Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

second heat with Smith holding the upper hand throughout the opening five laps. Chandler then moved into the lead with a good low-line pass in turns 11-4. Smith pressured, but Chandler held on for the win and the pole position for the National since his winning time proved to be the quickest of the six heats. While the ballie raged up front, another was goingon in the back of the pack as Parker sought to finish sixth and move himself into the semis. He did, barely, on a last-lap pass of Rusty Gourley. The third heat was a war between Garth Brow, on the Ed Salley-tuned Yamaha, and Bubba Shobert, on the Ken Parker/Megacycle/Wiseco/HiPoint Kawasaki. Brow led across the start/finish line on the opening nine laps although he had no clear-cut advantage on the rest of the track. Honda's Terry Poovey was close bebind, waiting for one or both riders to make a mistake. Steve Monger and - Bill Davis were both hounding Poovey. Brow appeared to gain aboUlthree bikelengths advantage on the ninth lap and held it as the two began the final lap. Shobert got a drive of( turn two, closed on Brow and went low, forcing Brow to move of( his line and give the lead and tbe win to Shobert. There was more close racIng in heat four and, like the previous heat, there would be fireworks on tbe final lap. Shoei/Gary Bang Distributingsponsored Yamaha rider Jimmy Filice and Honda Suppon rider Randy Green went at it tooth and nail for five laps with Filice making the high line work to his advantage. Honda's Mike Kidd then came into the picture and made it a three-way battle for the lead for the final five laps. Green took over the lead on lap seven, leaving Filice to feel Kidd's beal. Kidd made his move in turn two on the final lap, diving low and then drifting up to force Filice of( his line and OUl of second. Filice complained loudly to referee Olliges after the race that he had been bumped, but it was to no avail. Hebb wasted lillie time moving his Greyboy Cycle/Castrol-sponsored Kawasaki into the lead in heat five. Steve Morehead quickly moved into second and just as quickly found himself hounded by Eric Rausch and then Dan Ingram. Ingram, with a high-line-to-low-Iine maneuver in turns 1-2, grabbed second from Morehead on lap four and the front two were set, although the ballIe raged for second right down to the checkered flag. Ingram, on his Dad/Sure-Fire/ KR W/Diamond/IBCO-sponsored Honda, was making his founh straight National and keeping up his title hopes for rookie of the year. The lead on the opening lap of heat six belonged to Harley-Davidson's Goss with Mike Gilkey right behind. On the next go-around, Ted' Boody had his Arai/College Bike Shop Honda in second and the battle was about to begin. Boody prodded Goss for two laps and then took the lead, leaving Goss to fend of( the charge of Fran Brown. Me.anwhile, a very important ballie was taking place for six th - and the last transfer to the se~is-betweenGraham and Mickey Fay, the winner of the Santa Fe TT National earlier in the season. Boody held of( Goss' challenges for the win while Fay ended Graham's hopes of making the National. amis Only the winner from each semi ould transfer to the National. The ack, which many thought would roove up, still allowed racing from igh line to low line. The sky was teadily growing darker and some ightning could be seen on the horion. at') 00 0') ..... Winner Doug Ch8ndler looks tentatively et e bottle of ch8mpegne while old hend Rendy Go.. (right) tells e". On lap three, Jorgensen's chances of glory literally exploded as his bike's engine broke, spilling oil on the track from a fist-sized hole in the top end. The result of the problem was that Green, right behind Jorgensen, had to straighten up to avoid hilling Jorgensen as they headed into tum one. Goss, on Green's rear wheel, had to go right up to the haybales in turn one to avoid going down. Goss and Green recovered, but Goss was 14th and last with a lot of ground to make up if he wanted a good finish. The fifth lap saw Boody's ride come to an end as he coasted to a stop on the backstretch with a broken chain. This allowed Chandler to take command and that's exactly what he did as he sped the remaining 20 laps to victory. Houghton, right behind, also seized the golden opportunity and held onto second until the checkered flag waved. However, the racing was far from over. Goss, who seems to put in his best rides when he is faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, was slicing through traHic on a high line with apparent ease. He had moved to sixth by lap seven, dispatching Ingram, who was running with no brakes, Filice, Hebb, Brow, Green, and Kidd. Smith had gone out prior to Jorgensen and Boody. One lap later, Goss had worked his high-line magic on Shoben and Brown and was now selling his sights on Eklund, in third_ The halfway flags saw Chandler out in front and running like he was on a rail, turning in flawlessly ridden laps. Houghton did likewise in second although he knew there was a battle raging behind for third between Eklund and Goss. Shobert dropped Brown to sixth and Brown was engaged in a duel with Green and Kidd to hold onto that position. It took eight laps for Eklund to put his Gardner Racing Honda out front and end the hopes of Dan Howard. Howard did his best to hold 0(( Eklund, but Eklund has more time on the Santa Fe facility than just about any National contender. Filice grabbed the lead in the second semi on the third lap from George Istvanek and motored away to an easy win. Filice was lucky to make the race. His truck broke down on the way to the track and he arrived just in time 10"ign-up and get-1hHe Iaps.