Graham (3) and Chris Carr (20) dueled for second in their heat race,
. with Graham claiming the spot. Carr went on to finish second in the main.
lap five. Chandrer and Pearson
cruised to first and second, respectively, while Garvis Honda Town's
Rich King and Harley-mounted
George Roeder battled for third.
King topped Roeder for the last
transfer spot.
The second heat race belonged to
Texan Sammy Sweet and his Carl
Patrick Harley. Gardner Racing's
Hames nabbed the holeshot aboard
his Harley-Davidson, but Sweet got
by on lap two and never looked back.
Hames held secon!I until lap six
when his Gardner Racing teammate,
Steve Eklund, powered around to
take the spot. The three direct
transfer poSItions held to the firiish,
while semi-bound Poovey topped a
race-long battle with Randy Texter
for fourth.
Shoben took the third 10-lap
Expert heat race aboard his Skip
Eaken/Ray Plumb-tuned, American
Honda RS750. The defending champion won with a wire-to-wire ride
that was five seconds faster than
either of the two previous heats
(Shoben's time was 4: 14. 743)." Second
was held from start to finish by
Harley-mounted Doug Davis of
Ohio; while Michigan's Parker
bumped William Davis to fourth on
lap four to claim the last direct
transfer into the main event.
Jones, riding a GF Racing/Gill!
Shoei/Megacycle/Knight/Stump
lns./Racecrafters Honda, nailed the
holeshot in heat four and held the
lead for the full 10 laps. Jones
finished the second fastest heat of the
night two seconds o££ Shoben's pace.
Carr, on his H-D Motor Co/Shoeil
Hohie/Hap Jones/RS Tachi HarleyDavidson, and two-time National
Champion Ricky Graham had a
fierce battle for second which saw
Graham claim the runner-up spot on
the last lap. Graham held down
second Lor the first three laps. Carr
took over on lap four and appeared
to be holding Graham off until he
bobbled coming out of the slick, wet
turn four on I eight and Graham
closed the gap. Graham then made
a daring, inside pass on Carr ~oing
into tUTn three on lap 10 and It was
all over. Carr held on to take the final
transfer position to the main.
Semis
The first 10-lap Expen semi was
an all-out war between Harley pilots
Randy Texter of Pennsylvania and
Roeder of Ohio, with Texter coming
out 00 top. The two riders rode sideby-side for the entire race, drafting
each other constantly on the straights
and trading the lead in almost every
turn. Since only the first place rider
in each semi transferred to the final,
Roeder was forced - by inches -into
the Last Chance Qualifier.
Old Pro Alex Jorgensen overcame
a terrible start to win the second 10lap Expert semi and earn a berth in
the main event. He worked through
traHic and into second by lap four,
then powered around Indiana's Dan
Ingram for the lead with an outside
pass in turn four on lap five. Jorgensen and his Pioneer Truck Lines
Honda held on to the flag.
Last Chance Qualifier
800dy, who had been running just
out of a transfer spot alJ night long,
suffered a poor stan at the beginning
of the Last Chance Qualifier and
began carving his Alai/Hud Racing/FoxiMegacycle/BeI-Ray Honda
through tra££ic. By the end of the first
lap he was in third place. He moved
into second on lap two, took the lead
away from Brian Bonesteel in turn
three on lap three and held it until
the end on lap 10 to claim the last
spot on the National starting grid.
"Last night (during an eastern
regionaJ race at West Virginia Motor
Speedway) we thought we had it
dialed," Boody said. "We thought
we'd make a few changes and be right
in the hunt. We made a few changes
and it took us out of the hunt. It
took us until the Last Chance race
to get it back into the hunt."
Camel Challenge
Morehead made the Camel Challege start by pulling a cam out of
his spare bike, even though it wasn't
exactly the same type cam, and
running the race with a bent valve.
Shobert was o££ the line arid away
the moment the green light £lashed.
Morehead was after him but couldn't
keep pace with the factory Honda.
Morehead used his "flat-running"
Harley, however, to pull away from
a third place fight beTween Rainey
and Don Estep.
Jorgensen bumr.ed Este~ to fifth
on lap three, whIle Day etrculated
in sixth. Shoben won by the length
of half a straighTaway, and Morehead
finished in second with the same
margin. Rainey took third just ahead
of Jorgensen, while Estep edged Day
for fifth.
-,
"The Camel Challenge is a real
excitin~ race," said Shobert. "I'm
glad I fmally won one."
"He's the best motorcycle racer in
the U.S. today," said Morehead of
Shobert. "We took the cam out of
oUT spare bike and plugged it in. It
was a little £.Iat, but we just got beat."
