Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Steve Morehead (42) edged Bubba Shobert (1) and Scott Parker (11) to win the San Jose Mile 'bef ore a record, standing-room-only crowd. AMA Grand National Championship Di~ Track Series/Camel Pro Series: Rounds 3/3 Morehead mauls 'em in San-Jose Mile ," By Farren Williams Photos by Mitch Friedman SAN JOSE, CA, MAY 22 , Steve Morehead, 32, a 14-year veteran of Camel Pro Series dirt track racing, outfoxed defending Grand National Champion Bubba Shobert in the last turn on the last lap to win the 33rd and possibl y last running of the $40,000 San Jose Mil e, held today in Santa Clara County 6 Fai rgrounds. . The win, scored at the first Camel Pro Series dirt track race of 1988, was Morehead's I Ith National victory, his first mile victory since May, 1982, his fourth mi le oval win and hi s thi rd ' victor y a t San J ose. After tradi ng the lead with Honda's Shobert a nd T eam H arl eyDavids on pi lo t Sco tt Park er fo r much of the 25-lap main event, Ohio's Moreh ead, riding a Mert Lawwill /KK Supply/Storz/Dragoo / Wheelin Works H arley-David son, draft ed by Shobert at the start/ finish line on the final go-around to take the checkers. Shobert finished second by a wheel and Parker too k th ird just behind th e front -ru n ning duo. Maryl and's Rodney Farris and Texan T erry Po ovey rounded o ut the top five, finis h ing abo u t seven seco nds behind th e leaders. It was Shobert , however, who won $ 10,000 in th e .six- rider, five-la p $ 17,500 Cam el Challenge race for th e top six qual ifiers. Morehead led th e even t fo r most o f th e race, but surrendered to a last-l ap charge th at saw Sho bert tak e th e checke red flag first. Califo rnia's Keith Day rod e Shobert's draft to second , leaving the Findlay Flyer to fini sh th ird. Morehead's win in the National a board his Mert Lawwill-tuned m ount marked th e fir st tim e a Harley- Davidson has won the San J ose Mile since 1983, when Ca lifornia 's Jimm y Filice cap tured the race aboard a made-in-Milwaukee mo torcycle. Today's win ended four years of H onda domination at San Jose. Morehead was leading the race with Parker running second as th e trio throttled down th e back straight on th e final lap. Wh en Shobert used the famous San Jose dr aft to power by both riders as th e trio ent ered turn three, Morehead sm iled. " When Bubba came flying by me , I just sat there and grinned," Morehead said. Sh obert, who planned to lead out of turn four on th e last lap despite , San Jose's reputation of denying the win to a ny rider running in close quarters WI;lO is fool ish enough to mak e th e attempt, lost his drive co ming off th e turn. The momen tary lapse was all Morehead needed. " I kind of expected it to happen and I hoped he would pass (go ing into turn three)," said Moreh ead. " Bubba proba bly got th e worst driv e off turn fo ur as he did on any lap - - it was like he was o n ice." " I had th e perfect plan, but I go t a little too sideways off (turn) four," sai d Sho bert. "Steve planned it just righ t." "The motorcycl e was so well pr epared toda y; it worked great," Moreh ead said. " Ted Boody was Tiding with me during those last few laps. H e was say in g, ' H o ld on, Morehead! ' I wanted to win it for ' myself and I wanted to win it for Ted." Boody, Moreh ead 's friend a n d lon g-time racing rival, was kill ed in a last-lap mi shap during the May 7 Asco t H alf Mile. Parker has finished second seven tim es at San J ose but he has never wo n. " I never seem to be in the right place at the rig ht tim e," Parker said. " It kind of gets to you, but so far this year we have two seconds and a third. If you can keep it up every week, yo u can beat 'em. "T here are so ma ny factors that go into tha t last lap," said Par ker. "S ure , you wan t to win, but th ird is better than fourt h ." The fierce, race-lon g, th ree-rider struggle for th e point was watch ed by a record, standing-roam-only crowd of more than 20,000 race fan s wh o came to see " the first annual, last-ever " San Jose Mile. Negotiations are u nderway which co uld result in the oval being pa ved for Winstqn Cup automobile races, and paving could begin as early this fall. If paving is delayed, however, "the second-annual, last-ever" San Jose Mile could be held next May. Morehead won about $7755 today, including $5755 for topping the National final and $2000 for taking third in th e Camel Challenge. Shobert earned the da y's big payoff with a Challenge win that paid $10,000 and the cham p also collected $3820 for taking seco nd in the main event. Parker took home $2490 for finishing third in th e final. Shobert co ntin ues to lead the Grand National Championship Dirt Track Series Point Standings with 49 points. Parker is second with 45, while Carr and Poovey are tied for third with 31 points each. Shobert also leads th e Camel Pro standings with 49 po in ts. Ro ad racer Doug Polen is seco n d with 32, while Morehead is tied with road racer Kevin Schwantz for third; th ey have 20 points each. Because today's Grand National pro~am was co mbined with a 600cc National program running on the same da y, a unique format was used for the event. Of th e 44 Experts who attemp ted to qualify, 36 earned starting " pots s in three, 12-rider, l O-lap heat races. The top three in each heat transferred to th e Natio n al , whil e fourth through 11th went to one of two 12rider, 10-lap semis. T he semis tra nsferred the top four to th e fin al. There was no Last Chance Qualifier. Time Trials Sh obert set fast time d uring qual,ifying aboard his Skip Eaken-tuned, Amer ica n Honda /Bell /Tsubakil R .S. T a ichilKerker/H ondaline H onda RS750. Shobert stopped the clock at 36.24 seconds, only four onehundredths of a second off two-time National Champion R ick y Graham's track record of 36.196, set in 1982. Rounding out the heat race pole sitters were Morehead (36.276) and SuperTrapp 's Doug Chandler (36.414). Rodney Farris (36.482),

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