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/127933
SUPERCROSS . TOYOTA TRUCKSITHORIPARTS . UNLIMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Round 8: Houlihan's.Stadium By Davey Coombs Photos by Kinney Jones TAMPA, FL, FEB. 28 arr y Ward has now come full circle. More tha n eigh t years after winn ing the first AMA 250 SX main even t of his long career, the Team Suzuki ride r fi na lly mad e it back int o th e winner's circle by w in n ing th e stormbatt ered Tampa Supercross in Houlihan Stadi u m on the Gulf Coas t of Flori d a. Ward outlas ted a lat e-race rain showe r and the fast-closing Honda of Ezra Lusk to become the fourth race winner in the 1998 AMA Toyo ta Supercross Series. He also scored Team Su zuki 's first podium fin is h of w h at has b een an otherwise forgettable earl y season for the yellowand-blue squ ad. "I am so happy I can' t even begin to explain it!" Ward said later. "Over the years I've ridd en a lot of good bikes and had a lot of reall y good help , but who w ould have th ou ght I wo uld ge t back into the wi nner's circle with Suz u ki to win again? Roger DeCoster gave me a chance this year and talked Suz uki into an hirin g me, " d this is th e only way I could have paid him back." As if Ward 's win wasn't enou gh of a surprise for the 35,815 fans who braved rain and a brewing fog throughou t the L (Right) Team Suzuki's Larry Ward won the rain-soaked Tampa Supercross . It was his second career 250cc Supercross victory , coming a full eight years after winning his first for Suzuk i in seattle in 1990. (Below) Ezra Lusk rode his factory Honda to second overa ll. eve ning, the rest"of the results offered a few more attention-grabbers. Yama ha' s Kevin Wind ham p u t in a stead y 20-lap effort in the mud to secure the third and fina l podium spot, while Ward 's Suzuki teamma te Greg Alberty n put in his best rid e of the year for fourth place, as did Damo n Huffma n for fifth. "I took a little bit of pain med icine before the race and tried to rid e sma rt and strong, " said Lusk of his strong runner-up ride. "I tried to be smooth ou t there and take some good lines . I go t a little messed u p in the first turn and that hurt me, bu t! don't wa nt to take anyth in g from Lar ry. He rode really we ll tonigh t and I cong ratulate him." "I'm really happy with th ird , es pecially on a nig ht like ton ight," Windham said. " It was basically survival out there, and I just rode sma rt and consis tent. I've been in the top 10 at every race and I'm lea rn ing \Is I go, so I'm pretty ha pp y about how things are going. Of course I am looking to wi n, bu t it was one of those th ings that's going to take some time ." Fac tory Co n nec tion / Jac k in th e Box/Sco tt-backed Mike LaR occo finished sixth after crashing at least twice in the mu ddy conditions, while Suzu ki' s Micka el Pichon landed in seven th at the e n d. Finis hi n g a v e ry conserva tive eighth after a few spills of his own was series poi nts lead er Jeremy McGrath of th e C ha pa r ral/ Ya m a h a s qu a d, wh o ad mi tte d to w orrying less about wi nning than abo ut losing big. "I was just bein g really ca refu l ou t there," said McGra th, who had finished I on th e p od iu m in eve ry ro und goi ng into Tampa and saw a fou r- race win ning streak drown ou t on the home field of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers foot ba ll squad. "Going into the race, I knew it I was one of those ones whe re you ha ve 1 to be really cautio us. I felt good, the bike was worki ng good and I ju st didn' t ) want to screw up "real bad and have it • affect th e p oin ts . It was one of th ose ) ones w here if I was going to win, I was going to w in . If not, I'm just go ing to } rid e. I d id okay until the las t few laps, • w hen I fell a few times, bu t tha t's racing . Eighth isn' t all tha t bad wh en the track con ditions are like this. I' m read y for Daytona now, no pro blem. Half the seaso n is over an d I'm a lmos t tw o races ahead, so I'm not too u pset ab ou t not wi nn ing. I mean, it was a lmost funny out there, it was so bad at the end. Next wee k, it' s going to be dry, and I wan t to J