Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a a ~ Ricky Graham (3) set the pace early in the National for Estep (64) and veteran Alex Jorgensen (44). Graham finished fourth. Team Honda's Bubba Shobert (1) followed Harley-Davidson's Chris Carr (20) for most of the race, then passed him with two laps to go . Sh obert powered h is American Ho nda /R.S. Taichi / Tsu ba ki l Kerker /Dennis Ki r k/Hondal inel Bell Hon da to an easy wi n in th e fourth Expert heat ra ce, the slo west of th e afternoo n. Factory H ar ley . pilot Parker battled wi th privateer Don Estep of Ohio for th e fu ll 10 laps before clai mi ng second. Estep finished a clo se third. Semis . Wood Rotax-rider David Durelle of Minnesota got ou t of shape at the start of the first 10-lap, Expert semi, flew off hi s motorcycle and was struck ab out th e head and shou lders in midair by Tim Stults' H onda. He was airlifted to St. Francis Hospital in Peo ria and admitted to the neurospecial care unit. Californian Keith Day nabbed the holeshot a t th e restart with Illinois rider Mertens on his tail. Mertens took the lead on lap four as the duo pulled awa y from the pack, but dropped o ut on lap six with probable ignition problems . Day went on to an easy win, wh ile Rodney Farris passed T ed Boody on the final lap to tak e second and th e ticket to the Na tional. Rotax rider Rick Weir nabbed the holeshot in the second semi a nd held th e lead until Mike Farley tumbled end over en d off the jump on la p three to bring out the red flag. Farley was unhurt but failed to restart the race. Hud Ra cing's Bill y Herndon of T exas took th e lead after th e si ngle -file rest a rt , wh il e fellow Texan Po ovey powered into second, dropping Weir to third. Herndon won th e race a nd Poove y took the last transfer. Last Chance Qualifier TT specialist Mickey Fay nabbed the hol eshot in the LCQ wi th Chad Feli cio of California on hi s tai l. Felicio pressured Fay for seven laps, then powered hi s Doug O'Brianl ERC/ Sh oei/Hi-Point/Sudco /Tsu bak ilKa l-G ard /Torco H onda around Fay on lap eig ht. Feli co won the race to claim th e fin al slo t in th e main event. Camel Challenge H oleshot artist Pearson lived up to his rep utatio n at the sta rt of th e six- ri der, five-lap Camel Challen ge, powering i n to turn o ne with Chandler , Carr, Shobert , Parker and J orgensen in p ursu it, Sh ob ert mo ved from fourth to second by th e time th e field cleared the jump for th e first tim e and fin ally passed leader Pearson on the fron t strai ght at th e beginning of lap three; Chandler and Carr followed. Chandler , to use the words . o f a nno uncer Dave Despain, "crashed th ree times and never fell 0 (£ th e motorcycle," when he got out . of shape over th e jump on lap th ree. Ch andler and Carr went over th e jump side by side and Chandler didn 't have room to set up for the right hand turn which followed. Chandler landed totally out of control but som ehow managed to save it. " It wasn 't much fun riding that sucker out," he said. " I didn 't make th e turn at the top of th e jump and when I came down it was instant tank slap per. That sure slowed me do wn." Carr powered around Pearson and Jorgensen on the final lap, th en j ust nipped leader Shobert as the duo cro ssed th e start/fin ish line. Pearson took th ird; Jorgensen, Parker and Chandler filled out th e field. Former National Champion Mert Lawwill, who tu nes for Carr, was im pressed. "That was outstanding," he said. " I thought, 'you can't do that much in o ne lap, can you?' He did iL" " I j ust did like Morehead and left my bra ins in th e toolbox," said an elat ed Carr. " It's m y own fault- (Carr got aro u nd)," said Shobert . " I was rid in g like I had 25 la ps." National Ch andler led the 17-rider field into turn o ne at the start of th e 25-la p feature race. He was followed by Shobert, Carr, Eklund, Ha mes, J ones, Pearson, Gra ham, Estep and J orgen sen . Carr, who was getting an excellent drive off tu rn fo ur, tak ing h is Har ley to th e extreme o uts ide, almo st to the grass, passed Shobert