Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

rag in an ice-filled cooler an d welling do wn hi s bod y. A cloud less sky a nd temperatures in the n in et ies, co m bin ed with the intens ity and physica l req u irem e n ts of th e ra cing, had obviously been more th an th e 33year-old Californian had expected. " Wh ew! I guess I sh o u ld have spen t less tim e working on busin ess a nd more tim e working out," said Ro berts as severa l riders and H o nda tea m manager Gen e Ro mero , (like Ro berts a fann er Grand Nati o nal Champion ), stopped by to see wha t he th ough t o f mid-eigh ties mi le raci ng. " II got ha iry at times. They no w ride with th e brakes o n to keep it hooked up a nd it to ok me several laps to fig ure th at O Ul," said Ro berts. Semis As a lways, the two semi races, whi ch wou ld adva nce o n ly th e firs t two fini sh e r s from ea c h 10 th e Natio nal , were rea l ba rnburners. T he first 10-la p race produced a wh eel-to -wh eel figh t bet ween Rod Fa rris, Alex J orgen sen , Ca na dia n J on Co rnwell, Pete H a mes a nd n ew fa ther Dave H eb b. At th e finish it was Farri s a n d th e Du Va ll Raci ng Harley first , wi th Jorgensen and h is Pi on eer T ruck L in es H o nda seco n d . C lose o n ly co u n ts in horseshoes an d Co rnwe ll, H ames a nd H ebb had the Las t Chance Qual ifier to look forward to. Sem i n umber two turned into a two- ma n race, but SCali Pea rson a nd David Du rell e p rodu ced as much ac tion as the five-r ider fight in th e p revio us semi had. They took turns hol din g the p oin t, but it was Durell e who held it where it co u n ts as he a nd h is Wi nston Ra cers Harley led Pearson and his Circle Bell H onda ac ross the finish line. Do u g Chandl er a n d hi s J erry Griffi th s-prepared Honda wer e a distam third. While th e crowd wa s pulling for Ken n y Ro berts a t th e stan o f th e race, it had quickl y become a p paren t that he wa s run ning off th e p ace. O n the white flag lap, whi le running a dista m fo unh, Ro ber ts sudde n ly slow ed o n th e backstraight a n d coas te d a ro u nd 10 th e pi ts. " II j us t tied u p ," sa id Roberts, " II ga ve m e a pre tt y good wa r n i n g , though . I don ' t know wha t it is, but I'd g uess it's th e bottom en d - th e crankshaft or maybe the mai n bearin g . I don 't kn ow m uch abou t th ese things; they don 't ha ve eno ug h cyl ind ers. II wa s fa st; I did n 't h a ve 10 draft a ny body . We did have hand ling p roblem s because we wer e gelli ng air in th e steeri ng damper all day. I just goofed up o n the last la p of my heat race. You m igh t see me o u t here nex t year, but if so I sur e hope it 's a co oler day." Last Chance Qualifier With o n ly the wi nner adva nci ng ou t of th e LCQ, just like th e semis it produced ra cing o f the first order. Five di fferen t riders held the lead at th e lin e in th e l O-lap race - Mik e G a rrison , H a mes, Cornwe ll , Don Es tep and Chandler, II was Chandler, who has been h a vin g h is probl ems as f la te, who took th e win by in ch es ver H ames, Estep , H ebb and Co rnwell , a n d kept h is ch ances for a Gran d National Champ ionsh ip ti tle, lbeit j ust a m a th em atica l one , a live . National By virtue o f wi n n ing th e fastest h eat race, in six m in u tes, 4.330 secon ds, Texa n Bu bba Sh obert occupi ed the pole position for the 25-la p Na tional. G raham led the field into turn one but as th e Roll in g Thunde r Show crossed the line a t the end of the o pe n ing la p it was Shobert in ches a hea d o f Boody, Gra ham , Pa rker, Sprin gsteen , Moreh ead and the rest o f th e l7 -m an field . Parker brough t the crowd 10 its feet ...... ...... (Above) Scott Pearson leads Steve Morehead (42) and Don Howard in the main; Morehead got the best of the duel with an eighth place finish. (Below) Graham (1) and Ronnie Jones during their heat race, w hen he too k th e high lin e a ro u n d tu rn s o ne an d two a t th e sta n o f th e seco n d la p . T he m a ster o f su c h m a neu vers whi ch work for him and virtual ly n o one else, Parker was th ird ex iti ng turn two. T h e next few laps saw five rid ers Shobert, Graham, Springsteen, Boody and Parker - breaki ng away from the field and conducting a drafti ng duel th at shuffled positions all around th e ova l and pu t Shobert, Graham a nd Parker in fro m at th e line on different laps. The thunder and racing sto p ped moments after Parker bailed o ff in turn two o n th e eig h th lap . H is bike sto p ped o nthe track, but Parker flew into th e ha yba les wh ere h e was out o f sig h t of all bu t th ose sta nd ing o n the in sid e of the co rn er. While he was see n ra ising h is head a bove th e ha yba les and looking across th e tra ck , most feared he wa s seriousl y injured. Most co nce rned was form er Grand Nati ona l Champion Randy Goss who st opped at the cra sh site after th e red flag was waved a nd ru shed to Parker 's side. In moments Parker, with