Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 O'l ... -Texan Terry Poovey rode the Shoei /Marioneaux Racing Honda to fifth place in the 25-lap National after battling with Farris and Day. Maryland's Rodney Farris (9 2) rode his M ike Sponseller Honda to fourth, while Keith Day (2 2) fin ished sixth on his Don's Plumbing Honda . Terry Poo vey (36.517) an d Brya n Vill ell a (36.564) fill ed ou t th e riders wh o qualified for th e Camel Cha llenge. Keith Day (36.578), Chri s Carr (36.696), Don H owa rd (36.760) and Scott Parker (36.777) completed the top 10. The 36th a nd final rider to qual ify was Californ ia's Rob Damron. H is cutoff ti me was 38.229. Heats Shobert led th e first 1O-lap Expert heat race from green light to checkered flag , leaving Da y and Oklahoma's Ro n nie Jones to argue over second. Jones and Da y ran wh eel-to-wheel the entire race with J ones holding the edg e most of th e wa y. It was Day, however, who collected second at th e checkers with a last-lap draft on the front straight, leaving jones to take third and the final tra nsfer spot. Graham and Scott Pearson filled o ut the top five. The seco nd heat featured a 10-la p battle for th e lead betw een Mor ehead and Poov ey, a nd an equally intense battle for third betw een three-time · National Champion J a y Springsteen and Georgia 's lady Expert, Tam my Kirk. Morehead and Poov ey swap ped first, while Springer and Kirk traded third. When the ch eckers finally fell, Morehead had edged by Poovey for the win , an d Kirk took the last transfer spot over Michigan' s Springsteen. Harley-mounted Brian Atherton, a lso from Michigan, fin ished fifth. Ascot Half Mile winner Carr dropped out 'o f hea t two on lap three when the engine i n his fa ctory Harley tied up on the backstraight. "The rod mig ht ha ve gone," said Carr. " We' ll just have to take it home, tear it down and see what happened." Ca liforn ia 's Don Howard powered off the line firs t in the third a nd final Ex pert heat, followed by H -D Motor Co.lHarley Owne rs G roup/ Tsubaki-spo nsored P arker , Chand ler and Farris. By the third lap, Parker had ' moved into a leadhe wou ld never relinquish , leaving Farris and Chandler to swap secon . When the final flag fell, Farri s fo ll o we d Parker ' home , lea ving Chandler in the final transfer positio n. Ohio's Don Estep fi nished fo u rt h and Ca lifornia veteran Alex Jorgensen took fi ft h . Howard dropped ou t on lap five when his Aztec .Racing H arley burned a ho le in the fro nt piston. Semis Pearson go t th e holesh ot in the first 10-lap Ex pe rt sem i, followed by G raham , Iowa 's Rich King a nd Springsteen . Sp ringsteen took over th e point on lap two a nd led most of th e ra ce. Graham pressured Sp ri ngsteen for th e fina l laps a nd drafted by Springer at th e start/finish line on lap 10 to take th e win. Sp ringsteen took second, Pearson finished third and Tim Merten s took th e last transfer spot in fourth. Kin g finished out of th e money in fifth. The second sem i was a classic, 10lap, three-way fight for first betw een Filice, Jorgensen and Estep. The three riders swaped the lead for several laps with Filice coming out on top at the checkers. Estep settled for a close second and Jorgensen finished not far behind in third. The last spot in the National went to Filice's D&S Raci ng teammate, Pete Hames, who claimed fourth. Camel Challenge . The five-lap free-for-all known as th e Camel Challenge saw a spirited comeback by Shobert o n the fin al lap. . .' Shobert came off the line first at the start of th e sprint, followed by Morehead , first alternate Day (who made th e Challenge when a cam gear broke in Bryan Villella's Staab Racing Harley-Davidson during th e second semi) Poovey, Farris, (riding in his first-ever Challenge ), a n d Chandler. Morehead moved into th e lead on lap two, and pulled a way from the . pack o n lap three. Shobert le d Chandler, Farris, Day and Poovey as the five riders ran handleb ar to handlebar in their battle for second. On lap fou r Shobert had dr opped to fourth , but he sliced through the field and into seco nd going in to