Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

worked and by the ha lfway point J orge nsen had built up a five second lead and went on to win by a wide margin over Kidd and G ilk ey. H onda 's Kidd joined teammat e Terry Poovey o n th e sidel ines. Poovey had dr opped o u t of a heat race when , accordi ng to team manager Romero, "T he sh ifting mechanism brok e." Poovey ha d just recovered from a bout with th e flu and before th e sta rt of th e raci ng had exp ressed optimism over the cha nces of the new Honda RS750 doing well. It ap pea red as th o ugh the RS750s lacked dr ive off -the corners wh en they were ridden on th e cus hio n. National G raham chose the o utsi de pole positio n for th e National, right o n the ha rd packed lin e, and joining him on th e fron t row were Coss, X od y, j ay Sprin gsteen , Parker , Bo Morehead , Brow a nd Ga ry Scott. O ccupying th e secon d row wer e Eva ns , Ingram , Mertens, Ch uc k Springsteen , j orgensen , Hank Sco tt arid Farris. j a y Spri ngst ee n led th e field th rough turns o ne-two an d in the scram ble pole sitter Graha m was buried in m id-pack. " I got blinded wi th the spray just aft er we hi t th e firs t turn and I co uldn' t go for a tear-off un til we came o ut of tu rn two, " explai ned Gra ham. Springsteen led Par ker, Gary Sco tt, Mor eh ead and Goss across the line at th e end ofl a p on e and wi th the exceptio n of Goss getting aro und More head th e ord er remained the same on the second lap . Lap th ree saw Goss ge t by Gary Sco tt for thi rd as Springsteen and Parker threw up roos tertails of dirt wi th spectacular cushion rides. The third lap marked th e end of the evening fo r j or gen sen. "The spray did the bike in ," said j orgy. ' 'I' m not sure if it shorted it o ut or wha t, but it was definitely being ca ught in the sprdY tha t stopped it. " The fourth lap saw G raham again fall vict im to the lim estone spray which due to wat ering ad hered to bi kes, leathers and faceshields. G ra ham had worked hi s way around Bro w a nd Boody in turns three-fou r, but spray kicked up by Gary Scott's rear wh eel blinded Graham agai n as he exited turn four and Bro w a nd Boody slipped back by down th e front straight. The sixth lap saw Moreh ead drop out of th e race when " so me thing inside" his H arley broke. Morehead has had a string of nothing but bad luck th us far this seaso n . When asked if he was going-to Harrington (Delaware) early to do public relations work as he had done in th e past, Morehead frowned a nd answered, " Wh y bother? The wa y my luck's been going...," a nd his voice trailed off. Goss got by teammate Parker on the seventh lap a nd with Springer out front, it was th e Harley-Davidson factory team members running 1-2-3, and it appeared they were headed for another sweep similar to the on e the y had pulled off a t Ascot a few weeks before. But Graham had other ideas in mind as he moved into fourth after working the inside line past Gary Scott on the same lap and began to close on Parker. The eleventh lap saw Graham get by Parker, but th e crowd's attention was focused on th e two front runners, Springsteen and Goss, Goss had closed on Springer and the two ran side-byside and wheel-to-wheel around every inch of the half mile oval. Goss got by Springsteen on the th irteenth lap, but Springsteen was in front on the next lap. The battle continued and Goss snatched the _.lead back p.n th.e. (i~t~ntQ [a p. , < ' • (Above) Ricky Graham was happy to come from way back to third , (Below) Randy Goss leads Springer in the main . The following lap saw Brow drop out aft er having run in seventh pl ace just beh ind Gary Scott from th e fifth lap on. At first it was suspected tha t the ign ition had failed, but Brow 's tuner said, " I don 't rea lly know. We'll hav e to wash it off and check it au t." Gos s and Springsteen conti n ued to run together as th e laps wound do wn and it was Springsteen out front as th e white flag was waved to indicate one lap rem aining. Goss tried every trick in th e book, bu t Springsteen held him off and scored a popular win. Graham took third, ahead of Parker, Boody and Scott, who had maintained their positions for th e bulk of the race. Maryland H-D/Cycle Experts/Gary Nixon Enterprises Farris got by Mertens on th e 17th lap and held on for seventh ahead of Mertens. Chuck Springsteen, Ingram, Hank Scott and Evans rounded out th e finishers. As the bikes of Springsteen, Goss and Graham were turned over to their tuners following Springer's victory lap, it was hard to det ermine who was smiling the most - riders or tuners. " T ha t was a great race ," said Bill Werner, Springsteen's mechanic and the man behind more National •.winningmachines than anyone.else. " He ca n ride outside or insi de. No matter wh ere he rides, 1 have conf idence in him." The runner-up performance kep t Goss o n to p of th e point sta ndi ngs and gave his tuner, Brent Thompson, two rea son s' to carry a large sm ile. Brent 's wife had call ed th e track jus t before th e program started and in formed h im that he was th e fath er of a bab y boy. T ex Peel , Graham 's mentor, was wide-eyed . "Did you see R icky get covered up in th e spray a t th e start? Wow! Wh at a ride he turned in l" After spraying the crowd gathe red aro u nd winner's circle with cham pagne, Springsteen was full of p rai se for th e track. " T his is th e best it's been in years. The fans saw real half mile racing tonight. The cushion dried o ut lat e in th e race a nd th at 's when I started to come down. Randy got me in one, bu t 1dropped down in three and four and got him back. 1've got to run now; I'm headed back to Wisconsin for some road racing." Springsteen was playing jet-setter as he had practiced at Road America in Wisconsin the da y before and was off to catch a charter flight for the racing the following day . " I pitched it away yesterday," said Springsteen. " It was raining and they told me the rain tires work as good as the regular tires. , N a way!" Goss offered eq ua l p raise fo r th e tra ck sur face, saying, "T hey did a bi tchi n ' jo b and deserve pra ise." Describing the race he had with Springsteen , Goss said, " Sp ringer was gone by turn twa on the openi ng lap and 1 tri ed to catch him by rid in g lip h igh. I finall y m oved down and start ed to fly a nd cau ght lip with him. H e was gear ed ta ller than me ; turns on e and two were mine, but three and four were h is." Goss, when asked if he tho ught he co uld win ano ther title, sai d , " Yo u can co unr. on one th ing, I'll never let up." Graham, wh o took over sale posses.sio n of second pl ace in th e point standings with hi s third pl ace fin ish and Shobert's misfortune, said, "After 1was blinded in th e first turn , 1had to ride her high, wide and handsome to catch up. But that's how 1love to ride and the great track they prepared let me ride up th ere. We're going for it and 1 know we can win it (the titl e) again ." . • Results 20 MILE NATIONAL : 1. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 2. Randy Goss (H-Dk 3. Ricky Graham IH-D); 4. Scon Parkar (H·D); 5. Ted Boody (H·U) ; b . ..ary :>con (H·D); 7. Rodney Fa"is (HoD) 8. TIm Mertans(H 'D); ; 9. Chuck Springsteen (H-D); 10. Dan Ingram; t t. Hank Scon (Hon); 12 . Chris Evans (H·D); 13. Garth Brow (H-D); 14. SIeve Morehead (HoD) 15. Alex ; Jorgensen. 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