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/126980
As it was , the track wasn't prepped in time for a sched uled 4:30 p.m. practi ce sta rt. Foll owing delay after delay, th e main event ended a t close to 1 a.m . ~ :. .. .- ~ § Time Trials Chris Ca rr gassed hi s H arleyDavidson Moto r Co.z'Sh oei/Hobie Apparel/Hap Jon es/RS T ai ch il Mert Law will -tuned Harl ey-Davidson around th e pea-gravel-like surface in 25.637 seconds to claim the fastest time of the evening during qual ifyin g. Carr's tim e was some two seconds slower th an Grah am 's track record of 23.761 th at was set in September of 1983. Next best tim e went to Moreh ead , after earlier waving off a 26.003, with a 25.810 o n hi s Harley-Davidson. Third fastest qualifier was Ronnie J ones o n hi s RS750 Honda at 25.865. Rounding ou t th e four heat race po lesiuers was Shobert at 25.958. T he top 10 fill ed ou t with Scott Parker, Tim Mertens, Don Estep, Willy Davis , Hank Scott a nd Aaron Hil l. Forty-five Experts were on han d to fill o u t the 48 slots avai lab le. Heats Steve Morehead mastered the half mile oval at the Erie County Fairgrounds. w inning his 10th National easily. Early leader and polesitter Ronnie Jones (16) leads Morehead (42) and eventual second place finisher Ricky Graham (3 ): Jones fin ished eighth. AMAjGrand National Championship Dirt Track Series: Round 13 Morehead dominates Hamburg Half Mile By Paul Carruthers Photos by Bert Shepard HAMB URG, NY, AUG. 21 Steve "Mr. H alf Mile" Morehead used a H ank Scott-built H arley-Davidson to totally destroy the competition at the Hamburg H alf Mile , held a t the Erie County Fairgrounds. "When yo u put two old guys togetl1,er - me a n d H an k Sco tt . - we r e going to be hard to 6 beat ," a n ela ted Morehead said after hi s win in wh ich he pocketed $3595. T he Hamburg · win was More- hea.d:S second .a t the New York ? ta te faci lity a nd hi s 10th ca reer N ~tl ona l WIn with seven of those com ing o n half mil e ovals. Second place at Hamburg went to form er G rand Nati onal Ch ampion Ricky Graham. who ga ve chase to the " Find lay Flyer " before wearing o ut his rear tire. Third pl ace fell to T exa n Terry Poovey, ending a lon g droug ht wi tho u t Nati onal success for the privateer Honda pilo t. Graham received 2385 for his second p lace with Poovey pocketi ng $1550 for third. Californian Doug Cha ndler inched his way through the pack fro m his back row sta rt to fin ish fo urth with pri vateer Honda pil ot (he 's on his own a t non-Camel Pro event s) Bubba Shobert fini sh in g fifth. Sho bert was tryin g fo r his fou rth Nati onal dirt track win in a ro w. Moreh ead 's masterful win in front of more than 6000 fans was marred by th e death of lfi-year -old Darell Davi s of Bremerton, Washington. T he second-ran ked Junior rid er in th e co untry was pronounced dead on arriv al at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo after being involv ed in a four-rider cras h in th e second Junior heat race. Ca na d ia ns St eve Aseltine a n d Rona ld Beauvai s were inj ur ed in th e cras h wi t h Aseltine su ffe r ing a broken co lla rbo ne a nd brok en rib s, an d Bea uvais breaking a femur. The fo urt h rider, Mark Corsetti , was not inj ure d serio usly. • " I won thi s one for Darell Davi s," Moreh ead sa id wh en th e tragi c news came. " H e was the best up-and co mi ng rider I' ve seen yet." The H amburg facility had all the ingred ien ts for d isaster; d usty conditions, a skin ny groove a nd no room for error. '" co uld n' t see a ny th ing but a littl e bit of th eir helmets," Ch andl er sa id after the Nati onal. " It was so du sty, all you co u ld hope was that th ere was no o ne down in front of you. It 's ridicu lous." Chandler was one of the more o utspo ken of th e rid ers when it ca me to the adverse riding cond itio ns. He said he would hav e boycotted the even t if his fellow rid ers would have backed him up, but with everyo ne having their own personal convictions, Chandler seemed to be the only o ne thinking of more than himself. It is ironic that Ch andler ended up having th e rid e of the ni ght, finish ing fourth after riding in his heat race, th e semi and th e Last Chance Q ualifier. White Pigeon, Michigan's Brian Atherton was the first rider to turn one in the ope n ing l O -Iap, Expert heat race with Shoei /Marioneaux Ra cing/Hap Jones /Portco/Tsubaki-sponsored Poovey hot on his heels. Carr was third with Hank Scott la st, th e loser on what he thought was a jumped start; he lat er pulled off, turn in g hi s a ttent ions to fin e tuning Morehead 's Harley. Ca rr was pushing, but kept goi ng in too hot a nd slidi ng off th e narrow groove; into the a rea whi ch mad e sto ppi ng a mot orcycle nearl y impos sible. Poo vey pressu red Ath erton unt il finall y ta king the lead for good o n lap six. Carr contin ued to pu sh too ha rd , slidi ng off th e groove again in a n a t te m p t to ge t Ath erton. Poovey, Athe rto n a nd Carr too k the direct transfers to the National. The seco nd heat race was all Moreh ead. The KK/Lauhe's Cycle/ F&S H -D /Dra goo /J.W. Huntsponsored Harley pi lot led every lap despite ea rly pressure from Rodney Farri s. Meanwhile, a heated battle for third was shaping up betw een Dan Ingram and Estep, with Estep finally mak in g the erro r of going off the groove on lap six. Morehead, Farris a nd Ingram would transfer directly with Estep dropping back to fifth behind Jay Springs teen. Springer was faced wi th a little distress upon a rriving at the Hamburg facility. H e had no bikes. " They (his R&B Harl ey-Davidson spo nsors) just didn 't sho w toda y," said Springer, who recentl y received 30 stitches in hi s inner a nd o uter lower lip because of a fall at hi s hom e in Lapeer, Michi gan. Thus, Springst een was reunited with T eam Harl ey-Davidson as he was giv en ' Parker 's spare to race. The third heat race saw th e start of Ch andler 's struggle to mak e th e Nati onal. He, and Bryan McDow ell were sent to the pe nalty line for jumping th e start. " I think he held us a little lon g, " Chandler said la ter. Wh en th e race got rolling it" was Jones nailing th e holeshot on his Honda. Graham on the Arai/BelRay/ERC Racing Fuels/Tsubakisponsored Honda was in tow with Mertens third. Chandler ended lap one in fifth, and eventually wo uld finis h fourth , one spot shy of a di rect transfer. The top three held their posi tio ns with Jones , Graham and Mertens taking th e direct route to the . National. Pa rker got the jump on Shobert in the final heat race, but th e Grand