Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Steve Morehead ce lebrates his National w in with di rt-tracker-turnedtuner Hank Scott. himself a 17-t im e National dirt t rack winner. Na tio na l Champion sn uc k through on th e in sid e going into turn one on th e start of th e third lap to tak e th e lead. T ed Boody a n d n ew-daddy Scott Pearson battled for third with Pete H ames cha rgi ng th rough th e field. On lap seven th e red-flag came ou t w hen Da vid Mill er cras hed in turn one. T he si ngle-file resta rt saw Ha m es m ake a major m istake, jumping past Parker on the sta rt and being sent to th e rear of th e field. With four la p s to g o, Shobert led Parker , Pearso n and Bood y with Hames. agai n cha rg ing through the field. . The fina l order read: Shobert, Parker and Pearson taki ng th e direct route with Bood y. Eric Rausch and Ha mes fi nis h ing fo urth , fift h a nd sixth. Shobert had turned his last two la ps in th e 24-seco nd ra nge, but had no cha nce for fast heat because o f the red-flag . Fas t heat instea d went to Jones. Semis Springst een ga ve th e fan s a glimse of th e p ast in th e fir st IO- Iap ~emi and th e large cro wd loved it. Springer started third behind Rand y Texter and Davis, butby th e fourth lap h e wa s in th e lead and pulling away. The battle for seco nd intensified with J o n Cornwell battling T exter and Davi s for th e spot. Cornwell crashed o n th e seventh lap, T ext er slid o ff th e groove a nd sudde n ly it was Hill in seco nd, a spo t h e held to th e finish . " Abo u t th e best I' ve felt a ll year," Spring st een said. " We 've go t i t working great." Th e seco n d se m i saw H am es nail ing down th e h ol esh ot with Rausch directl y beh ind. Chandler wa s third a n d th en seco nd wh en Rausch slid off th e groove. Bood y was a t th e back o f th e pack. Ch andler hounded Hames for th e full \0 laps, but co u ld n' t ge t aroun d th e Simi Valley, California resid ent. Chand ler wo u ld now go to th e Last Chance Qualifier. Last Chance Qualifier Hill grabbed th e LCQ h o leshot, bu t Ch andler didn 't waste any time in taking over th e lead. It wa s o ne th e Freddie Spencer/SuperTrapp/ Arai / Be l - R a y /ERC /N D / RK / Nankai -sponsored rider didn't relinquish , as he took th e fin al transfer to th e Nati onal. Hill held o n for seco nd p lace with Davis third and Boody fourth. Junior National First he at race winner Chance Darling put his H-D/R.S.V.P/R&B Racing/ Ara i/Motorcycle Spec./CastroI/WD-40/Ton y Holt-sponsored Harley-Davidson into th e lead a t th e sta rt of th e Junior National. Secondyear Jun ior Bryan Villell a held down seco nd a nd was chasing Darlin g as th ose two p u lled away fr om th e field. Brian Ca ron was th ird with Kris Kiser fourth, ba ttl ing with Kevi n At herton, who wou ld lat er slip ba ck af ter getting off th e gr oove. Vill ella was a p p lying th e h eat to Darling before making a mistake a n d sl ipping th e gr oove on th e sevent h lap. Darl ing got so me br eathing room, but he too slip ped th e groove, gi ving Villella th e cha nce he needed. Villella got by in turn four o n th e n imh of 12 laps to tak e th e lead for good. It was the Pon tiac , Mi-chiga n rider 's seventh wi n of th e season o n h is Ron Wood /M C Ra cing/Tsu ba k il Chi vin g to n H o n d a / Sho ei / Cam -2/H o g Wa sh/P h il 's Cyclesponso red Wood-Rot ax . Darling h eld o n for seco nd with Caron third a nd Kiser fourth. Cr ai g Howard fini sh ed fifth . National The 20-lap National got underway with J on es nailing down th e h ol esho t. Moreh ead push ed hi s wa y through to hold down seco nd with Carr a ll th e way up to third from th e seco nd ro w. Poo vey was fourth at th e end o f th e first lap with Graham a nd Parker fifth a nd six th, respe ctiv ely. Shobert was mid-pack. "I got a prett y good sta rt, bu t a co u p le of guys stu ffed me a nd I co uld n' t ge t it back d o wn . " Th e T exan-t urn ed Ca lifo rnia resid ent said lat er. Meanwh ile, up front, Carr slipped the groove letting G raham, who had gotte n past Poovey, p ast. Moreh ead sta rted p u tt ing in tense p ress u re o n J ones as th e two' ra n arou nd o n th e p ol e. By th e sixth la p · the order read J ones, Moreh ea d , G raham , Ca rr , Poovey, Parker, Farris and Sh ob ert . Chandler was still wa y back but was pi cking h is wa y th ro ugh th e pack. One lap lat er , Moreh ead ' wa s past J ones a fter