Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126906
.-< ;... r'I Jubilant victor Scott Parker gets a pat on the back from M iss Camel Pro Series. Vivian Chadbourne. in the Sacramento M ile winner's circle. fo urth o n th e backstra igh t as Moreh ead powered to th e fro nt, fo llo wed by Sp ringer a n d Boody. Springstee n took o ver th e lead o n lap th ree, Boody m oved in to second a nd Cha ndler nabbed third place two la p s lat er. . Bood y cla imed th e lead fo r good o n la p seven wh en Spri ngs teen slipped off th e groove in tu rn fo ur. Springer held o n for second place. and Chandler settled for th ird . Morehead and Sweet earned trips to the semis by finishing fo unh a nd fifth, respecti vely . In th e Io urth a nd final hea t, Rod ney Farris of Maryla nd (Ed Fisher/ Mach I Racin g / Ga ry N ixon/ Cycle Experts/ Mike Sponse ller/Nola n H elmet s) led the first five laps by a wid e ma rg in, but jorgense n ca ug h t a nd pa ssed h im o n la p six. The two riders trad ed th e lead for th e rest of th e h ea t, wi th j o rgen sen fin all y taking th e 'w in by a hal f-bik elen g th over Farris. j ones was la st off the starti ng line whe n he wa s ca ugh t off-g uard with hi s ha nd on hi s face shi eld as th e li g h t turned g reen , bu t charged ha rd . H e worked hi s way th rou g h traffic, a nd took OWl' third p lace by the Iou ri h la p . jones held off cha lle nges from Tom Ma itla nd and Kei th Day, but he cou ld n 't ca tch the fro nt runners. Semis 14 Four riders tang led in th e firs t turn of th e fir st semi , wi th G oss a nd Dan McD onnell sliding i nto th e hayba les to bri ng ou t a red flag . Bo th riders wa lked awa y from th e incident, tho ugh McD'onnell scra tched fro m th e restart wit h a severely ben t mo torcycl e. Goss restarted af ter re p laci ng a fro n t wh eel o n h is Bell /Works/Ma rzocchi Harley-Da vidso n . H o wa rd ca me o ff the line in first place, but was fo rced to settle fo r second when Scott went a ro u nd him o n th e ba ckstraight m id way th roug h th e open in g la p . Scott took a comman din g lead. and powe red a wa y from the field to wi n wi th a fo urseco nd ma rg in a nd a ticket to th e National. Goss ca me off th e lin e in sixth, but rode hard. a nd fina ll y got around Howard fo r seco nd pla ce O il la p five. Th e form er factory H arl ev rider h eld o n to seco nd to take th e last d irect transfer to the main , The firs t sem i was the: fa stes t 1 .0-la p race o f th e day; Sco tt tu rned the timers a t6:23:i02 (93.822 m ph ). Morehead led th e seco nd sem i a lmost fro m wi re to wire, but a full blown ba ttl e developed for th e seco nd tra nsfer spo t bet ween Day and Sweet. Day trailed Moreh ead o n th e o pe n ing lap. but Sweet worked himself into second place by lap two , and showed Da y n o mercy. Swee t drafted Morehead o n th e backst ra ig ht o n la p five, but Mo reh ead returned th e favor moments later o n th e front straigh t, a nd Da y drafted by at the sa me ti m e to drop Sweet to th ird . Day a nd Sweet traded seco nd pla ce severa l times before Sweet clai med th e spot for good o n la p nine, to take the seco nd transfer spot. Eri c Rausch of Delawa re: finish ed fou n h . Last Chance Qualifier H oward, Rausch , former Ca na dian cha mpio n j on Cornwe ll, a nd Dan In g ram went a t it for 