Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Brian Atherton, on the Ro n Wood· prepared Wood- Rotax , had been moving up from a mid-pack start, H e passed Hill for third , then grabbed seco nd away from Harrell near th e halfway point. A lap later, Hill al so passed Harrell to make th e top three po sitions Freitas, Atherton a nd Hill - th ey ran in th at order from la p eig h t to th e flag , givin g Freitas hi s th ird win in as many National events thi s year o n th e Kni gh t R acing Fra m es/Da ve Bird S pecia lt ies /S hoei Helm ets-sponsor ed H onda . Final Scott Pa rker (1 1) left Ascot still lea di ng the Camel Pro Series points. (Below) Shobert on his victory lap, a ll smiles. Goss also passed Ca mpbell. Wh ich mea nt former cha m pion G oss' o nly way into the fin al was through th e Las t Cha nce Qual ifier. Last Chance Qualifier Goss led every lap o f the Last C ha nc e Qu al ifier , ch a lle nged by Bood y but not passed . Sweet a nd Campbell finish ed th ird a nd fou rth , a head of Hoffma n and Fel icia . Junior National 8 / Two h eat races narro wed the: 24rid er field of juniors to a 12-ma n ma in even t. Ro tax rid er Ri ck Albee ~v~~ ~t?P~~~~.I~~i ~~ a ~ 4?/!3!J~s.ef?~~~ ' .. ~ bu t h ad to sett le fo r seco nd behi nd Donn ie H arrell in th e fi rst heat race. Winner o f both even ts a t th e H ouston "IT/ sh ort track season opener, Win kie Freitas led th e seco nd hea t to the chec kered flag ; C ha m p io n Racing F ra mes- bac ke d Aar on Hill wa s second . Albee go t th e h ol esh ot a t th e sta rt o f th e ma in event, followed by H ar rell and Freita s. Two laps into the 12-lap race, Freita s took over seco nd p la ce a nd Al bee crashed in th e turn fo ur port io n o f th e ova l, g ivi ng Freitas th e lead. Freitas set a bl istering pa ce, a n d had a 15-second lead by the en d o f the event. . . : ~ . ~ T he fi na l sta rt ed as had th e first heat , Sho bert leading o ut from. chased by j orgen sen , Ch andl er, Eklund, Pearso n, Da y a nd H ames. By th e en d of th e infield Sh obert had pulled so me d istan ce, a nd it look ed like ma ybe he'd just pull a way a n d win. j orge nse n bobbled in th e right-h ander a fter th e "IT jump , went slig h tly o ff co urse a nd d ropped back . Entering th e second la p j or gen sen wa s fourth beh ind th ird place Pear son and second pl ace Chandler; Eklund a nd H a mes were fifth a nd si xth , a nd Sh obert had an a lmost three-second lead . Would thi s race be a mirro r o f 1984's, Sh obert a nd Chand ler running 1-2 most o f th e way? No . j o rgensen passed Pearson, drafted past Ch andler on th e stra ig h t, set hi s sig h ts o n Sho bert, now three fu ll seco nds ahead. Lap four. Shobert by two seconds . Lap five. Shobert by a littl e less th an two seco nds . j o rgen sen a lo ne in seco n d, gai ning. C ha n d ler a lo ne in th ird. just beh ind, a mass of men a nd bikes, H ames, Pearson, Eklund. Parker , Green a nd Day. Eklu nd passes Pearso n. jorgense n gai ns on Shobert. jorgense n is gaini ng, bit by bit , over fou r seconds a head o f Chandler; H a mes is h imsel f p u lling up, tryin g to catch Chandler; now it 's Eklu nd alone, in fift h, Pearson tr yin g to