Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

; , •I: I -: ~ E 0 00 (j') 1"""'4 00 1"""'4 ~ $:l = -, Hank Scott rode to an unchallenged second place and now holds a 22-point -lead in the standings over Steve Morehead and Alex Jorgensen. and the honors went to Fletcher's H-DI O'Brien F1owmetrics/Daytona International Speedway-sponsored Billy Labrie after a multi-lap dice with Willie Crabbe and Wayne Ra iney. - Semis ~ With on ly th e winner advancing to 2 the National, semis seem to always produce good racing. Harrington's first semi did as Scott Parker and Alex , Jorgensen hooked up in a dice which Jorgy won. Finishing third after getting byJohn Wincewicz on the final lap was Honda 500 mounted Jeff Haney. Semi number two took forever to get underway. One false start after another delayed the program until referee Charlie Watson informed the penalty line occupiers Willie Crabbe, Wayne Rainey, Ray Legary and Steve Monger - that one more creeping attempt would put them on t he sidelines. Tommy Duma took the lead on the first lap and held it until the red flag was waved , stopping the race at the end of the eighth lap. Tum three had put another rider down, this time Steve Monger on the seventh lap. Noot Irvin bit the dust on the next goaround as did Chas Roberts. All were up and on their feet and Roberts swung his helmet at Rob Crabbe when Crabbe passed by on the cool -off lap. An altercation between the pair was halted and the two shook hands over what was described as "j ust close, ha rd racing." The race was called complete despite several riders calling for a restart . National The 20-lap National was called to the line ahead of the Trophy Race and Junior Invitational rac e and the one thing on everyone's m ind was tire wear. T ires had worn out in jus t 10 laps of heat and semi racing. Billy Schaeffer said, " My rear tire was com pletely worn out in eight laps of my heat ra ce . I was catching Mike (Kidd), and all of a sudden I didn't have any traction. I thought I had a flat tire." Starter Mike Anthony's headaches continued as he attempted to get the National underway. On the firs t attempt Billy Labrie, Scott Pearson, Alex Jorgensen and an irate Steve Eklund were moved back to the penalty line. Another attempt saw Gary Scott join them. When the green light finally flashed it was Mike Kidd underway the quickest , and he led Morehead. Jorgensen, Hank Scott, Duma, Labrie, Boody , Schaeffer, Keener and Pearson by the grandstands and across the line at the end of the first lap. Lap three saw Duma down and ou t of the race and Kidd, Morehead, Jorgy and Hank Scott conducting a fourman fight for the lead. The front position remained in the above order until the ninth lap whe n Hank moved by Jorgy into th ird. The ha lfway flags saw Kidd lead Morehead, Hank Scott, Jorgensen , Labrie, Eklund, Keener, Pearson, Graham , Schaeffer, Gary Scott, Ted Boody and Randy Goss across the line in that order. By the 12th lap Eklund's motor was making unhealthy sounding noises that would finally lead to silence and retirement on the 17th lap. The entire com plexion of the race changed on the 15th lap when Kidd and Morehead raced side-by-side down the backstraight and went into turn three hor . Kidd came up the loser of the dice as he slid off the groove. He also slid down but kept the motor running and was back up and rolling almost instantly. Although running at far less than ra cing speed he motored ITop) Scott Parker (11), Alex Jorgensen (44) and John Wincewicz in a heat race battle. IAbove) M orehead wears tha wreath in the winner's circle. down onto the groove reportedly balking riders coming through turns 1\-4, and ca,me across the line in fifth spot. With