SUPERCROSS '
TOYOTAfTHORIPARTS UNLIMITED
AMA SU
PERCROSS SERIES
By Camero n Coat ney _
Photos by Karl Ockert
ATLANTA, GA, FEB. 21
he same trio of men in blue w ho
put the hurt on their fellow riders by finishi ng one -twa-three
at the San Diego Supercross two we eks
ago gave their fellow competitors a case
of the blu es aga in this week when Team
Cha parral Yama ha' s Jer em y McGrath
and Jimmy Button and Team Yamaha 's
Kevin Windham fin ished first, seco nd
and third, respectively.
In front of a record crowd of 61 305
in the Georgia Dome, McGrath war: his
fourth 250cc main eve n t in a row bu t
t~is time the fou r-time champ didn:t ge t
his customary good starts. This tim e he
had work his way u p from average ge taway s in bo th hi s h ea t rac e and the
m a in e v e n t. In th e m ain , it to ok
McGrath mo re than half of the race to
track d ow n and pass his teammate Bu tton, and that mad e the win all the more
sat isfying.
"I' m pumped ," McGrath said . "I had
a good race ; to come from behind and
wi n makes it all that much better. I wa s
ge tting terrib le starts tonight - I don't
know w hy. It was like I was asleep or
so mething. Bu t my bike w as working
IT
Round 7: Georgia Dome
(Above) Team ChaparrallYamaha's
Jeremy McGrath (2) raced to his fourth
consecutive Supercross win of '98 after
chasing down teammate J immy Button .
McGrath now has a 53-point cush ion in
the point standings .
(Right) J immy Button led the main for
most of the first 12 laps and settled for
second after McGrath moved by. With his
third podium finish in as many weeks ,
Button has catapulted himself Into third in
the point standings with 107.
well and I wa s riding really smooth, and
I jus t took my tim e gettin g up front. I
didn' t know if I cou ld catch Jimmy (But ton) or n o t. He wa s prett y mu ch
che cked ou t for a w hile. I was a little
nervou s, but I ju s t kept pushing and
caugh t him. It worked ou t."
Button had to go to a semi after slid ing ou t w hile in a transfer spot in his
heat, but his win af ter passing Team
Kawasaki's Jeff Emig in that race definitely set the tone for his evening. Button led the main from the second la p
and ac tua lly ha d as much as five seco nds on McGra th un til his teamma te
and roommate got by for good on the
12th lap. Button was pleased wit h second, but is und eniably lookin g to make
the next step up the podi um.
