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/127130
00 00 Cj) ...... - ..... .... 0.. -< Team Harley-Davidson's Chris Carr (20 ) fin ished 12th. Daytona w inner Will Davis (21 ) took sixth and Dan Ingram [(31 ) finished fifth . Charlie Orr (61) won the first National of his career at the 600cc short track in Woodstock. Early-leader Rodney Farris (92) fin ished fourth . Honda rider Garth Brow (15) and Wood-Rotax-mounted Steve Morehead . (42) passed Farris (92) to claim ~econ d and third . respectively . AMA 600cc National Championship Dirt Track Series: Round 4 Orr victorious -in Dixie Speedway ST By Doug Whelan Photos by Mike Church WOO DSTOCK, GA, AP R. 10 Texan Charlie Orr won the first National dirt track race of his career at the Hondasponsored, ยท600cc National short track held today at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock. T'he J &M Cycl e/H a rr y Lilly/ Shoei(Low Buek Raeing Team -sponsored rider found the dri ve he needed la te 22 in the ra ce to ta ke the lead fro m Rodney Fa rris, the n h eld off a strong cha lle nge from th e h ard- ch ar gin g du o o f Garth Brow and Steve Morehead who finished seco nd and th ird res p~ct ively . Po le -sitter Fa rr i ~ ro u nded out th e top four. T hree-tim e Gra nd Nationa l Champion Bubba Shobert, who won rounds one and two in Sa n Fran ci sco , Ca lifornia , but w ho has skipped th e last two rounds , leads the standings with 40 points. Day- to na winner Will Davis, who finished sixth i.n tod ay' s race, is second m the ~t,and mgs ~lth 29. . . Davis seco nd IS ~s good as firs t If Shobert st icks.to his word. Shobert ha s . s.md he will n~t ra ce . In an y add itio na l 600cc Nationals m 1988. Bro w and C ardner : Raci ng 's Steve Eklu nd are tied for third with 27 po ints ea ch , a nd Ind iana 's Dan Ingra m is fifth with 26 points. An early m ornin g , toxi c ch emical fire in a ware~ o~se adjacent to th e entra nce of Dixie Speedway threaten ed to ca ncel th e even t before it began. Due to th e efforts of fire fight- . ers, h owever , and t he fact that prevailing winds were blowi ng a way fro m the race track, the race was held as sched u led. Georgia 's lady Expert, Tam my Kirk, surprised everyone by sett ing fast tim e in time tria ls aboard a H arl ey-D a vid son bo rr o wed fro m Tex Peel. Kirk's o ne-lap qual ifying time was 18.002 seco nds. Second fa stest time went to Junior Todd Bridges ( 18. 0 12) , vetera n H on da rider Terry Poo vey took third ( 18.039), Bob Broo ks III was fourth (1 8.045), Junior Da vid Ra yb urn clock ed in fifth (18.049) a nd veteran Stev e More head fi nis hed si x t h a board a Wood-Ro ta x (18.056). Those six riders filled th e pole positions in the six , IO-Iap heat races whi ch transferred th e fi rs t two fini shers directly to the final. T hird through sixth in eac h heat transferred to on e of two semi fina ls, where on ly th e wi nner advance d to th e ma in event. T he last positio n in th e 15-r ider fin al was filled by th e wi nner of the Las t Chance Qual ifer. A cras h by Andrew Sega lin i on th e firs t lap o f h eat race ope brought ou t th e red flag, At th e restart it was Rob er t Lewi s who led Kir k into th e first turn. Lew is led until lap two wh en Kirk dove under Lewis going into turn three. Kirk an d LeWIS ran side-by-side ou t of turn 'four an d down th e fro nt stra ig h t, th en Kirk too k the lead for good go ing into tu rn one a t the start o f th e third la p. At th e h alfway po int, Kirk was hounded by Lewis, who had abo u t five b ike len gt hs over a close race for th ird,between Bill Newkirk and Don Mart in. By lap seven, th e ba ttl e for the lead had gi ven Kirk a nd Lewis h a lf a