Cycle News

BDIRT TRACK AMA Grand National Cham pionship/C amelPro Series: Round I e Team H a rley-Da vidson's Ch ris Carr kicked off his bid for th e Grand Nationa l Cha m p ionship wi th a convinci ng win. Carr opens season with Daytona Short Track win By D onn Ma ed a Photos by H enny Ray Abra ms DA\101'< ABEACH, FL, ~IA R. i f th is year's Ca mel P ro Se ries opene r sets the tone for th e rest o f th e yea r fo r T eam H arl eyDavidson 's Chris Ca rr lik e it has in th e past , h e will be a ver y h appy man come O ctob er. For th e past three years, Carr fini sh ed seco nd a t th e season o pe n ing Da yt on a Sho rt Tra ck a t Municipal Stadium a nd h as gone o n to fini sh th e season seco nd overall behind hi s e lder teamma te , SCO ll Park er. But th is yea r - a t least as far as th e season op en er is conce rn ed - wa s d ifferen t fo r th e 23��year-o ld from Va ll ey Spr ings, C a lifo rn ia . Carr mo tored away wi th th e win aboa rd h is Kenn y To lber t-t u n ed , R ox ra xpowered short tracker, and h e made it lo o k eas y whil e hi s co m pe t i to rs strugg led to find tra cti on o n th e crushed limestone track, "T he tra ck was reall y sli ck , but Kenny set it up perfect," sa id Carr, wh o I 20 a lso scored th e win in the Ca me l Cha llenge. " It wa s lik e ridi ng a sewing machine." Foll ow in g Carr across th e finish lin e in front o f th e 9482 specta to rs th at fill ed th e sta nds were Indiana 's Dan Ingra m , winner o f th e 1989 event, a nd North Ca rol in an Will Davi s. Both rid ers carried new team co lo rs a nd wer e thrill ed with th ei r fir st Na t io na l performances as members o f th eir new teams. Ingra m , a boa rd an M&M Ra cing H on da , led th e first lap o f th e mai n but co u ldn' t quite ma tch the torrid pa ce set by Carr a nd fini sh ed o ver a strai ght awa y behind . Moth er . Fletcher's-backed Da vis ba ttl ed with veteran Steve Mor eh ead for most of th e main , but fo und h im self an eas y th ird wh en Moreh ead 's H arley-Davi sdo n dr opped a valv e nea r th e en d of th e race. In th e four yea rs th at th e Ca me l Pro Series ha s visited Municipa l Stadium, four- tim e Gra nd Nationa l C hampio n Parker has failed to fin d a stitch o f 1uck. Parker got off the line well , but a slip in turn th ree earl y in th e ra ce sent h im to th e grou nd a nd out o f co n ten tio n. Park er rem ounted in la st p lace, but mounted a cha rge that, paired with th e mi sfortune of o thers , ca rried him back up to sevent h a t th e fin ish . For C arr, money see med to be fallin g ou t o f th e sky. For hi s ma in event win , Carr poc keted 4000 o f th e 30,000 p urse, whi le In gram a nd Da vis earned 2750a nd 1750, respectivel y. Ca rr a lso scor ed a 480 bonus for leading 24 laps o f th e main , as 20 pe r lap was pai d to th e lead er of eac h ci rcu it. An other 100 was stu ffed into hi s pocket for selli ng th e da y's fastest qual ifying lap, bUI hi s biggest reward ca me in th e form o f th e .$5000 prize for winnin g th e fivelap .$ 10,000 Camel Chall en ge. Add bonus a nd co ntingency money, a n d Dayton a '92 was a very rew ardi ng event for Carr. Mak in g th e da y even mor e mem ora ble was th e fact th at Carr co m p leted h is list o f d irt tra ck d iscipline wins. Entering th e event , Carr h ad sco red numero us mi le, ha lf mi le and TT wi n s, but never a short track win . " I've always co nside red my self to be th e best -all-around dirt tra cker o n th e ��� circ u it," said a happy Carr. " An d now I thi nk tha t I' ve finally proved it." Carr's hot lap of 17.891 seco nds ecl ip sed th e tra ck record of 19.555 set in 1989 by ra ce winner Steve Aseltine. Davi s, Ingra m , Dona h ue H -D 's Davey Durell e, Eaken-Sponsell