Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

holds 523 total points to 421 for Windham, who has alread y wrappe d up the vice championship. Americ an Hond a's Sco tt She a k, sixth ov era ll at his hom e track - broken footpeg and all - is third with 348 points. Nex t are th e French connec tion of Suz u ki's Mickael Pichon (317) and Roncad a (293). In the 250cc class, Emig's own insurmoun table lea d is not a s big as Ca r m ichael' s 102-po int g ap, but he to ta ls more p oints w ith 541 to date. Dowd has all but clinched second overall wit h 448 poi nts, w hile Team Suzuki 's struggling Jeremy McGrath is third with 399 points. McGrath finished fifth overall a t Broome with a 5-7 tally. Third and four th went to the hard-ch arging semifactory Hondas of Larry Ward (3-3) and Damon Bradsha w (4-5). - (Opposite page) Jeff Emig (1) teads the way at the start of the second 250cc moto et Broome-Tioga Raceway Motocross 2 5 ~, in New York. Damon Bradshaw (10), J ohn Dowd (14) and J immy Button (18) are chas ing the factory N h".11fIO C 19 9 7 Kawasak i rider in the first corner. (Below ) When Yamaha's John Dowd wins, it can no longer be termed a surpr ise. The New Englander was perfect at Broome-Tioga, taking both 250cc moto wins. (Right) Jeff Emig: 1997 250cc Nationa l Champion. Second place was all it took for Emlg to clinch his second success ive 250Cc title, adding that to his 1997 AMA Supercros s Championsh ip. Sunday's race saw a record turnout of more than 15,000 for the Broome-Ti oga . fac ility a n d it s new p roprie tor , To m Hurd. The track itself was in near-pe rfect conditio n. Offering a mix of old -school ou tdoo r mo tocross hills a n d bi g -a ir supercross obs tacles , the track started out moist and loamy but soon become a rough, rocky and sometimes slick affair. Starts were importa nt, thou gh a patient Dowd came up from about 15th in the first moto t..run down the leade rs. 250cc floored it lea ving the concrete Henry starting pad , and the big four -stroke got to the first tu rn ahead of everyo ne else, bringing ou t the loudest roars of the day from the crowd. Bradsha w and Kawasa ki's Ryan Hu ghes were righ t there, with privateer Jason McCorm ick chasing . A first-la p cras h right a fter a triple ju mp caused a pileup that had riders scrambling all over the small in field sec tion, resulting in Hond a of Troy's Mike Craig charged harder, picked up my lap times from ea rlier, and just got it done. It probably worked out good that I fell." "There's been a lot of races this year where I beat john ou t, w he the r b y a wheel or a bike or even just a few seconds," said Emig. "I think that jo hn had some thing to prov e here tod ay to himself, me a nd his fa ns . I mean, J ca n't believe how fast he was going in the second moto." getting docked a lap for rejoinin g too far down the track. For two laps Henry led to a choof cheers, while Hughes and Bradrus shaw applied pressur e from second and third. ji mmy Butt on , Larry "Yard, jeff Emi g a nd Ezra Lusk were among the riders app lying pressu re, while Dowd 's YZ250 was back in 15th. "I really got a bad start, and it's craz y back in the pack," said Dowd. "I wa s jus t trying to rela x and see what wa s going on and find som e lines. I didn't w ant to pu sh a ny th ing too qu ick because eve ryone else wa s kind of out there going crazy . ! figured that falling on the gro u nd wasn't going to help. "He's so funn y!" sa id Dowd of his teamma te Henry after heari ng abou t the early lead er. "He was out here the other day and he was like, 'Oh, I don't know if I'm go ing to race or not .' Then you go out rid ing with him and he's going fast already. I knew that if he got out there and got a good start, he would d o fine for a while." Henry led for two laps before being passed by Hughes . After that he fought for every position ca refu lly, th ough it wa s obviou s that his wind will come back later than his spirit. Henry ended u p 10th, then pa rked the thumpe r, put on some street clothes and watched the rest of races with his family. As far as th e champ ions hip goes, Emig said he was very satisfied . "This is the first time in fo ur titles th a t I wra pped it up before the fina l race; I'm usu ally taking it down to the last mo to after coming back from some big deficit or some thing, " said Emig. 'This time I had a hu ge amo u nt of poi nt s, a lot of win s, and it shows that I now have th e right chemi stry with my mechan ic jeremy Albrech t, my team, my motorcy cle the w ho le program . I'm reall y, rea lly stoked about this ." 'The cham pion ship was pr ett y much locked up before today, so I wanted to go out in my own mind and do as good as I co u ld and ma yb e w in a race or two," refl ected Dowd . "I want to end Hughes led for the bulk of the moto, while Dowd and Em ig teamed up to move throug h the pa ck slo wl y. Gr eg Alberty n was also on the move before a na st y do wnhill crash nearl y kn ocked him out. "I was going fast, bu t I think I'm just trying to pu sh it a little too hard," said Albertyn after his second sp ill of the race. "It's frust ratin g, but what else can I d o but keep tryin g?" A short time later, Hu ghes cras hed as Dowd , Ward and Brad shaw we re still applying the pressu re. "I was in a tum with a whole bunch of tree roots in it," said Hu gh es of his fall. " It was pretty slick and my front wheel got into it. It made me tum right into a big thing of tires, and abou t six guys went right by me." Dowd ended up winn ing the fran tic moto with a few feet to spare on the very happy Emig, who clinched the title. Ward was next, followed closely by Bradsha w and a smooth-looking McGrath . With no p re s su re to b ear, Em ig h ol eshot the s eco nd m oto and to ok Manche ster Honda / AXO's Bradsh aw with him. The pair started to pull away q uic k ly fro m Primal Impu lse ri d e r Budd y Antune z and fourt h-place starter Dowd . They seeme d to sta rt a sp rint that d id not go un no ticed by Dowd . " I sa w je ff a nd Damon st arting to pull away, so I figured I better get after them," said Dowd . Within fou r lap s, he was right back on Brads ha w a nd pressuring until he mad e a mistake . '1 kind of came up beside him in a comer and I tried a kind of wild maneuv er, thinking it wo uld mayb e work, but it obvious ly didn't, " expl ained Dowd . " I hit so me soft stuff and Ripped over the bars, but I mana ged to keep my bike running , so I was right back in it." After passing Bradsha w, Dowd went after Emig, but it was a shor ter fight than many expect ed . "Once r got up, there was really nothing to lose," he said . " I r ea ll y just the season on a good note and have an even better vear in 1998." While Dowd and Emig rode away, Brads haw fought to hold on to third and th e fin al p o d ium s pot as Ward and Alberty n chased him throug hout the mota . Bradsh aw finall y lost th e battle with two laps to go, allo wing both Ward and Albertyn to slip by wit hin two corners. "I sh ould have go tt en third , but that's the way it goes," said Bradsha w. "I was rid ing well behind Emig but then I s ta r ted sliding around a nd making mistak es. I just got aggra va ted a nd it ca used me to let those guy s catch up. But I still feel good about th e day. I finally got so me d ecent star ts and put myself in the top five. I would start 20th th, or 30th and come up to nin th or l O but that's not really good enoug h; I'm hap py with today, but I would ha ve been a lot happie r to have stayed in . third." Ward held off the ferocious attack of 7

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