MOTOCROSS : Bradshaw Holds On to Win Race; Stanton’s Finish Secures Series Title

Damon Bradshaw and world 250cc champion Jean-Michel Bayle gave 40,062 motocross fans a thrilling finish Saturday night in the Camel supercross season finale in the Coliseum.

Bradshaw, 17, from Charlotte, N.C., almost lost control of his bike on the final jump before the finish line and as he started up the final steep hill to the checkered flag, he was more off than on his Yamaha 250cc bike.

Bayle, a Frenchman who lives in Redondo Beach, was only inches behind at the end of the 20-lap finale after charging from 11th place early in the race.

Jeff Stanton, defending supercross champion from Stanton, Mich., won his second consecutive title by finishing sixth in the main event. He had led at the start, but gave way to Bradshaw on the fifth lap.

“I almost threw it away a couple of times, so I decided to back off and make sure I finished high enough to win the championship,” Stanton said. Stanton, who had to finish ninth or better to clinch the championship, won $50,000 bonus for retaining the No. 1 plates.

Bayle’s dash to the front, during which he picked up one rider after another on each lap, edged past Bradshaw heading up the hill at the peristyle end of the Coliseum on the final lap. However, Bradshaw passed him coming back down the hill and held him off in the final run around the perimeter of the football stadium.

“I never ran so hard in my life to stay ahead of anyone,” Bradshaw said. “I felt pretty good when I got back by him, and I thought I had it won, but then I almost screwed up. I think I was on the bike, but I’m not sure about anything. I was just hanging on and hoping I made it to the finish line.”

Bradshaw had won the first two races at Anaheim and Houston, but he suffered a broken ankle in the third race at San Diego and missed several races that kept him out of championship contention.

Bayle, who had won six races this season in his first stadium motocross season, said he thought he had his seventh victory when he got past Bradshaw with less than a lap to go, but “he’s an awful tenacious guy and I couldn’t quite make it again.”

Mike Kiedrowski of Canyon Country finished third with Johnny O’Mara fourth. Veteran Jeff Ward was fifth despite riding with an injured ankle. He passed Stanton on the final lap.

Ward dedicated the race to Patrick Lease, 15, of Hudson Valley, N.Y., a Hodgkin’s disease patient who was flown to the race by the Make a Wish Foundation. Lease, a motocross enthusiast, had said his wish was to see the race and meet Ward.

Stanton ended up with 329 points to 322 for Bayle in the season standings. Jeff Matiasevich, who finished seventh Saturday, was third with 308.

Jeff Emig, 19, won $10,000 in the Camel Shootout for 125cc riders from the East and West coasts. Emig was an easy winner after his only serious challenger, Buddy Antunez of Ontario, fell after hitting a hay bale on lap 13 of the 15-lap race.

Antunez earlier had won the final Western regional race. Ty Davis of Hesperia finished 10th to clinch the West Coast championship, but he fell on the first lap of the shootout. The Eastern champion, Denny Stephenson of Omaha, missed the race after falling and suffering a wrist injury during afternoon practice.