Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ r--l-.. Q,) ..0 8 Q,) ;;;. Steve Morehead (42) moved to the inside of the groove to defend a last-tum effort to win the semi by Hank Scott (14). but Chandler closed in turn three, was on Boody's rear as the two exited turn four, and drafted pastlO win by two feet at the finish. Farris earned an easy ticket to the National in third. Cornwall edged Scou for fourth by two feel. It was the fastest of the four heats. The fourth heat also produced some superb racing with the six rider fight in in the opening laps dwindling to five when Pete Hames' engine blew on lap six. Springsteen, Tim Mertens, Tom Maitland, Terry Poovey and Ronnie Jones continued their close quarters battle. Then Maitlanddrilted high in tum one on lap seven, pushing Springsteen up imo the loose marbles and back to fourth. Poovey led lap eight with Maitland up front on lap nine. Springsteen moved from fourth to first between turns two and three with an outside dive bomber move. Springer held off Maitland's charge lO take the win with Poovey dropping Mertens from third to fourth and grabbing the last transfer to the National. Semis Two transfers from each semi to the National were up for grabs with Morehead and Hank Scott grabbing the first two. Scouled the majority of the laps in semi one, Morehead kept the pressure on and took the lead on lap eight, lost and regained it on lap nine, as the two started the final lap. Scott cut Morehead's advamage in the race to the checkered flag lO almost nothing, but Morehead, moving to the inside of the groove took away Scou's only hope of a place lO pass, and took the win. The second semi saw Cornwall come from a bad start lO slice his way through traffic and join the from· running riders on lap six. Cornwall moved to fourth on lap eight, then third on lap nine. On the final lap, Cornwall got the drive he needed off turn two and took the lead for good. Dan Ingram finished second. Last Chance Qualifier The figh't for the one position left in the National wem right to the fin· ish in the LCQ. Ronnie Jones ended Gary Scott's hopes of making the National by pulling off the win by two feet after the two had traded the lead - with Drake in the early laps -back and jorth. Junior National Harley-Davidson XR750 rider David Miller, with a go-for-broke last lap charge, lOpped the final round of theAMAJunior ational Championship. Miller nipped fellow Harley rider George Roeder In a battle whlch went right lO the finish. Brad Furlong; on a Wdoo-Rotax,'He1d on lO 0 Jay Springsteen (9, above) returned to racing forthefirsttime since May. He's shown in the main with Shobert and Graham. (Below) David Miller (720) took the Junior ~n over George Roeder (94F). Z his high-speed wobbler lO finish third in the 12-lap race. Conspicuously absent [rom the race were Chris Carr and Don Estep. Newly-crowned Junior National Champion Carr decided to skip the race and enter the Superbikers event. Estep'didn't make the final after mistaking the white flag for the checkered flag while leading his heal. National Parker and Graham led the 17rider field off the line and it was Gi'aham who was heading the highspeed freight train as they completed lap one. Pearson, Boody, Springsteen, Maitland, Parker - after an 0[[groove excursion - followed with the rest of the field behind. Boody led laps two and three with Graham taking the point back on lap four before giving it up on laps five and six. Behind the front two, positions changed at will with Springsteen and Pearson dueling it out as Shobert tried to find a way through traCCic. On lap seven, Graham retook the lead with Springsteen coming up lO put pressure on. Springsteen appeared lO be lacking in sheer horsepower, but was making up for it by riding as hard as possible. On lap eight, Eklund became the first retiree when "the rods came through the ca es with a big bang." By that time, Shobert had sl iced his way up to fourth with Pearson, Chandler and Parker tied on behind. Boody and Graham still shared the upper hand and the lead. Graham led laps nine and 10 as the seven-rider pack broke into separate four- and three-rider groups with Graham, Boody, Springsteen and Shobert in the lead assembly with Pearson, Chandler and Parker a slight distance behind. Shobert's first time in the lead came on lap 12 as he bumped Boody and Graham from their two-rider game. On the next tour, Ingram wem down in turn two, but was only shaken up. Graham was back in the lead with Springsteen on his rear wheel and Shobert and Boody in tow. Graham led laps 13 and 14 with Shobert back in from on laps 15 and 16. Springsteen got a strong drive through turns one and two to Lake the lead as the four headed onto the back stretch and just