Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ricky Graham (3 ) led 23 laps in the 600cc National TT held in San Francisco, bu t Bubba Shobert (1) stole the win w ith two laps to go . Gardner Rac ing's Steve Eklund (8) finished fourth in the San Francisco TT, while Wash ington's Mickey Fay (13) ended up seventh. AMA 600cc National Championship Dirt Track Series: Round 2 Shobert nips Graham in Cow Palace T.T By Farren Williams Photos by M itch Friedman SAN FRANCISCO, CA, JAN 24 Three-time Grand National Champion Bu bb a Shobert w on his second 600cc National dirt track race in a row today in San Francisco's Co w P a l a ce. Shobert powered his factory Honda under two-time National Ch . R' k G h . a mpron IC y r~ am with only two laps to go 10 the 10 ~udwelser Indoor~ N ~tlOnal , then raced hom e 10 cl~lm v.Jetory before 3576 northern California race fans. Honda-mounted Graham nabbed the holesh ot in th e 25-lap main event and held the point position until he drifted hi gh o ut of a turn on lap 23. allowing Sho bert to sneak under- neath for the win. Third pla ~e .went to Pete Ha~es. who was riding a Ga rdner Racin g Harl ey-Da vidson. " O ne mi stak e!" exclaimed Graham after th e race. " I was tryin g to avoid the bumps so I wouldn 't get tired. I hi t a bump in the a pe x (of . . turn Iive, a ught left-hander lead~ ng to the fro n t s~raigh taway) a nd It kn ocked me h igh enough . for Bub ba to get undern eath. One little mis take!" Pete Hames (3 2), Eklund's Gardner Racing teammate, survived the crashmarred main event to f inish t hird . "I kn ew Ricky wouldn 't be easy to pass," sa id Shob ert. " I kn ew I had to get close to him a nd no t ma ke a ny mis takes . It was a fun race. O n a ro ugh track like th at, any thi ng can happen. " Anythi ng and eve ry t hing did happen. Whil e Graham raced in relative ca lm for mos t of the event at the fron t of the pack, bo th Hames and Shobert were surv ivo rs in a slamba ng, h andl eb ar- bash in g featu re race that saw ma ny top competitors drop by th e wayside before lap five. T he Cow Pal ace trac k was sho rt, tig h t, ro ug h and left little roo m for error. " It was survival of the fittest." Hames sa id. " Peo p le were fallin g lik e flies o ut there. They were fall ing in front of me left and right. All you could do was pull your clutch in aro und th e tight corners a nd let th e o the rs fall down. You had to try to keep your head ." By keeping his h ead . Hames ea rned $9 15 for p la cing third . Winner Shobert took home $2145 in first place money, and second place Graham 's share of the $10,000 purse was $1415. Circl e Bell's Scott Pearson set fast tim e in one-lap qua lifyin g with a clocking of 21.097 seconds. Rounding o ut th e heat race pole sitters were: Keith Day, with a 21.380 posting; Oklah oma ' s T ed Bood y, wh o sto pped th e cloc k a t 21.595; a nd Graham , wh o ' powered hom e with a 21.618-seco nd tim e. Sh obert qualified eigh th fastest with a 21.801 showing . The 48th a nd fina l rid er to qualify fro m th e 55 rid ers (38 Experts, 17 Junior s) who made th e attempt was Junior Robert Moran; his cutoff time was 23.683. Shobert was first off th e line in th e init ial 10-lap Expert/Junior heat race. which transferred th e top two riders directl y to th e ma in even t. The defendin g cha mp was followed out of th e hol e by fast-qualifier Pearson, and TT spec ia list Mickey Fay. Pearson sta lled his H onda in th e mud in turn three on the opening lap, dropped to dead last in th e 12rid er field and spent the rest of the race p laying ca tch up . Shob ert held a slim edge o ver Fay until lap five, th en pow ered awa y to take a n easy win. Fay co llec ted a lonel y second, whil e David Ryan edged Aaron Hill for third. Pearson worked through traffic to fini sh fifth, whi ch earned him a sta rt ing berth in the first sem i. O klaho ma's Ronnie J ones battled with Californ ian s Keith Day a nd Chris Carr in the second heat . Jones led th e race until Day go t around him in tu rn one on la p five. Day th en stretched o ut his adva ntage in th e fin al laps. wh ile Carr pressured J ones for second all the way to th e . flag. J ones held o ff the h ardcha rging Team Harl ey ride r to cla im the runner-up posi tion, T he th i rd hea t was a bra w l between O kl ah oman Boody, Sa l H offman a nd Junior rider Andy Tresser. Tresser was first off the line but Boody passed him in th e tight left-hander lead ing to the j ump, th en used hi s years of Grand National riding experience to hold the two northern Cal ifornians a t ba y for th e rest of the race. Hoffm an ran second from wire to wire, and Tresser, the only Junior to qualify for both Cow Palace 600cc Nationals. finished third with a Hag-to-flag run despite nearly crashing on the white flag lap. Graham. riding a Rob Muzzyprepped Honda, led the fourt h 10lap heat from start to finish but was hounded for the full 10 laps by former Grand National Champion Steve Eklund, who has won more National TTs than a ny other rider in AMA hi sto ry. Eklund pushed and sh oved, tryin g to force Graham to m ake a mistak e, but Graham wouldn't budge. Eklund had to settle {or second, while Ham es, Eklund's Gardner Racing teammate. finished third. H ill 's H arl ey was the first bik e off th e lin e in th e first 10-lap sem i, foll owed by Carr a nd Pearson. The fast qualifier fell in turn three on lap three when he, " grabbed too much front brake." and Carr dropped out on lap eight with a stalled engine wh en h e was forced to "s to p abruptly" to avo id Hill. With Carr and Pea rson ou t; Hill cruised to victo ry; he was followed home by Idaho's Rob Reynolds and Junior Frank Garcia. Hames took co m ma n d of th e second sem i right at the start and set th e pa ce for Junior Tresser, who followed in second for the full 10 laps. By th e end of th e first lap, Robert Damron had settl ed into third to set th e fin al finishing order for the top three spots. Tresser immedi ately took command of th e La st Chance Qualifier. which transferred first and seco nd pl aces to th e Nati on al. The Junior rider led the full 10 laps whil e Pea rson held second from sta rt to

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