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/127855
MOTOCROSS A 125 ccNATIONAL MA 1250 CHAMPIO SHIPM T C O SSERIES N OO R S By Davey Coombs Photos by Kinney Jones BINGHAMTON, NY, AUG. 24 n a day filled with close, excitin g racin g , Te a m Yam ah a' s John Dowd score d a popular .ov e rall 1-1 w in in th e 250cc Nati ona l at Broom e-Tioga Racewa y in ce ntral New York, bu t his Kaw asak imou nted r iv a l Je ff Emig went h ome wi th the biggest 'prize as he re tained his AMA 250cc National Motocross Championship wit h title-clinch ing runner.. up ride. It wa sa Dowd's th ird outdnor r: win of the year, and the third outdoor '::'J title of Emig's career. ~ "I have worked an d waited my "., whole life to get to the point where I am the cha mpion of both motocross and C'- supe rcross, " said Emig, who is also the 0\ 1997 AMA Supe rcross Champion. "It' s ;::: an incredible feeling. Sometimes I wonder what it is that is finally wo rkin g so c<'l' well : hard work, experience, great bike, .... great team, confi de nce, luck, everyt hing . Q) ..0 I' m su re that it' s so me kind of combination of all those things that I'v e fina lly Q) great. on. And it ...... hit "It was jusfeelspe rfect" day: the track, ta 0.. Q) the wea ther, the fans, eve rythi ng," said (f) Dowd, who snapped Emig' s recent win ni ng st reak at eig ht st ra ight motos and fou r overall wi ns . "I felt good all d ay .. ~ Ei 6 Round 12: Broome-Tioga Raceway long. I was fluwing around the track, findi ng good Jines and just looking forw a rd to whatever ba tt le s I got in to because I w as having a great time ." Dowd seemed espec ially pleas ed to finally stop Em ig after a mon th of close contests, and there w as no questi on that Emig was giving it maximum effort. "I kn ew th at it was important to come here and try to w in, because J had wo n eight mo tos in a row and there was really no reason no t to go out there and try for n in e o r 10 in a row," offered Emig of his race-day stra tegy . "Unfortunately, I ran in to a problem wit h John Dowd tod ay. He was rid ing really, really well tod ay and just going fast. I only needed a 20th to ge t the title, an d I'm not saying that I was riding cautio us or anyt hing , but it was in my head a little bit the firs t moto. You kn ow, it' s real easy to go fast w hen you have to wi n to get a ch am p ions hip ; it's a lot ha rd er when you can just cruise and still get the title, beca use then yo u keep thin kin g, 'Don't mess up , don 't mess up!' lt made the first pa rt of the firs t moto a little awkwa rd ." And then there was the Dou g Henry presence. A we ll-known N ew England. hero-turned-superstar , Henry surprised everyone by pra cticing on Friday before the race aboa rd the same Yam aha YZM 400 F four-stroker that spit him off earli- er this summer and left him with two broke n arms . Many thought Henry' s season was over, and to see him practicing at speed created quite a buzz in the pits. However, it was nothing compared to the uproar he caused on and around the track wh en the Co meback Kin g holeshot the fir st moto and led everyone for two taps . "Ma n, I'm 50 happy to be out here, yo u don't even kn ow, " sa id a hap py Henry la ter . "I rode as ha rd as I cou ld for as long as I could and I felt fine." Hen ry eventua lly fa de d to a go alr eac hing 10th in th e mota a n d th e n elected to sit ou t the second race alto gether, but by then the next cha pte r of his amazing ca ree r had alrea dy been writte n. The 125cc class a t Broo me-Tioga did n't have the sa me dee p plot lines for fans to follow as the d ramatic 250cc class . Instead , it sim ply offered a not her day of good, close racing, and furthered 17-year-old Ricky Carmichael's domination of the cla ss . Th e newl y-crowned 125c c Na tiona l Cha mpio n and AMA Rookie of the Year proved tha t he is not about to sleepwalk throu gh the last two races of the seas on after cli nc hing the title at Washougal a week ago . For the third race in a row and the eighth time in 12 races, Ca rm ichae l captured th e ove rall w in . Ca rmichael a nd Yama ha- moun ted riva l Kevin Wind ham put o n a cro w d -p lea si ng 35minute-lon g duel in the first moto that saw them 'cross the fin is h line nearl y side by side - advantage Windham. But in the second moto, Carmichael took the lead halfway throu gh the first lap and basicall y pu lled away for a conv incing wi n over Windham . "I didn't ride my own race in the first moto, but J wa s on it in the second," said Carmic hael. "I wa nt to finish ou t the seaso n real s tro ng becau se I'm already thinking about nex t year. I' ve never wo n four Na tionals in a row , but this is the second time I've won three twice, so I will defi nite ly be workin g hard at the last race, too ." Finis hi ng th ir d overa ll on the day was lame- d uck class champ ion Steve Lamson; who will give up his num berone pl at e after ne xt week's fi na le in Pennsylvani a. Lamso n ran a d istan t 4-3 to edge Hond a of Tro y's Step ha ne Roncada (3-6) and Ca rmichael's Sp JitFire / Pro Circuit Kaw asaki teammate Casey Joh nson (5-5). On the po ints charts, Ca rmic ha el is natu rally out of reach , even thoug h the em ba ttled Wi ndham fought him to a dr aw a t Broome-Tioga . Ca rmichael