Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

more. "Two guys down in my heat you don't stop the racel Now theft's one guy down and you stop aod itl'~ On the restart of the second heat it was Ted Boody leading the field into tum one and he stretched out that lead. taking the checkered flag well ahead of his pursuers. Behind him a banle for second took place between Texan Billy Herndon and Ohioan Mcrehead. Morehead, aboard a Honda RS750, slipped by Herndon entering tum three on the seventh lap and second was his. Herndon then had to fight off Ronnie Jones, but the nar-. row groove came IDtO play again and prevented Jones from doing anything more than sticking his tire inside of Herndon's rear wheel. Herndon followed winner Boody and Morehead into the National. "It's pretty hard to beat these guys off the line twice in a row," said after the heat race win. "But IJOW'I'll have to make it three in a row because that's what it's going to take to win the National." t number three saw Pennsylvanian Randy Texter pull the holeshot, something he's well known for, btn the rookie Expert had veteran Goss right on his rear wheel and the fourth lap saw Texter slip just enough &x Coss to get by and take over the lead. The following lap saw Texter rally slip and as he fought to recover out in the marbles in turns threefo ,Shobert and Doug Chandler took over the second and third spots. Shobert put pressure on Goss and the..eigbth lap saw them come down tbe front straightaway side-by-side. Goss held off Shobert for the win with Chandler finishing a lonely third. Texter was a distant fourth. The fourth and final heat was led from start to finish by "Jimbo" Filice. The Californian pulled a tremendous hokshot and had a commanding lead by the end of the first lap. He never faltered and won the race going away. Just as Filice led all the way, Gary Scott and Jay Springsteen, who had spent time in a Buffalo hospital the day before the race when his reoccurring stomach ailment struck again, ran the entire race in second and 'third, respectively. Springsteen st yed on Scott's rear wheel all the wa ,but as in the previous heats, the nmow groove kept him at bay. SetniS Tim Mertens, back on his own Harley-Davidson XR750 after riding one of the factory Hondas the previous weekend at Indy, led the first foU! laps of the first semi, but Ronnie Jones took over the lead on the fifth I~nd held off Honda's Hank ScOll for~e remaining five laps. Winner Jo.w;s, who missed most ofthe season abq: suffering a broken leg in a Dayt0J!~ Cycle Week short track get-off, tooK the one transfer to the National ~~9r grabs in each semi. Early I r Mertens was third. Jl;I;o~da's Terry Poovey pulled the hofeshot at the start of the second seIW and led all the way. Second went t pter, while Pete Hames was th~~Q. Last Chenee Qualifier J'exter pulled another holeshot at the start of the Last Chance Qualifier which would advance just the winner to the National. Texter led Mertens around the oval for the first four laps, and'!?n the fifth lap, Mertens unloaded hara coming off the fourth turn and he and his bike went bouncing into the-guard rail at the beginning of the front straight. No red flag appeared despite the fact he was in view of the starter, and before the field could put another lap in the books Ricky Graham's tuner, Tex Peel, and another man rushed to the downed rider. The rac~ wa~ allowed to cOJ'lriiiue' for another lap and during that period Honda's Gene Romero and Jerry Griffith stormed the starter and his assistant at the start/finish line. Griffith became involved in a shoving match with the assistant while Romero pleaded for a red flag. It finally waved as the field came to Lhe line to complete their eighth lap. "Damn it," said Romero. "Can you believe that guy? I don't want to hear it how the referee has to stop a race. Mertens was lying there and Tex and that otlier guy were right there and they all could have been hurt or even killed if another ridre had gotten off the groove coming off the turn. What do we have to do to impress upon them that safety comes firs!?" The race was restarted but on the 10th and final lap (the third lap ofthe restarted portion) Jay Beach and Steve Lawson went down in turn one. Hames crossed the finish line first, but Texter, who was in contention for the win, the final advancement spot to the National, backed off the gas, claiming he saw a red flag waved as he entered the fourth turn. "A red flag means stop. Doesn't it?" said an irate Texter, who filed a protest. Junior Rece The 12 fastest Junior class racers out of 211 who took qualifying laps gridded for their special race, with Virginian Mark Hartley on the pole by virtue of a 24.622 time trial lap. The holeshot was pulled by Canadian Darryl Johnson and he led all the way to the red flag that stopped the race for good on the 10th lap. That red flag was brought out by Doug Davis who unloaded hard exiting turn two. Second went to Hartley, while Ron Andrews was third. "I want to thank my tuner, Ross McDonald, and my sponsor, Mac's Machine Be Tool of Niagara Falls, New York, and my mother and father," said Johnson in winner's circle. Netional Practice had been delayed by overwatering of the track, and then the program was further delayed when time trials had to be halted due to