Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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I • • ~ E o 00 0) Santa Fe w inner Sc ott Parker (11) leads eventual runner-up Te rry Poovey (18) and fourth placer Steve Eklund. ANA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series: Bounds IS-I6 . Parker, Pearson tame Santa Fe e Peoria, Goss grabs points lead By Gary Van Voorhis Photos by Bert Shepard/Si lver Shutter HINSDALE, IL, AUG . 1 - PEORIA , IL , AUG. g It was champagne time for a pair of Scotts, Parker and Pearson, as the duo came up winners in the double-event Winston Pro Series weekend. Parker was the first to do the job with a sensational ride in the Santa Fe Short Track Nationa l Friday night. Pearson was no less spectacular in his ride to win the g2nd Annual Peoria 11 on Sunday. The National wins were the first of the season for both riders . Parker's was the third of his career while-Pearson celebrated the first in his five years as an Expert. However. the biggest winner of the weekend was Randy Goss who com bined third and second place finishes, adding 29 points to his Winston Pro Series tally and vault into the top spot in the standings eight points (108-100) over Hank Scott. Pa rker's gg points moved him from I I th to sixth while Pea rson , wit h a 26-point weekend , jumped from 12t h to seventh. For Hank Scott a nd Steve Morehead, running one-two in the sta ndings going into the week end , it was a disaster as Scott picked u p eight points and Morehead added only three. Santa Fe 10 In what must be classed as one of the biggest upsets and perhaps the best short track National at Santa Fe Speedway in many a year, Scott Pa rker put the stops to some of the best quartermile bull ring talent around . It was the first time that Parker had even made the Santa Fe National field , and with th e savvy of a veteran he held off the constant cha llenges of Steve Eklund, Terry Poovey and Randy Goss for almost every foot of the 20 -lap run for the money. Youthful exuberance, expressed 18· year-old style . was displayed by Parker in the winner's circle as he stomped. yelled, sprayed champagne and showed his excitement at winning. How master. ful was his ride? Well, when his mentor of five seasons, Rick Toldo, and tuner (for the evening) Bill Werner get together and shake their heads saying "I don't believe it, " in unison you know it was some race. Poovey , Goss and Eklund - second , third and fourth respectively - were also shaking their heads in disbelief. Qualifying Winston Pro Series defending champ Steve Eklund led all qualifying with a 15.470 second run. Wed nesday night's National Warm·up winner Ronnie jones timed just a tick off the pace with Scott Parker. onjay Springsteen's factory Harley-Davidson, third . Br ad Hurst and Ra nd y Waldrop ro unded out the top five . Tom my Duma, at 16.470 , was the final quali fier in the 60·rider field . Heats The six heats would transfer two each to the National , and that fact produced mostly close racing . Honda's Mickey Fay spent nine laps in th e lead in heat on e while Eklund fought a VICIOUS battle with Steve Pendergraff for second in the opening six tours . Eklund then moved on Fay, but couldn't pass until the last lap . The second heat saw Terry Poovey, o n the AI Lamb's Da llas H ondasponsored Honda, pull away for a n easy win in heat two after an ea rly fivebike ba ttl e . Ronnie j ones, a bo a rd a Knig ht/ Lillie Racing/Megacycle Yamaha, secured second by halfway . Scott Parker won heat three the hard way. He caught neu tral while shifting gears as he entered turn three on the final lap allowing Rod Spencer and Steve Elo to close dramatically and almost sandwich him as they raced for the flag. _Parker held on by half a wheel over Spencer's Hap jones/ ND / Bud Martin/Stan Kent-sponsored Yamaha . The fourth heat saw Roo kie of the Year candidate Bubba Shobert run 10 easy laps straight into a transfer to the National on his Stovall Yamaha/HiPoint/ Dennis Bruster / Sco tt Machine Yamaha. Second place went to Ka wa saki -sponsored W ayne Ra iney wit h a . tremendous drive off turn four which caught Steve Lawson and Lars Trulson by complete surprise. Local Sant a Fe favorite Tim Mertens kept his fans screami ng as he won hea t five aboa rd his B e ll e vi ll e Honda/ Am erica n Hond a -sponsored red ma chine. Ra nd y Waldrop grudingly gave up second to Willie Cra b be and his Norm's Cycle W orld Yamaha in tu rn three on t he fina l la p. . Randy Goss took a wire -to- wire win in the sixt h heat after a restart caused by nearly the entire field jumping the start. Scott Pearson tried hard to pu t his Lillie Racing/ Megacycle Carns/ Bossi Circle Bell Yamaha into the lead over Goss' 'factory Harley, but to no avail. Semis . The final two slots on the starting ~~ grid of the National went to Mike Kidd and Rick Hocking. Kidd , on the Army/ Dallas-Ft. Worth Honda , led all the way in semi one holding Steve Elo at bay. Winston Pro Series points lea der Ha nk Scott and second place Steve Morehea d got shu t ou t . I It was Yama ha's Ri ck Hocki ng wi n ni ng semi tw o b y a ha ir over Honda 's j eff Haney in a two la p dash for the checkered flag on the second of two restarts caused by accidents. I Trophy Race I "You've go t to get off the line in good position, pick your spots to pass and then hang on . That's the secret," said Trophy Race winner Steve Elo. Elo, aboard his self-sponsored/ Red Dog -tu ned Yamaha, stal ked Lars Trulson for three laps before slipping past for the lead. The pair traded the lead once more before Elo took it for good. Billy Schaeffer , in the closing laps, ca me up to challenge when Trulson slip ped high. National T he track at Sa nt a Fe was in the best shape in recent memory, allowing both high a nd low li ne riders a n op portunity . By virtue of the fastest heat win Terry Poovey sa t on the ins ide (infield) pole. -' T he mad dash and ha ndleb a r bash into turn on e saw Pa rker emerge from t he p ac k a wheel up on Mert ens , Poo vey, Eklund and Goss. Mertens soon found the d og -eat-d og battle for the lead too hea ted a nd by la p th ree was back in fifth leading a close order drill with Sh obe rt , R a in ey, Kidd, jones and Pea rson following. By lap six the front four - Parker leading Poovey, Eklund and Goss in varying order - had pulled away to engage in a fight to the fini sh in the re maining 14 laps . Fifth pl ace was just as hotly disputed with as many as seven