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/126422
Michigan charger at tbe beginning of this season. Flanking Klou/Wiseco·sponsored Parker in DuQuoin's winner circle were Harley-Davidson teammates Steve Morehead and defending Grand National Champion jay Springsteen. Morehead nipped Springer at the finish line for second. Springsteen's third place fmish earned him III precious Winston Pro Series points, but points leader Steve Eklund logged a sixth - good for nine points. While Springsteen chipped away at Eklund's lead, he remains in third place behind Eklund and GoA. GoA, suffering from 'a severe headache, DNF the National and was listed in 15th place, earning zero points. The points board shows EdItlund at 170, GoA with U6, and Springer up to 128. Time Trials lAbove) Scott Parker. 17. became the y.oungest rider to win a Gnlnd NlltionIIl race. and the first rookie to do it since Garth Brow did it in 77.IBeIow) Steve Morehead 1421. Parker. Mike Kidd and Corky Keener out in front. Soutbem Illinois suffered from the tropical storm-induced rainy period the week prior to the National - just like the entire eastern half of the country. But Sunday dawned mon, and hot and after a delay of several hours, practice showed that the track would be in exCellent condition albeit a tad slower than the record-setting surfacem last year. The mark everyone was shooting for in time trials was the first-~ over 100 mph lap turned in by Hank Scott last year. But Scott's 55.956 second record lap remains the DuQuoin standard. Hank was again the fast qualifier as he led a group of seven riders into the 116-second bracket with a 56.470 seconds, 98.711 mph lap aboard his Carl Patrick prepared HarleyDavidson XR750. Riclty Graham put a smile on the face of his tuner, three· time Grand National Champion Bart Markel, when he stop~ the doclts with the second fastest tune of the day. joining Scott and Graham in the 56· second bracket were Springsteen, Tommy Duma, Eklund, Terry Poovey and Parker. Only 44 riders entered the event assuring everyone who time trialed a place in one of the four heats. Heats AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series: Round 16 Parker registers 'youngest ever' win at • DuQ In By Jack Mangus Photos by Bert Shepard/Silver Shutter DUQQIN, IL,JULY 29 Seventeen-year-old Scott Parker put his name in the record book by winning the 25-lap AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro 8 Series DuQuoin Mile. Parker, an apparent shoo-in for Rookie of the Year honors, began the '79 season as the youngest Expert in AMA history. Born on November 21, 1961, Parker obtained his Novice license on his 16th birthday and in a few weeks earned the required advancement points to junior status. He spent 1978 racing with a yellow plate and quickly established himself as another Announcer Dave Despain, after three hours of non-stop fill·in talking. announced to the near-capacity crowd the lineup for the first beat and pumped them up for what he calls the Winston Pro Series "rolling thunder show." Steve Morehead got the jump on the ll·man field and led Hank Scott, Garth Brow, Eklund, Scott Pearson, Rickey Campbell and the remaining riders down the back straight on lap one. Morehead went on to lead aU 10 laps of the heat, fInishing with a two· second gap on runnerup Hank Scott. Eklund moved into the third and last advancement position when he got around Brow on the fourth lap. Only six riders finished the race. setting a pattern of mechanical attrition for the day. Heat two took several starts after the initial one was red-fla~ by starter Phil Dyson after severaTnders jumped the green light. The penalty line remained empty for the second attempt, but Yamaha-mounted Darryl Hurst and Phil McDonald, who was riding a Sonny Burres XR750, were moved back to the third stripe prior to ' a third and official start. Texan Terry "Pooh Bear" Poovey put his Tex PeellBel-Ray H·D in front of the field at the start and opened up a comfortable two-second margin by lap three. Behind Poovey, Army· sponsored Mike Kidd and Willie Crabbe hooked up in a dice and behind them Marty Bushman and Ricky Graham did likewise. Graham's XR called it a day on the futh lap, and