hold off Par ker and Green. Sh ob ert 's lead is o ne single seco nd . T he ni nth la p . j org en sen puts to gether a n a weso me drive off th e last turn an d is pas t Sho be rt o n th e stra ig h t, leading. Day has cras hed a nd restarted just a hea d o f th e leading pai r. La p II. Lap 12. Now j orgen sen is dra wing away from Shobert , bit s-ofa -seco nd here, bi ts-o f-a- second th ere. Both lead ers lap Day; j orgen sen has o n e seco n d o n Sho bert; tw o seco nds ; two plus. Cha nd ler holds o ff H am es , th en Ii n a ll v br eaks fr ee; H ames is we ll a he~d o f Ek l u n d ; behind, Pearso n a nd Parker and H al e and Goss race, Carr just behind. It 's th e 17th la p of 25 , a nd j orgensen has th ree seco n ds o n Shobert. Cha ndl er is a no ther seven seco nds be hi nd Shobert . T he race seems run . And the n Shobert is taking a run a t jorgense n, no ticeabl y ga in ing, run ni ng it in deeper , hard er , fa ster into th e half m ile tra ck 's fir st tu rn , pi cking it up h ere a nd th ere. T he ga p is two seco nds . By th e 20th lap it 's o ne secon d. By th e 21st lap Shobe rt is o n j or gensen , tr ying to stick in a wh eel before th e jump, almost running into th e back of j orgen sen 's bik e in th e esses o n th e next lap. Sh obert drives u p underneath entering turn o ne but does n' t get by. H e loses grou n d a t th e in field ex it, a nd th e race is su rely lost. Last lap. No wa y ca n Sh ob ert get j orgen sen. H e doesn't gain i n the infi eld , drives o u t o n to th e last half m ile turn too far .behind . And th en Shobert's crossi ng th e lin e, sta ndi ng o n th e pegs, waving his fis t, ju bila nt. Cha ndler is seco nd , H a m es third, Ek lu nd fo urt h . First Fay went ou t, wi th a broken bike, then Ca rr's Wood -R o tax broke its chai n; Poo vey was well back. hi s . ~ ~-~ ~ . Honda smoking. " He got into a slide, " said Shobert, breath less as h e pu lled o ff his he lmet. " He was co m in g across m y front wheel so I went high a nd he went down low where he hadn't been running all night a nd slid down. It's sli ck down th ere." Shobert ro ok hi s pl ace o n the w i n ne r 's s ta n d , a fl ow er garland a ro u nd hi s neck . Ov er in th e shadows o f th e pits, j orgen sen sa t on a n ice ches t, wiping hi s face with a towel. A cro wd swirle d around Sh obert and hi s p its a nd th e winner 's stand, Sh o bert th anked hi s spo nsors, named Bell a nd Fox a nd Honda a nd hi s mech an ics. " I fell o ff th e pace for a while. I th ought h e wa s gain ' too fast a n d I wouldn't be able 10 ca tch him, " Sh ob ert told th e cro wd th rough th e loudspeak ers. "T hen about eigh t laps to the end I sa w h im sta rt to make mi stakes, th ought ma ybe h e wa s gettin ' tired . I th ought it wa s ti me to go for it , a nd I ca ugh t up to him. I went high a n d h e went lo w where we weren't running all ni ght, an d it's slick down th ere. H e lost his fro nt wh eel. It's not th e way I wanted 10 win it but I' Il take it a n y wa y I ca n ge t it. " I' ve been riding th e la st few week s with Kenn y Roberts," Shobert co ntinued , "and he taught me a lot." " I screwed up ," jorgen sen sa id, subdued in th e pits. " I