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/126963
Kevin Schwantz celebrates his $10,000 w in in the five-lap Camel Cha llenge; Shobert held off Rainey, w ho earned $2500 for second. Team Honda's Wayne Rainey pops the cork after winning the National; Miss Road Atlanta and Schwantz look on . " We made it hit a little harder and i t was spi n ni ng , R a in ey' s mech anic, Spa rky Ed mo ns to n , said. National Yamaha-mounted Jeff Farmer (86) held off M ike Harth (88) early on in the f inal, but Harth moved past to take fifth place on his Suzuki. seconds ahead of Jeffrey Farmer. ' Russ Pa ulk crashed under the bridge in turn II , but was uni njured. Missing from heat two actio n was Gary Good fe l low. T he N ew Zeal ander -turned Ca nada resident crashed in practice, and although he was u n h urt, flew ba ck to Vancouver. Camel Challenge Schwantz bagged t he ho lesh o t in the five-lap, das h for cash known as the $17,500 Camel Challenge. R,!i- . ney tried the outside in turn one , but cou ld n' t get past. After the first la p , th e duel ing Schwantz and Ra in ey led third -p laced Dan Ch iving to n by 5.2 seconds. Randy Renfro w su ffered what he described as the worst crash of his career in th e fastest sectio n of th e co urse, turn 10. " I just lost con tro l a t the top of the hill and co uldn ' t get it back," he sai d. " I couldn't get back on the seat and I co uld n't find the brake levers. Wh en I was ' la yin g there I thoug ht, 'Oh man . p lease let me wriggle m y toes.' I too k inventory a nd laid th ere for a lap or two. I' ve never fall en lik e th a t." O ne rac e la ter, Ren fro w went o ut and wo n the Castrol 250cc Grand Pri x class. Try as he might, Rainey ould n't find a wa y arou nd Sch wa nt z a nd the 23-yea r-o ld T exan was sudden ly 10,000 ri ch er ; Rain ey co llec ted $2500 for seco nd. Chivington ($2000) finished third, wi th Farmer ($ 1500) fourth a nd O ttis La nce ($1000) fifth. Ren fro w took a hard-earn ed $500. " I got a good start and mad e a few mi stak es, but I kep t Wayne behind me ," Schwantz said. " I h it a co u ple of cu rbs and I never go t good a nd smooth. I just never rea lly go t seuled in. " . " We mad e so me cha nges that didn 't work, so we' ll go back to wha t we had ," Ra iney sai d. No t surprisi ngly, Ren fro w was n 't on the grid as th e pa ck flew int o tu rn one a t the sta rt of th e National. It was Rai ney lead ing Schwan tz, fo llowed by Chivingto n and Sho bert. At th e end of the first lap , Ra iney led , but Sch wa ntz dove un der th e form er Superbike cha mpio n goi ng into tum o ne. The second lap saw the du o turn a 1:27.9. a nd Sch wa ntz pu lled clea r a little. T hat didn 't last and soo n Ra in ey was ri ght there aga in , lead in g as th ey crossed th e line to end lap three. By the end o f five, the lead in g two led Shobert and Chivin gton by 15.7 seco n ds . Suzuki -mo unt ed Larry Sho rts was fifth and closing on the Shobert/Chi vington duel. H arth Racin g/Jessie Bu rgher/ NGK/ Fox/ Ts ubaki / Wiseco / Cyc le Perform an ce-sponsor ed Harth a nd Fanner were next with d irt ' tra cker Freddie Spencer/S uperTrap p Ra cin g 's Doug Chandler holding do wn eigh th. On thestart of lap eig h t, Sch wa n tz had pu lled clea r of Rainey. Meanwhile, Sho rts dov e under Shobert in turn