Harley Davidson's Scott Parker took a third place finish, letting him gain
a few points on the AMA Dirt Track Series point leader, Doug Chandler.
National
Shoben continued his hoJeshot
success in the 20-lap main event,
leading Chandler and Doug Davis
into the first tUTn. Parker started well
back, out of the top 10, and Boody
was barely into the top 10 from a
row three start. At the end of lap one,
Shobert was pulling away £rom
Chandler, Davis, Carr, Hames and
Sweet.
Shobert ran away with the race,
leading from pole-to-pole exactly
like he did in 1980. He put his Honda
out front and powered away.
Carr moved into second on lap six,
using a low, inside line to pass
Chandler, and held onto the runnerup spot an the way to the flag.
Chandler, who had chosen the
wrong front tire for the final, began
to slip backward in the.£ield.
By the midway point, Boody and
Parker had raced into fifth and
seventh, respectively. The two veteran dirt trackers were using the high
line to carve through tra££ic. At the
end of 10-laps the order read: Shobert, Carr, Chandler, Doug Davis,
Boody, Jones, Parker and Graham.
Boody powered past Davis on lap
12, and passed Chandler on lap 14
to take over third. Parker, who had
been following Boody through traffic, bumped Chandler to fifth on lap
15.
By lap 18, Parker put his Bill
Werner-tuned, H-D Motor Co.!
Tsubaki/Bel-J/SuperTrapp factory
Harley around Boody and mto third.
Jones had bumped Chandler to
sixth, ahead of Graham and Davis.
On lap 20, Shobert took the
checkers with a straightaway to
spare, while Carr, who stuck to his
tight inside line throughout the race,
finished second with a comfortable
margin over Parker. Boody and
. Jones finished a close fourth and
fifth, with Jones running the entire
race without brakes.
"We had the right combination.
Everything we did turned to gold,"
said Shobert. "Sometimes you hit
them like that."
"Bubba· was out there all by
himself"iIe was flat getting it," said
Carr: "The bike was working so good
down on the bottom I didn't want
to go up and risk the position 1 had.
1 played it cool and rode to second.
It's the smartest thing I could have
done. Bubba's got this place dialed."
"I don't know if there was one lap
where 1 didn't almost get oU," said
Parker (left) and Carr (right) give
Shobert a champagne shower in
the winner's circle.
Parker. "I got a bad start and knew
what 1 had to do - go fast. 1 wish
1 could have got o££ with them, but
I'm happy with third. 1 knew I had
to beat Doug (Chandler) and I did."
"We just outguessed ourselves. We
should have stayed with what we
had," said Chandler. "I had problems last night running a big tire
(Goodyear) which made the front
end stick too good. On a track like
this you need to have the front end
push, so we put on a Carlisle and
It made it a whole new motorcycle.
We put the big Goodyear back on
(for the final) and the front end just
stuck too good."
"I can't complain," Boody said.
"If I'd have been o££ with them, 1
think 1 could have run with them
- maybe even kept Bubba on the same
straight."
•
Results
20-LAP NAnONAL: 1. Bubba Shobert (Han): 2.
Chris Carr (H-D); 3. Scott Parker (H-D); 4. Ted Boody
(Honl; 5. Ronnie Jones (Honl: 6. Doug Chandler
(Han); 7. Ricky Graham (Han); B. Doug Dav;s (HD); 9. Steve Eklund (H.D); 10. Sammy Sweet (HOI; 11. Randy Te"'er (H·DI; 12. Pete Hames (HD); 13. Alex Jorgensen (Han); 14. Rich King (Han);
15. Scott Pearson (Han).
5-LAP CAMEL CHALLENGE: 1. Bubba Shobert
(Han); 2. Stave Morehead (H· D); 3. Wayne Rainey
(Han); 4. Alex Jorgensen (Han); 5. Don Estep (H·
01; 6. Keith Day (Han).
AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DIRT
TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Doug
Chandler (129); 2. Scott Parker (125); 3. Bubba
Shobert (111); 4. Chris Carr (107): 5. Ricky Graham
(94): 6. Ronnie Jones (881; 7. Scott Pearson (82);
8. Tarry Poovey·(SOI; 9. Don Estep (55); 10. Ted
Boody (49).
CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. (TIE)
Bubba Shobert/Wayne Rainey (92); 3. Doug
Chandler (75); 4. Kevin Schwant> (72): 5. Doug
Polen (47); 6. Scott Parker (44k 7. Den Chivington
(39); 8. Rueben McMurter (32); 9. Gary Goodfellow
(28); 10. Chris Carr (27).
