Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Doug Chandler placed third after lowering air pressure in his rear tire before the restart. tonight," said Graham. Junior National The key to Roger Thompson's victory in the Junior National was a fiveminute conversation with Harley's Clyde Denzer prior to time trials. "I couldn't seem to find the right gearing combination for the track so I went to Mr. Denzer for some help," said Thompson after his win. "He ~old me what would be the best gear109, I changed to the combination be suggested and didn't change the rest of the night." Thompson was in full command for the 12-lap National while positions shuffled behind him. Don Estep, Robert Lewis, Chris Carr and George Roeder swapped second among them~Ives. Estep took command on lap five, but he and Carr got together in turn three on lap eight as Carr challenged and Estep went down and out of .the race. Carr took over second with Roeder and Lewis following. The positions remained the same to the £lag. "I was trying so hard to concentrate on the final lap," said Thompson, who also won the Sacramento Mile Junior National earlier this season "hat I stuck my left foot in a hole ' t ripped off my skid shoe and jammed my toes. I wasn't going to ride the line I did until I saw Jon Cornwell beat Ricky Graham in their semi." Mike Mickbee of Santa Monica California, owns and tuned the Harley: Davidson XR750 Califorrtian Thompson rides. His sponsors include his father, Jim, Bartell's H-D of Culver City, KRW, Corona Raceway and Riverside, Motorcycle Center and Salvage. "Don (Estep) and I were having a good battle for second," said secondplace finisher Carr. "We got together and his handlebar caught my arm and he went down. It wasn't anyone's faull." The posl-race inspection of the bikes by AMA o££icials revealed Roeder had raced with a rear tire which was not on the list of manufacturer-approved tires submitted to the AMA. Although it was argued the mistake was unintentional, Roeder was disqualified. Third place went to Lewis and all other riders behind him moved up one spot in the finishing order. National . "The key to winning is trying to figure out where the traction is," said Goss before the National. "You've got dry and slick spots combined with wet; greasy 'SpotS', Httle bumps, big bumps and ruts. Weaving your way through everything and still cutting a good lap on every lap won't be easy." "You can pass on this track so moving up through traffic isn't so hard," said Jones, "and we shouldn't have a follow-the-Ieader race. The problem is that it's easier to work your way backward than forward. you can I.~everythingyou'vegained Just ~y hnung a slick spot and losing tracuon." Morehead scanned the ground on the front line of the grid inch by inch, selecting a spot in the middle "right on a nice tacky spot." From the grandstand the order read Boody, Jorgensen, Goss, Morehead, Chandler and Shobert on the front row of the 6-6-3 grid. Pearson went on the two minute clock for a plug change after the warm-up lap. On the start, it was Morehead jetting away followed by Parker, Goss, Shobert, Pearson, ScOtt, Chandler and the rest of the field spread six to eight deep in the turns. Shobert bumped Goss to fourth for laps two and three with Goss ahead of Shobert on lap four. Morehead was inching away from Parker in second. Goss found plenty of traction on the fifth lap and moved into second over Parker, Shobert, Boody and Chandler. Pearson, Jorgensen and Hames followed. While the top six were all over the track looking for the line to mount a successful challenge, Hames was slowly working his way to seventh over Jorgensen and Pearson by lap eight. The halfway £lags saw Morehead still out 'in front, but Goss and the rest df the field were narrowing the advantage. "The rear brake began'dragging at about the halfway point," Morehead said afterward. "At first I could keep the bike heading straight in the turns, but then it began to drag so bad the bike would get sideways in the middle of the turns - the spot where you want to be On the gas because that's where all the traction was. I think if I could've kept it going straight I would've been able to hold the lead to the finish. With the bike going sideways, I lost all my drive." Shobert made his move on Goss on hip 11 for second, then closed