cha nged my line to tr y to hold Bubba o ff - ran in a pl ace I didn 't ride a ll ni ght , hit a slick spot." j orgen sen had sponsors to th ank too , but not o ver th e loudspeak er s - Pi oneer Trucking, H iPoint, Storz, Works Performance. But pe rha ps th e most amazing sto ry of th e ni ght wa s th e o ne told by Pete H ames, 20, a vic tim of a hereditary form o f art hritis tha t ca uses h is jo ints to swe ll up a nd in fla me pe riodica lly. H ames came off six weeks in th e h ospital p ri or to H o u ston, rode h u rting, h ad a fla re-u p th at d ied down before th e Da yton a dirt tra ck races , a nd has been su bsta ntia lly health y since . The da y before th e Asco t 'TT he wa s sti ff, h e sai d, but he wa s fine on race nigh t; h is bi ggest surprise was fin ishing third in th e race . '" just conce n tra ted o n keepin g up with Doug a nd even tu a ll y pu lled a way (fro m th e guys behind )," Hames sa id . " I kept ta lking to m yself. telling myself " ai n't tired ,' to keep up th e pace." H ames th anked h is sponsor, Roger Gri swold; mech an ic Ben Board ; progra m spo n sors Ralph Ketchie, Cla ude Ball a nd Porter 1\1 uffl er; he rod e a 560cc Rotax/ H arl ey-Davidson with a Kni ght chassis and H ar ry Lill ie engi ne . Eklu nd was fourth, h is 660 coa ted w ith o il from a n un -n amed leak ; j ones was fifth , Parker si xth , a hea d of j orgen sen , C oss, Arnaiz and a detuned Pear son, wh o had problems with h is o ften -inj ured righ t knee . - Results 25 ·LAP FINAL: 1. Bubba shoben (Han); 2. Doug Chandler (Hon); 3. Pete Hames (H· D); 4 . Steve Eklund (W -R); 5 . Ronn ie Jones (Hon); 6. Scott Parker (H-DI; 7. A le. Jorgensen (W -RI; B_ Randy Goss (Han); 9. Rich Arna iz (H-O); 10. Scon Pearson (Ha n); 1 1. Terry Poovey (H- D); 12. Gary Scan (Hon l; 13 . Randy Green (Han ); 14 . Rick King (Honl; 15. Keilh Day (Han); 16 . Ch ri s Carr (W -R); 17. Mickey Fay (Honl . Time: 18 min .• 30.80 sees . CAM EL PRO SERIES POINT STA NDINGS; 1. Scan Porker (371 2. Steve Eklund (35); 3 . Ale. Jar · ; gensen (321; 4. Bubba Shobert (31); 5. Scott Pear ; son (3D); 6. Rondy Goss (271; 7. Doug Chan dler(261 B. Terry Poovey (22); 9. Ronn ie Jones (211; 10. (TIE) Pete Hames/Freddie Spenc er (20) : 12. M ike Bald win (16~; 13 . Tim M erten s (12); 14 . Randy Renfrow (111; 15 . Rich Schlachter (10); 16 . M ickey Fay (9); 17. J eff Haney (BI; l B. W es Coo ley (7); 19 . (TIE) Rich Arnai z/Dou g Br auneck/ Chr is Carr /Jon Corn well (61 . 12· LAP JUNIOR NATIONAL: 1. Wi nkie Freita s (Han) ; 2. Brian Atherto n (W -R); 3. Aaron Hill (Vaml; 4 . Do n Harrell (Han ); 5. Randy Roose (H-D); 6. Frank GarciaJr. (Han ); 7. TerryWa hl (H- D); 8 . MartyZirbel (Tr i ); 9 . Tim St ul t s (Ha n); 10 . Har old Ragg io. Jr. (Rot); 11 . Rick Albee (Rot); 12 . Curtis Cannon (Yam). Tim e: 9 m in .• 18 .131 sees . JUNIOR NA TIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. W inkie Freita s (60); 2. Bria nAther; t on (2 9); 3 . Curtis Cann on 1281 4 . Keith Gregoir e (27); 5 _(TIE) Frank Garcia /Aaron Hill (26); 7 . Randy Roose (2 31 8. Rusl y Rogers (14); 9. Tim St ults (1 3); ; 10 . Don Har rell (1 1). .. /" ~ . '. .. .

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