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Round 5: Edison International Field THOR/PARTS UNLIMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES ond-place finish behind Bulton put Lusk in the program for the main event. From there, things got easier for Lusk - much easier. A huge holeshot i.n the main event put Lusk out in front by leaps and bounds by the end of the start sttaightaway. That was as close as anyone would get to the CR250 rider for the rest of the night. "The heat went well until I got into the first turn, and then a green Kawasaki rammed in my rear end," Lu k said of his night. "I pulled him out and put my head down. I rode good and tried to race for a little while and try to qualify out of the heat, but I ended up getting sixth. Then I went to the semi, got a good start and was just kind of looking at the track, because we didn't get a lot of practice yesterday. I wanted to try to get the track down, but I ended up letting my guard down a little bit and got second. The main event, I just kind of got a grea t start. I got ou t of the gate real good and never looked back. By that lime I knew every inch of the track, and I raced as hard as I could. Honda and Dunlop gave me an awesome bike to race. Jeremy McGrath and his Mazda/lBOO-COLLECT /No Fear /Chaparral Yamaha YZ250 effort moved into the points lead by posting a tainted secondplace finish. McGrath started the main event in sixth and by the end of lap two was well on his way to catching Lusk, who already had a huge lead. During the opening laps of the race, it was classic McGrath, as he ran down Lusk, but at the halfway point, the charge slowed way down and it was apparent that there was trouble. '1 got kind of a lazy start, but in the end it really didn't matter," said McGrath, explaining his misfortune. "The motor mounts came loose. It wasn't· Randy's (Lawrence, McGrath's mechanic) fault or anything. We had aluminum nuts on there, and that's wllat did it, I guess. We learned. We got away with a lucky one. The top and bottom motor mounts are totally gone. It felt like I was riding a Harley-Davidson out there, a vibration machine. There was nothing I could do. I'm happy to get second, considering the circumstances." After going out and beating Lusk and the rest of the field in the second semi, Button appeared to have finally gotten his big YZ400 dialed. After gating fourth in the main event, passing Honda's Mickael·Pichon for third, and then setting his sights on second-placed McGrath, there is little question that Button has come around on the fourstroke. Despite McGrath's bike problems, the supercross champion was still not losing ground to any rider except Button, who actually passed McGrath, taking over second place just after the midway point. By lap 17, however, McGrath regained the runner-up spot, sending Bulton back to the final podium position - a position that Button himself cannot complain about. "Jeremy pulled out a big-enough gap, and there was only two laps to go," said Bulton of the dosing laps. '1t's good getting back on the podium, that's for sure. We've been working hard every single week. I've finally figured the bike ou t. rye finally figured out how to get a start on it. That's pretty much the most important thing. Now, I think everything will start coming to me a little belter." Fourth-placed Factory Connection/ Jack in the Box/Honda-backed Mike LaRocco came dose to making Anaheim II his fifth podium finish in as many tries, but he just could not put together a charge good enough to catch the 1I By Matt Freeman Photos by Kinney Jones ANAHEIM, CA, FEB. 6 fter spending two weekends in a row out of the winner's circle, Team Honda's Ezra Lusk returned to Edison International Field and, just as he did at the series opener, posted the win. But this time, he did it with 10 seconds to spare over his nearest competitor. At "Anaheim I" - held less than a month earlier - Lusk gated third and had to run down his teammate Mickael Pichon and Suzuki's Larry Ward before moving into the lead. From A ...: ~ ~ ..0 of 6 there, he battled his way through the dry, hard-packed circuit - with Pichon breathing down his neck every inch of the way - for a narrow win. But at "Anaheim II," Lusk grabbed a monster holeshot and was in control from start to finish..hardly working up a sweat. On a cold Southern California night, in front of 44,895 spectators, Lusk not only posted his third win of the series, he also bettered his chances of becoming a quarter of a million dollars richer. Anaheim II marked the start of the Vans/Mountain Dew /G-Shock-sponsored Supercross Triple Crown Series, in which the top overall 250cc finisher in • For the third time this season, Honda's Ezra Lusk celabrates a supercross win by whipping it over the finish-line jump. round five (Anaheim lI), round 10 in Houston, Texas, and round 15 in Indianapolis, Indiana, receives a bonus of $25,000. If one rider wins all three of those rounds, he will win $250,000. Lusk's trip to the 20-lap main came the hard way, as the Georgian missed a qualifying spot in the second heat by one position. From there, he went to the semis, where he gave up the early lead to Team Yamaha's Jimmy Bulton. A sec-