straightaway lead over thirdp laced Ma rt in . Kirk , who was run ning a low li ne, was in co mplete co ntrol. Lewis used every inch of th e race track tryi ng to find a faster way aroun d, b ut cras hed in tu rn fo ur on th e last lap , handin g th e second transfer spot to , the d istant Martin. The fastest h ea t of the day went to Spo nse ller/Nixo n /S hoei / Du trow 's H onda- spon so red R odney Farris, 'w ho eas ily wo n the seco n d heat by a fu ll stra igh taway. Fa rr is, usi ng th e same line th at carri ed Kirk to victory, led th e race from sta rt to finish. Jun ior Andy Tresser came fro m row two to fin ish seco nd an d claim the fina l tra ns fer spot to th e ma in . Ano ther Junior : Kevin Athe rto n, fin ish ed th ird. T he th ird heat wa s won by th e H onda-mounted pol e sitter, Marion eaux Raci n g/ Sh oeil H a p j onessponsored Poovey. Davis closed on Poovey in the fin al la ps to finis h seco nd. T hird went to Ca li fornia 's Cr aig Estelle. . Hea t race four gave th e estima ted 5000 spec tators a preview of what th ey co u ld expect to see in th e final wh en Sou th Carolina's Brow an d Orr ba tt led ' w heel-to-whee l for th e lead th e entire 10 la ps. The first la p saw five riders abreas t exi ti ng turn four on Dixi e Speed way's 40-foot wide, 3/8- mi le, banked, clay ova l. There were at least a 'dozen lead changes. Bro w, running th e low li n e, h ad th e adva ntage go ing into the turns, b ut O rr, ru n n ing th e h igh line, h eld the edge com ing out. Ted Boody a nd In gram , running th ird a nd fou rth, a lso swapped p ositions several tim es. On th e last la p , Bro w took the lead fro m Orr exi ting tum two and held it to the checkered flag, wi n ni ng by less than a bike length . In gram passed Bood y o n th e final lap to finish third. G eorge Roeder jumped into th e lea d from the midd le of row one when the fifth hea t left th e start ing line . H e was soon followed by David Miller a nd Sco tt Adams, both o f who m started o n th e back ro w. Roeder an d Mi ller; even ly matched o n h orsep ower , finish ed in that order. At th e h alfway m ark , Bob Sweeten p assed Adams to ta ke over third , leavin g Adams to finis h fourth. Ca lifornian Chris Carr nailed th e holesho t in hea ts ix a n d wa s followed into the fir st tu rn by Sco tt Stump , Mo reh ead an d Mi ch igan' s Bria n Villella. Moreh ead pa ssed St ump exi ti ng turn four a t th e end of lap o ne, th en passed Carr to ta ke over th e lead co mi ng ou t o f turn two . T h e " Fin dlay Flyer " th en began to p u ll away. Carr, who co u ld n't find trac tion, was soon cha lle nged by Vill ell a , who had moved in to th ird place. Villella . passed Carr when he got a better d rive co m ing off o f tu rn two on th e th ird la p. On lap si x Carr repassed Ville lla o n the back straig h t when Ville lla's bike go t sideways. At the finish, Moreh ead took th e checkers by half a straig htaway, w hi le Carr edged Ville lla for seco nd by less than a b ike len gth. In gr am led th e fir st semi from start to fin ish and was follow ed home by Da ve H ebb , Estell e, Bood y, Sco tt Sa u nde rs a nd Villella. Semi two was won by Atherton a fter a n early battle with David Reeves. who led th e fir st lap. Todd Bridges finish ed th ird a n d Bob Swee ten took fourth . C rai g j onnson ca me fro m the seco n d row to win th e Last Cha nce Qualifier , h oldi n g off cha lle nges by Bood y, H ebb , Estelle a nd Sau n ders. Twelve Expe rts a nd th ree J u ni ors lin ed up for th e 25-la p main event a nd wh en th e gree n ligh t flash ed it was T exan Poovey who took the ho lesh ot , foll o wed by Brow, Farris an d Moreh ead. Farris led at th e end of the first