VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P95
saw the writing on the wall—the
McGrath era had begun.
McGrath didn't win that night,
nor did he win the next Super-
cross race in Houston, but you
could tell. In Florida, he looked
ultra-smooth on the factory
Honda (his first race on it) and
totally in control. You could see
the confidence, and he rode
like a seasoned pro en route to
a fourth-place finish. His first
win was just around the corner.
Everyone knew it.
"I can't say I was nervous,"
McGrath told Cycle News of his
Supercross debut after the race.
"I made some mistakes out
there. But I'm happy."
In Houston, McGrath slipped
back to fifth, while Bradshaw
took the win, which would be
the second-to-last Supercross
victory of Bradshaw's career.
Who would've thought that at
the time? (Bradshaw's final SX
win came a few weeks later in
Atlanta.)
It took just three races for
McGrath to win his first 250cc
Supercross. It came in front of
55,817 thrilled fans at Anaheim
Stadium on January 23, 1993.
That night, the changing of the
guard had officially taken place.
"I'm stoked!" said McGrath. "I
knew I could win, but everyone
was trying to rush me. I think
it was just a matter of putting
in some time and gaining the
experience. I didn't get nervous
like I did the last two weeks; I just
concentrated on my riding."
McGrath, on his Skip Norfolk-
tuned CR250R, passed his Honda
teammate, veteran, and defend
-
ing champ Stanton before taking
the checkers, making the victory
that much more impressive for
the rookie.
"It didn't really surprise me
when [McGrath] went by," Stan
-
ton admitted after the race.
"I'm feeling higher than I ever
have in my life," McGrath said.
"This is the ultimate dream, and
it feels good to win in front of
my hometown fans, I'm going to
give it my best to make it hap
-
pen as many times as possible
in the future, but who knows; it
might be a while before I can do
it again. I'm sure it will take a lot
more time before I can do this
every week."
Ha! Wrong. McGrath won the
next two races and 10 total of the
1993 AMA Supercross season
HIGHS
ANAHEIM
(Above) Ten years to the month
later, McGrath sat in front of the
media and officially announced his
retirement—in the same stadium
where he got his first win. (Left) In
January 1993, McGrath's amazing
career was just getting started.
