Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126324
(left to rightl Steve Morehead. Miss Camel Pro lynn Griffis. champagne bottle. Hank Scott and Corky Keener in the winners' circle., AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series -Round 16 Hank Scott: breezes to Sacramento milewin By Dale Brown , ' Photos by Patrick Behar and Dale Brown ~ SACRAMENTO , CA , j ULY 22 "I think I was due . . .just overdue," said a very happy Hank Scott following his victory at the 25-lap AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Series mile race at Sacramento's Cal -Expo Fairgrounds. Scott had led from the time starter "Bouncing Bob" Malley hit the green lig ht to , Malley's wave of th e 6 ch ec ke re d fla g , aboa r d hi s Ca rl Pa tri ck -t u ned Patric k R a cin g Products' Harley-Davidson , Follow ing Scott int o t he winners' ci r cle we r e runne r -up Ste ve More head , spo nsore d by K&K Insurance a nd KK Su p ply a nd ridi ng Doug Sehl 's Sehlachi Harley with Sehl doing the tuning , a nd Cork y Keen er , _ wh o ro d e an AI Sp angl er -tun ed factory Harley to third. ' Dust was a ma jor factor in th e ra ce. Promoter J.C o' Agaja nia n's tr ack prep personnel were not allow ed by th e Fairgrounds to use ca lcium chloride , which is used in most other tracks to hold down du st, and ho t weather in Sacramento added to their problems. Once a groove developed and was coated with rubber, it helped , But th e ' groove wasn 't very wide , and slipping off it cost more than one front runner his position, including Garth Brow , who had been a solid second on ly to go off the groove late in th e race and drop to fourth . ' Camel Pro Series point leader Steve Eklund (Zanotti Enterprises H -D) slipped past Jay Springsteen on th e last lap to finish fifth and maintain his point lead , 184· 175, over Springsteen. Scott's win moved him to fourth in th e standings , six points behind Ted ' Bood y. The H arley-Davidson factory team faced the prospect of losing a not her mot orcycle when California privateer T er ry Dorsch cla imed Keen er's bike. As a precautionary step, the Harley team had already cla im ed Keen er 's bike, and Corky filed another counter claim. Three names Keene r , Dorsch and Steve Morehead - were put in a hat a nd Mor eh ead's name was drawn, keep ing th e bike in th e factory , camp. TIme trials Bill Schaeffer (Schaeffer's H ·D /Bel · ' Ra y H-D) was th e fast est qualifier, knocking about two seconds off the tr ack record with a 39.58-second time . Ga rt h Brow rod e his Mert La wwilltu ned Klot z/Wiseco H ·D ar oundrhe slip pery (at the tim e) tr ack in 39.61 seconds . H ank Scott (39 .63) , Alex J orge nsen (39 .64) an d Eklu nd (39 .68) rounded ou t the top five qu alifiers. Jorgensen , on a Ron W ood Norton , wasthe only non -Ha rley ride r to mak e th e to p l O in qu alifying. Schaeffer 's fast time worked ou t to 90.95 5 mph . As more rubber was la id down on th e track, it became much faster - Hank Scott's 25 ·lap average was 94.285 mph . Heats Bill Schaeffer and factory HarleyDavidson rider Ted Boody marched through the first turn with the first heat lead . but Steve Eklund went quickly to work and had th e lead by the end of the first lap. , Eklund wasn 't able to pull away from Schaeffer immediately, and Bill nudged past at least once. for a b rief period of tim . ' During laps five through 10, though , Eklund pulled awa y slightly to win by several bike lengths. Boody held third all the wa y. though he finished well behind Eklund and Schaeffer. Rookie of the Year contenders Lance Jones (in his second race ba ck after a broken ankle) and Eddie Lawson were fourth and fifth. The lead in the second heat went t Steve Morehead , with pursuit headed first by Corky Keener , then Garth Brow . Keen er slip ped ba ck of the leading pair on the second lap when he went high off the groove in turns three-four. Brow passed Morehead on the following lap. Morehead sta yed with Brow for the remainder of the heat , finishing a close second . Keen er was third . Pee Wee Gleason (Chr is Armstrong H ·D ), Phil McDonald (K&N / Bel-Ray/ C. P.D. of Wichita / Lectron H -D) led the rest. Aho ut the only portion of racing during th e nigh t that Hank Scott didn't lead was th e da sh to th e Iirst turn in heat thr ee. John Gennai (H- D) led tha t, but was back to fifth plac e at the end of the lap , trailing Scott, J ay Spj-ings teen , Da ve Ald ana (wh o brought his own Harley to th e event ! but end ed up rid ing a Ron Wood Norton ), a nd Terry Poovey (Bel-Ray/ T ed Poovey H ·D) . Poovey got by Ald ana for t hird on the next lap and the top three were set. Though Springer trailed Scott by onl y a fe,