With Help, Stanton Is the Champion : Supercross: He wins Coliseum race easily, and others push Bradshaw back in field enough to deny him points title.

In the end, nine victories--more than anyone had ever won in Supercross--were not enough for Damon Bradshaw.

As two-time champion Jeff Stanton rode to victory in wire-to-wire fashion Saturday in the Coors Light Challenge at the Coliseum, Bradshaw found himself racing fourth or worse when he needed to finish third or better to take home his first Camel Supercross championship.

That enabled Stanton, who had won the stadium motocross series in 1989 and 1990, to come from six points behind to claim his third title and the $100,000 winner’s bonus.

“I can’t believe it,” the Sherwood, Mich., veteran said after taking the checkered flag and then looking back to see where Bradshaw was finishing. “I knew what I had to do, but I had no control over what was happening back of me. It just all fell in place.”

Bradshaw, who was never better than fourth in the 20 laps around the obstacle course laid out over the perimeter of the Coliseum floor, finished a distant fifth after 1991 series winner Jean-Michel Bayle passed him three laps from the finish.

“I have no excuses,” said Bradshaw, 19. “I fought myself the whole race and eventually ran myself into the ground. I think I concentrated on the race too much. I told myself not to, but I guess I did.”

Bradshaw won nine of the previous 15 races, but he failed to match the consistency of Stanton, who won only three: Daytona, Indianapolis and the Coliseum.

“The start was 90% of the race,” said Stanton, who took off out of the gate in front of the 21 other riders. “It was extra important today because it was difficult to pass. It was a one-line track.”

Stanton had to ride an extra semifinal race to qualify after he and Bayle, his Honda teammate, crashed in the first qualifying heat and failed to advance to the finals.

“Stanton went down trying to pass a slower rider and I ran into him,” Bayle said. He and Stanton finished first and second in the semifinal to get in the main event, but Bayle, who was riding his last Supercross before returning to France to become a road racer, commented that “if Stanton wants to win the championship, he is going to have to ride like he wants it, and he’s not doing that now.”

Stanton, after winning the race and the championship, was indignant at hearing Bayle’s comments.

“I come to every race to win,” he snapped, adding, “let him go back to France.”

Stanton also said he owed thanks to Mike Kiedrowski and Guy Cooper, who finished second and third, keeping Bradshaw from the points he needed.

Had there been no championship at stake, the race would have been a boring display of riding. There were only two position changes from the second lap to the end among the top seven riders. The only changes occurred when Kiedrowski moved past Cooper on the seventh lap, and when Bayle slipped past Bradshaw on the 17th.

However, the tension was as thick as the humidity as 28,322 spectators watched in anticipation of one of Bradshaw’s patented late charges. For most of the race, he needed only to pass Cooper, at 30 the second-oldest rider in the race, to edge Stanton for the championship. Instead, Cooper kept lengthening the interval between his Suzuki and Bradshaw’s Yamaha.

“Nothing like that ever happened to me before,” said a bewildered Bradshaw, who will turn 20 next week. “I guess I’ll learn from it and come back next year.”

Jeff Ward, riding his final Supercross after 14 years with Kawasaki, dropped out during the first lap of the main event after having to win the last-chance qualifier to make the field.

“It was a real exciting day for me,” said Ward, who received a standing ovation when he took a farewell lap during intermission. “It felt good to win a race, even if it was just a last chance. I got the ‘hole shot’ and had a great ride in front.”

Ward, a two-time Supercross champion and a former Coliseum winner, will ride the national outdoors 500cc series, starting next month, and then turn his attention to racing Indy Lights cars.

Jeremy McGrath of Murrieta was an easy winner in the 125cc support class, and Buddy Antunez of Ontario finished second. Both rode Hondas.

The 28,322 was one of the smallest crowds in the 20 years of Supercross in the Coliseum. The light turnout was attributed to a change in the starting time from 7:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. because of post-riot anxiety surrounding the Coliseum, plus unseasonable early morning showers.