10 laps in th e L CQ" H oward h eld th e ad vantage mo st of the wa y. even th ou gh Cornwell a nd Rausch pressured h im for most of th e race; In g ra m mo ved into the tigh t ba ttle for th e to p spo t o n la p seven . Ho ward ea rned the evening's la st tran sfer to th e main event by w inning th e L CQ j ust in fro nt of Rausch a nd In g ra m . Eklu nd fin ished Io urth over Cornwell , who faded after slip p ing off th e groove o n lap eight. Junior National Heat race wi n ne rs Bon esteel (H -D) a nd Bryan Villella (R tx) traded th e lead for 12 la ps in th e mai n before Bonesteel drafted past Villell a for good at the stan/fi nish lin e o n th e fi nal lap . Eric Sassma n fin ished third to ta ke over the points lead in th e race for th e junio r Na tion a l Cha mpi o nship. Ville lla na bbed th e holeshot a nd set th e pa ce for th e first two laps, but was d raft ed bv Bonesteel on th e ba ckstra ig h t mid wa y thro ug h lap three. The tWO first-year j uniors co m inued to slings hot past o ne another for the: remain in g 10 la p s. wit h Bo nes teel j ust edg in g' Vill ell a at th e checke red flag. Sa ssma n scul cd into third pl ace fo r good midwa y throu gh th e even t, a nd T ed Taylo r fini shed fourth . Nationa l Bood y gra bbed th e: stan o f th e New York ' s Brian Bonesteel (3 b l bested Bryan Vi llella of Michigan to claim a 12-lap Junior National final that went down to the w ire. After battling for the entire race. Bonesteel drafted by Villella to win by inches at the finish line. ma in a nd led j orgensen a nd G raham fo r th e firs t four laps of 1986's first Na tiona l m ile. while Shober t mo ved in to fourt h pl a ce o n la p fo ur. Behind th e fro nt -ru n ne rs, a ba ttl e for fifth developed between Poovey, C ha nd ler a nd Pa rker. Scott, who came off th e li ne in 15th place. set abo ut moving through tra ffic a nd ma kin g up tim e. The na rrow-g roove track a llowed li ttl e room for passi ng in the co rners; a ny rider wh o slipped o ff th e groove im m ed iat ely leiSt two lO fo ur positions. Asa resu lt , riders played follo wthe- leader throug h the turn s, 'a nd a lmos t a ll of the pass ing wa s done by d raft i ng o n th e stra ig h ts. Bo th Cha n d ler a nd Pa rker drafted by Poovey on th e fourth lap , but Pa rker slipped off th e g ro o ve in tu rn fo ur a nd immedia tely d ro p ped hack tw o positions wh en Cha ndler a nd Poovey do ve underneat h . Shobert mo ved int o th ird pl ace on la p five as G raham fad ed . and o n lap seven, Jorgense n drafted by Boody to tak e the lead . Boody repassed j orge ns en o n th e next lap, wh ile Parker moved into a di stan t fo urt h behind Shobert, and Cha nd ler drafted G rJham o n th e bac kstraight ro ta ke over fifth. Both Jo rgy a nd Shobert got a round Boody o n la p 10. a nd Shobert p ut the m o ve o n jorgensen lO ta ke the lead o n lap II ; th e cagey Parker stayed in fourth p lace. bidi ng hi s ti me and sav ing h is tire. Parker m oved into third place o n lap 13, and claimed a distant second behind Shobert on lap 14, tra iling th e cha m p by a full three seco nds . Boody wa s running third , whil e jorgen sen had slipped lO fo urth . Shobert. sufferin g from a well-worn rear tire. began to slo w, and by lap 21 his three-second lead had dropped to th ree bikelen gth s. Parker slowl y ca ught