Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

>~ ::;E t. 8 Last lap, last corner. Shobert (67) and Parker (11) wide, Chandler (1 0) set up for an inside drive past to the line - until he lost his chain. was J orgy o ut front wh en th e fla g dropped. Springsteen had to settle for second. and Goss also transferred to, th e main with his th ird-place fin ish over Hames. Finishing fifth in the fourth heat was road racer Wayne Rainey. He was riding a Mert Lawwill Harley fined with Simons upside-down forks and an Ohlins twin-shock set-up out back. They didn't have time to get th e bike properly dialed-in before th e San Jose race. and ended up going to conventional forks before th e hea t to h elp cure a terrible wobbl in g problem . The mechan ics th ought th ey could ge t th e forks to work in th e relatively-short pract ice sessio n. but ran o u t of damping adjustment. S e m is Chandler put h is Freddie Spencer/ SuperTrapp Ra cin g Honda in to the lead of th e first semi before th e end of lap o ne. as Ronn ie and La nce J o nes f il ed in seco n d a n d t hird . Chandl er led eac h la p o f th e IO-I ap race. as Ron ni e a nd La nce Jo nes handed seco nd back and forth . Ro n ni e J ones held th e las t transfer spot a t th e beginn in g of lap 10. then La nce J ones ro de his Harley into seco nd goi ng into turn th ree. and had Ronn ie co vered by a bik elength, bu t sud denl y ra ised h is hand an d slo wed j us t yards from th e flag. a nd Ronnie J ones sped by to ea rn a berth in th e main . Rainey go t th e hol eshot in th e seco nd semi . Th en Pearson. on th e B&M Muffl er/J&R Machine H onda. to ok over the lead before th e lap wa s o ver. Hames a nd Ca rr th en passed Rainey and a ll three closed o n Pea rso n. At th e halfway p oint. Pearson was still leading, with Hames a close seco nd . Ra in ey third and Carr-fo urth. Hames began to pressure Pea rson. so me times taking the lead going into th e turns. But. as he took th e wh ite flag . Hames ' bike began to cu t o u t. th en it finally lost power in th e front cylinder on th e back stretch wh en so me th in g bounced up and smashed th e spark plug gap shut. As H ames slo wed . Carr drove by to take seco nd to Pearson; Rainey wa s third. H ames was credited wi th ninth. a nd his day was over. La st C h ance Q ualifier Don Howard got th e hol esh ot in th e LCQ. wi th Lance Jones h ot o n h is heels. T he two traded th e posi tion nearly every lap. but it was Howard holding th e upper hand most o f th e time. Howa rd took th e 17th spot in the National wh en he took th e checkered flag a bikelength ahead o f Jones. Tim Mert en s. wh o wa s riding hi s o ld H arl ey since blowing up th e new Honda a t a recent local half m ile, finish ed third. Junior N ational Brian Atherton easi ly won th e first six -lap heat race over Adam Sabedra and Wood -Rot ax rider Ti m Skov . Heal lW saw nu mber two qual ifier, O Dave Bird Specia lt ies/ Kn ig ht Racing Frames/ Blendza ll/ Arai / H i-Poi nt Honda rider Winkie Freit a s tak e co m mand. with Ted Ta ylor (R tx) right behind. After a three-lap duel . Freitas began to pull away . a nd took th e chec kered flag first. Taylor hung on for second. with Champion Frames/ Shoei /Hi- Point / Daeco z Matco Tools / N D/Castrol -backed Aaron Hill. on a restricted Harley XR750. third. Freitas was first off the line in the main event. with T aylor second and Atherton third. The leading duo began to pull away in a repeat of th eir heat-race duel. But. in about three laps. Ta ylor beg an to fade back a n d Atherton closed th e ga p. Once Ath erton ca ug h t T aylor. it took him a co u p le laps to get by. th en th e rest of th e l2-lap event was spe nt slo wly reeling-in Frei tas. Finall y. Ath erton was abo u t eig h t bikelen gth s behind as th ey went o n to th e back stretch for th e fin al tour arou nd th e o ne-m ile oval. By . th e time th ey reach ed turn three, Athert on wa s even with Freita s. a nd h e cla im ed th e lead befo re