o ne a nd closed qui ck ly o n. Ch iving to n. T hose three battled for six laps befor e Shorts disappeared wi th ignition p roblem s. At the end of lap 10, Schwantz had 1.7 seco nds o n Rainey. T ha t eva pora ted o n lap II a nd Rainey was back in business. Schwa n tz agai n opened u p a lead tha t look ed like it would hold to the fin ish on la p 16, bu t he lost the adva nt age when he ra n o ff the track. " I went off into the dirt in turn three," Schwa n tz said. " Wayne go t by and the n there were too many lapped ri ders. I mad e a mi sta ke a nd it cost us a win." Rainey took over from th ere a nd despite desperate a ttem p ts, Schwantz cou ld n 't co u nte r. Wh ile th e ba ttle up front was heated , Sh obert had d isposed of Ch ivin gton and had a lonel y ride to the finish. Fifth p lace went to Harth wi th Farmer six th .a nd Ch andler seventh, th e dirt tracker add ing to h is Ca me l Pro po int to tal. Shobert, who doesn ' t give him self the credit he deserves as a roa d racer, sai d, " T hey did a good job of setting th e bike up for a beginner and it worked. I rode m y own pace a nd only had one scare wh en I ra n wide to mi ss a guy with a blown engi ne and hit some oil." Ch iv in gt on kn ew Sh obert was going to get th e better of him. " It was fun, but I knew I was beat ," he said. " He sho wed me wh at ' he ha d." For a ha p p y Rain ey it was win number two in 1987, and th e Honda factory pilot pocketed $3510 for hi s effort s. " We were both having the same p roblem s ge tting into the tu rn s," Ra iney sai d. " H e was di vin g un der, bu t I just let him go . It was worki ng h is sus pe nsion real hard and he could n ' t ge t o ut of the corne rs good. We both had traff ic. H e got me in some spots a nd I go t hi m in others . It went both ways. • ''I' m happy." Results SUPERBIKE: t . Wayn e Rainey (Hon): 2. Kevin Sehwa ntz (Suz); 3. Bubba Shobert (Hon); 4. Dan Chi vingt on (Hon); 5. Mik e Harth (Suz); 6. J eff Farmer (Yam); 7. Doug Chandler (Hon); B. Rueben MeMurter (Yam); 9. Doug Brauneck (Suz); 10. Ottis Lance (Suz); 11. Tommy Sloan (Yam); 12. Dean Sw ims (Suz); 13. Mark Chin (Yam); 14. Phil ip Berke (Yam); 15. Doug W helan (Yam); 16. David Reed (Yam); 17. Sam uel Burrough s (Suz); l B. St eve Nardiello (Suz); 19. Paul Schwem mer (Hon); 20. Jo hn Jacob (Yam). AMA SUPERBIKE POINT STANDINGS; 1. Wayne Rainey (40 ): 2. Reuben MeMurter (1B): 3. (TIE) Satoshi Tsujimoto/Kevin Schwantz (16); 5. (TIE) Doug Polen/ Bubba Shoben (13); 7 . Dan Chivington (11); 8. (TIE)Gary Goodfellow / Mik e Harth (1O ~ 10. : (TIE)J ohn A shmead/ J eff Far mer (9); 12. (TIE)Scott Cantr ell /Doug Chand ler (8); 14. Lance Jones (7); 15. (TIE)Larry Shorts /Doug Braun eck (6); 17. Ott is Lance (5); l B. Tommy Sloan (4 ); 19. Dean Sw ims (3); 20 . (TIE) Russell Paulk/Ma rk Chin (2). AM A/CAME L PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: t , Wayne Rainey (40); 2. Bubba Shobert (29); 3. Doug Chandler (2B); 4. Ruban MeMurter (1BI); 5. (TIE) Satoshi Tsujimoto/Kevin Sehwantz (16); 7. (TIE) Doug Polen/R icky Graham (13); 9. (TIE) Scott Park er /D an Chivingt on (11); 11 . (TIE) Gary GoodfellowlTerry Poovey/Mike Hart h (10); 14. (TIE}John As hmead/Steve Morehead/ Jeff Farmer ( 9~ 17. (TIE) Scott Cantr ell /Pete Hames (BI; 19. (TIEl Lance Jo nes/Scott Pearson (7).