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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127992
_>C-..L Round 15: RCA Dome Tim Ferry had the ride of the night by putting his Noleenbacked Yamaha on the podium in third place. He is the only privateer to visit the podium so far this year. Lawrence and Ty Wallace. At one point, Lawrence was running near the front before crashing. The same sort of thing happened to Roy, who was running in eightb when he went down in a turn. HEATS II !IIi '" III ~ ~ ... o 8! _ on' ~ :=;; 28 The first 250cc heat was a relatively uneventful affair, with Lusk jumping out to an early lead and pulling away for an unchallenged win. Excel Motorsport's Josh Demuth, who had won tbe first 125cc heat race just a few minutes earlier, ran second for a while before dropping back. Crowd favorite LaRocco put his Fac-' tory Connection/Jack in tbe Box Honda into sec9nd, but Lusk was already gone. LaRocco ended up second with room to spare over Carmichael, who took the checkered flag with Button's booming four-stroke right behind him. Finishing fifth, one spot out of a transfer, was Ferry, followed by Huffman, Lamson and Ramsey. Demuth fimshed out the race in ninth. The second heat race made up for tbe 'Iack of excitement of tl,e first elimination race. Mike Jones started things off with the holeshot, launching his Kawasaki over the triples ahead of Emig, McGrath, Albertyn and Ward. Jones played tough, keeping Emig and McGratb at bay while they diced back and fortb. McGrath forced his way past Emig. but struggled to get around Jones. With the top tltree riders extremely bunched up, Emig touched McGrath, who went ricocheting off the main line, surrendering positions to Ward and Albertyn. In tbe next turn, Emig cut under Jones and took the lead. Then Ward suddenly blitzed past everyone, including Emig. And the first lap wasn't even over yet! Ward led the way, followed by Emig, Albertyn, Jones, McGrath and Pichon. But then McGrath began his drive to the front, pulling Pichon along with him. At one point, Pichon T-boned McGrath in a turn and almost put him onto the ground. McGrath, however, stayed upright and pushed onward. He soon tripled by Emig, cut to the inside of Albertyn and slowly reeled in Ward. On the last lap, McGrath still had about five or six bike lengths to catch the Suzuki rider. He inched closer to Ward and, through a section of whoops two turns from the finish, he pulled alongside Ward and passed him. Ward tried to get McGrath back over the finish-line jump, but the champ held on for a very exciting win. Albertyn ended up tbird after Emig fell near the Briefl halfway point and dropped off the pace. Pichon took fourth, ahead,of Reynard, Voss, Antunez, Lawrence and Emig. "Oh, man, that was the craziest heat race ever," an obviously worked McGrath said. "I got a good start. Then we had Mad Mike (Jones) in front, whipping it ip front of me. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, here we go: It was tough to get by him. Then Emig started ramming his wheels in everywhere, doing everything he can to slow everyone down, so I went backwards. I was getting knocked down by everyone. Then I got pissed. I started passing some guys about ran Emig off the track. Jones was cutting over in tbe air, and I finally got ••• . Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli .was a no-show at the Indianapolis Sup!'rcross. The 1,998 250cc World Champion 'stayed at home to heal after injuring his hand while practicing dUring the week. Ifs still iffy as to whether or not he'll compete at the series firial at Las Veg"s on May 1. Tortelli does not want to push· the recovery. with the outdoor Nationals set to begin on May·9. insane Terrain Racing's Ryari Terlecki was one of many'riders caught· up in the fiist-tum pire'up during the 250cc last-chance qualilier. Unconfirmed reports have it that Terlecki suffered a broken amn in the crash .. him. I got around Reynard, and I wasn't about to settle for second, and passed Ward. It was good. The fans were pumped; I was pumped." "I got all this enthusiasm, aggressiveness," Emig said. "I passed McGrath, then I passed the guy for the lead, 'then I kind of lost it for a second, but I was trying to ignite the flame, trying to get that spark. That's wharit was all about." SEMIS In the semis, in which the first five riders across the finish line transfer to the main, Huffman scored a 'wire-towire win, but Ferry caught him near the halfway point and tagged along for the ride. Lamson, who held second early on until Ferry rode by him, ended up third but couldn't relax because JeanSebastien Roy was right on his rear fender. Finishing fifth and sneaking into the main was Ramsey. Antunez battled Voss the whole way in the second semi and was rewarded with the hard-fought win. Voss finished a close second, followed by Lawrence and Koikeda. Surprisingly, factory riders Emig and Reynard did not put up much of a fight, as they circulated the track back in the sixth- and seventh-place positions. Two laps from the finish, Emig, who seemed to have lost that earlier spark, finally slipped his Kawasaki into fiftll, but he ,ThiS week's recipients of the 1-900cPRO-RACE Holeshcit Awards '(Vere Kawasaki's Damon Huffman in- the 250cc class and Primal • Impulse/Bill's Pipes/Suzuki's .liri Dostal in thE! 125cc class. Huffman. too,k home an extra $1000 .for his eff.orts and Dostal earned $500. Tim Ferry pocketed an additional $250 from the RacerX Gas Card Award for being the top privateer in the 250cc' main. Of the many.riders who attempted to qualify for both the 125 and 250cc mains at.lndianapolis, only' Free State Cycle/Atomic 22's Kevin Crine managed to pull it off.. Crine put his Suzuki into the 250~c main via a win in the LCQ. and he sneaked into the 125cc main with a second-place fin-· ish in the LCQ. Unfortunately for him, Crine would have no luok in 'either main. He ran into trouble early on in both races. resulting in 'a pair of ~ ~ . . .leremy McGrath wore a specia} helmet during the opening ceremonies at Indy. The helmet's. paintscheme was designed by g-year-old Brandon Hudson. of Indianapolis. Hudson. a member of the Indy Area Boys . . and Girls Club of· Amedca, won a contest to create McGrath's one-off helIt;s still up in the.air as to whether or not Te"m Yamaha's Doug Henry met design. Helmet painter Troy Lee will compete at the Las Vegas Superc(oss. it all depends on how i)is selected Hudson's effort over some injured finger feels just prior to tlie race.. but he is very hopeful he'll make the opening round of the Nationals to defend' his 250cc title.· .lohn .180 other entries. McGrath signed the helmet and presented it to HudDowd, with his injured shoulder. will definitely not ride. at Las Vegas. but if all'goes well. he could ride the first National. . . . son after the c~rem9njes were o\{er. Team Kawasaki's .leff Emig returned to action after injuring his heel. the ball of his right foot and his left ankle in a crash at the Houston 'Super. cross. Emig crashed in all three heat races at Indy. resulting in him being a spectat,?r for t.he 250cc main. Still. Emig was happy just to be at the raceS again and hanging out with his fans, He said ·the injuries are pretty much healed, except .forthe ankle. whioh is still giving hi,!, some discomfort.