er . ~ a c~ n g ' s . Larry Pegra m a nd Sa ka ida Racing 's T erry Poovey a lso tu rn ed in lim es fa st er th an th e tra ck record an d rou nded OUI th e six-ma n Camel Cha llen ge field. "The rai n ea rl ier tod ay made th e track rea ll y fast, " exp la in ed Carr. " It dried OUI just enough to make it good a nd smooth." T h e Dayto na Short T rack is the o n ly Ca mel P ro event o f th e yea r that in corporates six h eat races. Ea ch 10lap, l O-m an ra ce o ffers tw o direct transfer positions to th e main , whil e th ose tha t fai l to qua lify co m pe te in o ne o f four IO-Iap, 12-ma n semis. In order to qua lify from a sem i. a rid er must win to become o ne o f the 15 riders who com pete in a 25-lap mai n even t. Carr took comrol o f th e first heal race from th e flash of th e gree n lig h t and served no tice th at he wo u ld be a serious co ntender by ru n n ing a wa y w ith th e wi n. Io wa 's R ich Kin g led th e ini tia l chase aft er Ca rr, bUI Ronnie J o nes sn uc k past for th e seco n d transfer SP��1. " I' m glad 10 q ua li fy from th e heat , b ut we 'r e h av in g tr oub le ge u i ng through the co rners," sa id a wo rri ed J ones. 'T he fro nt end is pus hi ng p ret ty bad ." H ea t two sa w Wa shin gto n rider Mickey Fa y stea l th e hol eshot a nd lead for seven la p s before sp in n ing o u t in turn three. " I just ra n it in too ha rd , dumb me," sa id th e veteran Fa y. " I must have been sitting o n m y brain." Roger Du rk ee Jr. wa s h appy 10 inherit th e point positi on wh en Fa y slipped . and th e Minn esot a ri d er fend ed o ff th e la te-race cha rges of Da vis 10 ea rn a spot in hi s first Nationa l main even t, " T h is is great, my first Nat ion al main , and I gel th ere by win ning m y heat ," sa id a n ela ted Durkee. Pegram co m ma nded th e third h eat from s ta rt to fin ish . Garth Brow, aboard o ne of J ay Sp ri ngs teen 's per sona l Har leys, cha ll en ge d Pegram early o n but op ted to settle for second a nd a direct tra nsfer. Just missing a trip to the main were T ea nl Ha rleyDavidson 's Kevin Atherton a nd twotime G ra nd Nationa l Champion R icky Graha m, wh o co m pe ted wi th a broken middl e finger o n his left ha nd. " I cras hed a t a Regional race ea rlier in the week," sa id Graham. " I fig ured I'd a t lea st try and see if I co u ld leav e Da ytona with some points." Ill in ois rider Dave Cam lin grabbed th e h ol eshot in heat four a nd led Brian Vill ell a across th e fin ish line. Durell e co ntro lled seco nd for most of th e race, but left just enough room for Vill ella to sla m past o n th e last la p. " I won 't brag th at short track is one of m y stre ngths ," sa id a di sappointed Durell e, " It 's sli p pery ou t th ere." "This is th e best I've ever felt here," sa id Villella , wh o hails from Pontiac, Michigan. " I u su a ll y ca n 't ca tch m y own sha do w on this track. ", The fifth heat required two restarts befo re two more riders transferred to the main. On the first start, T exan Billy Herndon gr abbed th e ho leshot but found himself on th e gro u nd a fter Parker sla m me d into him in turn th ree. " I just ca me in too hot ," sa id Park er, who a lso went dow n . " It wasn 't a n yth in g int entional. " O n th e first restart, H erndon agai n g ra bbed th e hol esh o t but lost h is fro n t en d as he negotiat ed tu rn one, Severa l riders h it H erndon a nd a lso crashed, in cluding In gra m , Springsteen an d Goerge Roeder II. H erndon was ta ken to nearby Ha li fax Med ica l Center where it was de termined th at ligaments in h is right kn ee we re to rn . " I felt my kn ee pop out when the ~i ~s ~ !ply hi t me ," said H erndon. " But

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