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/127942
SUPERCROSS TOYOTA TRUCKSITHOIWARTS • sam Boyd Silver Bowl UNUIllTEDAMA SUPERCROSS SER'ES~~,------ ---! By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones LAS VEGAS, NY, MAY 2 omeone mu t have forgotten to tell . Jeremy McGrath that he had already clinched the 1998 AMA Supercross Series title, because he rode as though everything was on the line at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas. In front of 39,277 spectators (a record crowd for the Silver Bowl), McGrath first rode his Randy Lawrence-tul)ed Chaparral/ 1-800-COLLECT /Mazda Yamaha YZ250 around Honda of Troy's Mike Craig for third, then fought his way around Team Suzuki's Mickael Pichon for second, then battled back and forth with last year's Las Vegas winner, Team Yamaha's Doug Henry, before getting around the four-stroke pilot for good and closing out the '98 supercross season with his seventh victory of the year. For McGrath, winning never gets old. "I felt really good in my heat race, really fast ;md smooth, and I knew I could go good in the main," said McGrath, who seemed to downplay his win. "I was being mellow. On this kind of track, hard-pa4:ed and r.eally, really slick, you have to be kind of mellow. I felt good all day; it was just a matter of being smooth. I didn't get a good start, but I had good throttle control tonight, 1 thought, and that helped." Finishing second was perhaps the happiest man at Vegas, Pichon. The French Team Suzuki rider struggled through the first half of the season but as of late has been showing signs of the Pichon of old, the Pichon who won two 125cc supercross championships in 1995 and '96. At Las Vegas, Pichon finally put everything together and was rewarded with his first podium finish of the year and sixth place in the series point standings. Pichon ana Henry were only separated by a point going into the final race of the year, but Pichon fended off the hard-charging Henry on the last lap of the main. "I told everyone before the race that I was going to get the holeshot and that I really needed that podium, and that I'm going to do it," Pichon said. "The track was pretty good and 1 liked it a lot. Tonight my Suzuki was working very good, and everything was perfect. Henry and I were one point difference in the championship; Henry was behind me one point, and when I saw him down, Whooa, okay, I got sixth in the championships: "The best thing was for me to get a second tonight. I've been waiting for it all year, and they (Team Suzuki) have been waiting for it, too," Pichon added. "1 know 1 have the speed to do this every weekend." lf there was a crowd favorite at Las Vegas, it was Henry. The Yamaha rider shot his four-stroke into the lead at the start of the 2D-lap main and kept it there for 11 laps, until he ran into the back of a lapped rider after having just been passed by McGrath. Henry quickly got back up, refired his Yamaha, and got going again in fourth. In the remaining nine laps, Henry closed the gap on a Mike Craig /Pichon ba ttle for second and slipped by Craig just before taking the white flag. He then charged after Pichon but couldn't attempt the pass before the checkered flag came out. I "I had a lot of fun out there the first half," Henry said. "The second half was a little rough." r Craig, on the Honda of Troy CR250, finished fourth for one of his best finishes of the season. S Jeremy McGrath capped off the 1998 AMA Supercross SMielI with his seventh win at Las Vegas. For winning the title, McGrath lett Las Vegas $100,000 richer.