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eMOTOCROSS AMA National Championship 500/125cc MX Series: Final rounds ~ said. "Jeff (Stanton) wasn't pulling away. 1was just staying right there. The last half lap Bayle was kind of pushing me. He was right there at the end." . Some quick math showed that Kiedrowski need only finish fourth or better to win the title. "That shouldn't be hard, there's only four of us out there," jokingly said team"' mate Ward to Kiedrowski. ~ "1 had a great start, everybody was ~ behind me," Stanton said. "1 didn't have l-4 anybody putting any heat on me. " Q.) "I tried to get a good start. I made a ,.0 mistake and Jeff (Stanton) passed me and Wardy passed me," Bayle said. "Then, u was too Kiedrowski passed" me and it late to do anything. In the first moto Ward was riding "...real tight." Ward added, "Then 1 relaxed a little bit and started catching up. But 1 couldn't get by those guys so I backed off." The second moto would decide the championship, and if Kiedrowski was nervous he didn't show it. "I've been in situations like this before. I'm just going to ride the race. Whatever happens, happens," he said. Two hours of steady rain ravaged the track, turning the second 500cc moto into more of a survival test than a race. And those best able to cope with the morass were the same that thrived in the first moto. Stanton was out in front off the start, Bayle close behind with Ward third and KTM's Keith Johnson fourth. Kiedrowski started well but finished the . first lap in ninth after running into teammate Ward. o o _ "I hit Ward the first lap and everybody went by," Kiedrowski said, making his second moto task of finishing fourth more of a chore, especially since he was covered in mud from the first lap on. Kiedrowski was picking off riders one by one wherever he could, moving up to seventh on the second lap and fifth on the third before stalling on the fourth at the bottom of a slippery downhill. He only lost one spot and by the end of the sixth lap was up to fifth again. The lead went to Bayle on the sixth lap, something of a surprise since it hurt his teammate's chances of taking the title. "Typical idiot move," Stanton later said. "It shows what kind of team player he is." But soon after he took the point, Bayle tipped over in a tight right-hander, allowing Stanton back into the lead, with the now goggleless Ward moving into second. Bayle re-mounted in third with Kiedrowski moving into fourth. Behind the leaders, Jones again took over fifth with Keith Johnson sixth ahead of privateers Willie Surratt and Rich Taylor. The gaps among the leaders began to increase as the 30-minute moto wore on. Ward made a run at Stanton' but fell twice in the second moto killing his chances. By the ninth lap Stanton held six seconds on Ward, who had a similar cushion on Bayle. Kiedrowski was about 40 seconds back, but the margin would narrow when Bayle fell down late in the second moto. Kiedrowski made a run for third, just nipping Bayle at the line, though Stanton later admitted that he saw it as Bayle slowing to let Kiedrowski past. "It was pretty muddy," Stanton said after completing his 1-1 day. "The ruts were worse than the mud because the comers are so tight. But the bike worked okay and 1 didn't fall down at all." "It was survival in the second moto," Ward said. "Stanton pulled away after I fell. If 1 got back behind a lapped rider in one comer, he could pull three seconds on me. It happened back and forth allmoto." Kiedrowski finished third, happy that it ended the way that it did. But he said his mechanic Shane Nalley was more concerned than he was. "Shane has been more nervous this whole series than me," Kiedrowski said. "This is our third championship together so 1 guess I'll have to keep him my whole racing career." Bayle, who described the second moto as "very bad" finished fourth well ahead of Mike Jones, with Willie Surratt holding sixth ahead of Rich Taylor, Ray Sommo and Jeff Matasievich. Matasievich had gone out of the first moto when his rear wheel disintegrated early on. 125cc National Less than a lap into the first 125cc moto, Mike LaRocco's championship hopes suffered what would be a fatal blow. LaRocco collided with Tuf Racing's Ronnie Tichenor on the first lap, hitting a protective tire on the inside of a corner and snapping his shift lever off. LaRocco rode down the hill to the signaling area, throwing up his arms in frustration, as his mechanic Mike LaRocco Sr. threw the pit board to the ground. He rode one lap, while a new shifter was retrieved from the pits, then installed. The incident cost him a lap, but he quickly set out for the front. Unfortunately for him, Emig and his Steve Butler-tuned Yamaha YZl25 was long gone. The race belonged to Ernig from the drop of the green. No one was even remotely capable of running at his pace, and his concentration was unaffected by the lack of a challenge. "I actually ride better out front," Ernig said after thoroughly dominating the race. "1 can focus better on the corners, because 1 don't have to worry about passing people. I can focus on making every lap perfect. I didn't know Mike was out. I was kind of looking back and didn't see him." He didn't see anyone, but second place belonged to Ronnie Tichenor, who settled into second from the first lap on and successfully held off a furious charge by DGY Racing's Doug Henry at the end. Henry was fifth early on then moved up after On The-Line Racing's Erik Kehoe dropped out on the seventh lap, as well as Suzuki support rider Larry Ward. Kawasaki's Ryan Hughes was running third early in the race, before Henry and Ward motored past for third and fourth, respectively. Team Peak/Pro Circuit's Jeremy McGrath was the next to pass Hughes and settle into fifth with two laps to go. Steve Lamson, competing for the last time on Team Suzuki before moving over to the Honda camp next year, also . moved past Hughes on the final lap. "1 got a good start and was running Professional rider depicted during cIosed-course event. Do not attempt these maneuvers. Dress propel1y for your ride with a helme~, protection. ng. Irt, 9trousers, g es IS. ama a otorcyl e tion encourage you to ride I"TT'TT7 _ and respect the environment. For further inforination regarding the MSF rider course, ple~ call 8()().4474700. Do not drink and ride. D.I.D~ fJIPlJI!? nis i and dangerous. Specifications subject,tochangewithoul notice.C1992Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (Cypress, CA90630) 8[MI!Iill~ 7" -. _ 5.:LU' __ -