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Jay Springsteen wu on the gu at SyreCUM. winning the 28th Netionel of hia een..r. (Rie photo.) , AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series: Round 24 Springsteen wins, Gary Scott pads point lead at Syracuse By Jack Mangus SYRACUSE, NY, SEPT. 15 Three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen led every lap but one of the 25-lap Syracuse Mile to score the 28th National victory of his career. Despite a restart, Springsteen unofficially averaged over 100 mph and at the end of the high-speed chase he was joined in winner's circle by runner-up Hank Scott . d I fi' h Scott and thu pace lnlS er Scott Parker, 6 The victory at the New York State Fairgrounds track moved Springsteen into a tie with Bart Markel for.eeond place OQ the all-time National win list, just one victory short of Kenny Roberta' record 29. The battle ~or the Number One plate saw.all five nden wh.o had a mathemattcal chance qualify for the National, but when the checltered flag fell only three riden were .till in the hunt, and one of thm1 in a local boapital. Scott Pearson and Hank Scott fmished eighth and second respectively, but the points they garnered weren't enough to keep them in the chaJe with only two races remaining (San JOIC and Ascot). Gary Scott finished 11th and added four precious points to his leading total, which now stands at 177. Defending champ Randy Goes retired from the race on the 12th lap with mechanical problems and Mike Kidd crashed on the 16th go-around. Ironi· cally, Goes and Kidd were the only two retirees and they finished out of the points in the 16-man field. Kidd remains in second place in the point standings with 171, and Goes in third with 166. Kidd, who was riding a RobertsLawwill Racing/Wrangler sponsored Harley, wallted away from his crash, but was taken to a nearby hospital for x-rays of a suspected neck injury. He was released Sunday evening and flew back to his Texas home. "After I hit my head and shoulder on the wall I was so dingy I didn't even know what year it was. They kept me in the hospital for about four hoon and took about 50 X-rays of my neck and kept telling me I had a neck injury, but 1 don't think that's a problem," said Kidd. "I also have a crack in my shoulder blade, but that's from an old '71 injury. I've got full movement of my arm, but it's really stiff and it looks liIte 1 have a grapefruit on my back from the swelling. I'm going to confer with my bone specialist tomorrow, but I'll be ready for San Jose." QuaIHylng A slim turnout of 56 riden were on hand for time trials and the fastest was Scott Parker on a Tex Peel-tuned Harley. Parker posted a 56.256 second lap, followed by Terry Poovey at 56.550, Ted Boody with 56.560 and Hank Scott at 56.598. Of the top three title contenden, Gary Scott wu n~.bly the slowest in qualifying with a 57.170. Kidd posted a 56.418 and GoA a 56.549 lap. Steve Oon's 57.915 was the slowest of the time trials. Heats Before what promoter Don Brymer called a "record crowd," fast qualifier Scott Parker led every lap to win the fint 10·lap heat race, opening up a comfortable margin over runner-up Steve Eklund. Elt\und dropped Kidd to third, the last advancement position, on the last lap after the pair had conducted a seesaw battle throughout the race. The second heat produced the kind of action that Winston Pro Series mile races have become famous for - a multi-rider drafting, position swapping affair that had everyone standing. Terry Poovey, Randy Goes, Scott Peanon, Steve Morehead and Ricky Campbell were the riden involved and they swapped positions all around the track. But when the checltered flag waved it was Poovey, Goss and Peanon taking the 1-2-5 spots and advancing to the National. Lance Jones, riding injured Billy Labire's Daytona International Speedway sponsored XR, and Ted Boody hooked up in a tremendous battle in the third heat, but Boody's ride ended on the ninth lap when his engine gave out. Jones romped home the winner with second going to points leader Gary Scott, who had to work his way up to that position with hard work in the cornen after he realized his Harley was down on horsepower. Wayne Rainey took third. The fourth and final heat race was a Jay Springsteen/Hank Scott show. The pair ero.ed the start/finish line sideby-side on nearly every lap and took turns waving each other on as one .nd then the other would put a drafting s\inphot pus into play. SpriDpeen. aboard the Bill Werner tuBed factory

