Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Alex Jorgensen (441, Scott Pearson (951. Scott Parker (111 and Roger Thompson early in the third heat race. Ted Boody came from behind to win. Bubba Shobert (6 7 1 Ted Boody (121, Ricky Graham (1 I. Scott Parker (11 1 , and Scott Pearson in the lead draft; Chris Carr (4YI is a distant sixth. AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Senes: Round~O Springfield thriller to Shobert By Gary Van Voorhis · SP RINGFIELD, IL , MAY 26 " I felt I had the best drive off turn four and just enough extra to hold off any challenges to the checkered flag. I was right, but no t by much," said an elated Bubba Shobert after wi nning the Springfield Mile by half a bikelength over Ted . Boody WIth Scott Parker no more than another half length 10 . ~ J . farther back. Fourth went to RIcky Graham o~er Scott Pearson and the two weren t tha .t ~ar a.wa~ fro~ the top three at the finish line I~ this , !he second round of the Stroh Mile Senes. The Shobert/Boody battle at the finish was a replay of last year's season ending Camel Pro Series National at Springfield, only this time it was American Honda's Shobert with the scant edge and not Boo dy and his College Bike Shop H o nda . Both Boody and Harley-Davidson's Parker have been playing seco nd fiddle to Shobert on the mi les with Bood y Iollowin g hi~ home in Sacramento and Parker doing th e same at San Jose. • . . Shobert s fourth NalI~>nal WIn of the year and the ~ 5th of ~ IS ca re~r was also th e 12th mi le Nat~ona l. WIn ~or the Texan and that lIes. him WIth Hank .SC?tt and J~y Spnng.steen as the .w In n m.gest mi le n ders mAMA National history, Shobert padded h is points lead and now holds a 20' point margin, 102 points to 82, on Doug Chandler, who finished seventh on the day. Parker, a t 76, leads Boody by one point, with . \ ·~ ~ t . 9 ""~ ' ,\ \\1 . 0 'll} 1 1')o ' ! ·) .(.s ::, Pears~>n, at 64, holding fifth in the staThndIndgs. db id e ay was marre y an acci ent involving l fi- yea r-o ld Randy Turbett during one of the Junior heat races. Turbett was listed in critica l condition from injuries sustained when he struck the guard rail after hitting the ' downed bike of Ra nda ll Lymar on the back straight. The program stretched nearly an hour and a half longer than normal due mainly to a larger than expected rider entry of 68 Experts and 56 j uniors which extended tim e trials by nearly one hour. Dela ys. to accornrnodate the television crew videotaping the race and a period where bo th ambu lances were away from the track also contributed to the lengthening of th e program. Qualifying Al t h oug h numerous stop watc h es n had Graham at record times d uring practice, by th e time qualifying came arou nd clear, su nny skies and a consrant breeze had conspired to eva porate th e moisture from the track . Graham, the defen din g AMA Grand National Champion in h is second race since breaking his left femur two months ago, turned in a 99.151 miles per hour, 36.308 second lap aboard h is factory H o nda to take the number one q ualifying position. It was well I i!:i.~ 9~& .I 1J.\l t '::~ ') J" • Jo((4:. off h is 104.203/ 34.54 track record . Way ne Rain ey, on th e Electro West' . sponsored, Mert Lawwi ll-t u ned Harley-Da vid son X R750 clocked the seco nd fastest time, with P ioneer Truck Lines-sponsored Alex Jorgenc- sen bri ngi ng h is H o nda in thi rd fastest. H arley's Jay Spri ngsteen took the pole for the fourth heat with fourth fast time. Gary Scott's day came to a n end in qualifying when ' h is Honda seized the rear cylinder. Heats The first heat was a lo n g time in starting. First, Steve Morehead's crew spent time changing plugs on his Harley before finding it was an electrical problem which couldn't be fixed in time. He went to the sidelines to join Tim Mertens, who had a sick Honda and had already scratched. The Gardner/Griswold Raci ng crew replaced the battery on Pete Hames' bike j ust before the start. It proved to be a good move. Ha mes led at th e start, bu t it was . Graham ta king over orr tu rn two on the first la p a nd sprinting ahead from there to the finish. Hames sett led into a solid second after a short ba tt le with Peter Hook before Hoo