Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126807
f-j B ~ l.!") 00 0") (Above) Alex Jorgensen leads a Shobert/Eklund/Poovey battle for third. (Below) Shobert lead~ Garth Brow and Randy Green in the first heat race. 12 were goi ng a t it ea rly in h ea t' four as j or gen sen was mak!ng th e o u tsi ~e line up in the cush io n work to hi s ben efit. From a seven th- p lace start , j orgen sen was fou rt h by h alfway beh ind leader Goss, Sco tt a nd H ook . Two laps la ter j orgen sen was houn din g leader C oss while Sco tt h eld o ff H ook u nti l H oo k slid do wn a nd ou t o f co n ten tio n . Midwa y th ro ug h la p ei g ht. j orgen sen too k the lead fro m Coss a nd h eld it 10 the finish . Th e fift h h ea t was un insp ired wi th Poovey immediately gai ning an advantage o n the start and j im m y Fil ice tak in g adva n tage of a d ue l by Kei th Da y. Sa m my Swee t a nd Mickey Fa y to open a safe cushion in seco nd. Winner Poov ey led Filice to the finish . H eat six sa w th e race go righ t to th e fini sh . j o n Cornwell , on th e Deeley H arl ey-Davidson, took th e lead on th e start , bu t was immed iat ely cha llenged by Fran Brown. On lap fo ur , Brown too k th e poiIII and Rich Arn ai z bu mped Co rn well to third. T h e sixth lap sa w Co rn well and Arnaiz bump co m ing o ff turn four - much in th e sa me fashi on o f the Boody/Carr heat two probl em - with Arna iz goin g down , H o wever , AMA o fficia ls deemed th e accid ent was not in tention al. Co rnwell pressured Bro wn on la p eig h t and n ine as Brow n took h is Stevens Racing Ca n- Am up h igh with Cornwell low. Bro wn cam e down to the low lin e on the fina l la p to win over Co rn well. Semis Don Estep became th e on ly rookie Expe rt in th e IS-rider field for the Na tion a l with a Ila g-ro-Il ag win in the first semi o ver a co n sta n tly ch a llen gin g Sp ri ngs teen. Estep rode a nom ista kes race on hi s Steel Ma sterssponsored Wood -R o rax , fru strat ing Springsteen , w ho kep t th e pressu re on througho ut. O nl y th e wi n ner wen t to th e National so Sp ri ngs teen was Last Chance Qua lifi er-boun d. T he seco nd sem i wa s a lso a followth e-leader race with Sa rnrnv Sweet spendi ng a ll 10 la ps o u t fron't o n h is Pyra mi d Builders-spo nsored H arl ey. j eff johnson. Mick ey Fay and Chad Felicio kep t Sweet hones t. last Chance Q ua lif ier Ti m Merten s gamb led wit h rear tire cho ice in the LCQ by usi ng wh a t he wou ld run on a ha lf m ile a nd m ile in stead o f the na rro wer widt h P irelli nea rl y everyo ne else was ru n n in g . Th e gam ble paid off a nd Mert en s took th e lead from Sp rin gs teen on la p six a nd won . Junior National Championship Winki e Freit as, th e clas s o f th e juni or field in th eTT Nat ion al with top tim e in quali fyin g , fast h eat wi n and a runaway victory in the Nat iona l co mp leted h is to ta l domination wi th th e sa me swee p in th e sh ort track Na tional. Freit as jo in s Chris Carr a nd Bu bba Sh obert as th e o n ly junio rs to put tog ether back-to-bark win s in the Astrodome. Freitas led th e 12-lap Na tional from th e turn of th e gree n sta rti ng light with Mearl Barn ett , h eat two ra ce Jay Springsteen (9) retumed to racing, but failed to make the main event. Here, he chases TIm Mertens in the Last Chance Qualifier. . w inner Rusty Rogers, Brad Furlong , Curtis Ca n non a n d Keith C rego ire close behi nd . Freitas quickl y .began p u tt ing br eath in g room o n the fiel d wi th Roger s - as h e had done the n ight before - striki n g trou ble ea rl y and bobbli ng h is way back to sixth . Barnett a nd Can non hook ed u p in a d uel for seco nd wi th a similar ba ttl e for fourth between Gregoi re go ing o n. Furlong h eld fifth . Freitas never loo ked back o n hi s wa y to a seco nd eas y wi n. Cannon broke free for second in th e fin a l laps with Barnett barely edging Gregoire for third after Rogers crashed o u t of co n ten tio n on th e fin al la p . " I wasn 't su re if I co u ld m ak e it two win s in a row ," said Freit as, " bu t every thi ng went pe rfect." Tuner and sponsor Dave Bird was ac kno w ledged by Freit a s. National C oss a n d j orgen sen h ad been in tent ly wat ching a ll th e races sin ce thei r hea t. " I saw wh at ti re an d line Merte ns rode in th e Last Cha nce Qualifier and decided th a t co m bination mi gh t just be th e o ne to go with ," sai d C oss. '" kno w' won 't be able to ride down