Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127838
SUPERCROSS THORIPARTS UNLIMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES • start was awesome in the main' - gated perfect, hit all my gears just real quick brah, brall, brall. I knew exactly where I wanted to be in the first turn and I wanted to be super fast down the .section of whoops to make sure no one was around me. It was pretty tough all night and I'm pumped - I didn't fall all day long. So~etimes I just have those days where everything goes right. I'm still pinching myself that I won this thing. '1 knew that when I came here I had to be mentally strong and when it rained some people wanted it canceled but I thought, 'Come on, let's do it'," Emig continued. "I was confident that I could get some more points, but with Jeremy being such a great supercross rider you can never have enough of a points lead - if I had a 24-point lead going into Vegas it wouldn't be enough. There's a lot of prestige with winning the final round and [ want it. It's going to be hot there and the hotter it is, the better I perform against the competition" McGrath was understandably less enthusiastic about the turn of events in the tumultuous main event. "(Michael) Craig pushed me out to the outside in the first corner and I ran into Buddy (Antunez) and got into a big pileup," McGrath said. "I'm happy with the way I rode, I caught up a long ways but the ituation sucks. I was swapping all over the place to catch up but it was just one of those deals. I'm 13 points down now, so I've just go to win in Vegas and hope something happens to Emig. You can't control a crash like that really - it sucks that I got pushed out, but what are you going to do. I rode • By Cameron Coatney Photos by Kinney Jones DALLAS, TX, APR. 15 n wet and muddy condition;; like these, luck plays an even bigger role than ever," Kawasaki Team Manager Bruce Stjernstrom said before Saturday night's races in Texas Stadium, referring to the muddy conditions caused by rain that began dumping on Friday and turned the PACE Motorsports-promoted Dallas Supercross into a quagmire. Little did Stjernstrom know that he was taking an eerie look in to the future of the AMA Supercross Championship ba ttle between Kawasaki/Shift's Jeff Emig and Team Suzuki/Suzuki of Troy /l-BOoCollect's Jeremy McGrath, the pair separated by just six points going into the event. The 36,267 fans who braved the dismal weather waited to see what would transpire. Both riders won their respective heats to transfer to the main without much ado, but a wild turn of events in t--.. the first corner of the 250cc main event 0\ saw Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig blast ~ away with a resounding holeshot and commanding win while his archrival for the title, McGrath, was left scrambling in the mud after a first-turn pileup. McGrath made a valiant charge through the pack to net fourth overall, but the damage had been done. ED;\ig now holds a 13-point cushion going into the ing guys off. Itdidn't seem like the guys in front of me were going that fast at all so I caught and passed them no problem. I actually thought (Larry) Ward was in second and I caught and passed him and Ian (Harrison, Albertyn's mechanic) gave me the pit board saying I was second, so I knew somebody (Ernig) was way ahead." Team Honda of Troy's Mike Craig had to go to the main out of a semi but rode well and finished third, his best 250cc supercross finish of the year. "In my heat, J went out and didn't do any double ju.mps and I was taking all the inside lines - which was the slow line," Craig explained. "So I went from second to sixth. So I was glad I got to ride the semi to figure out the track. I didn't get tha t good of a start in th~ main and abou t halfway through [ was having trouble with my goggles and Albee got me so I threw them away. I tried to stay behind Albee and when I crossed the line I didn't know where I was. When I pulled off they told me I was third and I was like, 'whoa.''' Team Chaparral/Yamaha's Jimmy Button fared well in the mud and finished fifth behind McGrath, while Team Honda of Troy's Mike Kiedrowski took sixth after ru!,ning as high as second midrace. Team Suzuki/MSR's Mike LaRocco moved up from 17th on the first la p to snag seventh a t the finish while Team Manchester Honda Racing/ AXO's Damon Bradshaw finished an uneventful eighth; ditto for Yamaha's Ezra Lu k who finished ninth. Team Kawasaki/Thor's Ryan Hugh. es ran second to Emig for much of the main until he tried to triple a jump sec- good. It just so happens that Jeff won and he rode a good race." McGra th' s Suzuki / I-BOO-Collect teammate Greg Albertyn picked up his fifth podium finish of the year by finishing second to Emig after starting just inside the top 10. "I arrived late to the start, which was very unprofessional," Albertyn said. "So I had the last pick on the gate and came out in about ninth after (Damon) Huffman fell in front of me. I felt really comfortable out there so I just started pick- tion following Emig and came up short, slowing his charge. After a few more trips to the muddy stadium floor, Hughes finally ended up 10th. Team Chaparral/Yamaha's Phil Lawrence finished 11th, followed by HoT's Larry Ward, Xtreme/FMF's Anthony Pocorobba Jr., SMP/Pro Circuit's Grayson Goodman and Washougal MX/Tom Morgan Racing's Ryan Huffman.' Hughes pulled the holeshot in the first 250cc heat ahead of Craig, Thor/Honda/Primal Impulse's Buddy (Above) Team KawasakVShifl's Jeff Emig celebrates his victory in the 250cc class in Dallas. Emig now has a 13-point lead over title rival Jeremy McGrath, 2n264, with one round remaining in the series. (Right) Emig grabs the holeshot in the 250cc main event over Ryan Hughes (9) and Mike Kiedrowski (100). Damon Huffman (17) goes down on the left·, while Jeremy McGrath is involved in a pileup to the right. final round in Las Vegas in three weeks. Barring any serious injuries at the two AMA National MX rounds for either rider before the supercross finale, Emig has to finish just rtinth or better to win his first AMA 250cc Supercross Championship. "It feels great to win this race," Emig said. "That's probably the easiest supercross win of my career. I just had fun and rode around. This was one of those tracks that the more relaxed and smooth you ride - the better off you'd be. My