as quickly found himself fourth by turn three. Chandler had the upper hand in the Chandler/ Parker/Pearson battle for fifth while Scott, Farris and Morehead debated eighth. Cornwall led Maitland, Jones, Hook and Poovey in a back-of-lhepack fray for 11th. There was con tant change among the front four during laps 17 through 23 \vhile Parker and Chandler were doing most of the movement in the fifth-place battle as Pearson slipped slightly 0[[ the pace. The Farris/Seou/ Morehead duel became a two-rider fight on lap 18 when Morehead retired with a broken crank. Hook became the final rider to retire when his bike's enii,ne called it quits on lap 23. Graham led across the line to stan lap 24. In the area between turns one and two, Graham and Boody touched handlebars with Graham crashing. Suddenly, the complexion o[ the race changed from one of seeing i£ Graham could win Springfield for a [ifth Camel Pro lime, and win the Series title to a duel between Shobert and Boody with a win by hobert gi ving him the title. Shobert, in the lead after the Graham/Boody tangle, held the advantage as he took the white £lag and began the final lap. Boody was right on his rear wheel and followed him through turns one and two, down the back stretch and into turn three. "Both Bubba and I went into turn three really hard,': said Boody. "He slid a little high and I was able to run on the lower line and inch ahead. I knew I would have to be in a position to get enough of a lead 0[[ turn four to hold him off at the finish. I did, but it was close." Shobert closed the gap at the flag, but came up about two feet short. Springsteen was six bikelengths back in third. At that moment, Shobert didn't know if he had won the title or not. Graham, after getting back on his -bike, slowly motored around to the finish. He also wasn't sure if he had won or lost the title. The AMA scorers went inlO a huddle to Labulate the finish from their lap charts. The announcement that Graham's 13th-place finish, coupled with Shobert's second, gave Graham the crown was met with a mixed reaction of cheers and boos. Graham' frown, clouded by the pain of broken bone in his left hand, changed to a smile while Shobert's smile quickly disappeared. "I saw a whole year's work vanish before my eyes," said Graham. "I was so mad when Ted hit my handlebars and caused me to crash that I couldn't even think straighl. I knew I had LO finish, so that's what I did." "We were racing," said Boody of the accidenl. "Il wasn't intentional, it was just something that happened." . Boody's Honda was built by Rich Plueger and Larry Kano with Plueger looking after the chassi and suspension while Kano massaged the engine. Boody credits Doug Sears of the College Bike Shop in Lansing, Michigan, [or major help as well as Norm McDonald of K&N Engineering in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He receives additional help from Arai, Ca trol, Moto-X Fox, ND and Hi-Poinl. ''I'm glad it's over," said Graham. "It's been a long year." And then the party began. • Results 1. Ted Boody (Hon); 2. Bubba Shoberl(Hon~ 3. Jay Spring....n (H-D); 4. Scon Pa",.r (H·D); 5. Doug Chandl.r (Hon); 6. Hanlt Scon (H-D); 7. Rod F.rri. (H-D); 8. Scan Pearson (H·D); 9. T.rry Poowty (H·D); 10. Jon Cornwell (H·D); 11. Tom M.i1land (H·D); 12. Ronni. Jones (H·D); 13. Ricky Graham (Hon); 14. P.t.r Hook (H·D); 15. St Mor.h.ed (H·D); 16. Dan Ingram (H-D); 17. SI Eklund (H-D). TIME; 16:02.970. 12·LAP JR: 1. David Mill.r (H·D); 2. G.orge Roeder II (H·D); 3. Bred Furlong (W·R); 4. Duane Duvall (H·D); 5. Roberl Lewi. Jr. (H·D); 6. Greg Gatliff (H-D); 7. Don MV.r (H·D); 8. John Faulkner (C·A); 9. Tom Brown (H·D); 10. John P.",.r (H·D); 11. K.n Maynard (H·D); 12. Dan Knecht (H·D). TIME: 7 min., 39.987 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 93.915 mph. AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/ CAMEL PRO SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. RickV Graham (2B5); 2. Bubba Shoberl (284); 3. Randv Goss (225); 4.. SCOll Parker (220); 5. Doug Chandl.r (210); 6. T.d Boody (209); 7. AI•• Jor· g.nsen (151); 8. Ta"v Poov.V ('28); 9. Hank Scan (' 25); 10. Mik. Baldwin ("7): , 1. Steve Morehead (1'2); , 2. Scon Pearson (1 07); '3. Pete Hames (99); 14. Steve Eklund (91); , 5. Jim Filice (BO); 16. Richard Schlachter (78); 17. Randv Renfrow (76); '8. Garv SCOll (61); 19. Wes Coolev (58); 20. Jon Cornwell (54). JR NATIONAL SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS: ,. Chris Ca" (402); 2. Don Estep (233); 3. R~.r - Arlhur (179); 6. Dave Miller (' 57); 7. Chad Fellclo ('16); B_ Blad Furlong (94); 9. Georga Roed.r (83); 10. Jim Taves (66). 13'.. Thompson (198); 4. Duane Duvall (195); 5. M~I~s

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