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/126614
(Above) Scott Parker fell twice during the day. but finished third. (Below) . Junior winner Pete Hames leads Don Howard. again red-£Jagged. Springsteen took the checkered £Jag first, but wh en they called the ra ce officia l a nd reverted ba ck to lap seven, it was Parker getting th e nod. KK Suppl y/Sizem or e/ Bell-sponsored Gary Sco tt h ad th e other direct tran sfer. Semis S.E. H-D/Diamond Bill /Sure-Firespo nsored Lance J ones led every lap o£ the first semi. Behind him Wavne Ra iney and H ank Scott Iought a bitterly-contested battle for second. It went right down to the last lap a s Scott led out of turn four, but Rainey drafted him at the fini sh line to tak e second by a whisker. Scott Pearson proved to be the jackrabbit in the second semi. But rreH Haney got around both Brad Hurst and Pearson to take the top spot on lap two. Haney continued to lead as the finish neared, with Pearson staying close. However, two laps from home, Haney apparently slipped o£f the groove or ran into some other problem, dropping all the way back to sixth. Pearson and Hurst led Tim Mertens across the line when the checkered £Jag waved. !J unior Invitational Pete Hames turned in the fastest qualifying time on his Storz/Bill's Pipes Harley with a 40.295. That performance continued into the 12-lap J un ior Invitational. Hames took the point position from the start and never relinquished it. Steve Karsten and Barry Pelkey (doing very well on a 500cc Can-Am) followed Hames after the first lap. Don Howard quick- ly moved into second as Pelkey fell back in the pa ck, a nd Scott Podergois assumed third on lap six. The front runners held th eir posi tions u ntil lap 10, when T om Walto n crashed in turn one. The race was red-flagged a nd declar ed over. , Last Chance Qualifier Mike Inderbi tzen a nd Tim Mert en s led th e las t 1O-lap race of the day, whil e veteran H ank Scott got a miserabl e start and was a bo u t sixth . Scott cut through to run third by the next lap. and followed by Bill y Labrie, he worked his wa y up to lead by lap six. Inderbitzen stayed with the leaders, running a cl ose third when th ey took the white £Jag. On the last lap, the order changed dramatically with Labrie leading out of the £inal corner ahead o£ Inderbitzen, Mertens and Scott. Inderbitzen nipped Labrie at th e line to take the sole transfer, as Labrie was trailed by Scott at the finish. .National Three riders went down in turn one, Scott Parker, Lance Jones and Brad Hurst, but the race ran for two more laps before the red flag appeared. By that time Parker, who also crashed in practice, was up and running behind the pack. Both Parker and J ones made the restart, but Morehead didn 't get as good o£a push off the line. At the end o£ one it was Graham, Springsteen, Parker, Terry Poovey, Gary Scott and Morehead. In a repeat of their Sacramento battle , Graham and Springer engaged in a draft/pass sortee wh ile Morehead cut his way to third. By th e fifth lap it was a tight fourrider pack go ing for the lead. Gra ham had it a t th e moment, with Morehead, Springsteen and Parker ma king up th e grou p. Gary Scott, Poove y a nd Steve Eklund ran next. By th e 10th lap th e fight for th e lead was between Springer a nd Parker wit h G raham back to third. Eklund di splaced Moreh ead for fou rt h, but th at lasted on ly briefly. On lap 13 Morehead went .pa st G raham and caugh t th e two leaders. He, Springsteen and Parker went back a nd fort h for several laps, as Parker a nd Graham stayed in reach o£ th e draft. By the 18th lap, Morehead and Parker were doing most o£ the leading. Three laps later, Parker had his last turn in front. Morehead took over the lead , and in th e late moments, managed to break the draft of the pursuit. While Morehead was out in front , Parker, Springsteen, Graham, Alex Jorgensen made up th e top five, with the order there varyin g from turn to turn. The last three laps found Parker, Springsteen and Graham wheel to wheel for second. In the end, Graham got th e upper hand and led the two Harley teamsters across the line. " T he first 20 laps went by so fast I co u ldn' t believe it :' grinned Morehead after the race and a phone call to his mother to let her know that he had won. " O n the last three laps nobody passed me , so I just kept tu cked in and kept going. I'd like to thank KK Motorcycle Supply, Cyclear Fairings, Steve Storz, Bill's Pipes an d Bell H elmets for their su p por t." " I didn 't even think I was go ing to mak e it into th e main even t," said Graham , "because in the heat race th e clutch bearing wen t o u t. It destroyed most of the lower end; the transmission a nd cen ter cases. T ex got it back tog ether a nd th e only problem was that it was hard shifting off the line. Then I co u ldn ' t draft because halfway down the straight it would just miss. I just got lucky and caught a draft on the last lap. I was in the right place at the right time, but to tell yo u the truth I was just trying to finish the race. " Crashing twice in the same day and still making it to the winner's circle is rare, but Parker did it. " It's been a helluva day; I just couldn 't believe what happened. We got everything hooking up a fter the spill and just kept on geing." • Results NATIONAL: 1. SIeve Morehead (H-D~ 2. Ricky Graham (H·D); 3. SCOIlParker (H·D~ 4. Jay Springsteen (H-Dl; 5. Ale. Jorgensen (H-D); 6. SIeve Eklund (H·DI; 7. Gary Seen (H -D~ 8. Terry Poovey (H-D); 9. Wayne Rainey (H-Dl ; 10. Randy Goss (HD); 11. Mika Kidd IHon); 12. SCOIl Pearson (Hon); 13. Lance Jones (H-D); 14. Mikalnderbitzen (H-D); 15. Don Shoben (H-D); 16. Ted 800dy (H-D); 17. Brad Hursl(H-DI. TIME: 15:57.2B - 94.016 mph. AMA/WINSTON PRO SERIES POINT STAND INGS: 1. Ricky Graham (68); 2. (TIE) Jay Spring steen/Alex Jorgensen (S1); 4. Steve Morehead (40); 5. Randy Goss (3B); 6. Slave Eklund (37); 7. Terry Poovey (34); B. Mike Kidd(33); 9. SCOII Parker (29); 1D.Gary ScolI(22); 11. (TIE)Mickey Fay/SIeve Wise (21); 13. 8ubba Shoben (19); 14. Freddie Spencer (16); 15. (TIE)Ted Boody/Ronnie Jones/ Jim Filica (15); 18 . Robeno Pietri (13t. 19. Ganh Brow(12~ 20. (TIEl Mike BaldwinlWayne Rainey/ Rod Spencer 111). 9