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/127962
- _I' he exploded o ff the pole and went to the hea d of the pack. After that it was a figh t for sec o nd bet ween Venegas a nd Pearce. Venegas worked the o u tsid e, and Pearce was running the insid e line. Whe n all was Solid and done, it was Venegas who was movi ng o n to the semi with Bast. Saue r was fourt h an d Furma n fifth. In the secon d heat, it wa s Schwartz o n the po le, wi th Ken Baur in two an d Larsen in three. Shawn "Mad Dog " McC o n nell was o n the o utside, in four , Sch wartz read the ga te the bes t. but it was McConnell 'w ho came across behind the field and dropped down on the po le. getti ng under every· one and coming away with the lead . Schwartz was con te nt to foll o w h im home as he, too, wo uld move up the ladder. Baur and Larse n ba ttled for th ird , wi th Larsen p ulling it out on the last lap . Charlie "Th e Tu na" Coo ley d rew the pol e in the third heat, w ith "Fast" Ed Cas tro in two and "Rad" Brad Oxley. wearing ,1 helmet ca mera, in thr ee. Johnny w al ker wa s in four, and Ra nd y DiFrancesco wa s aga in~ 1 the wall , in five. O xley exp loded off the line and la unch ed himself into thc lead and nev er loo ked back . Coo ley was ou t second but Cas tro moved him ou t a ft~r on e lap and too k o ve r t he s p o t. Cooley held of f DiFran cesco for third , w ith Walk er rounding ou t the field w ith fifth, The fina l heat had "Gorgeo us " Ca ry Hicks o n th e pole . with An dy " T h e Enforcer " N or thrup in 1'\0\-'0 a nd Brian Burch in three. jaso n C hism wa s in four a nd Rand y Skin ner d re w the five slot. Hicks, rid ing o ne of his new lay-d o wn mot ors, got th e ca ll as the ta pe ca me up, a nd he was holdin g school. going wi re to w ir e . orth ru p w as u p to th e cha lle nge as he gave him a run fo r his mon ey bu t had to settle for sec~ ond . C hism w as a sol id thi rd, to ppi ng Bur ch a nd Skinner. The first Scratc h semi had Northru p on the po le, w ith Bast in tw o a nd McConn eJl in th ree . Castro d rew the ou tside five gate. O n the first try at a go, it was McConnell w ho went ou t o n top. but the red ligh t ca me on and the field was ca lled ba ck. Evide nt ly, Northrup had hit the tapes and he wa s sent to the zo-ya rd lin e. On the rest a rt , it wa s Ba st who w en t o ut firs t, w it h McConnell in seco nd . McConnell went to w ork o n the inside but ra n o ut of time and settled for the second. It was eno ug h, as both he and Bas t would m eet again in t he m ai n . Ca s t ro and Northrup wo uld have o ne mor e shot in the les tcha nce q ualifier. In the second semi, it wa s Schwartz o n the pol e, w it h Hicks in tw o an d Venegas in three . Ox ley w ould be s ta r ting from th e outs ide, in five. Schwartz went out first but Venegas pu t on a sho w, taking the lon g wa y around , ou t in the d ir t, and ta king the lead aft er on e lap w as in the books. Oxley was tryin g to mo ve u p bu t so was Hicks a nd they ba ttl ed fo r th e third . w ith th e nod go in g to Ox ley. Sc h w a r tz a n d Venega s mo ved. o n to the main, and Ox ley and H icks headed for the LCQ, O ne spot in the Scratch mai n remained , and four h ungry guys wanted it. No rth ru p d rew the pol e, w ith H icks in tw o, Castro in three and Oxley in five. Th is was go ing to be a wa r. On the firs t try at a go , Hicks wen t down in one a nd was sent to the pits for caus ing the red to come out. On the second try , the red came o ut because there was no r vc on th e tra ck, a nd too ma ny riders were getting their wh eels inside the chalk. ... The third try saw Cas tro get und ernea th Oxl ey . taking hi m out. Castro threw a cha in a nd he was gone. The field was d own to o rth rup a nd Oxley. It wa s No rthrup out on to p a nd Oxley really o n the attack as he drove har d int o the turn s. This would be his u ndoing , as he s pu n o ut o n the last lap as he was just a litt le too hot. Northrup wo uld be the final man in the Scratch ma in field . The Scra tch ma in sa w McConnell o n the po le . wi th Schwa rt z in tw o . Ven egas was in three, wit h Nort hru p in four and Bast in five . Th e first sta rt saw the red co me ou t, and it was Venegas w ho was charge wit h antici pa ting the d ga te . No penal ties we n.' me ted out and the field lined up. This time it was Schw a rtz who pulled anot her one ou t of that specia l p lace he ha s and he wen t out o n top. He was wo rki ng the low line a nd N o rt hr u p, who chose t he sa me line , Wa s ru nnin g se cond . McCo nne ll, w ho always wor ks the low line, was runn ing third , looking 'for a n ope ning. Ven ega s was in a ba ttle wi th Bast for fo urth and he lost it on the last la p when B" t gu t by. 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