turn o ne o n lap five , then ree led in Morehead and drafted the Ohio rider on the back stra igh t, with Da y in tow, to take over the lead for good . Day fin ish ed second, while Morehead se tt led fo r thi rd. Fa rr is , Chandler a nd Poo vey ro u nded ou t the resu lts. . National Shobert nailed the ho leshot at the start o f the 25-lap fea ture race to lead More head, G raham , P arker and Poov ey in to turn one. When the pack finally sorted itself Runner-up Bubba Shobert, 1988 Miss Camel, Pam Kend rick, w inner Steve Morehead and third place Scott Parker celebrate after the final. out by the end of lap two , Shobert still paced the field and was followed by Morehead, Da y, Graham, Parker , Chandler , Poovey, P earson and Farris. Almost immediately, Parker shook off his midpack start and began carving his way through traffic while Shobert and Morehead edged away from the field. Parker used a daring pass in turns one and two at the start of lap th ree to move into third a nd set o ut a fter th e front-runners with Graham, Da y and Chandler in tow. By lap four, Morehead had passed Shobert to tak e over the lead and twotime San Jose winner Ch andler had moved into fourth. A " you-draft-me I'll-draft-you " battle soon developed between Chandler and Parker, and occasionally was joined by, fifthplace Graham. Chandler dropped out of the race on lap six with a suspected broken crank, and Graham 's atrocious 1988 luck con tin ued when his Mert Lawwill XR750 threw a chai n on lap 12, forcing th e former champ to also head for the pits. By lap eigh t, Parker had reeled in th e front runners and on lap nine he joined the fra y by tu cking under Shobert to claim second as th e duo exi ted turn four. Moreh ead maintained hi s lead, bu t cou ldn' t shake h is p ursuers. As the leading tri o put distance o n th e field; Day led a ba ttle for fourth over Farris and Poovey. J o nes was alone in seven th , whi le Springsteen held eigh th over ninth place J orgensen . Pearson, Filice, Estep, Kirk , Hames and Merte ns ro unded ou t the field. . . Fans si tti ng in the bleachers in tu rns o ne and two got q uite a show o n la p 15 wh en Shobert slipped off the groove while ru nnin g in second pl ace, went co m ple tely across the cushion and nearly hit the hay bal es. With a n amazing show of skill, Shobert powered his factory Honda ba ck onto th e groove and set o u t a fter Morehead and Parker. " I got in a little too hard," sai d Sh obert. " I got up in th e cus hi on , went o ver a berm a nd ended u p between th e berm a nd th e hay bal es." Parker, who was runnin~ third at th e time, saw the entire incident. " He got a little twit ch and up and over the berm he went," said Parker. " I thought, 'good, th a t' s just one less racer I'll have to worry abo u t.' Then, wouldn 't you kn ow it, here co mes Bubba. " Shobert ca ugh t Moreh ead a n d Parker by lap 17, a nd on lap 18 he drafted by both rid ers on th e back straight to tak e th e lead going into turn three. For the final few laps the leaders drafted and redrafted one another, running .wheel-to-wheel and swapping the lead in traditional San Jose style. Shobert led lap 19, Parker took th e point on lap 20, Morehead held the edge on lap 21, Shobert was back up fro nt on lap 22 and Park er led laps 23 and 24. O n lap 25, the o ne that counted, it was Morehead wh o led across th e line. The final laps of th e race a lso saw a fierce fight for fourth as Farris, Poovey a nd -Da y traded th e spo t as often as the front runners tra ded th e lead. Wh en the smoke cleared, th e nod went to Farr is with Poovey claiming fifth and Day co llecting sixth. J o nes, who nearly ca ugh t the battle fo r fourth place, fi n ish ed seven th, Springteen took eigh th , Jorge nsen fini shed ni nth a nd Estep coll ected l Oth. Filice, Pearson, Kirk , Hames and Mertens filled ou t the field . Graham was credited wi th 16th and Chandler with 17th. • Result s 25·LAP NAnONAL: 1. Steve Morehead (H-Ot 2. Bubba Shoben (Hont 3. Scott Parker (H·Ot 4. Rodney Farr is (Han); 5. Terry Poovey(Hont 6. Keith 7

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