Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ MOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 125/500(( MX Series: Rounds 10/4 ~ before and hopefully it will never happen again." While Emig had closed the points gap considerably on LaRocco, he was still 23 points behind, and a decent second mota by the Kawasaki rider would keep Emig's chances for the title slim. Emig, Ward and LaRocco got bad starts in mota two, with Emig and Ward completing lap one midpack and LaRocco near the rear of the field. Heads turned when Healey circled the long track in first place. After crashes and a bad start held Yamaha's Doug Dubach to seventh place in mota one, he gated better in the second mota and was running in second place. Hughes was third and Henry wa~ fourth. Emig and Ward started to work together, pulling each other through the pack. "Emig and I started back in IOth and llth," said Ward. "LaRocco went down on the start, but we (Emig and I) just worked our way up really good." LaRocco was also on the move, as he was passing several riders per lap and appeared to be the fastest rider on the track. By lap four the Kawasaki pilot had moved up to 15th place. Meanwhile up front, Healey started to pull away from Dubach. On the fourth lap, Hughes passed Dubach for second, and challenged Healey for the lead, but couldn't get around. "I had on mud tires in mota one, which didn't work, but the bike was fine for mota two," said Hughes. "When I caught up to Healey, I told myself, 'If you want it, you just have to do it' but then I got stuck at Healey's pace." The battle between the top two started to carry them away from the pack, while Ward and Emig moved up to third and fourth, respectively, on lap eight. LaRocco had worked his way into the top 10, but disaster struck on the eighth lap. The carburetor on LaRocco's Kawasaki pulled out of the air boot, and his bike bogged, then quit as he negotiated an uphill double jump. Obviously distressed, LaRocco threw his arms in the air and tossed his goggles on the ground, then decided to see if he could fix his bike. He managed to stuff the offending carb back into place and rejoin the race, but he was over a lap down on the leaders. At the front of the pack, Ward and Emig moved Hughes back to fourth with just two laps remaining. The final two laps featured an all-out battle between Healey, Ward and Emig. Ward made a pass-attempt on Healey that was nearly successful, moving up next to him over the uphill double, but Healey held him off in the following turn to maintain the lead. The trio continued to battle through the last lap, with Emig squaring off an offcamber turn and shooting by Ward for second just yards from the finish. "Emig passed me right at the end, but I felt good," said Ward. "If I got a little better starts, I feel like I could win. The bike's working a little better and that gave me more confidence. Also, I've been training harder because I wanted to do good at these last two rounds." After finishing the second mota in a disappointing 33rd place, LaRocco rode his bike to the Kawasaki team's semi and immediately left the facility. Healey scored an impressive mota win, which combined with his fourthplace finish in mota one gave him second overall. Healey was obviously elated with his result, stating simply, ''I'm stoked!" Emig finished second in the mota for first overall, and his last-lap pass earned him two extra points, moving, Jean-Michel Bayle (I) holeshot