Kidd out of contention, Morehead motored on to his fourth Grand National Championship victory. Hank Scott finished an unchallenged second, but the third finishing spot was a controversial one after Labrie took it away from Jorgensen on the 18th lap in a manner that had sponsor Ron Wood moody. Wood claimed Labrie had used less than gentlemanly technique in moving by. WhileJorgy and Wood faced referee Watson with their complaint, Mike Kidd arrived on the scene and insisted he wanted to protest Morehead. Tommy Duma also arrived on the scene, nearly as irate, and lengthy discussions between riders and officials followed winner's circle activities. Also addressed for yet another time were the many botched starts. But as the sun set , the many protests were put aside and the results declared official. The tire problem was a " for real " problem. Everyone's rear tire was down to the cord with Kidd and Keener 's actually displaying spots where the inner tube could be seen poking through. " I don't think they would have lasted one more lap," said Morehead: Troph y Race Rob Crabbe grabbed the lead at the start of the 12 lap conso lation race, but Klotz /Wiseco sponsored Scott Parker took th e lead for good when Crabbe got off the groove in 3-4 on la p five and the front four position were set from that point to the checkered flag - Parker, Crabbe, Scott Drake and Willie Crabbe. Honda's Jeff Haney rode the wheels off his 500 to fin ish sixth behind Chas Roberts and ahead of Roger Crump and former Grand National Romero. Champion Gene Junior Invitat ional Twelve yellow-plate riders. posted at the line for a special $1,000 invitational race and it was Triumph-mounted Steve Hall who was the class of the field . Hall had qualified fastest with a 26.926 second lap Saturday evening and with the exception of the opening lap that was led by Taylor White, the race was totally Hall's. Hall's Triumph is sponsored by Full House and Bauer Cycle. Rodney Farris kept his H ·D of Maryland sponsored XR in second the entire distance and liad his friend Taylor White riding behind him up until the 12th lap when White got off the groove and dropped to sixth, allowing Gr egg Tysor, Jerry Bowman and Darrin Erichsen to move up into "big paycheck" spots. • Results NATIONAl: 1. Steve Morehead (tH)1; 2. Hank Scott IH-O); 3. Billy ubrie (H-DI; 4. Alex Jorgensen IH-D); 5. Scott Poarson IH-D); 6. Mike Kidd IH-D 7. Billy I; Schaeffer lH-D); 8. Randy Goss IH-D); 9. Corky Keener IH-D); 10 . RickyGraham IH-DI; 11. Gary ScottlH-DI; 12. Ted Boody IH-DI; 13. Steve Eklund lH-D 14. Tommy ); DumaIH-DI. TIME: 8 min.. 2tUl69 sec. AVERAGE SPEED 7.024 mph : TROPHY RACE: 1. Scott Parker IH-Dl; 2. Rob Crabbe lH-D); 3. Scott Drake lH-D); 4. W~lie CrabbaIH-DI; 5. Chas Roberts (H-DI; 6. JofI Haney lHon); 7. Roger Crump (H- I; 8. Gone Romero IH-D); 9. John D WincewiczIH-D); 10 . Wayne RaineylH-Dt. TIME: 5 min.. 11.390 sec . AVERAGE SPEED: 69.366 mph AMAGRAND NATIONAl CHAMPlONSHIPIWINSTDN PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Hank Scott 1 831; 2. [TIE) AIex Jorgensen/Steve Moreheed 161); 4. Randy Goss 1 ; 5. Ricky Grahem lSOl; 6. Mika Kidd 1471; 7. 581 Gary Scott (44) 8. Billy ubri. 1411; 9. Konny Roberts ; l33l; 10. [TIE) Scott Parker/Jay Springsteen (32) ; 12. Corky Keener (30); 13. Scott Pearson 1281; 14. Tad Boody 1241; 15. Ronnie Jones 121 ); 16. Wes Cooley 120); 17 . Mickey Fay (19); 18 . Jimmy Adamo 1201 19 . ; [TIE) RichSchlachterlDale SingletoolTerry Poovey 1161. MANUFACTIJRER POINT STANDINGS: 1. Harley Davidson (120); 2. Yamaha 1761; 3. Hondo (34) ; 4. SUZ\Jki (29) ; 5. BSA (16); 6. Bultaco 1 ; 7. Can-Am 181; 101 8. Ossa (7). 7

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