the v reached turn fou r. Ath ert on rod e o n io tak e hi s seco nd win in less th an 24 hours. with Freita s seco nd a nd Tay lo r a di stance back in third , Final Boody go t th e hol esh ot in th e 25lap main event. but J orgen sen (H iPoinr/Storz/Pioneer T ruc king) had th e lead wh en th ey crosse d th e sta rr/ fin ish line for th e first time. Bood y trailed in second. followed by a right pack consisting of Springsteen . Filice a nd Hank SCOll. Shobert go t orr to a midpack start. a nd was running a bo u t eig h th . On th e fourth lap, Sh obert ca ug h t up 10 th e leading bunch. J orge nsen still held th e lead . Boody wa s seco n d. Springsteen third a nd Shobert fourth . Filice was runn ing fifth . but o n ly a few bikelen gths short o f th e front . On th e fifth lap. Fil ice drove by Shobert a nd Sp ri nger wh ose Harley wa s wobbl ing visib ly on the straights - on th e backstretch to take over third. Filice moved into second on lap six. th en passed Jorgensen for th e lead o n lap eig h t. A half-lap later. Springsteen went on th e outside of Filice going in to turn three, and Jorgens en o p ted for th e inside line. Wh en th e passing was done. Jorgensen aga in ca me out in front. Springsteen was seco nd and Filice third. The lead co nt in ued to cha nge. with Filice taking th e lead back go ing in to turn one. The positions were Fil ice in fr ont . followed by J org en sen . Springer , th en Boody a nd Shobert . Boody again took a lum a t leading, th en a t th e co m p letio n o f lap 10. J orge nse n took over o ne more time. Filice ran seco nd, a hea d o f Spring steen , Bood y and Shobert. T wo laps lat er . at the m idw a y point, J or gen sen was sti ll in the fro nt o f a five-way ba ili e for th e lead. Bood y was next in line, the n Filice, Shobert a nd Parker. On th e start of la p 15, Shobert was (Conti n ued to pag« 10) Boody (1 2 ) got int o the short track final the hard way. Here he leads Eklund (B) and Howard in the Last Chance Qualifier. Shortfrack . (Continued from page 6) Johnson finished second ahead of Ada m Sabeda; Anthony Holdsclaw was fourth. Atherton got the holeshot in the l2-lap. l2-rider main event. McDowell got off th e line second. followed by Hill . Freitas and Bruce Johnson (H -D). On the third lap. Hill passed McDonnell o n the in sid e going into turn one. Four laps lat er . Dave Bird Specialties/Knight Racing Frames/ Arai /Blendza'l /Hi-Point-sponsored Freitas a lso put a mov e on McDowell th en passed H ill. But Ath erton had a good lead and wa sn 't slowing down. At the chec kered Ilag, it was Atherton. Fritas, Hill and Johnson. McDow ell h eld o n for fifth. '" wanted 10 ge t the hol esh ot, ge t out th ere. a nd ride m y ow n race." sai d Ron Wood Pr oducts/ H i-Poim / S h oe i-ba cked Ath erton , after th e main. Final Ronnie J ones and his Deni s Harristuned . GF Ra cing/Gill /Megacycle/ Knight/ Sh oei- sponsored Honda led th e sta rt o f th e final , a hea d o f Chandler . Carr. Goss a nd Fil ice. S hobert cra sh ed betw een turns three a nd four. a nd restarted last. '" thought a guy in front of me was go ing 10 slide o u t." sa id Shobert la ter. "and' got sideways-and th en sp un it o u t." Shobert fell right in front o f Brow , and Brow lo st severa l p la ces. For six laps it looked like Jones would win - h e pulled d istance on Chandler a nd Ca rr, bu t even in th ose o pe n ing laps nothing wa s sett led behind Jones. G oss found h im self bumped back to sixth on th e second lap. with Springsteen eig h th . A lap later Goss was fifth ; a no ther lap. fourth: two laps later. th ird. At th is point Jones led . a bit a hea d o f th e pack battling for second. being Carr. Goss. Chandler. Springsteen. Filice and Hames. One more lap and Carr was on Jones. with Gos s and Springsteen just behind. Filice and Hames a nd Chandler next. Carr took the lead. a nd Sp rin gsteen wason Jones; those three sta rted to pull on Goss. It wa s 12 la ps into th e 25-l ap fin al that Jay Springsteen