Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ DAYTO~ ~3 ~ (Yam); 12. Fran Brown (H-D). 500cc: 1. Tim M ert en s (Ha n); 2. Bi ll Herndon (Han) ; 3 . M art in Lavoie (Hon) ; 4 . M att Hczowicz (H· D); 5. Rand y Gree n (Han I. FINA L POINT STANDINGS : t . Bubba Shoben IB7); 2. Ted Boody (B4); 3 . Terry Poov ey (73); 4 . Steve Hall (481 5 . Rodn ey Farr is (4 5); 6 . J im Fil ice ; (42) ; 7. (TIE) Stev e M or ehead /Jack Ingram/M an Rozowicz (4 1); 10. Tim M ert en s (30). ~ Consistent riding and a win in the f inal round enabled Bubba Shobert to t ake the series title from Ted Boody . Terry Poovey spent a l ot of t ime having his pict ure taken in w inner 's circle . He pos t ed th ree straight w ins in Memo rial Stadium . Daytona Dirt Track Series: Rounds I 5-9 Title to Shobert By Mike & Anne Adair, Da le Brown. Jack Mangus & Gary Van Voorhis DAYTO NA BEACH, FL. MAR. 12 Bubba Shobert, with a wire-to-wire win In the seventh and fina l round of the Dayto n a Dirt Track Series, went away $6, 000 richer, in addition to purse money, than when he ca me to Memorial Stadium. Shobert riding a Kawasaki , d' . . ' wa s . s e c~m In series I?Oll~tS comIng Into the event. HIS WIn , 26 co m bine d with a fourth by seri es leader Ted Boody , ga ve Texan Sho bert . th e titl e by a three poi nt margin - 87 to 84. Shob ert took $5,000 in series mon ey an d a n a ddi tio na l $1,000 in Ka wasaki bo n us bu cks for h is win. "One h eckuva p ayda y," was th e way Sh obert described hi s ni gh t' s wor k. Dan In gr am , a seco nd yea r Expert ridi n g a H onda, took seco nd in a stro ng ri de, holding off repeat ed cha lI nge b Hnndarider Terry Poo vey. ! T he initia l three ser ies ro u nds at Mem ori al Sta di u m h a d fall en to Poovey, " Woody Kyle fr esh en ed up th e mo to r whi ch he built a bo u t two years ago for me w ith a new cra n k an d a new h ead ," sa id Poovey. " If th is had been a National , I woul d have a ltered m y rid ing style a bit a nd reall y put th e pressure o n In gram . As it was , I co u ld n ' t m ove up in th e sta n d ings by bangin g In g ram o ut of seco nd so I took a n easy third ." Poovey, ridi ng o n ly fo u r o f th e seven ser ies rou nds , took th ird in th e fi na l sta nd ings. Boody led fell ow H o nda rider and rookie Expert Samm y Sw eet h om e in th e ba ttle for fourt h . T he stage for the night's battl e fo r th e top mo ney in the series payoff came in th e first semi when Bood y, Sh obert a nd Poo vey found th emselves scr ambling for the three transfers to th e final. Shobert led from start to fi ni sh in a re latively ea sy ride, Boody held second for th e first seven laps of th e ten lap race with Poovey then tak ing over , an d for cing Boody to follow him h om e to th e checkered fla g. In gra m , Sweet and Stev e H all won th e final three semis with each rider leading fiom start to finish. Lance J o nes got more than the rac er's edge in the first start of th e fi nal. It was red-flagged a n d Jones went to the penalty line for the restart. Shobert , In g ram , Poovey, Sweet, Fran Bro wn an d Bood y went at it in th e fir st si x p laces o n th e o pe n ing lap o f th e 141ap fin a l wh en the gree n flash ed , T he tr ack wa s a n arrow g roove, as it had been a ll week, a n d positio ns rem ained th e sa me th rou gh lap nine as no rider dared ge t o ff th e groove to try to improv e hi s posi tio n . On lap ten , Brown ended his n igh t with undisclosed p robl em s. On th e same lap , Bood y moved aro und Swee t for fourth an d th e top five spots wer e locked in. T he fin al la p s sa w no p ositi ons change. " I kn ew I h ad a good cha nce to win th e ti tle going i n to th e fin al ro u n d," said Shober t. " Everyth in g worked just right for us." " T he seco nd row sta rt wo rked agai nst me o n the sta rt," sai d Bood y. "The g roove was narro w an d th er e reall y was n' t any p lace to a tte m p t a pass wi tho ut risking slip p i ng o ff the groove a nd fall in g way back." T he event also fea tu red th e fin al of th e 500cc All Ame rica n Shoo t-o u t. A field of 12 riders q ua lified for th e fin al via th e fir st three ro u nds o f th e