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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126979
Chandler (10) led Shobert (1 ), Carr (20) and Eklund at the start. The entire National field was mounted on 600cc single cylinder motorcycles. Don Estep (64) and Scott Parker (11 ) were styling over Peoria's back straight jump as they fought for sixth place; Estep came out on top. AMAjGrand National Championship Dirt Track SeriesLCamel Pro Series: Rounds 121-12 Shobert sets record pace in Peoria 1T By Farren W illiams Photos by Bert Shepard PEORIA, IL, AUG. 16 T eam H onda 's Don " Bubba" Shober t came out on top of a race-long battle with H arleyDavidson's Chris Carr to claim a recordsetting vic tory a t the 39th ru n ning of the Peoria TT, held before 9000 race fans in the hills of central Illinois. Shobert finis he d the 25-lap 6 feature race in II minutes, 17.391 seconds, breaki ng the old mark of 11:18.458, set by R icky Graham in 1984. The victory marked Shobert's 30th career National win, his fifth win of the season, his second straight win in Peoria and his third National dirt track victory in a row. After the two fa ctory riders motored around early-leader Doug Chandler, Shobert hounded Carr for most of the feature race, then sailed by the talented youngster on lap 23 wi th a midair pass over Peoria's high-speed, back straight jump. Oklahoma's Ronnie Jones finished third, two-time National Champion Graham claimed fourth and former National champ Steve Eklund, who has won more National TTs than anyone, rounded out the top five. "I knew he wouldn't make any mistakes early, so I hung around and pressured him," said Shobert. "He started looking back a lot and I was glad because I knew that would screw him up." " I made some poor strategy choices," Carr said. "I got out in the lead early and showed him (Shobert) the way around, then I wore myself out trying to pull away from him." Carr won the exciting, five-lap, $17,500 Camel Callenge sprint race between the top six qualifiers by powering from fourth to first on the fina l lap. Shobert finished second and California's Scott Pearson took third. Shobert's win gave him commanding leads in bo th the Camel Pro Series an d Dirt Track Series point sta ndings. He now leads road racer Wayne Rainey (a no-show at Peoria) 156-124 in the Camel P ro standings, and holds a 151-141 edge over Team Harley's Scott Parker in the Dirt Track Series standings. The big loser at Peoria was Chandler, who went into the race with the dirt track point lead, but he dropped to third p lace with 140 points when he failed to finish the final. " T h e chain came off over the jump;" Chandler said. " When you have stuff like this happen at the end of the year it's almost impossible to overcome. It almost guarantees Bubba the championship." . When asked if he is going after both titles Shobert said, " Yeah! I'm going for it all now. I'm not going to miss anymore (dirt track) races." Shobert won about $6960 in Peo ria , including $4460 for winning the main event and $2500 for placing second in the Camel Challenge. Carr pocketed approximately $12,960; $10,000 for first in the Challenge and $2960 for second in the final. Jones' share of the $35,000 National purse came to $1930. Time Trials Chandler powered his Freddie Spencer/SuperTrapp / ArailHiPoint NankailERC/BeI-Ray/N D/ RK Chain Honda to a fast qualifying time of 26.259 seconds, rwo tenths of a second off Carr's record of 26.018, set last August. Pearson was second fastest with a 26.529 clocking, Carr had the third fastest circuit at 26.571, and Michigan's Par ker rounded out the heat race pole sitters with a 26.596. Completing the top 10 were Shobert, Alex Jorgensen, Jones, Pete Hames, Gra ham, and Canadian Jon Co rn well. Exactly 48 Experts were on hand to fill out the 48-rider program. Heats Chandler and Graham were moved to the penaIty lin e at the start of the first l O-Iap Expert heat race. Pete Hames grabbed the holesho t and was followed into tum one by Tim Mertens. By the end of lap two, Chandler had moved into third with Graham in tow. Chandler dove under Mertens in turn one on lap three an d Graham passed Mertens powering out of tum two on lap four. Hames and Chandler pulled away from Graham, and Chandler hounded Hames in every comer for the rest of the race but he could n't get by. Hames, riding a Gardner/, WaIters Bros.z'Captains Club/ Arai/ Gary 0 Harley, won the dogfight, Chandler settled for second, while Graham took third and the last transfer to the main event. Pearson was moved to the penalty line at the start of the second heat. Jones took the holeshot, followed by Rich King and Cornwell; Pearson was up to fifth by the time he exited turn two. Pearson moved into second on lap two, but he couldn't catch Jones and his GF Racin g / G il ll Shoei /Megacycle/Knight/Stump Ins.zRacecra fters Honda. They finished 1-2, while King took the final transfer position. Cornwell dropped out early with a thrown chain. The third heat, the fastest of the afternoon, was a battle fro m the word go between Carr and :£:klundoEk lund pushed Carr for the full 10laps, often riding on Carr's rear fender, but he couldn' t find a way around the H· D Motor Co/Shdeil Hobie/Hap J o nes/ R.S. Taichi Harley-Davidson. Jorgensen finished a lonely, distant third.