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/126928
stretched his lead to an eventual halfstraightaway over second-place rider Farris, Jorgensen and Mertens swapped back and forth, trading third a couple of times each lap. Their battle carried them up behind Farris, and Jorgensen finally gained the upper hand, taking third at the flag; Menens was fourth, with College Bike Shop's Ted Boody fjfth. The third heat race was stopped twice by crashes, and was called complete after seven laps. Arai/Casrroll Gardner/Craig Rogers Construction's Steve Eklund jumped to the lead off thestart, trailed by Robert Land, Don Howard and Don Estep. For two laps, second position was up for grabs as Land, Howard and Estep each took a turn following Eklund. Then Joel Green crashed, unhurt, in turn two, and a red flag was shown. On the sj ngle-file restart, HarleyDavidson/Bell-backed Parker jumped from his sixth place in line to fourth behind leader Eklund, Howard and Land. Parker and Land both edged past Howard on the next lap, then Jon Cornwell did likewise a lap later to set up one of the best races of the night for second. Land hung tough, but came up on the short end when the race was stopped, and called complete, on lap seven due to a crash by Howard in turn one. Eklund, Parker and Cornwell earned rides in the main. The fourth heat was fairly unevent: ful. Team Honda's Shobert led from flag-up to flag-down on his factory RS750D. Last year's winner Ronnie Jones hung in second for the distance, while Texan Terry Poovey passed Dave Hebb for third in the early going, and held it to the finish. Keith Day also got by Hebb to claim fourth. l-; v ..0 o ... u o Semis Doug Chandler (10) won his second National in a row. Here he leads second-place finisher Ricky Graham. AltA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 21. Chandler again at Ascot Half Mile By Matt Hilgenberg Photos by Mitch Friedman Heats GARDENA, CA, SEPT. 20 Freddie Spencer/SuperTrapp Racing's Doug Chandler won his second National in a row and took his first-ever National half mile victory tonight at Ascot Park's second half mile of the season. Ricky Graham and Bubba Shobert Chandler's 1984 Honda teammates - filled out the victory 6 . . stand at this 28.th ru~nJng?f the event. Harl.ey J?avld~on s Ch!IS Carr,. who was third 10 polOts behmd Nanonal ~haJ!lP Sh~ben and ScOll Parker com109 lOto thiS event, encountered more bad luck tonight as he led a good portion ofthe event, only to drop out when a coil ground wire broke on his Men Lawwill-preparedXR750; Parker finished ninth, putting six more 21.822-second lap to sit on the pole for heat two, while Parker (21.888) and Shobert (22.008) were the other heat race pole-sitters. Pete Hames circulated the track at 22.183 for fifth spot. The remaining top 10 qualifiers were George Roeder II (22.180), Jon Cornwell (22.100), Ronnie Jones (22.035), Graham (22.184) and Rodney Farris (22.207). Bryan Villella was the quickest Junior, posting a qualifying time of 22.932. points on his total of 208. Chandler's win moved him into fourth in the standings, t~o points ~hind ~rr, 188-18~, whll~ Graham IS ~ow. Just one pomt behmd Chandler 10 fIfth. Harley-Davidson'sJay Springsteen was pre-entered, but scratched before the evening began, for undisclosed reasons. Qualifying Carr was top qualifier on the shon half-mile oval, which was quicker than usual; he stopped the clock at 21.780 seconds. Chandler turned in a Carr led the first, and quickest of the four Io-Iap heat races wire-towire. Hames was second in the early going, but after a few attempts, Graham finally took over the position near the midway point of the race on his ArailTsubaki/BeI-Ray/ND Hon- . da. On lap six, Sammy Sweet got past Steve Morehead to secure fourth. He closed on Hames, but missed the transfer spot at the finish, where Carr won over Graham and Hames' Gardner Racing/Arai/Hi-Point Harley. Farris was quickest off the line in heat two, but Chandler dove underneath to gain the lead in turn two. Pioneer Truck Lines/Hi-Point/Sutter/Storz/Diamond-backed Alex Jorgensen was initially third, but Tim Mertens slid by before the completion of the first go-around. Jorgy came screaming back, and the race for third was on. While Chandler With a 15-rider main event, only one person transferred from each of two 10-lap semis. Morehead and Menens jumped to the front when the first' semi got underway. Mertens took over, only to have Morehead regain first a couple turns later. Menens came back in turns one/two again, then experienced engine failure on the back straight, and pulled aside entering turn three, giving Morehead the clear advanlage over Sweet and Don Estep. Things looked to be over until Boody put on a charge from fourth after the half· way point. He maneuvered past Estep, then Sweet. With the laps counting down, Boody closed on Morehead. On the final circuit, Boody got alongside Morehead in turn three, then got a superior drive exiting turn four to talc.e the win by a wheel over Morehead, Sweet and Estep. Day wasted little time in getting to the front of the second semi, where he was joined on lap three by Chad Felicio, who started off in fifth. Day and Felicio ran 1-2 to the checkered flag, with rookies Aaron Hill and Curtis Cannon third and founh. . Last Chance Qualifier Morehead saw his [inal shot at getting into the main go away while leading the second lap - his transmission main shaft broke on the front straight, leaving him a spectator. Cannon inherited the lead over Sweet, who was soon relegated to fourth behind Felicio and Estep. Felicio made a charge at Ca'!non with two laps to go, but came up short, and Cannon (Champion Racing Products/Mike Mockbee/Carroll Racing Products/Banel's H·D/KaIGard/H-D/Simpson/ND/Daeco) earned the final berth in the main as the only rookie. Junior National A good race in the Junior main between heat-race winners Villella