rode a ro und J ones and Carr and to ok th e lead in th e third and fourth turns; th e chee r fro m th e crowd left no doubt who th ey favored . Behind Sp ringsteen were Ca rr , J on es. Goss, Fili ce a nd H ames. Carr tried running hi gh. holdin g seco nd just ahead of Jones a nd G oss a nd Fi lice and Ham es; it didn't work. a nd Ca rr didn 't close th e ga p : Spri ngsteen sta rte d working o u t a lead o n th e battle fo r seco nd betw een Ca rr, J ones. G oss a nd Fili ce. and . depending u pon th e lap. so me l.imes Ham es. By the 18th lap Sp ringsteen h ad two seco n ds - a gia nt lead in short track terms - over Carr. who had a partial-second o n Jones. Filice. Goss and Hames. Filice was visibly bumping Jones trying to find a way past. Springsteen worked his lead out to three seconds by the 22nd la p and lapped Shobert on the same lap . Carr had a second on Jones and Fi lice. Springsteen won. and th e crowd went cra zy. cheering and whistling and yelling . Shobert cam e around next. lapped by Springsteen bu t th en running just behind him to th e finish . Carr wa s seco nd. Jones third a nd Filice fourth. G o ss fifth a hea d of Hames. Day. Chandler. Herndon and Boody. '" just co u ld n' t ge l arou nd him," Fil ice told h is spo nsor. R ich ard Matuszek, an d tuner Don Carlyle of Happ y Tra ils Racing . They told him he had ridde n th e wheels off th e bik e; h e replied th at th eir Harlev/Rotax wa s th e faslesl 500 he had ever ridden. J on es sa id he'd planned o n ru nning low a nd gea red hi s bike that way - wh en Springsteen a nd Carr gOI a ro u nd him by running high. he co u ld n ' t move up a nd try 10 run with th em becau se h is bike wa s a lready floatin g th e valv es o n th e low line, a nd h e wa s worried th at o n th e longer high line hi s bik e would over-rev 10 0 much and blow up. Carr's bike broke on th e la st lap, in th e last turn , he told reporters aft erwards. "Ir 's a good thing I had a lillie bi t of a lead o n th em" Carr said. '" th ought it might have run o u t of gas . a nd I chec ked th e petcock, kind of sh ook th e tank a lillie a nd it didn 't ignite." Carr coa sted ac ross the line. sti ll second, th e problem to be determined lat er. Carr is sp o nsored by Ron Wood Ra cin g Specia lities. R&B H arl eyDavidson of Racine. Wisconsin. Shoei Helmets. Hi-Point and Blendzall. Springsteen credited his tuner. Paul Chmiel. a lo ng with sponsors SuperTrapp. Mega cycle . Hi-Point and his mother a n d father . who were at San Jose to wat ch him ra ce. • Results FINAL: 1. Jay Springsteen (H -D); 2. Chr is Carr IVY-RI; 3 . Ronn ieJones(Hon); 4 . Jimmy Fil ice(H·D t 5 . Randy Gass (Hon) ; 6 . Pate Hames (H·Dt 7 . Keith Day (Hon) ; 8 . Doug Chandler (Hon) ; 9 . 8i11yHerndon (Hon) ; 10 . Ted 800dy (Hon) ; 11. A le. Jorgensen (W -R); 12 . Garth 8row (H- D); 13 . SCOIt Peerson (Hon); 14 . Rich Arna iz (C-A) ; 15 . 8 ubba Shobert (Hon) . TIME : 7 min.. 17.038 sec. . -R): 2 . 12 LA P JR NATIONAL: t . 8r ian A th ert on IVY Winkie Freitas (Hon) ; 3. Aaron Hi ll fe-A); 4 . Br uce Johnson (H· O); 5 . Br yan McDon nell (Hon); 6 . Adam Sabedra (Hon) ; 7. Donnie Harrell (Hon); 8. Anthony Holdsclaw (Rl.); 9 . Larry Staggs (Yam); 10 . Pe,er Goddard (Hon) ; 11 . Don Myers (H-D); 12 . Ott o Jcrgen sOn (Yam I. aUA U FYlNG: 1. Steve Ekund(W-R) 17 .219sec.; 2. Jay Springsteen (H-D) 17.253; 3 . Doug Chandler (HonI17.290; 4 . 8ubba Shboert (Hon ) 17 .308; 5. Pe,. Hames (H·D) 17 .316; 6 . Randy Texter (H-D) 17 .325; 7 . J im Fil ic e (H-D) 17 .347; 8 . Kei,h Day (Hon) 17 .372; 9 . Garth 8 row (H-D) 17.3 87; 10. Scott Pearson (Hon) 17.391; 11 . Don Estep (W -R) 17 .397; 12 . Al e. Jorgensen (W -RI 17 .398; 13 . Randy Goss (Hon) 17 .407; 14 . Chr is Carr (W- R) 17 .453; 15 . Terry Poovey (H-DI 17.4 64 ; 16 . Scott Adams (H · D) 17 .489; 17 . Ronn ie Jones (Hon) 17 .495; 18 . Don Howard (Hon) 17 .522; 19. Rich Ar naiz(C-A )17 .5 68 ; 20. SC It Park er (H-D) 17.572 . O

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