Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ o ....... (Above) Sammy Sweet in front of Springsteen in the ir heat. (Below) Chris Carr (4Y), Terry Poovey (18) and Dan Ingram in the second semi. Na tional. " If you go looking for lines after finding something that works , you'll mess u p. " I th ink I' ve got a good cha nce to win," said Pearso n . " I' ve been at Babe DeMa y's fo r the past two days working on setting up his bike a nd I feel we're dialed in. My Honda is bac k in Ca lifornia being readied for the DuQuo in Mile so I was lu cky that Babe ha d a bike and wa nted me to ride it. T his is my first ri de o n a Harley in a lo n g time." "Too m uch horsepower usu a lly isn 't a problem ," said Pau l Chmiel, Sprin gsteen 's tuner. " It 's been one here and I'v e had to detune th e engine a bi t to ge t it to co me o ff the tu rn s without brea ki ng the rear tire loose. It 's a ro ll o f th e dice on whe ther we ' re righ t or not." Pearson was rig ht on ta rget wi th anothe r of his rocket-like starts and led the field into turn one fro m the pole positio n. Bood y and Morehead fo llowed wi th Parker, Springsteen, a nd Sho bert in tow . Farris was seventh, bu t h is ride lasted on ly th ree more laps before he called it a night wi th undisclosed p roblems. Pear son inched away fro m the fig h t for second between Bood y a nd Morehead whi le the ba tt le for fourth raged among Parker, Shobert and Sp rin g steen with Chandler and Graham debating seventh. The heat of th e battle up front a llowed the to p three to slow ly move away from those beh ind . Shobert mov ed past Parker in the fig ht for fourth as G raham moved in to make it a four rider duel. Chandl er had h is hands fu ll with Eva ns, Sweet, and Maitland as Bro wn moved in. Bood y's ride in second chan ged to third as Morehead got a strong drive off turn two on la p 10, inched a longside a nd then took over second as the two h it tu rn th ree. Boody hung onto Morehead 's rear tire a nd the two moved up o n Pearso n . Mo rehead cha llenged Pearso n on all p art s of the track for the next two laps a nd then made the same move to take the lea d from Pea rson as he had earlier on Bood y. By this time, Shobert was so lidl y in fourth with th e fift h place ba ttl e consisting o f Park er, Sp ri n gsteen , Graham and Evans. O nce in fro nt o n la p 13, Morehead began to p ut a bit of space between himself and Pearson while Boody camped right on Pearson 's rear tire . " I' ve ridden thi s track a lot, " said Mo rehead afterward , " a nd I know the combination you need to wi n , but I' ve never been able to put it a ll tog ether. I rid e my o wn bik e here for reg ular races and someone else's for the Nation a ls. T hi s time I decided to ride m y bike ." It was obvio us Mor eh ead had th e right com bin a tion for th e track as he left Pea rson and Bood y o n la p 15 to (Above) Jeff Sizemore won the Jun ior main. (Below) Steve Morehead and Miss Camel Pro Vivian Chadbourne in the w inner's circle. fig h t it o u t for second. Shobert, like Morehead, ha d gained ground on those behin d h im and was a good d istance ahead of Springsteen , who had broken aw ay from Parker and G ra ham. The final laps sa w Morehead continue his hold on th e lead righ t to th e checkered fla g and the ch am pagne in winner's circle. The figh t for second looked as if it wou ld fall in Pearso n 's favor as he led by abo ut 10 bikelengths off turn fo ur, but Boody got a spectacular drive off the fourt h tu rn and gobbled up the ground between th e two to be an inch or two ahead at the finish lin e for second. Neithe r wa s sure who h ad tak en the posit ion u ntil they were interviewed. Shobert a n d Springsteen came home fou rt h and fift h while Eva ns took sixth away fro m Parker two laps from the en d a nd then held him o ff to th e flag . " Hey , it's been three years since I won a Nationa l and it rea lly feels good," said Morehead. " I knew once I go t th e lead that I wasn' t going to give it up. " I th in k I cou ld have p u t a move o n Stev e if I could have gotten around Scott earlier ," said Boody. " T he key was usin g a Carlisle front tire when nearly everyon e else went with a P irelli. Steve had th e sam e combination . Wh en we came o ff th e turns, th e front en d would tra ck rather th an ska te-so o ur dri ves were bet ter.".... _ I know I go t second a nd I think Ted does a lso," sai d Pearson. " I can't bla me h im for sticking with what th e off icials sai d . I can 't say I'm unhappy wi th third , although secon d wo u ld ha ve been better. I hope my goo d luck cont in ue s since I'v e been in winner's circle in the last three Nationals. I' d like to than k Babe DeMa y for having put me on o ne heck o f a bi ke for this • rac e." Results 20 ·LAP NATIONAL: 1. Steve Moreheed (H·D); 2. Ted Boody (Han ); 3. Scan Pearson (H-D); 4 . Bubba Shobert (Han); 5 . Jay Springsteen (H-D); 6. Chris Evans (H-D); 7. Scott Parker (H-D); 8. Ricky Graham (Han ); 9. Tom Ma itland (H-D); 10. Doug Chandler (Han); 11. Dan Ingram (H-D); 12. Sammy Sweet (H-D); 13. Pete Hames (H-D); 14 . Fran Brown (H-D); 15. Rodney Farris (H-D). TIM E: B mi n.. 51.476 sees. AMA GRAND NAT IONAL CHAM PIONSH IP/ CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Doug Chandler (132 ); 2. 8ubba Shoben (13 1); 3. Ted Boody (108 ); 4 . Scott Pearson (106); 5. Scott Parker (90); 6. Rich Sch lachter (63); 7. (TIE)Ronnie Jon es/ Terry Poovey (59); 9. (TIE)Chr is Carr / Randy Goss/ Ale. Jorgensen (58); 12. Mike 8aldwin (56); 13. (TIE) Pete Hames/Jay Springsteen (54); 15 . Randy Ren- frow(42); 16. Wayne Rainey(41); 17. Steve Eklund (40); 18 . Alan Labross e (39); 19. Ricky Graham (38); 20 . M ile s Baldwin (37). 12-LAP JUNIOR NATIONAL: 1. Je ff Sizemore (Han ); 2. Reeil Han (Han); 3. Donald Beauv ais (Han); 4. James Faulkner (C-A ); 5. Las Washbon (W-R); 6. Dean Kins (W-R); 7. Wad e Camli n (W-R): 8. Wink ie Freitas (Han ); 9. Da n Knecht (H·D); 10. Brian Ath er- ton (W-R): 11. Mike Stauffer (H·D ); 12. Mar k Tucker (H·D). TIM E: 5 min•• 28.763 sees. JR . NATIONAL CHAMPION SHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. W inkie Freitas (173); 2 . Brian Atherton (164); 3. A aron Hill (79); 4. Curt is Canno n (60); 5. Fran k Garc ia (4 3); 6 . Ted Taylor (39); 7. Wa de Cam li n (37); 8. Tim Skov (36); 9. (TIE) Reeil Han/Adam Sebedra (37): 8.(36). 11

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