Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Houston Camel Pro Series preview By Ga ry Van Voorhis There are plenty of obvious reasons for wanting to head to Houston..The short track and TT Nationals in the Houston Astrodome mark the beginning of another AMA Grand N ational Championship / Camel Pro Series season. . ~ex Peel, tuner, sponsor and guidance counselor to Camel ' 16 Pr o Seri es Champion Ri ck y Graham , ma y have th e best rea son of a ll. " I ca n ' t wait to see my bikes ru n w ith th e Number One pl at e o n the m. That 's a pr ett y good reason to head to Ho uston ," says Peel. T he Budweiser Wild West Nat ionals, as th e events a re ca lled th is year , mark th e 16th season tha t H ou ston has been th e site for th e sta rt o f the cha m p io ns h ip chase. In 1968, Houston hosted on ly a sho rt track Nati onal. G ar y Nix on won tha t event an d went on to win h is seco nd AMA Grand Na tio na l Ch amp ion sh ip. T he follow in g year, a TT Nationa l was adde d an d it 's been th at way to dat e. In th e 29 Na tio nals wh ich have been ru n at H ousto n, on ly four rid ers ha ve wo n more tha n o nce an d three of them_wi ll be back to try to ad d to thei r tall y. Kenny Robert s ha s posted fou r of h is 30 Na tio na l win s at H o usto n and sp lit them evenly bet ween short track a nd TT. After a long a bsence from H o uston , Ro berts returned in 1980 to co me a way wi th th e TT win in storybook fash ion. His loyal fa ns , who ra rely get to see Rob erts du e to h is Worl d Cha m p io ns h i p road racin g co m mi tment, a re h op in g "Kin g Kenn y" ca n wo rk hi s m agic agai n. J ay Sp ri n gs teen , th e winningest Nati on al Cha m p io ns hi p rider with 33 to h is cred it, is a three-time sho rt track .win n er. No rider has posted a Nat ion al win a t H ouston three years in a row . Springsteen, with wins in 1981 a nd '82, would like noth ing better th an to make th at record his . FormerGrand Na tio na l Champion Steve Eklund put hi s name into th e AMA 'recora' D06KJi' hi 197 5 w he n he ma de a clean sweep of both Natio~a lso ~kl~nd ad~ ed. an oth er TT to hI S cred it with a WIn In 198 I. J ohn H at eley is the o n ly ot he r rider to have tasted th e win ne r's cha mpagne more. th an once. H areley won two TT National s. H e' s all but tot ally dropped ou t o f racing . 'T o a lot of riders, the do uble Nati onals are a fru strat in g way to beg in th e season. Sin ce the events a re hel d ins ide the H ouston Astrodome on a ma n -ma de track, some riders ha ve taken to descri bing them as "artificia l" a nd look forwa rd to gettin g back to " rea l dir t." It 's n o secre t th at just getting into the p ro gram for o ne o r bot h events is a n acco mplis h me nt . Mak in g the field for the Na tional req u ires an extra f1el p ing o f lu ck. T he uni quen ess o f the events req uire a rid er 's bike to be nearly spot-on in set- up befo re he or she sets a wheelan th e track. In addi tio n, p ractice sessions are short with litt le time in betwee n for making any major cha nges to th e bik e. Experience and track savvy ma ke th e difference. T heemphas is o n qua lifying is also heighten ed a t H ousto n. Wit h a field of approxi ma tely 100 entries for eac h nig h t- more than for a ny o ther d irt track Nationa l-an d on ly 60 a nd 48 q ua li fying slo ts o pen for the short track a nd TT, respectively , you ca n' t mak e a mi stak e. The d ifferen ces in qua lifying tim es are o ften measu red in th ou sandths o f a seco nd so tha t a slip , a bobbl e or any th in g less th an a perf ect lap co u ld well mean spec ta ting rather than racing. ' H owever, eac h year a large ha ndful of ri ders with bar ely a pr ayer of rna king either program and p icki ng up so me of th e $62,000 wee kend's purse, show up to co u rt Lady Luck fo r a cha nce to be able to tell o the rs, " I rode H ouston." H ow hard is it to win a National a t ing to a short straigh t an d a small H ouston? Peel , tu ne r for last yea r's j u m p. An o th er short straig h t leads TT win ne r G raham , an d Bill Werner, into a tight left-hander and back onto the man behind Sprin gsteen's winth e regular tra ck just past turn four. It wa s a t th e turn exiti n g th e in field n in g rides for th e past seven seaso ns, last yea r th at Steve Wise graphically bo th a g ree th at luck is a p ri me displayed th e difference in MX and