Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

only battle at the end of the season will be for second. The program, heats through the National, was squeezed into a jampacked two hours, four minutes by Central regional referee Duke Olliges and his crew with 100" cooperation from the riders. Fortunately, Mother Nature waited untilAll hour :MleI' me ntttiIefore enching the area. Quelifying Filice's 57.5555 second lap in time trials wasn'tany threat to Hank Scon's lap record of 55.285, but it was the fastest of the day. Springsteen, at 57.610, posted the second quickest time while Honda's Hank Scott put the first of six Honda RS750s into the program. Scott Parker and Shobert rounded out the top five. Del Beck took the final qualifying position in the 48 rider field at 58.997. Sixty-five riders were on hand to attempt to qualify. Heata Randy Goa. .... Iuding TIm M. . . . . in _Mat. ..-tded at Indy. By Gery Ven Voorhis Photos by Bert Sheperd/Silver Shutter INDIANAPOLIS, IN, AUG. 27 Harley-Davidson's Randy Goss, via a superbly executed draft-and-pass maneuver, edged defending Camel Pro Series Champion Ricky Graham for the win in the Indianapolis Mile National. Coss' margin of vic. beh' tory 10 h'IS come- f rom-h 10 d ' N c h arge was a bo ut 12 lnc es. 0 more than two feet farther back 8 was Bubba Shobert in third. Interestingly, Goss led only one lap of the 25 run, but it was the one which counted. Terry Poovey, on a Honda RS750, led a bitterly disappointed jimmy Filice in the race for fourth. Filice had led the field ha1£way around the Indiartapolis State Fairgrounds track on the£inallapandcomplainedafter- .. ward of "being bumped out of the win by Graham." G oss fattenedh' pomts 1ea d to 42 . 1S over Graham, 251 to 209, in his quest for a second AMA Grand National Championship title. Shobertandsixthplace finisher jay Springsteen are tied for third at 205. Coss, having finished no worse than eighth in 19 of the 20 dirt track Nationals he's scored points in this year, shows no signs of slacking 0(( his torrid pace. Although no one concedes the title to Goss at this early date, rrtany feel the " ~ .'.1 - ., . • Shobert grabbed the lead in the first heat as the field exited turn two. Behind him there was plenty of shuf£ling going on with the Texan leading Ted Boody, jon Cornwell, Filice and Mike Kidd at the start of lap two. Filice, who had been bumped on the start, drafted past Boody and into second as the two entered turn three on lap four. Shobert, Filice and Boody then drew away from the rest to have their own battle. Two laps later, Filice took the lead from Shobert as Boody lost ground. Kidd, in fourth, began to inch his way up behind Boody. Filice led the final lap from start to finish, holding 0(( Shobert's charge by ha1£ a bikelength at the checkered £lag. Boody took the third and final direct transfer to the National. Springsteen took his pole position on the groove for the start of heat two, but referee Olliges motioned him to the pitside pole position in the loose dirt since he hadn't informed anyone of his choice. "Springsteen's hard enough to beat without rrtaking him mad," said a spectator watching the move. Graham got to the start/finish line first at the end of lap one, but that was it for the lead as Springsteen took over heading into turn one and scooted away to let the rest decide second. Honda-mounted Steve Morehead and Graham engaged in a pass and repass duel around the track for second. Lance jones then closed in to make it a three-rider run to the flag with Graham holding a one bikelength advantage over Morehead with jones fourth. Springsteen earned the pole for the National since his heat win was the fastest. Honda's Hank Scon and teammate Terry Poovey went at it hammer and tongs in the third heat for the lead, while Gary Scott and Steve Eklund debated third. The battle raged from the third lap through the eighth with Hank Scott gaining the advantage and pulling out some breathing room to win. Poovey suddenly felt some heat from the Gary Scon/Eklund duel and turned the gas on a bit more to hold his second to the finish. Gary Scott held 0(( a strong last lap challenge by Eklund to take third spot by a bit less than one bikelen~ Tim Mertens, Honda-mounted for this race, led a seven rider freight train in the fourth heal. Goss, Garth Brow and Parker quickly put him in fourth on lap three. By lap five, Goss, Mertens and Brow were wheel to wheel with Parker and Ronnie jones a short distance behind. Goss then broke free and went on to win, leaving Mertens and Brow to banle it out for second. Brow crashed unhurt in turn three on lap eight, leaving Mertens safe in second and making the jones/Parker or Parker/jones battle one for third. Parker pulled it out at the finish, but it was so close it ' required a quick conference by o££icials to determine the order. Semis The top two finishers from each of_ the two semis wou1d join the 12 riders already in the ational. Lance jones wanted one of those spots and put a tremendous holeshot on the field in semi one. jones had 20 yards on the rest at the end of lap one and began to inch out more. Meanwhile, Alex jorgensen and rookie Pete Hames were at it hot and heavy for second. On the fourth lap, jones coasted to a halt on the back straight and it was a new race. ''I'm bummed," said an obviously disappointed jones afterward. "The bike Gary Peel, Tex's brother, built was running so strong I feel we could've done some real business in I the National. Unfortunately, I think a val ve broke." . jorgensen lOok over the lead, stretched it out, and just as quickly found Rodney Farris knocking on his back door. Farris grabbed the lead on lap seven and it was a draft and pass show to the finish. jorgensen took the lead going into turn three on the final lap and went on to win with Farris a ha1£ bikelength short at the finish. Steve Eklund led or challenged for the lead through the first four laps of semi two until a flat rear tire, caused by a nail, sidelined him. Eklund wasn't talking afterward. Rookie Doug Chandler was also among the early lap front-runners, but he learned the hard way what happens if you slip 0(( the groove, as he did, and went from second to eighth in a matter of seconds. At one point in the final laps, jones, jay Beach, Dave Bradley and Chandler crossed the start/finish line four abreasl. jones and Beach pulled away with jones holding 0(( Beach at the finish for the win. Last Chance Quelifier Mike Kidd and Hames had a knockdown, drag-out fight for the lead in the Last Chance Qualifier with Kidd finally gainil'\g the upper hand. Kidd's win earned him the final slot on the National grid. National The l7-rider 6/6/5 grid with 12 Harley-Davidson XR750s and five Honda RS750s (Hank Scott, Morehead, Mertens, Poovey and Kidd) saw Springsteen choose-and tell referee Olliges this time-the grandstand-side pole position right in the middle of the groove. "The groove is pretty narrow," said Hank Scott, "so you want to be sure about your moves and position when you overtake a rider going into turns one or three. Drafting past someone can also be a problem because you can break the tire loose if you get too far out in the marbles when moving around." Springsteen took the advantage at the turn of the green light, led inlO turn one, and nearly crashed as he fought to make the bike tum rather than go straight. "I knew this wouldn't be the last of my problems," said Springsteen afterward. Graham quickly gathered the lead with Springsteen regrouping and slithering through tra££ic to run second al lhe end of the first lap in a constantly moving throng of riders. Goss and Shobert had gotten poor starts. "I got sideways 0(( the start," said Goss, "and it seemed whalever I did in the opening laps was always wrong." "The transmission made some funny noises on the starting line and • < . UJ w

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