Goss' h elp, emerged from th e ha yba les and wa lked back to h is bi ke, w hi ch he th en rode back aro u nd to the pit en tra nce just past turn fo u r wh ere it received th e atten tio n of his tuner, Bill Werner . The allowed eig h t-mi n u te lull saw several riders, includi ng Pearson, SCOll a nd Moreh ead , p u tting fresh new rear ti res o n thei r bik es with the h elp of their crew members. Pa rker was dropped to th e rear o f the field for th e sing le-file restart whi ch wa s h eaded by Boody, Sh oben , G rah am , Springsteen , Farris a nd Mor ehead. After the fir st o f th e rem a ining 18 laps were run , th e fight for th e. lead settled down to a Iour-rn an duel betw een Shobert, Graham, Bood y and Springsteen . On lap 10 Chris Carr coas ted to the pits. "II started to tie up big time. I co u ld hea r meta l clanki ng, so I just pulled the clutch lever in a nd dropped ou t," said the yo u ng Ca lifornian who h ad clea ned h ouse in th e Spri ngfield S peedway Shan T rack the ni gh t before . . Parker , m ean wh il e , h a d bee n charg ing and by the 14th la p, the seven th of th e res ta rt , h ad li tera ll y ban ged pas t Ronnie J on es. Also chargi ng, in fifth a nd sixt h , were SCO Il an d Farris, Fa rr is wo ul d ho ld sixt h 10 the fin ish, bu t SCOll d iced over fo u rth wi th Spri ngs teen who had dropped off the p ace of the leadin g trio of Shobert, G raham and Boody. Filice dropped o u t on the 15th lap after he jammed his leg in a tu rn a n d twisted his knee. Pearso n, on lap 20, and Goss, o n la p 22, joined Carr and Filice on th e DNF list. Bo th reponed th eir en g in es ha d tied up a nd they had pu lled in their clu tch levers to p rev ent ma jor d a m a g e to their en gines. Ever yon e watch ing kn ew th e ra ce wou ld be deci ded a t the fi nis h li ne and it was . The o rder as th e whi te flag was wa ved wa s Graham , Boody a nd Sh obert. The o rde r wa s th e sa me an d Shobert. The order was th e same fo r th e chec kered flag, but it took th e fini sh line ca mera 10 decid e th at. Third pl ace fini sher Sh obert sa id , "T hose good las t laps a re running a u! o n me. Third isn ' t a ll th at bad, bu t I shou ld n ' t hav e passed th ose g uys o n th e last lap which let th em draft by me." Bood y, the runner-up, said, " I kn ew I co u ld draft by th em , I go t by Shoben and coming off turn fou r I kn ew I had to tim e i£ just right to ge t by Graha m . I j ust missed , I'm n ot win ni n g all th ese th in gs, but I m ust be selli ng so me kind o f record for fini sh ing seco nd." After sp rayi ng th e winner 's bo ttle of ch a m p agn e, Gra ha m sai d, " II's just grea t to be racing aft er havin g broken my fem ur earlier this year. H eck, I di dn 't even th ink a t th at tim e that I would be racing th is yea r. No w, well, after the y gave me th at p laq u e and then to win h ere at Spri ngfield again -well, what ca n I say. Wow l" Junio r National The fig ht for th e Ju nior Na tiona l Championship tit le wa s betw een poi nt leader Winki e Freitas o f Ca li for!1E a nd Michigan 's Brian Atherton, Going iillo the Springfield Mile, Frei tas h ad five Ju n ior National win s 10 his credi t whil e Atherton had accu m u la ted eigh t. Atherton romped to th e wi n in the first J unior h eat , and Freitas displaced ea rl y leader Wade Camlin to win th e seco n d h ea t. Ath erton and his Wo od Ro ta x romped to vic tory in th e l2-l ap main even t, as the fireworks were produced in th e multi -rider fight for seco nd which was ta ken a t th e fin ish by Freita s. H e had the likes of third pl ace fini sher Nickie Fo ntan a , plus Brad Furlong, Aaron H ill , Ca m lin, Don ni e Myers, Recil Han a nd Dan Knech t to contend w ith in a ra ce that produced sparks th e size of th e Expert ac tio n th at had proceeded it. • Results 25 -LAP NATIONAL: 1. Ricky Graham (Hon); 2. Ted Boody (Hon ); 3. Bubba Shobert (Hon ); 4 . Hank Scott (Hon); 5. Jay Spr ing steen (H-D); 6. Rod Farris (H-D); 7. Scott Parker (H-D); 8. Steve Morehead (H· O); 9. Ronn ie Jones (Hon); 10. Don Howa rd (H ~ D); 11. Ale. Jorgensen (Hon); 12. Doug Chandler (Hon); 13. Dave Dur elle (H· D); 14 . Randy Go. s (Hon ); 15. Scott Peerson (Hon); 16. Jim Fili ce (H-D); 17. Chr is Carr (H-D). No t im e due to restart. 12-LAP JUNIOR NATIONAL: 1. Brian Ath enon (W ·R); 2. W inkie Freitas (Hon); 3. Nickie Fontana (Hon ); 4. Brad Furlong (H-D); 5. Aa ron Hill (H-D); 6. Wa de Camlin (H· D); 7. Donald M yer s (H-D); 8. Reeil Han (C·A); 9. Den Knecht (H- D); 10. We s Long (HD); 11. Randy Hunt (W-R); 12. Tim Skov (Rtx l. TIM E; 7 min .. 34 .748 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 94.997 mph . JU NIOR POINT STANDINGS : 1. Win kie Freitas (256); 2. BrianAthenon (250 );3.Aaron Hill (1261;4 . Brad Fur long (67); 5. Don M yers (6 2); 6. Wade Camlin (61 ); 7 . Curt is Cannon (60); B. Frank Garcia (521 ; 9. Recil Han (4 9); 10. Les Wa shbon (47) . 13

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