k retired with mecha n ical problems and by th e ha lfway point Hames had a comfortable margin over a th ird place battle involving Tom Mai tland, Hank Scott and Ra ndy Goss. Graham stayed o ut front on his way to an easy win. but Hames steadil y lost ground to the third p lace tussle and became a part of it on lap seven before losing second to Scott and his Donabedian Racing Honda o n the start of lap eight. Maitla nd quickly dropped H a mes to fourth and the battle was on for the two direct transfers to the National behind Graham. Scott led the fight for second into turn one on the fina l la p , lost it to Maitland off turn two, and then regained it - with Hames in tow going into turn three. The drag race to the flag saw Scott hold off Hames for second with Maitland finding he had no place to pass. Goss coasted across the fin ish line, with a dead engine to finish fifth . Ra iney a nd Terry Poovey, aboard the Gardner/Patrick Raci ng Harley XR, engaged in a 1O-lap battle in h ea t two with contin ual lead ' swapping the order of attack. The two drew away from Freddie Spencer/SuperT rapp Racing 's Cha ndler ' and left him to keep an eye on th e six- ri der ba tt le behind him for fourth. • Poovey, riding with a painful rib .in ju ry sustained at the San Jose Short Track Nationa l on May 4, led into turn one on the final lap with Rainey taki ng it back off turn two. Heading into turn three, it was Poovey with a slight adva ntage ove r Rainey which I I I J~ ~ r 1 1" - - 1.1 G 1 6 I J J I' .1 1' I he held orr turn fo ur an d to the flag by a slim marg in . C handler was a safe th ird. The ba ttle for fourth went rig ht to the line with Ron n ie Jones emergi ng fro m th e mi ddl e to hold a . two foot margin o n Mi ke H illey. Poovey had to be h elped of f h is bi ke after the finis h. Pearso n and Jorgensen led the field a t the end of the first lap in heat three with Rod Fa rr is .coasring across the line with his engi ne sputtering from a bro ken gas line. H e parked it. Parker quickly moved from a midpack start to third by lap two befo re being joined by Roger Thompson to make it a four rider batt le for the lead . Park er had the advantage heading into turn one and sometimes into turn th ree, but on the straights w hen he led orr th e turns it was the Honda horsepower of J orgensen and Pearson with the advantage. . Boody, after a slow start, moved to fourth, and when Parker parked his bike on th e eighth lap due to an electrical problem, Boody moved into third to set the batt le to th e flag. Boody used the draft on the bac k straigh t, to move into the lead on lap n ine and take the whi te flag wi th inches over Pearson and Jorgensen. J orgen sen slipped orr th e groove in tu rn three,leavin g Pear son to attempt a drafting pass by Boodyat the fin ish , line. H e came up a hal f bi kelength short. Jorgensen recovered for third behind win ne r Bood y and Pearso n . The fo u rth heat quickly developed into a nother chapter of the Springfie ld "Draft and Pass Show." T h is time the players were Springsteen, Shobert and rookie Expert Chris Carr on the R&:B Harley- Davidson-sponsored XR. Shobert and Springsteen traded the lead during the first five laps with Carr watching - and lea rn ing - from right in the middle of things. On lap seven, Carr took h is turn in the lead as the three ran their high speed show with less than a bike.leng th separating them. . Shobert led the beginning of the fina l lap and orr turn two with the th ree running side-by-side down' the back straight before Shobert emerged as the leader halfway th rough tu rn s . three /four. Carr held orr Spri ngsteen's final challenge to take second beh ind Shobert. The h ea t was the fastest of the four to ea rn Shobert the pol e for th e National. Semis T he semis, wi th two transfers u p for . grabs from each, conti n ue d th e close racing. At th e halfway flags in semi o ne, there were si x riders in a wheelto-w heel battle for the lead with Ron ni e Jones p lay ing locomo tive on the train. Two la ps la ter, Goss, with a new engine in hi s Freddie Spenc er! Su pe rTrapp Raci ng H onda , grabbed the lead after coming from fift h on I ) I J J J I. ~ • 1~ (j I j I ., oj "" '" J. ) » '~ i ~

• Cover