AMA Supercross Series at Anaheim Stadium : Johnson Easy Winner as Top Rivals Are Injured

Rick Johnson, the nonpareil of motocross racers, gave a demonstration of how to ride a stadium Supercross Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium as he dominated the field in the Coors Super Challenge opening event of the 15-race season.

Johnson, the defending champion from El Cajon, was so far in front during the last lap that he waved to the crowd of 68,742 as he rode the twisting course laid over the baseball and football field. Jeff Stanton finished second and Guy Cooper third as Honda bikes swept the first three positions.

Johnson’s task was simplified when his chief rival, national 250cc champion Jeff Ward, injured his ankle during practice and did not race in the main event.

Making his usual cautious start, Johnson was third off the starting line in the 20-lap main event as Suzuki veteran Johnny O’Mara sped to the front with Stanton second. Johnson caught and passed Stanton on the third lap.

Then he set out after O’Mara. Before could reel him in, O’Mara missed a double jump and broke the frame on his cycle when it hit a midships during an attempted double jump. With O’Mara sidelined and the rest of the field spread out behind him, Johnson’s main concern was care in threading his way through lapped riders.

“I feel kinda like I lucked into tonight,” Johnson said. “I was just in the right place at the right time. I didn’t feel completely sharp after hurting my hip in a fall last weekend near Victorville. I don’t like to win this way, really, with guys like Ward and (Damon) Bradshaw and O’Mara dropping out with injuries.

“The track was pretty slow and it made me nervous when I started lapping riders. I shouldn’t complain because I won, but it was not really well designed.”

Johnson’s closest moment came on the first lap when he and Stanton touched wheels in mid-air and both fought to maintain balance when they landed.

Ward severely sprained his right ankle earlier in the day during practice when he landed off balance after attempting to negotiate a treacherous triple jump. The two-time Supercross champion from Mission Viejo did not fall, but the impact jammed his ankle so severely that he considered withdrawing.

When the first heat began, it was apparent that Ward was not up to riding the taxing Anaheim track. He was ninth at the start, riding very tentatively, and when he flew high into the air off the finish line jump he had to take his right foot off the peg at impact.

After 2 laps, Ward pulled off the track, his hopes of winning a third Supercross championship virtually dashed at the beginning.

“It was the top of the arch that took the hit,” Ward said. “It hurt so much that I couldn’t put pressure on it. I don’t know for sure, but I think I’ll be able to ride next week in Seattle.”

The injury will keep Ward out of today’s final event in the Golden State Nationals at Carlsbad Raceway, however. He had already clinched the championship with his third straight win in the 4-race series last Sunday.

Bradshaw, the highly touted 16-year-old rookie rider from Charlotte, N.C., had his difficulties with the same triple jump. He was racing with the leaders when he crashed hard and lost a lap before he managed to remount and ride slowly around to finish the 8 laps. However, he did not show up for the semi-main qualifier.

It was the Carolina teen-ager’s first AMA Supercross after upsetting Johnson in an international motocross last November in Japan.

Bradshaw later complained of a sore back and was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center for observation.

Jeff Matiasevich, the 1988 Western States 125cc champion from La Habra Heights, won the 125cc support main event by holding off fast-finishing Larry Ward of Snohomish, Wash.