Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ ,. '.. 1- Bubba Shobert 111 leads Scott Parker 1111. Chris Carr 1201 and Doug Chandler 11 01 across the finish line. AMA Grand National Championship Dirt Track Series: Round 15 Shobert roll·s 'on 'at San Jose Mile By Jack Mangus Photos by Mitch Friedman Heats SAN JOSE, CA, SEPT. 20 Honda's Bubba Shobert, who clinched his third consecutive Camel Pro Series title the previous weekend, moved one step closer to locking up his third straight AMA Grand National Championship as he won the San Jose Mile by inches over Harley-Davidson £actoryteammates Scott P ill ker 6 and Chris Carr. "For some reason I ha.ve ,;,;ouble counttng down from hve, said Shoben, referring ~o the lasLfive laps of a race for WhlCh the nders are signaled by the starter. "When we got the white flag I wasn't expecting it. I was lucky to be in the right spot at the right time. I wanted to follow Chris (the leader going into the 25th and final lap) out of turn four and when Parker got by me and went to the outside" I went inside Chris and pulled it off." Shoben "pulled it off' by drafting by Carr for the win, his 32nd Grand National victory which puts him one shy of tying Kenny Roberts for second on the all-Lime win list and eight behind Jay Springsteen who has logged 40 career victories. Pro San Jose Mile in May, was third fastest at 36.673. Only the top seven riders were in the 36-second bracket and in addition to Carr, Farris and Chandler, they were Steve Morehead, Parker, Tim Mertens and Shobert. Pete Hames, Jim Filice and Keith Day rounded out the top 10. The final qualifying spot, 47th, went to Robert Damron with a lap at 39.926 seconds. Appropriately, Carr was presented a clock plaque with which to' keep track of time, courtesy of San Jose Honda. WiLh just two rounds remaining, the September 26 Ascot HaH ~ile and the October 3· Sacramento MlIe, Shoben has 201 POInts, and only Parker with 178 and Chandler with 164 have a mathematical shot at overcoming Shoben's lead. Shobert's winning share of the $33,000 Honda-sponsored San Jose Mile purse was $4175 plus contingency and bonus mon~y. . . Time Trials Only 47 Expens turned in qualifying laps for what is normally a 48-rider program and the fastest lap was logged by Carr on the Men Lawwillluned Harley. Carr's 36.33 second, 99.091 mph lap feB shy of the lap record of 36.196/99.46 set by Rid')' Graham in 1982. Marylander Rodney "Hot ,Rod" Farris turned in the second fastest time, 36.567, aboard the Kenny Tolbert Harley XR750 while Doug Chandler, who had won the Camel The first of four 10-lap heats which would advance the LOp three finishers from each to the National saw Filice and the Eddie Adkinstuned Harley first into turn one but it was Carr who led the field down the back smright. Filice drafted by Carr LO lead at the end of the opening lap. The next three laps ~aw rookie Expert Bryan McDowell, who had qualified 25th, lead at the line. But on lap five Steve Eklund, who had qualif;ed 41st, joined the front running group and the order at the end o£1ap six saw Eklund in the lead followed by Carr, Filice, Hames, McDowell and Alex Jorgensen. Carr took over for good on the' seventh lap, opening up a gap on his pursuers by the time he took the c):Jeckered nag. Behind him the fight for the transfer spots had developed into a three-rider duel involving Gardner Racing teammates Eklund and Hames, and Filice, as Jorgensen and McDowell, who was again attempting to be the first rookie to qualify for a dirt track National this year, slipped back. The final lap drafting charge down the backstraight saw Eklund take second and Filice take third over Hames. The second heat was red flagged after the initial try at a start produced something the starter didn't like. Once underway for good, it was an all B1.!bba Shobert show. The champ pulled of( a masterful holeshot and stayed out front all the way, opening up a unchallengable lead over his pursuers by the end of the fifth lap. The fight for the remaining advancement spots involved lateseason charger Don Howard, Don's (Chapin) Plumbing/Hi-Point/ Shoel/Diamond-sponsored Keith Day and Farris. Farris fell back to a non-challenging fourth at the midway point and Howard held off Day until the final two laps. The checkered £lag saw Shobert £irst, Day second and Howard third. Contrary to what would happen the rest of the day, the second heat, at 6 minutes, 21.80 seconds, was slower than the first heat which took 6:21.33. The third heat came to the line without sixth-fastest qualifier Mertens whose Belleville (Illinois) Honda-sponsored Honda was sidelined when "the ignition went away." .. Two-time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham, who had qualified 11 th, pulled the holeshot at the flash of the green light but both Freddie Spencer/SuperTrappsponsored Chandler and Shoei/ Marioneaux Racing/Hap Jones/ PoTtco/Tsubaki-backed Poovey drafted by him on the back straight. Those three were soon joined by GF Racing's Ronnie Jones, Hud Racing's Ted Boody, Rich Arnaiz and Ted Taylor in a drafting war that saw Poovey, Graham, Chandler and Jones take turns leading at the line. The race settled down into a fourman fight and when the checkered flag waved it was Chandler leading Graham, Poovey and Jones across the finish line in that order in close formation. KK Aftermarket Racing teammates Hank Scott, who won San Jose in 1980 and has announced this is his last year as a racer, and Morehead led the fourth heat race fieldinto turn one and the opening lap ended with Scott and Morehead sandwiching Scott Pearson as the three crossed the line three abreast. Parker and his Bill Werner-tuned Harley, minus the two-way radio the duo had tried once again in practice, joined the front running group on the second lap and took over the lead for good on lap three. "The radio works real good up close, but once Scott gets a qvarter mile away... well, nothing," said Werner. Parker didn't need any advice from the pits as he sailed home with a comfortable lead over veterans Scott and Morehead, who after exchanging positions in the midst of the race settled down to finish apart. Parker's winning time was 6: 12.29, over seven seconds faster than the previous heat and he had earned the pole position for the ational. Semis The two 10-lap semis would advance the first two fini hers from each to the ational and Lhere was no doubt who would be the first to advance out of the opening go. Pioneer Truck Lines/Indian M.C. Supply/Hi-Point/Red Line/Storzsponsored Honda rider Alex Jorgensen took over the lead from Hames who had pulled the holeshot but slipped 0[£ the groove and had gotten totally sideways in turn four on the opening lap. Jorgensen never let go of the lead and finished a comfortable distance in front of Farris, Hames and Billy Herndon, who had crossed the line three 4breast at the start of the last lap. The second semi produced the first tie within recent memory when Ronnie Jones and Scott Pearson

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