going into turn one on lap five, the n got around leader Chandl er enteri ng th e same Third place Ronnie Jones, Miss Camel Pro. Galia Gomez, Shobert and Carr celebrated the fruits of victory in Peoria's winner's circle. turn on the next go-around. Jorgensen dropped out on lap five with reported engine trouble. At th e end of lap six, Carr led Chandler, Shobert, Jones, Eklund, Graham, Pearson, Estep, Parker , Hames, Poovey, Farris and Day. Shobert, who knew he had to get around Chandler or Carr wo uld ge t aw ay, passed the Freddie Sp encerl SuperTrapp pilot on la p seven , pulled up on Carr little by little and was on th e H arley rider' s rear fender at th e comp letion of lap 10. H e sat in second p lace' and-waited for Carr to wear himself do wn or make a mi stak e. On lap IS, Carr still led Sh obert and the duo had pulled away from th e pack. Chandler held down th ird a nd Jones was fourth, ' whi le Graham, ridi ng an Arai/ Bel-Ray / ER CI Tsuba ki H onda, had passed Eklund to stea l fifth . Ek lu n d, a board a Gardnerl Arai/Craig Rogers Const'! Kal -G ard/Castro llO ' N eallIn terLink H arley, held o n to sixth, ahead of Estep and Pea rson, Parker was runnin g a dista nt ni nth. H ames, in 10th , well behind Parker, was leading Farris, Day and Kin g. Shobert, who had faded by severa l bike lengths at m id-race, closed on Carr a~i n by lap 19, using Carr's o wn hi gh line out of turn four to reel in th e H arley rid er. By th e end of lap 20 Shober t was all over th e . factory H ar ley. Chandler dropped out o n lap 20 when his H o nda threw a chain landing 0 (£ th e jump, and Pear son retired on the 21st lap wh en hi s H onda threw a rod. Sh obert sailed past Carr over th e jump on lap 23 and used th e final laps and the high line out of tum four to pull away. Ca rr could do little but settle for second, while Jones motored home in th ird. Rounding out th e rider s who finished th e 25 laps were Graham, Ekl und, Estep, Parker, Hames, Farris, and Day. Finishing a lap down wer e King, Poovey, Felicio a n d Herndon. Pearson was credited with 15th, Chandler took 16th and J orgensen finished 17th. " They were getting a little bette r drive going up high so I moved up to their line, sta rted bouncing around and they go t away," said Jones. " Maybe I should have stay ed wh ere I was at," •. Results 25 -lAP NATIONA L: 1. Bubba Shobert (Han); 2. Chr is Carr (H·D); 3. Ronnia J ones (Han); 4. Ricky Gra ham (Han); 5. Steve Eklund (H- D); 6. Don Estep (W-R); 7 . Scott Parker (H-D); 8. Pete Hames (HD); 9. Rodney Farris (Han); 10. Keith Dey (Han); 11. Rich King (Han); 12 . Terry Poovey (Han); 13. Chad Felic ia (Han); 14. Bill y Herndon ( H- D ~ 15. Scott Pear!lon (Han); 16. Doug Chandler (Han); 17. Alex Jorgensen (W -R). 5- LAP CAME L CHALLENGE: 1. Chr is Carr (H· D); 2. Buoba Shobert (Han); 3 . Scott Pearson (Han); 4. Ale . Jorgensen (W-R); 5. Scott Parker (H-D); 6. Doug Chandler (Han). AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DIRT TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS : 1. Bubba Shobert (lS I); 2. Scott Parker (14 1); 3. Doug Chandle r (140); 4. Chris Carr (132); 5. Rickly Grah am (121 ); 6. Ronni e Jones (103); 7. Scott Pearson (82 ); 8. Terry Poovey (73); 9. Don Est ep (64); 10 . Ale. Jorgensen (59); 11 . Ted Boody (49); 12. Steve Eklund (48); 13. Steve Morehead (38); 14 . Pete Hames (35); 15. Rich King (33); 16. Sammy Sweet (31); 17. Rodney Farris (22); 18. Hank Scott (20); 19. Tim Mert ens (18); 20 . J immy Fili ce (17). AM AICAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bubba Shob ert (156); 2. Wayne Raine y (124); 3. Kevin schwantz (I 12); 4. Doug Chandl er (105); 5. Dou g Polen (67); 6. Scott Parker (60); 7. Dan Chivingto n (54); 8. Chris Carr (52); 9. Ricky Graham (SO); 10. Gary Goodfell ow (37); 11. Jim my Fil ice (35); 12 . Reuben McMurter (34); 13. Terry Poovey (28); 14 . Ronnie Jones (27); 15. Jeff Farmer (26 ); 16 . (TIE) Larry Short s/ Don Estep (25); 18. Ted Boody (2 I); 19. Ale. Jorgensen (20); 20. Pete Hames (18 ); 7

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