th e fac to ry Honda rider, a nd the d uo ran wh eel -to-wheel down th e backs tra ig h t on th e 23r d la p before Pa rk er blitzed by Sh obert lo tak e over a lead h e would never reli nq uish. Boody st ill held th ird o n la p 23, Carr had m o ved into fo urth, Chan dle r wa s running fifth a nd Sco tt h ad moved into si xth . When th e chec kered flag fell two laps la ter, Par ker held a onebikeleng th a dva n rag e o ver Sho bert , and Sco tt had p icked off Boody and Carr to move into third. Boodv, Carr and Farris crosse d th e finish 'Ii ne is such a tightl y-kni t cl u mp that th ere was di scussion a fter th e. race as lo who had fin ished where. Bood y got th e nod for fo urth , Carr was awarded fifth a nd Farris had to settle for sixth. Three-time Na tional Cham pion jay Sp rin gsteen qua lified for the Na tional. bu t was for ced to sit o ut the race d ue to ill nes s. The hardest-chargi ng rider d uring the mai n even t had to be H an k Scott. who started 15th a nd slipped off th e groove twi ce before fi nall y maki ng it into th e wi n ner's circle. " I got m y usu a l good start seco nd to last," SCOtl said wit h a smile. "Once, halfwa y th roug h turn th ree, I tried lo get un dernea th Ro n ni e jones and h e sh ut the door. I skidded off th e groove a nd a lmost fel l. It happen ed aga in lat er wh en Carr a n d Morehead sh u t the door on me. "If I wo uld ha ve had j ust one mo re lap , I thi nk I co u ld ha ve nai led th em ," Scott sa id . " J' rn prett y sure I cou ld have na iled Bu bba , I don 't kn o w about co u. " • Resu lts 25-LAP NATIONAL: 1. Scon Parker (H-D); 2. Bubbe Shobert (Hon): 3. Hank Scon (Hon); 4. Ted Boody (Honl ; 5. Chri s Carr (H· DI; 6. Rodney Farri s (Hon): 7. Ricky Graha m (Hon); B. Doug Chand ler (Hon); 9. Terry Poovey (Hon): 10. Don Howard (H·D I; 11. Sam Swee t (H·D); t2. Ronnie Jones (Hon); 13. Randy Goss (H-DI; 14 . Steve Morehead (H· D); 1S. A lex Jorgen sen (Hon); 16 . Pete Hames (H· D); 17 . Ja y Springsteen (H-D). 12·LAP JUNIORNATIONAL:l .Brian Bonesteel (H· 0 1 2. Bryan Villell a (RIX) 3. Eric Sassman (H·D); 4 . : ; Ted Taylor (H· D); 5. Mear l Barne n (Hon): 6. Les W ashbon (H-O ); 7 . Frankie Ga rcia (Honl; 8 . Cra ig How ard (Rtx): 9. Adam Sabedra (Rtx); 10. Eroc Green (H· D); 11. Don Roberts (H· D); 12. Bruce J ohnson IH· D). AM A GRAND NATIONAL CHAM PIONSH IP/ CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANOINGS: 1. Scott Parker (301 2. Chris Carr (23); 3. Steve Eklund 120) ; ; 4. Ted Boody. (1B): 5. (TIE) Bubbe Shobert /Scott Pearson (16 1 7. Terr y Poovey (15); B. Hank Scott ; (13 ): 9. Pete Hames (11 1 10. Rodney Farris (9); 11. ; (TIE) Rich King / Ricky Gra ham (B); 13. (Tiel Steve More head / Doug Chandler (7); 15. (TIE) Ricky Green/Don Howarll (51; 17. (TIEl Fran Brown /Sam· rnv Sweet (4 1 19 . mEl A aron Hill/Ronnie Jones (3). ; JUNIO R NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. Er ic Sassm an (26 ); 2. Bruce Johnson (23); 3. Bria n Bon e steel (20 ); 4 . Fra nkie Ga rcia (19); 5. Les Wa sh - bon (19); 6. Ted Taylor (171 7. (TIE) Jo n Nunez/ ; Br yan Vill ella (16); 9. Mea rl Barn ett (10): 10. Robert Damron 1 ; 11. P.J. Sanch ez (Bl; 12. (TIEIJeff Pran91 zenb urg /Craig Howard (7 ); 14 . Adam Sabedra 6; 15 (TtE) Garth Mul key/ Eric Green (5); 17. (TIE) Larry Staggs/ Don Roberts (41 19. Brian McDowell . ;