Dayton a Series. P re-race favorite Steve Moreh ead , wi n ne r of tw o o f th e ro u nds, cras hed o n th e thi rd lap o f the fin al a nd brought o ut th e red flag. On th e restart, H onda ri der Tim Mert ens, wh o h ad led th ree la p s o n th e firs t sta rt, found th e groove aga in an d th ere wasn o wa y to bump him off i n his 15 lap run to th e fi n is h . Bill y H erndon co u ld o n ly watch from seco nd a n d wait fo r a mi stak e wh ich never ha p pe ned. Resu lts 1. Bubba Shob ert I Kaw) ; 2. Dan In gr am (Hon); 3 . Terry Poove y (Han ); 4 . Ted Boody (Hon); 5 . Sammy Swe et (Han); 6. Mark Hartley (Han ): 7 . Stev e Hall (Yam) : 8 . Stev e M or ehea d (Kaw); 9 . Scott Adams • (Hon):tance Jones1Yam ); 1 1. Kri s A rmentrout to: Fr iday " It was all a bo u t th e sa me; th e bike worked rea lly good," sai d H onda 's T erry Poo vey a fter h e mad e Daytona history by winnin g his third co nsecutiv e short track main event a t Mem orial Stadium. Poovey, wh o didn't even co ntes t th e fir st three rounds of th e Da ytona Dirt Track Seri es, moved himself i nto co n tentio n for the o verall titl e with th e win. Series p oint leader Ted Boody ca rded a fourth to total 73 points, whil e T exan Bubba Shobert ran second to boost himself to 67 points. Poo vey , by virtu e o f hi s win , climbed up th e ladder to third with 60. Ca lif ornian Keith Day was not in th e running for th e series title, but nonetheless turned o n the gas to fin ish third in th e main event. The thin black g roove was like concre te even befor e scra tch heats wer e run to set th e field into four sem is. In th e firs t ten-lap sem i, Poovey a nd his pre-factory ride a ir-cooled H onda ran a way to tak e a n easy win ove r Suzuki-mounted Da v an d California J u nior Do ug Cha'ndler on a Kawa sa ki . Of no te was the fact tha t series tit le hopefu l Rod ney Farris fi ne ish ed fourth an d was OUI of th e program . The second semi saw Jimmy Filice, who was changing from road race to dirt track machin ery more o ften th an TV watch er s ch a nge ch an nels, take i t in a wa lk. Following the lead Yama ha was th e H onda of T ed Bood y and th e Hon da of Eri c Rau sch . ; The th ir d sem i was a wire-to-wi re wi n for H arley-D avidson-m oun ted rooki e Expert Matt Ro zowi cz. Steve Hall finis hed seco nd , an d Dan In gram took third a t th e flag. Randy Goss had been kn ocking a t In gr am ' s doo r, but h is a ll -o u t a tte mp t o n th e last la p o n ly resulted in him slidi ng into th e t urn four cras h wal l. Goss did walk a way from th e in cident. The final sem i esta blishe d an o rder . of Sh o bert, T im Mert en s a nd Charl ie R oberts a t th e end o f five la p s. T h a t's th e way they fini sh ed , The main event wa s a lso pretty much settled by th e fir st lap. Poovey got o ut i n front, staye d th ere a n d stretche d h is ad vantage. Shobert ran an uncontested seco nd , a nd much of th e d rama was p rov id ed by wa tching Boody pressure Da y a nd tr y to get him o u t o f th ird. It didn 't wo rk, a n d Da y rou nded o u t th e to p th ree with Mert en s £in ish in g fi fth . " Yo u' re ' right, t he re is o n ly o ne more event," sai d Bood y in response to a quest ion , o bvio us ly wishing for a few mor e poi nts befo re the final showdown. Results MAIN EVENT: 1. Terry Poovey (Han ); 2. Bubba Shobert (Kaw) ; 3. Keith DaV I Suzl; 4 . Ted Bood y (Hon); 5 . Tim M erten s (Ho n); 6. Stev e Hall ; 7 . Dou g Cha ndl er (Ka w l; 8 . Dan Ing ram (Ho n); 9 . Eric Rausch; 10 . Char li e Roberts; 11. J im Fi lice (Yam); 12 . Ma n Rozow icz (H· O). Thursday T eam H onda 's Terry Poo vey ro de hi s " p riva teer" H onda to victory for th e seco nd ni ght in a ro wan th e sh ort tra ck in Mem orial Sta di u m. Texa n Poovey took over th e lead o n the fourth lap of th e 14 lap main event a nd rod e th e narr o w groove without wa ver in g to tak e th e win by a wide mar gin ove r runner-u p Ted Bood y a n d th ird pl ace fin ish er Bub ba Shobert. Putt in g a dam per o n pos t-race ac rivities was th e news from Da ytona Beach 's Ha lifax H osp ita l th at Okla-

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