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/126920
Bubba Shobert (11 holds off Chris Carr at the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association/William H. King Enterprises' DuQuoin Mile. Tammy Kirk (5elleads Ted Boody (121. Jay Springsteen. and Terry Poovey (181 during action in the third heat. Kirk took sixth in the final. AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Series: Round 12 Shob~rt edges Carr at Duquoin Mile ' By Farren Williams Photos by Bert Shepard DUQUOIN, IL, JULY 26 Defending National Champion Bubba Shobert had to reach deeply into his bag of dirt track tricks to win his second consecutive "Magic Mile," held at the Illinois State 6 Fairgrounds in DuQuoin. American Honda's Shobert also had to give away more mile-magic secrets than he would have liked to second-year Expen Chris Carr, who led several laps of the main evem, and who harrassed Shoben from the sixth lap all the way to the checkered flag. Shobert's final trick, a weaving high-low-high line coming out of turn four on the last of 25 laps, made it impossible for Carr to pick a safe line around Shoben as the duo headed for the finish. Carr appeared disgruntled after the race, but later said he holds no hard feelings against the factory Honda rider. Today's win, the Honda ace's second straight at DuQuoin, gave Shoben a commanding 173-1118 lead over Harley-Davidson's Scon Parker in the Camel Pro Series poim standings. Parker, who won DuQuoin's '''Magic Mile" in 1979, finished fifth in today's final. Carr's runner-up finish pushed his Camel Pro poim total to 126, just 12 poims behind Parker. The show position in the main event went to Freddie Spencer Racing's Doug Chandler, who inherited third place from Oklahoma privateer Ted Boody on the last lap when one of the cylinders wem sour on Boody's College Bike Shop Honda. Fourtime DuQuoin Mile winner Hank Scon finished fourth, and Tammy Kirk, the lady Expen from Dallon, Georgia, posted her best-ever National performance by placing sixth, behind Parker. "The only thing I could do was get in from of him (Carr) and block," said Shoben after the main event. "Coming out of (turn) four I went up high, came down low, and went back up high; that threw him of(. I don't think he was happy with that." "When you're going 120 mph, it's not a good idea to move over five feet on the straightaway," Carr said. "It happened, it's over with and I'm not upset. Now I know, maybe, what he's going to do next time. I gave-him a definite run for his money, and he knows it. I've never diced harder with anyone in my life." Two of the three motorcycles in DuQuoin's winner circle were equipped with Continental's controversial wide-bodied Comi/BlilZ din track tires, designed especially for the mile and making their mile debut. Continentals were mounted to the rear rims on both Carr's Harley and Chandler's Honda. Shoben won the race on a Goodyear. Kirk; who qualified third fastest and who finished second in her heat race before taking sixth in the National, was a very happy lady. "I would have liked to win it, but I'm tickled to death with what I got," she said. ''I'm really glad 1did what I _did. I'd like to say a special thanks to Don Tilley, the fellow who helps (road racer) Gene Church. He's the one who got us going here this weekend. We couldn't have done it without him." Time Trials Shoben set a record qualifying lap, stoppmg the clock at 115.259 seconds (102.128 mph). Carr,powered his misfiring H-D Motor Co.lElectro West! Lawwill/ShoeilHap Jones/RS TaichilHi-Point-sponsored HarleyDavidson to second fastest time with a 115.641 clocking, and the Illinois crowd wem crazy when Kirk posted a 1I5.6911-second time to qualify third fastest in front of former Champion Ricky Graham; Graham turned the timers at 115.70 seconds. Bryan McDowell, the top Junior qualifier, set a one-lap time of 117.467 seconds. Heats Shobert got boxed in by traffic in the early stages of the first 10-lap Expert heat race, and was forced to run the first two laps in third gear. When he finally got his bike imo lOp gear on lap three, he used the extra speed to pass all four front runners in a single swoop on the backstraight. Shoben won the heat ahead of Chandler and former Champ Steve Eklund. ,Another former champion, Randy Goss, dropped out of the'race with mechanical problems on lap five. The second'Expert heat was a fiverider brawl between Carr, Alex Jorgensen, Parker, Rodney Farris and Canadian Jon Cornwell. Jorgensen battled Carr for the top spot in the early going, but it,was Parker who followed Carr across the line at the finish. Farris and Cornwell took third and fourth. respectively; Jorgy finJ ~ . ' ~ ... , .. l. • I. 1