on Morehead and took the lead on lap 13 exiting the second turn. One lap later, Goss bumped Morehead to third. At the same time, Cornwell went down hard in the area between turns one/two and lay on the track in obvious pain. The race was red£lagged. Cor·nwell, after·examination R~ndy G~ss s,peaks to.the crowd while Bubba Shobert and Doug Chandler enJoy their winner's Circle finery. by t~e med~cal .crew, was up and walking whIle hiS crew straightened the bent handlebars on his bike repaired minor damage and headed for the starting line_ Meanwhile, Pearson was having his rear tire changed. "I don't like to see the red flag come out," said Pearson, "but my rear tire was going flat and it allowed me to get a fresh tire and finish the race." Another rider who benefitted by the stopping of the race was Chandler. "I had too much air in my rear tire when I started the National," said Chandler, "and I wasn't getting the traction I needed. When they stopped the race, I got Jerry (Griffith, his tuner) to drop the pressure down a bit and it really helped." Shobert held the front position on the single-file restart with 14 riders behind him. Shobert sped away on the turn of the green starting light and never looked back. Goss and Chandler traded second on laps 15 through 17 with Goss getting the upper hand for the final three laps. Hames held fourth on the restart with Jorgensen, Parker and Boody following. On the final lap, Parker dropped Hames to fifth while Boody moved around Jorgensen for sixth at the £lag. Jorgensen, Pearson and Crabbe followed with Morehead, unable to repair his brake problem in the time before the restart, holding on to finish 10th. "I was a bit worried about having to restart the race," said Shobert, "but my bike was working so well I could ride almost anywhere on the track and gain ground. Steve's problems gave me and the rest of the field the chance to catch up to him. I hated to see it happen because Steve was riding a very good race, but I'll take my first National win on a half mile." Shobert declined to talk about the appeal of his suspension other than tosay hejust wanted to go racing and let t~e other things "sort themselves out. . l .. ~ J. l •. ~ J 'I l,.. • :) :lo • ,. , Scott Parker recovered from this practice crash to place fourth. "The restart didn't help me at all," said Goss. "Bubba was gone. He had the track dialed in really well. For 10 laps I thought I could beat him (Shobert), but then he got stronger in the fmal laps and I couldn't pick up my pace." "I had a really good time in the final laps," said Chandler. "Randy is a good rider to race that close with because you know he won't make any radical moves so you can run wheelto-wheel without any worry." • Results 2Q-LAP NATIONAl·, 1. Bubba Shobert (Hon); 2. R.ndy Goal (H-D); 3. Doug Ch.ndler (Hon); 4. Scott P.rter (H-D); 5. Pate Ham.. (H-D); 6. Tad Boody (H-D); 7. Ale. Jorgensen (H-D); B. Scott Pe.....n (H-D); 9. Rob Cr.bbe (H-D); 10. St.... Morehe.d (H-D); 1L Steve Eklund (H-O); 12. G.ry Scott (H-D); 13. Ronn.. Jones (H-D); 14. Jim Filice (H-D); 15. Jon Cornwell (H-D). TIME: No lime due 10 restart. ·Unoffici.1 pending _ I . 12-LAP JUNIOR NATIONAL: 1. Roger Thompson (H-D); 2. Chril can (W/R); 3. Robart lewil (Rtx); 4. Rob Brawn (H·D); 5. Stephen Duff (H·D); 6. Dominic Mich.ud (C-A); 7. Wiley Duval (H-D~ 8. Don Myers (H-D); 9. Tod C.rson (H-D); 10. Anthony Gr.dy (HD); 11. Don Estep (W/Rl. AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/ CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS', 1. Randy GOII (138); 2. Ricky Greh.m (131); 3. Scott Perker (122); 4. 8ubba Shobert (109); 5. Doug Chendler (105); 6. Ted Boody (1041; 7. Ale. Jorgensen (71 ); B. Terry Pooll8y(60); 9. Ste.e Moreheed(58); 10. Pele H.mel (54); 11. Jimmy Filice (45); 12. (TIE) Mike Beldwin/Scott Pe.rlon (44); 14. J.y Springsteen (39); 15. St..e Eklund (3B); 15. G.ry Scott (33); 17. W.. Cooley (27); 1B. (TIE) Doug Br.uneck/Ronnie Jones (26); 20. (TIE) Garth 8row/Hank Scott (24). ·Unoffici.1 pending _ I . JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Chris carr (169); 2. Don Eltop (127); 3. (TIE) Duane Du.elllRogerThompson (1 01); 5. Mich.el Arth ur (67); 6. Chad Felicio (551; 7. David Miller (54); 8. Randy Bird (52); 9. Jim Taves (42); 10. Robert ~penneM.(~).j,' t I I t , I t J I J I I

• Cover