both motos but could only muster fourth overall. Doug Henry (19) passed Ryan Hughes (68) and led for most of the first 125cc moto. Mike Healey (100), Larry Ward (10) and Jeff Emig had the closest battle of the day late in the second 125ccmoto. Healey held off the two riders to score the moto win. 8 go, and I picked it up, too. He passed me at the end, but it wasn't because I was slower." Ward inherited third place with the demise of LaRocco. After maintaining seventh position for most of the mota, Healey used a late-race charge and the misfortune of his competitors to finish fourth. "The track wasn't that bad," said Healey. "It was kind of slippery because it was hard, and it was in between wet and dry. I didn't do too bad for an old-timer!" Kawasaki Team Manager Roy Turner explained LaRocco's incident while Mike LaRocco Sr. performed the repairs on the points leader's machine. "It was just one of those fluke things," said Turner. "It's never happened him to within one point of LaRocco in the standings 381-380. What had in the morning seemed like an insurmountable points advantage was now within reach for the Yamaha pilot. "Who knows, those might have been . the two points I'll need for the championship," said an elated Emig. "I think Bayle put it best last year in the Supercrosses when he said you have to win races to win championships. That's the bottom line. I just have to remember that I have to win next week. The championship is right there, and I just hope I can do it." eN Results 125 MOTO I: I. Jeff Emig (Yam); 2. Doug Henry (Yam); 3, Larry Ward (SUl); 4. Mike Healey (SUl); 5, Ryan Hughes (Kaw); 6, Jimmy Button (Yam); 7, Doug Dubach (Yam); 8, Erik Kehoe (Hon); 9, Steve Lamson (SUl); 10. Ron Tichenor (SUl); II. Buddy Antunez (Hon); 12. Timmy Ferry (Kaw); 13. Cliff Palmer (SUl); 14. Chad Pederson (Hon); 15. Denny Stephenson (SUl); 16, Hayden Richards (Kaw); 17. Dayey Yelek (Kaw); 18. Barry Carsten (SUl); 19. Scott Sheak (Kaw); 20. Jeff Dement (SUl); 21. Jim Neese (Kaw); 22. Steven Herman (SUl); 23. Brian Carroll (SUl); 24. Kevin Crine (Hon); 25. Joel Dengler (Kaw); 26, James Eickel (Suz); 27. Brian Deegan (Kaw); 28. Mike McDonald (SUl); 29. Ronald Beam Jr. (Hon); 30. Jackson Hiland (Yam); 31. Ryan Dean (Hon); 32. Mike LaRocco (Kawa); 33. Chris Brown (SUl); 34. Grayson Goodman (SUl); 35. Billy 'Schlag (Kaw); 36. Brian McElroy (SUl); 37. Jeromy Buehl (Hon); 38. Jeremy McGrath (Hon); 39, Jason Upshaw (Hon); 40.. Daniel Jannette (SUl). Time: 38 minutes, 26.44 seconds 125 MOTO 2: 1. Healey; 2. Emig; 3. Ward; 4. Hughes; 5. Dubach; 6. TicheI\or; 7. Henry; 8. Button; 9. Kehoe; 10. Lamson; II. McGrath; 12. Stephenson; 13. Buehl; 14. Ferry; 15. Pederson; 16. Palmer; 17. Richards; 18. Goodman; 19. Carsten; 20. Schlag; 21. Antunez; 22. Neese; 23. Sheak; 24. Dengler; 25. Eickel; 26. Carroll; 27. Deegan; 28. Crine; 29. Herman; 30. Hiland; 31. McDonald; 32. Brown; 33. LaRocco; 34. Beam; 35. Dean; 36. Jannette; 37, Dement; 38. Upshaw; 39. Yelek; 40. McElroy. TIme: 37:34.79 . 