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SUPERCROSS
Round 12: Trans World Dome
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TOYOTA TRUCKSI1HORIPARTS
UNLlMfTEDAMA SUPERCROSS SERIES F - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '
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fourth lap, and then he began his'
charge on Pichon, who had already
built up a few seconds on the rest of the
pack. But, for Pichon, it wouldn't be
nearly enough, as Windham reeled in
the Suzuki rider and passed him on the
eighth lap. From there on out, the race
would be all Windham's. The Yamaha
rider opened up about a full straightaway lead, which he would maintain to
the finish.
But tbe battle for second place was
wide open, as LaRocco and Lusk moved
in to third and fourth after Pichon
crashed and dropped to eighth. laRocco
quickly dosed the gap on McGrath and
began pu tting serious pressure on the
defending champ. By the halfway point,
McGrath and LaRocco were battling
closely while threading their way
through lapped traffic, and Lusk kept a
dose eye on the happenings from a safe
fourth. Eventually, McGrath got the
upper hand on LaRocco when he
jumped a triple that LaRocco chose to
double.
At that point, the pursuer was now
being pursued, as LaRocco began feeling heavy pressure from Lusk. On the
17th lap, Lusk made his move and got
by LaRocco for third.
Once past laRocco, Lusk was within
striking distance of McGrath, but
McGrath seemed in control of the situation, not letting Lusk get too dose - until
two corners from the checkered flag.
In a light right-hander, Lusk outbraked McGrath going into the turn, cut
to the insiCle, then drove out wide and
into McGrath, knocking the Yamaha
rider to the ground. Lusk stayed upright
to finish second, while LaRocco slipped
by McGrath before he could get going
again to take third. A not-so-happy
McGrath took fourth.
Moments after riding into the pits,
words were exchanged between'
McGrath and Lusk before they retreated
to their respective pit areas.
"He didn't even attempt to turn," a
rather caIrn McGrath said. "I was in the
rut and there was nowhere I could turn
out and get away from it. Wha t am I
supposed to do? I'm just going to have
to muscle down and whip 'em next
time."
"I didn't get a great start, and I
played around with Mike (LaRocco) a
little too long," Lusk said. "I wanted to
make it past him, but I never made tha t
pass stick, so we ended up losing touch
with Kevin (Windham). I got by Mike,
and then passed Jeremy - he should've
expected it. It was a strong block-pass,
and I really didn't do it intentionally. I
came in sliding with my binders on,
toward the exit of the turn, but he just
didn't expect it, and we went together,
and he went down. I slid into him to do
a block-pass; unfortunately, he didn't
hold on light enough."
Later that evening, Lusk was visited
by the AMA's Duke Finch and was officially given a warning for rough riding.
But McGrath will admit that he probably should not have let himself get in a
position to get taken out in the first
place after turning in a (for him) lessthan-spirited ride.
"I don't know, I just didn't feel that
good tonight," McGrath said. "But I was
feeling good enough to at least get second. I just couldn't get going tonight.
He (Windham) got a big lead - there was
nothing I could do, really. I just couldn't
get into a charging mode. I didn't have
that killer instinct tonight and I don't
know why. "
A huge gap separated the top four
riders from the rest of the pack for much
of the race. Craig held down fourth
Toyota TruckslThorlParts Unlimned/AMA 125cc
Eastern Regional Supercross series
Round 6: Trans World Dome
l:a.-.llil:lJael'S
sixtll
By Dave Deringer
Photos by Kinney Jones
ST. LaUlS, MO, MAR. 28
fter a week's vacation, Pro Circuit/SplitFire/Kawasaki's Ricky
Carmichael returned to the 125cc
Eastern Regional Supercross Series at
the St. Louis Trans World Dome undefeated, with five commanding wins.
When it was aJl over, he came away
with win number six.
The native of Havana, Florida, made
it look easy once again, winning both
his heat races and the main event after
grabbing the holeshot on his Chad
Watts-prepared KX125. Although he
crashed by himself on the final lap of the
main, Carmichael eventually won by
eight seconds for his sixth consecuti ve
A
win.
'1 rode a smart 14 laps in a row and
place during the middle portion of the
race until Henry slipped by him on the
17th lap. Finishing right behind Craig in
seventh was oowd, followed by Huffman, Ward and Pichon.
"When Lusk got behind me, I made a
mistake in a turn and fell over," Pichon
said. "I bent the handlebars a little bit,
and I couldn't run very good in the ruts.
1 know I have the speed, but fm going
to have to work a bit more."
fX
Trans World Dome.
SI. Louis, Missouri
Results: March 28, 1998 (Round 12 of 16)
2SO HEAT 1. (Sla.ps, 1-4 transfer to main); 1. Kevin
Windham (Yam); 2. Ezra Lusk (Hon); 3. Jimmy Button
(Yam); 4. Ryan Hughes O