Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ m .... t- oo ~ 0 '" 0(') ~ (1) ..c S .... (1) 0.. (1) cr; Teammates Hank Scott (14) and Steve Morehead (42) diced in their heat race. Morehead was 10th in the National; Scott DNF. On his way to his sixth San Jose victory. Shobert (1) takes the outside line while Pamer (11) leads Carr and Chandler on the inside. Veteran Alex Jorgensen turned in a strong ride to finish fifth. Jorgensen . advanced to the National by winning the first semi. crossed the line together after 10 laps of furious racing that saw Arnaiz, Brian Atherton and Boody in the hunt at times. When jones and Pearson crossed the finish line it appeared to be a tie to the naked eye and after a leng-thy review of the Cycle News Finish Line Camera's videotape it proved to be just that. Araiz and Boody finished third and fourth, respectively. Last Chance Qualifier Billy Herndon pulled the holeshot at the start of the LCQ that would advance just the winner to the National, but the charge into turn one on the opening lap saw Brian Atherton and his Harley sail into the hay bales. The red £lag carne out and a lengthy delay ensued as medical personnel treated Atherton who reportedly suffered a broken wrist and broken ribs. The restart saw Hames pull the holeshot and lead laps one and two. lt was Herndon out front on the next five laps, closely pursued by Hames and Boody. On lap seven Boody came by the starter pointing at Hames and on lap nine both Boody and Herndon had dropped back from Hames, who went on to lead them across the finish line. lt turned out that Hames' Harley had been spraying oil and he was disqualified. Hames argued the decision and felt that since he wasn't black flagged, he had officially won. ].B, Norris, the head of AMA dirt track racing, said, "You black £lag a rider to pull him in and see if there is a problem. If there is you can pull him out of the race. While we didn't black £lag Hames, it was apparent that he had been spraying oU not only on Boody and Herndon but on the track as well." That became evident when the racing was delayed while the track crew worked to clean up oil in rums three-four. The decision transferred Boody to the National and Hames to the roie of spectator. Junior Support ~ace junior class riders did their thing at San jose although not in a junior National Championship category. As has been the case so many times this year, it was Michigan's Bryan Villella who was the class of the yellow plate riders. Woods-Rotax rider ViUella handily won his heat and the final which was red flagged on lap eight after Chance Darling had gone down, uninjured, in turn four. junior National Champion Villella announced that he would vacate the junior ranks and compete at . Ascot the following week as an Expert. Ronnie Jones (16) and Scott Pearson (95) battled in a semi and produced the first tie ever recorded by the Cycle News Finish Line Camera. National The 25-lap National field gridded with Parker on the pole and Chandler, Carr, Shobert, Morehead and Graham joining him on the front row; Eklund, Day, SCOlt, Poovey, Filice and Howard on row two; jorgensen, jones, Pearson, Farris and Boody on row three. Parker was first off the line at the flash of the green starting light and the usual shuffling for position saw some contact made as the 17 riders charged into and through turns one and two. "Bubba and I made contact at the start and that got me shuffled back and I never could catch up," said Morehead, who would finish 10th. "I always wait until the board goes sideways (indicating a minimum of three seconds before the green light £lashes) to put my faceshield down," said Shobert. "For some reason I barely got the shield down when the light flashed and I got a poor start." As the Rolling Thunder Show roared down the front straight at the end of the opening lap the leader was Carr but he had Chandler, Parker, Pearson, Day and the rest of the field breathing down his neck. Lap two saw Filice pull out when he alertly sensed something was letting go in the bottom end. As the usual ~an jose shuffle took place a.l1. around the track, it took several laps for the front running group to establish some form of order. Carr led at the line through lap four, Parker was in front by inches on lap five, ditto Carr on laps six and seven, Parker again on lap eight, and Carr with a few feet of breathing room out front at the end oflap ]0. Shobert had overcome his "bad start" and he moved into second behind Carr on lap 10 with jorgensen, Parker and Chandler joining them to form a fast:moving quintet. Lap 10 saw Scott pull off the track wi th a f1a t tire. "The guy who mounted the tire pinched the tube and the tire went flat," said Scott. "That's the first flat tire I've had in all my years of racing." Scott began (Continued to page 39) 7

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