ge tt ing th e Oklahoma resid ent to slip o ff th e gr oove. " Morehead kin d of helped m e (slip off th e groove)," J ones later said. " I got back on, but it messed up my drive a nd th en Po ovey ran m e o ff in th e next co rne r. They make su re you 'r e off th e groove." By la p l 0, Moreh ead was sta rt ing to p u ll .away from Graham , whose h ard ridin g style h ad worn th e tread from th e left side of his rear Goodyea r which was m ounted on a six-inch- Terry Poovey (18) held off a ferocious cha rge from Doug Chandler (10 ) to fin ish th ird; Chandler ended up fourth despite a back row start. Chance Darling (11 F) and Bryan Villella (65 X) were t h is close f or most of the Junior National; Villella evimtually got past to take t he win . wid e rim . Poovey was third with Parker fourth and Car r Iifth . Chandler was up to eig h th and wa s sta rt in g to make his presen ce felt . Carr went down a lap la ter, alm ost taking Parker with him as he tri ed to stu ff hi s way past o n th e insid e. " I stu ffed it in a nd th e br ak es weren 't wo rking well ," Carr sa id lat er. "It was either tak e out m y teammate or me on ly. I op ted for m e on ly." Carr rem ounted to finish 14th. T he kind tho ugh t d idn 't sto p Parker from becoming visabl y upset as he threw his helmet ' in th e back o f hi s van while cursi ng a fter th e Na tio na l. Carr later apologised a nd a ll is now well again with Tea m H arley-David son. Wi th Park er taken o ff th e groove, Farris and Chan d ler took advantage to move into fourth a nd fifth. Parker was six th with Shobert seventh . Shobert got by Parker a lap lat er a n d o n lap 13 Farris slid off th e groove a llowing both Chandler a nd Shobert to move past. By th e 16th lap o f th e 20-la p National , th e o rder was set. Mo reh ead held a co m ma ndin g lead over Graham , wh o in turn was a safe seco nd over th e Poovey, Cha nd ler (w ho had co me from 15th, a nd th e third row ), Shobert duel. Farris held o ff Parker an d th e lu ckless J ones. Hames and Pears on rounded o u t the top 10, with Springsteen fini sh ing 11th. T he top th ree rid er s used G oodyear tires, fro nt a nd rear. " Morehead 's one h ell o f a motorcycle racer," Poovey sai d. " O n that firs t lap he ca me all th e way o u t of th at motorcycle and saved it . . . . I co u ld n' t stay on th e groove in th e middle of three. I kn ew he (Ch an d ler) was th ere and I didn 't want to screw up. My brother built th e eng in e a nd I'd lik e to thank hi m. T h is ends a "lo ng dry spell ; it's fi na lly co m in g back a little.": Graham wa s a n unlikely seco nd ; g iven th e type of track co nd itio ns a t H amburg . " I ' m happy wi th a seco nd here," he said. "S lippery grooves ar en ' t m y thing." " I had no p roblem s," th e 32-yearo ld Moreh ead said. " Not wit h Hank Scott making a few ad jus tme nts a fter the heat race. I bird-dogged Ronnie a nd that was it." Chandler was happy to b- lUt o f , H amburg a n d on his way h ome. " I was a lwa ys in the righ t spot at the right time in th e National ," he sai d. Resu lts • 20-LAP NATIONAL: 1. St eve M orehe ad (H-O); 2. Ricky Gra ham IHon); 3. Terry Poovey (Han); 4. Doug Chandler (Han); 5. Bubba Shoben (Han); 6. Rodney Farr is (Han ); 7 . Scon Parker (H-O); 8 . Ronnie Jones (Han); 9. Pete Hames (H-D); 10. Scan Pearson (Han); 1 1. Jay Springsteen (H· D); 12. Brian Atheno n (H- D); 13 . Tim Men ens (H-D); 14 . Chris Car r (H· D); 15 . Dan Ingram (Hon). 12-LA PJUNIOR NATIONAL: 1. Bryan Villella (WR)~ 2. Chance Darli ng (H-D); 3. Brian Caron (Han); 4 . Kris Kiser (Han); 5. Craig How ard (W-R); 6. W illie Mc Coy (H-D); 7. Erik Graybeal (W-R); B. J on Nunez (W· R); 9. Craig Estell e (H·D); 10. Kevin Ath enon (W-R); 11. Willia m New kirk (H· D); 12. J ean Bourret (H-D). AMA GRAND NATIONAL DIRT TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bubba Shoben (161); 2. Doug Chan dler (I 51 ); 3. Scan Parker(149); 4. Ricky Grah am (137); 5. Chris Carr (I 33); 6. Ronnie Jones . (110 ); 7. Scott Pearson (87); 8. Terry Poovey (86); 9. Don Estep (64); to. Alex J orgensen (59). AMA JUNIOR DIRT TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bryan Vill ella (164 ); 2. Darell Davis (134) ; 3. Steve Aseltine (89); 4. Craig How ard (65); 5. Jon Nunez (62); 6. Scan Stump (57); 7. Kevin Athen on 156) 8. Chance Darling (54); 9. Erik ; Graybeal (SO 10. Kris Kiser (47). ); 7

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