Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

dela y wh ile th e rnedivac helicopter a t th e track transported J ohn Faulkner to th e St. Louis Medi cal Center . He sus ta ine d a head injury. Time t ria ls H onda 's R ick y G raham, despite ba ttling a case o f th e flu a nd say ing h e " had n ' t felt h is bad in yea rs, " turned in the top quali fyin g time o f th e 72 rid ers on hand. H is 37.675 seco n d tim e for o ne mi le was well o ff h is own recor d o f last year of 35.423. Shobert was a few ticks o f th e cloc k back with C ha nd ler a nd Bood y fil ling o u t th e top five. J ohnny Cooper , at 39.667, was th e 48 th a nd last qual ifier to mak e th e field . Heats It cam e down to two riders, Team Honda 's Bubba S hobert (67) and privateer Ted Boody (1 2). Shobert ha d the power. the drive and the victory. (Below) The start, Shobert, Parker (1 1), Boody, Lance J ones (6 9), G raha m (1), Ronnie Jones (1 6), Hank Scott (14). AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Series: Round 18 DuQuoin Mile win, points lead, record to Shobert By Ga ry Van Voorhis DuQUOI N , IL, JU LY 27 Honda's Bu bba Shobert continued his domination of Camel Pro Series Nationals this year with his fourth straight mile win . The win in the DuQuoin Stroh Mile marked the T exan 's lSth m ile National win o f hi s career a nd m oved h im into th e top spot in th e AMA Grand Na tional Ch ampionship 14 record books. It was a lso Shobert's fifth National wi n o f the season a nd, co u p led with Dou g Cha nd ler 's fa ilur e to m ak e th e Na tio nal, pu t Shobert sq ua rely back into th e d river 's sea t in th e title chase. Chan dl er 's 10 poi nt lead go ing into D uQ uo in evapo ra ted a n d h e n ow trai ls Shobert by 10, 141 points to 15 1. T he celebra tio n in winner 's circle was a repla yof th e cha m p agne bash a t th e Spri ngfield Mil e fete wi th Ted Bood y. on hi s College Bike Shop H onda. in th e runner-up spo t a nd H arl ey-Dav id son 's SCOll Parker fil' ling o u t th e th reesome. J ay Sp ringsteen , o n a nothe r factory sup ported Ha rley-Davidso n , finis hed fo u rt h over th e Bob Dona bed ian/ KK Mo to rcycle Su p p ly/ Decka rd Equip merit-sponsored H onda o f Hank Sco tt, U n like h is th ree previo us m ile wins th is season, Sho bert's margin o f victory was by more th an o ne bik elen gth. T h is ti me it was m ore like 100 feet o ver Bood y. Wh il e Shobert was th e happiest rider a t DuQuo in , C ha ndler wa s del in itelv th e m ost fru strat ed . H is loss in th e Last C ha n ce Qual ifier :.... a nd wi th it th e la st sta rt in g spot in th e National - by a bou t half a bik elen gt h to Don Estep wa s m ore th an j us t a ra ce. It ma y well turn o u t to be th e tu rn ing poi nt in the ongoi ng ba ttle for th e series cha m p ionsh ip . T h e drama of th e LCQ a nd th e Nat io na l was p layed li ve to viewers o f ABC-TV's Wide Worl d o f Sports aroun d th e co u nt ry. T h e show went o ff ri g h t o n sch ed u le, bu t doing so forced th e Ju n ior program to be run a t th e en d of th e day, It was fina llv co m p leted a t 7:30 p .m . a fter a len g th y Graham, racing with a miniature tel evi sion cam era p oking its len s ou t o f a cu t o u t a rea in hi s num ber pl at e a nd a n eig h t pound signal transmitter m ounted o n th e top and very back o f hi s rear fen der, led th e first h eat wi th p lent y o f co m pa ny from Don Estep a nd his Si m mons . O il Field Co ns tructio n-sponsored Harl ey. On la p two it was Este p o u t fro nt with T erry Poo vey, riding Jimm y Fili ce's spare bike a fter eng ine p robl em s w ith both h is G ardn er Racin g H arley's, fo llowi ng Gra ham in th ird . Park er soo n mo ved in to engage in the ba ttle. Gra ham was in th e lead a t th e ha lfw a y p o int with Estep hol d in g o ff Pa rker as Poovey trailed wit h Deeley H arley-Davidson's J on Co rn well in fourth a nd o n th e m ove. The fin a l la p saw p lenty o f sh u ffl ing as Corn well blew a n eng ine wh ile both Estep a n d Poo vey were kicked ou t o f spots in th e Nati onal by Dan Ingra m a nd hi s Wal ters Bro th ers H arl ey. Park er , wi th a st ro ng d rive o ff tu rn four, pi cked j us t th e righ t in sta nt to pull o u t o f G raham 's draft a nd bea t him to th e fin is h lin e by a foot o r two . In g~am sent Es tep a n d Poov ey to th e sem is. " We weren ' t quite ready wi th th e bike in qua lifying," said Steve Mor eh ead ex p la in ing wh y he qual ified 46th fastest. Moreh ead is now rid ing a Babe DeMa y o wned a nd tuned XR with ba ckin g from Penn zoi llStorzl Laubes H onda City/ KK Mo torcycle Supply a nd J ohn Dra goo aft er p artin g co m pany with Eddi e Adkin s. Moreh ead was read y in th e h eat a nd led th e o peni ng lap a nd most o f th e seco nd until a cra sh by Greg Kne cht left a b ike lying j ust a bo ve th e g roove in turn four. Shobert, af ter taking th e lead in turn three, slowed jus t a bit a s di d Moreh ead an d Rod Fa rri s, o n the Du Vall Racin g Harl ey. T h e rest o f th e field a lso backed o ff a n d ex pected to see a red n ag. Th ere wa s none a nd th e bike sp en t n earl y th ree la ps in a poten tia lly h azardous lo ca tio n before it wa s fina lly moved . Sh o bert, Farris a nd Moreh ead were well o u t in front o f th e field and co n tinued o n to finis h 1-2-3 for th eir tickets to th e Na tional. Moreh ead 's en g ine wen t o ff-so ng in th e closing laps. but not eno ugh to cost him th ird. Dirt a nd gri t wa s lat er di scovered in th e float bowl o f one ca rbu reto r. T here was a good shuffle up from in th e open ing laps of heat th ree with firs t Dan H owa rd a nd th en Sa m m y Sweet leadin g before Spri ngsteen took o ver o n la p four. Chuck Sprin gsteen , J a y's brother . ca me up to do b art le, but h is ride en ded wh en he was hit from behi nd a nd hi s exha ust pipes were jarred loo se. With Chuck o u t. J a y Sp rings teen wen t o n to a n easy win whi ch wa s a lso th e fastest of th e heat s a nd ga ve him tlie p ol e fo r th e Na tiona l. H oward slipped back whil e C hri s Ca rr , o n th e R&B Harl ey XR, wa s CUll ing hi s wa y 10 th e front. Ca rr too k seco n d for good from Sw eet wi th two laps to go wh ile Lan ce J on es, a fter spe ndi ng nea rl y a ll th e race work ing th roug h traffi c, p u t h is

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