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Round 10: Houston Astrodome TOYOTA TRUCKS THOR/PARTS UNLIMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES By Matt Freeman Photos by Chris Deutschen HOUSTON, TX, MAR. 13 ith the possible exception of . the upcoming Las Vegas Supercross finale on May 1, the just-completed 10th round of the AMA Supercross series at the Houston Astrodome just might have been the most important stop of the 16-race series. To begin with, the event was scheduled to be televised on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" for next-day coverage. Airing directly after ABC's coverage of NASCAR action from Atlanta Motor Speedway, the hour-long supercross special was set to concentrate on the 250cc main event, in which the Mazda/Chaparral/Yamaha-backed Jeremy McGrath - pretty much to no one's surprise - prevailed. The win marked McGrath's second success in as many weeks and his fourth in the series. Second, and just as important as' the win itself, was the fact that McGrath's stellar finish gave him a significant boost of 42 points over second-place point holder Mike LaRocco, who finished sixth on the night. McGrath's 216 points have set the standard in front of LaRocco's 174 and have him well on his ~- way to a sixth supercross championship. s::. "It was fairly easy," said McGrath, ~ who did, in fact, make the win look ~ easy, as he reeled in and passed Honda's Kevin Windham for the victo- Ws 6 ry. "Kevin and I had a good race. He was riding really fast, and I just tried to stay close, because he was hauling ass. Then I just put the pressure on him about midrace or so and went around him. " Windham, who may have started out the season slow but who is now arguably the second-fastest mill on the circuit, proved at Houston that he is, without doubt, a force to be reckoned with in the 250cc class. With two wins under his belt this season, Windham got out front in the main and held the lead for nine laps before succumbing to McGrath. "Second is nothing to be up upset about," Windham said. "I'm totally happy with the results. I just know, deep in my heart, that I could've rode better, and that is the only thing that bothers me. Consistency is what gets you to the top. That is McGrath's role. He hasn't won that many races, (but) more than anyone else - four (wins) now, but that is not a lot in the grand scheme of things. I've won two, so if I just would've started out consistent, then I would've been right there with him - in the ballpark at least. Now it's . just kind of a walk-away." The Houston event also marked the second round of the. Vans/Mountain Dew /G-Shock Triple Crown of Supercross. Team Honda's Ezra Lusk won the first Triple Crown event at Anaheim II, and, had he won at Houston and the next Triple Crown race in Indianapolis, 'tusk would have' been $250,000 richer. But it was not to be. Missing out on the chance to win a quarter of a million dollars, however, djd not seem to faze Lusk at all. Still, the top finisher in the Triple Crown events is guaranteed $25,000, and Lusk now sits second 41 line behind .McGrath for the prize money (McGrath finished second at Anaheim II). The check will be cut in Indianapolis, and the odds that either McGrath or Lusk will be endorsing it are high. "Obviously, I didn't get a great start," said Lusk, who was knocked unconscious in a crash the previous week at Daytona Motor Speedway. "I was just trying to be a little conservative in the beginning. I had a really bad last couple of weeks. I wanted to be strong and consistent and I wanted to be there . and just kind of get comfortable being up front again. I'm happy with the way everything turned out.. I have no clue· where I am in points, but it's the least of my worries right now." After 10 rounds, Lusk is fourth in the series standings, some 65 points behind McGrath. Teammate Windham sits in third with 166; 15 ahead of Lusk. Posting his best finish in the series thus far was Team Kawasaki rider Damon Huffman. Huffman got a l~ss than-acfull-Iuster start and worked his way through the pack to claim a lonely fourth - lonely, because by the time Huffman took fourth place away from Team Suzuki's Greg Albertyn, the lead trio of McGrath, Windham and Lusk Under the lights of the Houston Astrodome, Jeremy McGrath raced to his fourth win of the series by chasing down the eariy race leader, Team Honda's Kevin Windham. . were long gone. Also, the fact that Huffman's was the only factory-backed Kawasaki in the main event made him even lonelier. In the first practice session, Huffman's teammate Ricky Carmichael crashed, injuring his foot. In the second practice, another Ka wasaki rider hit the Texas soil; this time it was Jeff Ernig. Ernig was carried off the track with injuries to both of his ankles. It was later decided that neither Carmichael nor Ernig would ride, leaving Huffman to carry the team's torch. "Well, it was all up to me," Huffman said. "It was tough. It was a weird day. Ricky hurt his foot, Jeff hurt his foot. U there was going to be a third practice, I wasn't going to ride - I'd probably hurt my foot, too. I really liked the race track. It was really good. The dirt was perfect. Fourth is my best finish of the year. I'm pretty pumped about that. I worked my way up. I passed a lot of good guys and rode strong to the end:' Team Suzuki's Greg Albertyn stayed a consistent fifth in the main event, dropping to sixth at one point behind teammate Larry Ward. Both RM pilots battled back and forth for 20 laps until Factory Connection/Jack in the Box/Honda-backed Mike LaRocco split