distant third after battling with Chaparral/Yamaha teammate Button for a while before Button gave up the chase on the last lap. Button had plenty of room to spare over Goodman, who took the last semi ticket to the main. The last chance qualifier, where the final two positions are decided, had a (Above) Runnerup Ezra Lusk made it another Yamaha 1-2 sweep at Chartotte Motor Speedway. Lusk has made the podium for five straight race. (Right, left to rtght) Lusk, Windham and Albertyn celebrate. dramatic finish. Suzuki rider Palmer looked to have the race in the bag when, on the last lap, his bike's rear suspension collapsed. Palmer tried in vain to keep Kames' Sports' Mike Katin, Streits Motorsports' Jason Thomas, Pro Action's Joseph Oehlhof and Beach Sports Yamaha's Doug Dubach from passing him, and when they emerged from one of the far ends of the track, Kalin was leading with Dubach running second, and Palmer was blocking Thomas to no end. Thomas almost went down a couple of times but got the last laugh as he passed Palmer over the finish-line jump but still finished on~ spot ou t of the last transfer, which went to Dubach. MAIN Just like the previous week at Pontiac title contenders McGrath and Emig went into the first turn side by side and ahead of the pack. McGrath was on the inside but he carried too much momentum into the sharp, left-handed tum and drifted wide. Emig, on the outside and with nowhere to go, was driven into the hay bales by McGrath - again, just like last week. As a result, the pack rode right past Emig, who rounded the first lap in 14th place. "I carne up short over a high-speed triple jump and folded my wrist," Craig said afterward, while holding an ice pack on his left wrist. "I hit so hard that I bent the handlebars forward. 1 was in so much pain, I thought I broke my wrist but 1 think it's just sprained. I pulled off the track, gave my bike to a flagger and walked back to the pits:' By the time Lusk took over econd, Windham had already opened up a sizable lead, and McGrath had already blitzed his way into third, followed by Albertyn, Ward, Hughes, Bradshaw and Lawrence. Emig, meanwhile, was also working his way up through the pack and was now 10th. McGrath was the rider on the move and eventually reeled in Lusk and was working on him for a couple of laps: Finally, on the sixth lap, McGrath got around Lusk for seoond, and it was a pass that took a full straightaway to complete. Once into second, McGrath found himself a good six seconds behind Windham, and with 14 laps still left to go, the race was far from over. Windham, however, was on the gas and McGrath certainly had his work cut out for him. Over the next couple of laps, McGrath barely put a dent into

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