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BY CHRIS JONNUM
PHOTOS BY KARL OCKERT
JOUET, a, APR. 29
W
hat did Jeremy McGrath ha ve to
say after cli nc h ing his seventh
.S u p e rc ro s s t itle with a payday that
inc luded $20 ,000 Wrenchead. com
Supe rfund money , $1000 for th e
Yahoo! Sports ho leshot award , $5750
for main-event win bonus and $15,000
(plus a n $85 ,000 bonus and a Toy ota tru c k) for th e champion sh ip
(no t to m ention bonuses from spon sors )?
"I'm jusfglad it's after tax dayl "
Not even the tax man could have
6
MAY 10, 2000 '
eye
I
E!
prevented McGra th from winning th e
title, tho ug h Te am Yama h a ' s Da vid
Vu illem in cou ld ha ve d el a y ed tha t
fea t by seven days. Tha t was not to
be , however , a s th e Frenchman was
held up in turn on e a nd - despite an
epi c c ha rge all th e wa y th rough the
pack - had to sett le for second on th e
night and th e ye a r.
Was it ev er in doubt for McG rath?
"To tell you th e truth , I had a little bit
o f n e rv es go ing , " he adm itt ed .
"Da vid 's fast, man . He 's c oming on
strong in the last half of the season ,
too. He was keeping me honest, and
ho nestly, yea h - I th ought about it."
n
eVIls
MAIN
May be s o , but the o nly thi n g
McGrath was th ink ing at the start was
tioteshot. and that's exactly what he
got wh en the gat e fell. Vuillemin
d idn 't launch so well , and things got
worse when he was he ld up in turn
one by a sprawling Ricky Ca rmichael.
Th e two wer e at the rear of th e pack
when the du st cleared.
"I got a bad ju mp off t h e gate ,"
said Carm ichael. "Ke vin [Windham]
was on th e ou tside of m e , and he
lean ed ov e r and knock ed the bales
o ut in fron t of me . I h it t h e m and
c ra s hed ."
With one round remaining In the
series. Jeremy McGrath wrapped up
title number seven at Route 66
Raceway just southwest of Chicago.
Note the helmet camera of Heath Voss
1
331. who captured a sw ee t tum-one
sh o t for ABC.
Ca rmicha e l remount ed, saw
Vuillem in just a hea d of him ne a r the
back of the p ack, and p la n ne d to
hook up and freight -tr a in thro ugh the
p a ck . Car micha el ' s tra in soon
derailed , how ev e r, when he fell again
on the first lap wh ile trying to tu c k
under a back -marker.
Though it was apparent with in the
first half-lap that the win and t itle
