Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/737253
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE C onsider this: By March of 1997, Jeff Emig had already raced the Daytona Supercross five times and the record wasn't anything to write home about. He finished eighth a couple of times, ninth once and then starting in 1995 his results showed that he was finally starting to catch on to the most challenging of AMA Supercross tracks. In '95 he scored a solid fourth, coming in behind Mike Kiedrowski, Mike LaRocco and Doug Henry. Then in '96 he scored another top-five result, taking the flag in fifth. But then the breakthrough in 1997. Emig raced his fac- tory Kawasaki to victory over the hard-charging Suzuki factory duo of Greg Albertyn and Jeremy McGrath. It was a milestone victory for Emig who would go on to hold off McGrath to win that year's title, breaking MC's string of four-consecutive AMA Supercross Championships. Consider that if McGrath would have been able to beat Emig that year, he would have walked away from the sport having won eight straight supercross titles. Interestingly, it was also Emig playing the foil in '96; he was the one who beat McGrath in St. Louis, keep- ing MC from scoring an undefeated AMA Supercross Series. Emig's midseason victory at Daytona just might have been the catalyst that carried him on to that year's championship. Many riders will tell you that winning the Daytona Supercross means more than just taking a supercross win—such as you are the fittest rider, the one who can take on the most technical of tracks and it elevates a rider's confidence to new levels. Emig was at the peak of his skills and primed to win the supercross title in 1997. He first began racing in the series at select rounds starting in 1990, and as a factory Yamaha rider, he campaigned the series full- time starting in 1992. He'd finished in the top 10 each season from that point and became a true contender by 1994 when he finished fourth in the championship. He was third in '95 and then runner-up to the King of Supercross, McGrath, in 1996, Emig's first season with Kawasaki. Emig '97 saga was just one chapter in one of the most remarkable supercross seasons in the history of the series. That year's campaign began with the shock- ing news of McGrath's defection from Honda to Suzuki just days before the season opener in Los Angeles. Former world motocross champion Greg Albertyn stole McGrath's thunder early on by giving Suzuki its first supercross victory in six years. From that point on the series became one of the most competitive ever, with a total of seven riders taking victories, the most since 1985 when a record eight riders stood atop the podium. The season will also be remembered for the sud- den rise of four-stroke bikes. Lance Smail put a KTM four-stroke in the field at the Daytona Supercross. Interestingly, while fans today look back longingly at EMIG'S DAYTONA SUPERCROSS BREAKTHROUGH P108 Jeff Emig's Daytona Supercross win in 1997 marked the beginning of what would be a long run as one of the elite riders in motocross and supercross. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE