Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ricky Graham flew high in the TT National, high enough to soar to his fourth win in the lest five Camel Pro Series events. Steve Eklund qualified fastest, but couldn't catch Graham in the National and had to settle for second. AMA Grand National Chamkionshik/ Camel Pro Series: Round 2 Graham gets serious in the 'Dome By David Edwards Photos by Dale Brown HOUSTON, TX, FEB. 5 Ricky Graham, aboard his new Team Honda 600cc thumper, smoothly slid his way to the top placing at the 16th annual Houston Astrodome TT, notching the 12th National win of his career at the Budweiser Light-sponsored event Graham had to overcome fellow Team Honda rider Bubba 8 Shobert, who took the early lead, and then hold 0[£ a charge by the al waystough-at-HouslOn Steve Eklund, but the 1982 Champ was up to the task and had a comfortable amount of breathin.'t room at the checkered flag. Eklund, riding for Gardner Racing, was second and Shobert hung on to third place. Finishing fourth after an inspired ride was defending Champion Randy Goss, who started on the back row of the l5-rider grid. The fourth-place points, along with those he received for winning the previous night's short track, put the Harley-Davidson factory rider in a tie with Graham for the early Camel Pro Series points lead. Graham finished fourth in Saturday's short track. After the race Graham said that he no longer subscribes to the contention that the outcome of the Houston races doesn't have any influence on the rest of the Camel Pro Series year - that points earned at HoustOn are merely "bonus points." Perhaps remembering his desperate struggle for points late last season, Graham said, "I have a different outlook on this whole thing now. The poims are important. Now I want lo try harder earlier in the year." Time trials In a recent interview, teve Eklund indicated that he was ready to put his recent racing troubles behind and mount a serious charge at another ational Championship in 19 4. Things gOt off lo a bad start for Eklund in Saturday's short track, where he tangled with two riders in his qualifying heat. scraping up his elbow in the process, and failed to qualify for the main. The qualifying session for the TT saw a different Eklund. "I felt real bad about it last night, but I woke up in the morning and said, 'Let's for/1;et about it and just lo go on out there." And that's just what the 1978 Astrodome double wi nner did, posting the quickest time trials lap at 30.032 seconds, looking very stylist while doing it. Graham was right there too, a few clicks of the stopwatch back at 30.055 seconds. Can-Am rider Pete Hames, a fast 18-year-old from California who surprised everyone but himself with a second-place finish in the short track opener, rounded out the lOp three qualifying times with a 30.217. Other notables in the top 10 were Scott Pearson, hack on the Camel Pro circuit after extensive knee surgery last year, and relative unknown Fran Brown, a Harley-Davidson rider from Kings Ferry, New York. Heats Relative unknown status notwithstanding, Brown blasted his way to the front in the first 10-lap, 12-rider heat race, leading two guys by the names of Eklund and Goss. After a few pushes and shoves, Goss cleared away from Eklund and concentrated on Brown. On the third lap Goss powered his Rotax-bred Harley single around Brown in the track's large sweeping turn to take over first place, but he couldn't quite shake the persistent up tart.' Then on lap even Go s lost his concentration and went down in the short sweeper after the jump and Brown found himself in the frontrunner's pot once again. Goss was up quickly, rejoining the race in eighth place. "It just tipped over," Goss would sheepishly explain later. In all the shuffling after Goss' fall, Brown was able to put some distance on Eklund' Lillie-framed Harley thumper, but it was apparent to the 20,000 fans in attendance that Eklund was making up the ground quickly. On the next-to-Iast lap Eklund flew off the jump alongside Brown, appropriated the better line through the following turn and had the win wrapped up. Brown was second and a teady Jeff Johnson put his Honda across the line in third place to take the last transfer to the main. Despite a· determined effort on Goss' I?art, he couldn't get back in the lOp three and would have to win one of the semifinals to transfer to the final. Scott Pearson's comeback attempt was stymied in heat race two when his chain broke on the warm-up lap. In a how of sportsmanship, HarleyDavidson team ter cott Parker braced his boot against Pearson' rear shock and gave him a high-speed pu h back lO the pit area, where Pearson's crew h urriedl y tried lO fix the problem before the time allotted for repairs ran out. Pearson scampered back to the grid before the race started but officials deemed that the time limit was up, and Pearson' nighl wa over. The other dra rna in the second heat race was provided by the over-anxiou clutch hands of Garth Brow, Ricky Graham and SCOtt Parker. All three riders jumped the start and were relegated to the penalty line. With his main competition 20 yards behind him, Terry Poovey had a relatively ea y time putting his Harley out (rant at the start. Duane Gerrard and Richard Arnaiz followed. Parker, Brow and Graham had already started to erase their stan debit and were up lO mid-pack. On the sixth lap former Team Honda rider Poovey had problem and slid down, letting Arnaiz into first and Gerrard into second. Graham and Parker had moved up to third and fourth. Poovey wa dropped to seventh. Arnaiz had an unlOuchable lead, but Gerrard came under pressure as Graham caught up with two laps to go. Graham got past the less-experienced rider, but instead of folding, Gerrard gathered himself up and passed Graham right back with a gutsy move in the tight left-hander before the start/finish straight. Graham followed going into the last lap, then sailed by Gerrard over the jump and went on to take second behind a very happy Arnaiz. Gerrard was third and Parker finished in fourth, one position out of a direct transfer. Mike Gilkey, aboard one of the few Yamahas entered in a field dominated by Hondas and Rotax·engined bikl!S of various description, rocketed away with the lead in heat race three, only lo have the holeshot negated when the race was red-flagged because of a crash that saw Rob Ely go down hard. Ely was taken to the hospital with a reported suspected concussion. The Can-Ams of Pete Hames and

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