the setting sun which was making it impossible for riders to see as they entered turn one. The delays and the restarts had pushed the final back to where it was nearly midnight and the season's first autumn-like air had everyone pulling out jackets they hadn't worn since spring. Fast heat winner Boody chose his pole position spot smack on the asphalt-like groove while Filice Look his position next to Boody up against the grandstand wall. Filling out the front row, moving towards the infield from Boody, were Goss, Parker, Morehead and Shoben. Tbe second row consisted of Farris, Gary ScOll, Herndon, Springsteen, Chandler and Brown. Occupying the third row were Poovey, Jones and Hames. "The first man into turn one can win this thing and that first man is going to be me," said Boody moments before the start. And it was Boody leading the field through turns onetwo, down the back straight, through turns three-four, and to the line on the front straight. "I knew if 1 didn't make a mistake the race was mine," said Boody afterward. Behind Boody at the end of the opening lap came Filice, Goss, Parker and the field. The end of lap four saw Boody, Filice and Goss running 1-2-11 in a tight bunch, followed by another tightly bunched trio, this one consisting of Shobert, Parker and Springsteen. As the leaders swept through turns one-two, Fran Brown, who was running eighth, went down hard at the end of the front straight, just before tile first turn. BroWn and his J The long and short of it as Boody and Filice enjoy the champagne. bike bounced two or three times before ending up between the haybales and the guard rail. The red flag came out immediately and the race was stopped. Brown was conscious when placed in an ambulance for a trip to the hospital. The field lined up for the singlefile restart and the order read: Boody, Filice, Goss, Shobert, Parke.r, Springsteen, SCOll, Morehead, Poovey, Farris, Jones, Herndon, Chandler and Hames. The flash of the green light saw Boody pull his fourth holeshot of the evening, bUlthe surprise was Springsteen, who jumped ahead of Parker, Shobert and Goss to take third behind Boody and Filice. Chasing the frontrunning trio at the end of the fifth lap (the first after the restart) were Goss, Shobert, Morehead, ScOll, Parker, Farris and the rest of the field. They ran in Lhat order up to the 10th lap when in turns one-two Springsteen slipped off the groove and dropped back to firth as Goss and Shobert both slipped by him as he was fighting to get back on the groove. Boody opened up some distance on Filice and at the start of the 12th lap the field lost another rider when Rodney Farris went down in turn one. "Ronnie (Jones) and 1 were going at it and there wasn't room on the groove for both of us," said Farris. "It was clean, though, we didn't hit. " The follow-the-leader nature of racing on a narrow groove wasn't sitting well with Goss and he was pressuring Filice in every corner. He perhaps pressured too hard in turns one-two on the 15th lap because in a split second, he was challenging ror second and then he was down. He quickly remounted and Look off after the field, running a distant 13th and last. Boody cruised ahead of Filice and Shobert and the only change in the running order came on the 17th lap when Herndon sl i"pPed off tb'e'g'roove and Chandler dropped him a spot to 11th. As the checkered flag waved, Boody wheelied from the exi t of turn four to the flag. He took a lap with the flag and then pulled up in front of the victory podium where he was met by his wife. The two embraced [or what seemed an eternity, both equally pleased with the ract that Ted had broken a long, long winless dry spell. "I told you if 1 got off the line firsL 1 could win it, and I did'" said Boody, who rides an XR out of South East Harley-Davidson of Cleveland, Ohio. "There's a crowd here from South East and iL'S great LO win in rront of your fans who you know are pulling ror you. Our combination is working real good. We've been getting stronger every race. I've got to thank my tuner Skip Eakins, and my sponsors Arai, Hi-Point, the Harley-Davidson MoLor Company, and, of course, everybody at South East Harley-Davidson." For his winning effort, Boody took home $4,800 of the 25,000 purse posted by promoter Jay Milligan. Runner-up Filice was ecstatic. He praised tuner Eddie Adkins and added, "I had a chance or two to stuff Ted in the opening laps, but I didn't want to chance it. It was a great race and Ted deserves it." As fourth place finisher Springsteen watched the winner's circle celebration, be said, "Wow, was that a sli ppery track or wha t? If you got one inch off the groove - gone! Did you see me slip?" Third place finisher Shobert closed the trophy ceremony by grabbing the microphone and saying, "I just want Lo thank everyone for coming out to watch usracetonighl. You'reall greatl". Results 2D-LAP NATIONAL: 1. Ted BoodV (H-D); 2. Jim Filice (H-D); 3. Bubbe Shoben (H-D); 4. JoV Springsteen (H-D); 5. St..e Moreheed (Han); 6. Gory Scott (H-D); 7. Scan Porker (H-D): B. Ronnie JonosIH-D); 9. Te"v PooveV (Han): 1D. Doug Chondler(H-D): 11. BiliV Horndon (H-D);I 12. Peto Homos (H-D); 13. Rondy Goss (H-D); 14. Rodney Ferris (H-D); 15. Fron Brown (H-D). NO time. restBr\. I • 13

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