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/127851
MOTOCROSS AMA 1251250cc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP M T O SERIES O OCR SS By Davey Coo mbs Photo s by Karl Ockert TROY, OH, /UL Y27 n a race that will go d own in mod ern mot ocross lore as one of th e hottes t, tou g hest even ts of a ll, Kaw a sa ki ' s Jeff Emig an d . Damon Hu ffman prov ed themselves best eq uipped to deal wit h the heat. Emig swe p t bo th m otos of the 250c c class, while Huffma n post ed a similar I-I i n the 125cc class to nail down his fi rs t win of the 1997 AMA National Motoc ross Championship Series. All of this took place at Kenworthy's MX Park in Troy, Ohio, in steamy conditions. "It ' s h ot and I' m ti red," re p lied a spent Emig after coming from behind to w in the first mo to after passing Suzuki's Jeremy McGrath, and then holding off a determined Larry Word the second time ou t. "I think this wa s one of the hottest races eve r becau se of the heat index. It wa s rea lly, really humid, and ju st 15 minutes into e a ch mo to, it seemed like we were jus t riding around - but I guess I was jus t r iding arou nd faster tha n everyo ne else tod ay." Honda of Troy's Ward finished .a season-bes t second ove rall behind Emig with his own 5-2 tall y, while McG ra th settled for third (2-6) after "hi tting the wall" w hile running towa rd the front in th e seco n d m oto . Tea m ma te G reg Albertyn w a s thir d with a 3-7 score, I Kenworthy's MX Park (Above) The 250Ccmoto gels under way amid sweltering heat and high humidity at Troy, Ohio's Kenworthy 's MX Park. The int ense cond it io ns.played a major factor in th e day's rac ing. (Left) Kawasaki's 'J eff Emig was amo ng the strongest as he won bo th motos In t he 250Cc Nallonal. while Kaw asaki' s Ryan H ug hes overcame a firs t-rnoto endo to garner fifth overall with an 8-3 showing. "I wouldn't have wan ted to go one more lap," said H uffman after leading every inch of both 125cc mo tos . "That's a bout as hot and as ti red as I would ever want to get, and there was no way t ha t I was going to quit b efore the ch eckered flag ca me out, bu t when it di d, I was definitely read y to stop ." H u ffman nabbed bo th holesh o ts on his number- I ? fa cto ry Kawasaki and pu t in tw o perfect motos to ga rn er his firs t 125cc Na tio na l wi n in tw o years. He a lso s ucceed e d i n h o ldin g off a d e te rm ined Ricky C a r m ic hael i n the ea rly stages of bo th motos before securin g th e wi ns . Still, Spli tFire /Pro Circu it / Kawa sa ki' s Carmichael marched on to wa rd the '97 125cc Na tiona l title with a solid 2ยท2 score on his first visit to Kenworthy's. Fin ish in g third o n th e day was Fren chman Mickael Pichon, who put in two s mart, steady effor ts for 6-5 mo to sc ores . Ca rmichael's teammate David