Video Discription |
This is the first 250cc semi-final race from the 1998 Seattle Supercross.
In 1998, Team Honda's Ezra Lusk came into the Seattle race (the 4th round of 1998) sitting 3rd in the series, just 9 points out of 1st. Lusk had battled from a disappointing 16th in the opener at L.A. after he was supposedly late to the starting gate for the main (and had gotten in a bit of a disagreement with Team Yamaha's Kevin Windham). Since his 16th at L.A., Lusk had won the last 2 straight races at Houston and Tempe. At Houston, Lusk stole the holeshot from Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig, the defending champ, and ran away with the win; at Phoenix, Ezra started around 5th place and managed to pass 4-time champ Chaparral Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath with only 2 laps to go. Lusk won the race by just 1/2 second over McGrath; despite Jeremy's 2nd place, he inherited the points lead early, despite a 3rd at L.A. and 2 2nd places. After 3 races, McGrath had 64 points, while Lusk had a total of 55. Lusk came into Seattle looking for his 3rd straight win. Unfortunately, Lusk's night started out sour with a crash with Jeff Emig in the 2nd whoop section; he collected Team Kawasaki's Damon Huffman and Team Suzuki's Mickael Pichon, sending all 3 of them to the semi.
In this semi, Lusk and Noleen Yamaha's Tim Ferry #22, the defending 125cc East champion, tied for the holeshot. Ferry got by Lusk before the end of lap 1, but Ezra showed him who was the boss and retook the lead from Tim. Ferry dropped back to 4th after Pichon and Huffman passed him, but Ferry ended up finishing 3rd in the semi after Pichon dumped his Suzuki twice in 2 turns. Pichon fought back from around 7th or 8th to barely qualify for the main in 5th. Lusk pulled out a lead, but Damon Huffman closed the gap considerably to a point where he was all over Lusk on the final lap. Huffman made a run at Lusk and tried to pass him in the final 20 ft. They both appeared to have tied for the win; ESPN2 announcer Art Eckman thought Huffman had just passed Lusk before the checkered flag, but it was up to the AMA to determine who crossed the line first. After further review, the AMA determined that Ezra Lusk had crossed the FINISH jump first. Different angles told different stories, but the AMA awarded the semi win to Ezra Lusk. Huffman finished a VERY close 2nd; Tim Ferry took 3rd, #61 Ryan Terlecki (a Suzuki privateer and Salem, OR native) took 4th, and Mickael Pichon fought back for the 5th and final transfer spot after 2 crashes.
In the main, Lusk's problems continued. He started around 6th or 7th before Jeff Emig put him down in turn #3. Lusk dropped to 15th, but he battled back for a 2nd place finish. The main turned into a battle between Chaparral Yamaha teammates Jeremy McGrath and #11 Jimmy Button. Button led the first 4 laps of the race while McGrath sat behind him in 2nd. Jimmy bobbled in the whoops and McGrath got by; Button hung with McGrath for a while until Team Suzuki's Larry Ward #4 (the hometown favorite) challenged him numerous times for 2nd. Button weathered every storm from Ward (only losing 2nd place to Lusk)... until just 2 turns and 150 yds. from the finish. Larry Ward tried to go for Button's front wheel, finally passing him. Button tried to come back, but went off the track instead. Instead of a top 3, Jimmy went from 3rd to 6th, matching his best finish of 1998 where he finished 6th at Houston.
Not to worry -- Jimmy learned from Seattle and podiumed in the next 3 races with 2 2nds at San Diego and Atlanta and a 3rd at Indianapolis. He went from 19th to 3rd in the series, 4 points out of 2nd place before an 18th at Tampa wrecked his season. He ended up 8th in the final points tally, but Jimmy didn't podium again for the rest of the 1998 Supercross season.
As for Lusk, Seattle was only the beginning of a string of bad luck races. After his 2nd place, he was 12 points behind McGrath. At San Diego, Kevin Windham inadvertently knocked a tuffbox cover into Lusk's path; the cover wrapped around his front tire, causing Lusk to stop in the whoops. A flagman waited about 10 seconds before Lusk could get help. Lusk would finish 11th (10 points), but when asked about it, he claimed the incident was his fault because the cover "wasn't tied down." At Indianapolis, Ezra won his heat, but his main ended after just 2 laps. He crashed in the first turn -- even tossing his left glove. The result: a boxer's fracture in his left hand. He finished in 19th, totaling just 12 points in the last 2 races; Lusk went from 2nd to 4th in the series. At Atlanta (his hometown race), Ezra Lusk won another heat race, but his main ended sour again. 2 crashes in the whoops resulted in a 6th place finish.
Enjoy. [Cw0FNBLzSd0] |