-of., practice before the time trials. Last Chenea Quelifiar Brown took the lead away from Pete Hames on lap three and then held off Hames and Sammy Sweet to the finish to put his Robinson Rochester Racing-sponsored Can-Am into the National. Netionel The National was called to the line almost as quickly as the Last Chance Qualifier had finished. The threat of an impending torrential downpour had everyone moving. The traditional fireworks display before the National was met by Mother Nature hurling lightning bolts through the sky. . Chandler chose the grandstandside pole position for the National with Jorgensen, Shoben, Green, Boody and Hebb making up the front row of the 6-6-3 grid. Smith, Houghton, Brow, Kidd, Goss and Ingram were on row two with Filice, Eklund and Brown looking at the green starting light from row three. Strategy for the race was simple: Get out front and stay there because if it rained, the race would be called complete if 15 full laps had been run - 60 pe.rcent of the 25-lap National. Green led Boody, Chandler, Hebb, Jorgensen, Shobert, Houghton and Eklund at the end of lap one. Boody took the lead on the next lap with Jorgensen moving to second ahead of Green, Chandler, Shobert, Hebb, Goss and Eklund. It took Goss II laps to find a way around Eklund for third, but once in that position he began to charge again since Houghton had been able to open up some breathing room on that third-place ballle. Goss began reeling in Houghton, but time and laps ran out and he fell shon in his bid for second. Chandler took an easy win. Eklund and Shobert took fourth and fifth while Kidd snatched sixth from Green and Hebb took eighth from Brown. The crowd, noting that both Chandler and Houghton were rookies, gave a rousing cheer as they mounted the victory podium. Chandler, who went from Novice to Expert in less than two seasons, was a bit worried about the bottle of champagne handed him. "Can I get in trouble drinking this?" he asked. ''I'm only 17." Once assured it was all right, he took to celebrating with glee. "Winning the fastest heat and earning the pole for the National gave me a lot of confidence and I felt I had a shot at winning if I got a good start. It was really good to win and I think this will help me a good deal," said Chandler. "This is only the fifth National I've been to. "I want to thank Honda for all their help. The bike is basically box stock - a kit bike. I put another exhaust pipe on it and a different carburetor and went racing. That's il.l also want to thank Bel-Ray, Simpson Helmets, ND, HiPoint and Bates for their help." ''I'm happy to have finished second," said Houghton. "I need the money. This is the first National I've raced. I took 0(( work to come and race, but I guess now my boss will understand." Houghton works as a plumber's helper. "My strategy was to stay low and keep the gas on," continued Houghton. "I tried to catch Doug, bu t I couldn't so I took it a bit easy and let myself ride as smoothly as possible." "The heat races here are al ways the hardest part of the night for me," said Goss. "I got a prelly goods stan and was just staying out of trouble when Jorgy blew his engine. Trying to avoid hitting Randy Green really goofed things up. I wasn't sure how far up through the pack I could go. Sometimes I surprise myself. We had the bike set up so I could run up high and that proved to be the right thing to do. "The points advantage is good to have at this time in the season," continued Goss. "Now I'll begin worrying about the Peoria TT and let my tuner, Brent Thompson, worry about everything else. I think Peoria will be the key. When I saw Ricky put the Number One on his bike last year, I set a goal for myself of getting it back and I think I will." • Results 25-LAP NATIONAL: 1. Doug Chendler (Honi; 2. T.J. Houghlon (Yem); 3. Rendy Goes (H-D); 4. 51... Eklund (Honi; 5. Bubbe Shobert (Kew); 5. Mike Kidd (Hon); 7. Rendy Green (Honl; 8. De.e Hebb (Kew); 9. Fren Brown (C-AI; 10. Genh Brow (Vem); 11. Jimmy Felice (Veml; 12. Den Ingrem (Hon); 13. Ted Boody (Hon); 14. Ale. Jorgen..n (C-A); 15. Ervin Smilh (Hon). TIME: 6 min.. 39.626 oece. AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPI CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Rendy Gou-(195); 2. Ricky Grehem (1 B21; 3. Bubbe. Shubenl161I; 4. Joy Spring.leen(155); 5. ScottPerker (132); 6. Ale. Jorgeneen (118~ 7. SI..e Eklund (81);B. Gery SCOII (721; 9. Ted Boody (881; 10. Mil.. Baldwin (821; 11. Mickey Fey (571; 12. enEI Mike Beldwin/Greuv Smrz (581; 14. Terry Poovey (65); 15. enE) 51... More_/Henk Scott (44~ 17. DoUII Breun_ (421; 18. Tim ~(4Ol; 19._ Richichi (37~ 20. Jimmy Fila 311. 9

• Cover