in gred ient. TT riding styles. Acco rd in g to Peel , " H o us to n is th e TT racing brings out th e widest hardest p lace in th e country to win a t. vari ety of m ach in ery of a ll forms of I' ve sa t in th e sta n ds watchin g ra cing .dirt tra ck. Until Graham 's Harleymore th an I' ve seen m y bi kes on th e David son XR 750 mounted victory trac k, In six years o f go ing to H ouston last yea r, it was felt by most that the -prior to Ri ck y's win last yea r- my lighter , m ore maneu verable 500cc bikes made th e Troph y Race o nce. four-stroke singles wer e th e path to Tha t was a $150 pa yback for six years follow. They have been winning since of effo rt. " 1978. Werner says, " If yo u make th e Although Yamaha h as relea sed an Na tiona l, a n d tha t's a big if, th en XT600 an d H onda an XR600, you track co n ditio ns an d yo u r sta rt ing won 't see eit her in factory co lors, posi tio n o n th e grid becom e th e major accordi ng to th e m an agers o f both th in gs to worry a bo u t. In both events it' s hard to co me from behind unless teams. On the short tra ck side of things, the track a llows racing o n oth er th an some new m od els will be hitting the the groove. If it is a gro ove a nd th e tra ck. Wat er cooling sh o u ld turn up racing's Iollow-rhe-Iead er th en yo u on a 'n u m ber of the top entries. ca n o n ly hope a lu cky break co mes T he H arl ey-Davidson contingent yo ur way. on both th e T T a nd short track will " I beli eve th at a good sta rt, espebe small. Ri ck y Graham will be rid cially in the TT, is 50 percent o f the ing basicall y th e sa me TT bike o n race . It 's obvious wh y yo u need a wh ich he wo n last year. Peel has good sta rt in th e short track . In the chan ged th e H arl ey's front sus pe n TT, it's wa r in th e opening laps with sio n, using a Simons leading axle . bashi ng and handlebar bangin g going fork a n d ma ti ng up a large road raco n as the ri de rs jockey for p os itio n in ing style Kosman front brake assemthe first lap or two. T he best p lace to bl y. "We've mad e a few cha nges lik e be is ou t fro n t wi th th e fighting behi nd you. " th e fro nt end which Ri cky liked so much wh en h e raced the Superbikers The na me H arol d Murrell doesn't tha t we decided to go wi th it . Other show up on th e ri der entry list s or o n th an th at , why change a good thi ng?" the list of officials, but Murrell is probably the most im portant person said Peel. G raham 's XR 750 as well as those at H o u ston . Mur rell cou ld well be of H arl ey tea m riders Springsteen , tagged "Mr. Dirt " for h is reputa tion Randy Goss an d Scott Park er all as a track p rep arat ion wizard. H owweigh in at a p pro x imately 320 ever, a t H o uston th e job enta ils m uch pou nds . more. The trac k m ust be bu ilt from Springsteen , who is " itchi n g to get scratch after ca refu lly co veri ng th e back raci n g," will opt for the for k! Do me 's floo r. T he dirt must be br ake assem b ly h e used in The blended for the right co ns iste ncy an d Superbiker s a lo ng with a bit more buil di ng th e track ca lls for 25 hour sus pens io n trav el at th e rea r. days to get the job do ne. Murrell ca res fo r the track like a baby dur in g th e All four rid ers will be using th e same basic aircooled engine tha t began racing a nd h is job isn ' t done until th e life in ' 1976 as th e pow erplant for dirt is tru cked o ff foll ow ing th e co n cI usion o f raci ng. Harley's 250cc MX bikes. Ronnie T he co n figura tion for th e short Alexander ha s done a winter 's worth track varies littl e from yea r to year o f wo rk on Graham 's bik e. The factory mounts will hav e minor updat-turns o ne / two tend to be a bit tight wh ile three/four are wid er and sweepin g from last year. The most sig n ifiing. T he TT la yout wa s chan ged ca nt ch a n ge will be a sw it ch to a square slide Mikuni ca r bu retor like co m p letely in 1980. The field now swee ps through turns one/two, up those used on Suzuki's RM MXers. - Team Honda will have Steve Wise, the back stra ig h t and, just a fter en terin g turn three, heads into th e infield. T erry Poovey a nd Mickey Fay on The hizher ~iump'. co. mes immediately I their factory bikes. Mike Kidd, who is , .....~, . .... "i after wun aught right-hander lead- , . recuperating fro m a broken lelf wrist

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