low." sa id j orgen sen as he worked o n hi s bike. " It 's too slip pe ry for th e wa y I' m set lip so I h op e th ere's eno ugh cu sh io n up to p to run and win o n. " j orgen sen wen t right lip top on th e start wh ile most o f th e field decid ed to stay lo w. Eklu nd . Shobert a nd Poo vey imm ed iately hoo ked toget her a nd -were q u ick ly joined by Gos s, Fil ice, H ames, Estep , Co rn well a nd La nce j on es. By lap five, it a p pea red j orgen sen a nd Ekl und were p u ll ing a way from th e battles behi nd th em . Poo vey was havi ng h is' hands full wi th pr essure fro m Coss and lost third o n lap seven. Coss th en set hi s sights o n Ek lu nd a nd worked hi s m id -track line to pe rfectio n , moving close r a nd closer until he too k seco nd from Eklu nd on la p n in e a nd then bega n to move o n j orge nsen . T here was p len ty of sh u fflin g go ing on mid-pack as Mertens, Parker, Co rnwell a n d Pearson were o n th e mo ve whi le Sh obert , Fi li ce a n d Est ep slip ped backward . j orgen sen a nd C oss trad ed th e lead four 'o r five ti mes between la ps 12 and 13, with G oss getting the upper h a nd for good as th ey starte d lap 14. j orge n sen held seco n d a distan ce ahead of the co n fro nt a tio ns behind him . T he two wo uld rem a in 1-2 to the finish. H ow ever, C o ss wa s not totally sure he was in co mplete co m ma nd and u nch aracteristi ca lly , looked over h is shou lder a few times to chec k on, what wa s going on behind h im . " I don't normall y chec k behind me ," sai d C oss, " bu t you ca n ' t a lways hear a ride r co mi ng up o n yo u o n yo u r righ t side a nd I di dn ' t want a nyone to sneak up o n me . I a lso needed a ga u ge on wh ere j o rgy was to keep m y pace an d rh ythm going." In th e closing la ps, Eklund a nd Poovey moved in on jorge nse n while Mertens a nd Pearso n , in th eir o wn duel , closed the ga p o n th e fro ntrunner s. Ha mes had Par ker for close company while Co rnwell held ninth. Lap 23 saw Parker. drop H a mes to seven th an d POOV continue his ey nearly race-long battie with Eklu nd. On th e final la p, Poovey sta yed ri ght o n Eklund's rear tire. Eklund m ay have go tte n in to turns three/four a bit too fa st as h e slipped just a bit. but it was eno u gh for Poovey to scoot in sid e and past at the finsh lin e for third by less than a bik elength. " It feels good to win , but it still doesn 't make up for th e di sappointment in the National where I got cras hed o u t before even ge tt ing to th e fir st turn in th e heat ," said Goss. "I was read y to do wh at ever j orgens en d id o n th e track un til I wa tch ed Merten s in th e Last C ha nce Qua lifier. The tire choice was the key, b ut it was still a big ga mble. 'The o n ly problem' had was hitt in g a ru t in turn th ree two or three times a nd ge tti ng a bi t ou t of sha pe. Yo u co u ldn't sec it a nd it su rprised me each time. I thi n k thi s wi n will g ive T ea m Goss / Chand ler a big mora le boost as well as getti ng the ball ro lli ng." Pion eer T ruc k Lines' jorgensen, who wou ld rather let h is th rottle h and a nd style o n th e track mak e a sta teme n t for him , said, " Mavbe I was wrong to stay up h igh o n th e track, but th a t's wh ere ' felt co m fort a ble an d th a t's wh ere I co u ld make my bik e wo rk." " It wa s a to ugh race," sa id Poovey. " Steve (Eklu nd) a nd ' had a rea lly good figh t goin g o n a nd unl ess h e madea bobble ' wasn ' t sure if I wou ld be able 10 get a ro un d him. H e opened th e doo r fo r me j us t before the fini sh line a nd I wasn 't abo ut 1 wa it for 0 him to cl ose it. I mad e th e Nati onal s bo th n ights and that's a prett y g ood wa y to sta rt th e season. " • Results 25 ·LAP NATIONAL: 1. Randy Goss (Han); 2. Alex Jorgensen (W ·R); 3. Terry Poovey (H-D); 4 . Steve Eklu nd (W-R); 5. Tim Mertens (Han); 6. Scon Pearson (Han ); 7. Scan Parker (H·D); B. Pete Hames (H· D); 9. Jon Cornwell (H·D); 10. Don Estep (W-R); 11. Bubba Shobe rt (Han); 12. J im Filice (H- D); 13 . Sammy Sweet (H-D); 14 . Fran Brown (C-A); 15 . Lance Jones (H - O). Time: 6 min.. 19 .159 sees. l 2· LA P JUNIOR NATIONAL : 1. Wink ie Freitas (W- RI; 2. Cun is Cannon (Yam); 3 . Me arl Barnen (Han); 4 . Keith Gregoir e (Han); 5. Brad Furl ong (CA ): 6. Aaro n Hill tW- R); 7. Les Washbon (W- R); B. Rendy Hunt (Han); 9. Phil Vigneri {CoAl; 10. Frank Garcia (Ho n~ 11. Robert Lew is (W- R ~ 12. Rusty Rogers (H· D). Time: 3 min.. 4.640 sees.