125 0/ A: I. Jeff Emig (Yam); 2. Mike Healey (SUl); 3. Larry Ward (SUl); 4. Doug Henry (Yam); 5. Ryan Hughes (Kaw) 6. Doug Dubach (Yam); 7. Jimmy Button (Yam); 8, Ron Tichenor (SUl); 9. Erik Kehoe (Hon); 10. Steve Lamson (SUl); 11. Timmy Ferry (Kaw); 12. Denny Stephenson (SUl); 13. Chad Pederson (Hon); 14. Cliff Palmer (SUl); 15. Jeremy McGrath (Hon); 16. Buddy Antunel (Hon); 17. Hayden Richards (Kaw); 18. Jeromy Buehl (Hon); 19. Barry Carsten (Suz); 20. Davey Yezek (Kaw); 21. Grayson Goodman (SUl); 22. Scott Sheak (Kaw); 23. Billy Schlag (Kaw); 24, Jeff Dement (SUl). AMA 125cc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSIDP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Mike LaRocco (381/3 wins); 2. Jeff Emig (380/5 wins); 3. Ron Tichenor (308); 4. Doug Henry (282); 5. Larry Ward (264/1); 6. Ryan Hughes (262); 7. Guy Cooper (260); 8. Jeremy McGrath (236); 9, Steve Lamson (182/1); 10. Brian Swink (173); 11. Jimmy Button (168); 12. Timmy Ferry (153); 13, Erik Kehoe (145); 14. Denny Stephenson (131); 15. Chad Pederson (116); 16. Buddy Antunel (114); 17. Tyson Vohland (110); 18. Ezra Lusk (93); 19. Barry Carsten (76); 20. Jeff Dement (75). 500 MOTO I: 1. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw); 2. JeanMichel Bayle (Hon); 3. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 4. Jeff Stanton (Hon); 5. Todd DeHoop (Hon); 6. Mike Jones (Kaw); 7. John Dowd (Kaw); 8. Willie Surratt (Hon); 9. Kurt McMillen (Hon); 10. Tony Graves (Hon); II. Chris Coleman (Kaw); 12. Lance Smail (Yam); 13. Ray Sommo (Kaw); 14. Rich Taylor (Hon); 15, Mark Neiderhiser (Han); 16. Bruce Stratton (Yam) 17. Jeff Pestana (Hon); 18. Earl May (Han); 19. Mark Morris (Kaw); 20, Jeff Glass (Kaw); 21. Dag Boyesen (Kaw); 22. Jeff Steel (Kaw); 23. Carl Vaillancourt (Kaw); 24. Jeffery Yenuer (Hon); 25. Jel! Curry (Kaw); 26. Andy Fleck (Hon); 27, Darrell Martens (Hon); 28. Brian Manley (Hon); 29. Mike Roth (Hon); 30. Travis Blackburn (Kaw); 31. James Kapitan (Hon); 32. Sbane Slother (Yam); 33, Phillip Gauthier (Kaw); 34. Kirk Rogers (Hon); 35. Brian Tremblay (Hon); 36. Shannon Rhoades (Kaw); 37. Lance Eubank (Kaw); 38. Tracy Bachman (Hon); 39, Josh Bamman (Hon~; 40. Michael Moore (Kaw). Time: 37:26.14 500 MOTO 2: 1. Ward; 2. Stanton; 3. Kiedrowski; 4. Bayle; 5. Jones; 6. Surratt; 7. DeHoop; 8. Graves; 9. Dowd; 10. McMillen; II. Sommo; 12. Manley; 13. Coleman; 14, Glass; 15. Boyesen; 16. Stratton; 17. Smail; 18. Vaillancourt; 19. Taylor; 20. Roth; 21. May; 22. Neiderhiser; 23, Martens; 24. Morris; 25. Kapitan; 26. Curry; 27. Pestana; 28. Rhoades; 29. Rogers; 30. Siother; 31. Tremblay; 32. Gauthier; 33. Bamman; 34. Bachman; 35. Fleck; 36. Steel; 37. Eubank; 38. Blackburn; 39. Moore; 40. Yenuer. Time: 37:02.89 500 0/ A: 1. Jel! Ward (Kaw); 2. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw); 3. Jel! Stanton (Hon); 4. Jean-Michel Bayle (Hon); 5. Mike Jones (Kaw); 6. Todd DeHoop (Hon); 7. Willie Surratt (Hon); 8. John Dowd (Kaw); 9. Tony Graves (Hon); 10. Kurt McMillen (Hon); II. Ray Sommo (Kaw); 12. Chris Coleman (Kaw); 13, Lance Smail (Yam); 14. Bruce Stratton (Yam); 15. Brian Manley (Hon); 16. Rich Taylor (Him); 17. Jeff Glass (Kaw); 18. Dag Boyesen (Kaw); 19. Mark Neiderhiser (Hon); 20. Jeff Pestana (Hon); 21. Carl Vaillancourt (Kaw); 22. Earl May (Hon); 23, Mark Morris (Kaw); 24. Mike Roth (Hon). AMA 500cc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS: I. Mike Kiedrowski (187/2); 2. Jel! Stanton (176/1); 3, Jeff Ward (155/ I); 4. Jean-Michel Bayle (120); 5. John Dowd (114); 6. Jel! Matiasevich (91); 7. Brian Manley (83); 8. Lance Smail (75); 9. (TIE) Larry Brooks/Ray Sommo (74); II. Kurt McMillen (70); 12. Willie Surratt (60); 13. (TIE) Rich TaylorlTony GraveslTodd DeHoop (51); 16. Dag Boyesen (41); 17. Gene Naumec (40); 18, Michael Jones (31); 19. Chris Coleman (30); 20, (TIE) Darrel Martens/Chad Pederson (21).

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