Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Chris Carr didn't race in the Grand National mile, but he easily won the 600cc National, then donated his winnings to the Boody Trust Fund. Ronnie Jones s'uffered a bad start on his GF Racing Honda but worked his way through traffic and into seventh place by the checkered flag. . . Steve Morehead (left) and tuner Mert Lawwill combined forces to give Harley-Davidson its first San Jose Mile win in four years. DaV (Han); 7. Ronnie Jones (Hon); 8. Jay Spring~ steen (H-D); 9. Alex Jorgensen (Han); 10. Don Estep (Han); 11. Jim Filice (H·D); 12. Scot Pearson (H· D); 13. Tammy Kirk (H·D); 14. Pete Hames (Han); 15. TIm Mertens (H-D); 16. Ricky Graham (H-D); 17. Doul! Chandler (HanI. . AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DIRT TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bubba Shobert (49); 2. Scan Parker (45); 3. (TIE) Chris CarrlTerry Poovey (31); 5. Steve Morehead (24); 6. Keith Day (23); 7. Ronnie Jones (22); B. Jay Springsteen (17); 9. Don Estep (16); 10. (TIE)Doug Chandler /Alex Jorgensen (13). CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bubba Shobert (49); 2. Doug Polen (32); 3. (TIE) Kevin Schwantz/Steve Morehead (20); 5. Rueben McMurter (IB); 6. Randy Renfrow (16); 7. Dale Quarterley (15); B. (TIE) Doug Chandler /Scon Parker (13); 10. (TIEl Scan Gray/Mike Baldwin/ Rod Farris (11). Carr collects San Jose Mile 600 National By Farren Williams . Photos by Mitch Friedman SAN JOSE , CA, MAY 22 Chris .Carr claimed his third 600cc National win in a row today when he powered his factory Harley-Davidson away 8 from the field to easily win th e San Jose Mil e. Carr mov ed into first place on lap two of th e main event and edged away from a fierce battle for second which featured an on-the-gas di spl ay of sibling rivalry between th e Atherton brothers -Expert Brian and Junior Kevin - which ended on the final lap when younger brother Kevin showed Bryan th e way to the checkered flag. Carr took the lead on lap two of the IS-lap main event, stretched his lead to two seconds by lap nine, and . took th e win over the battling Athertons on lap IS with a 4.08second margin of victory. Kevin edged brother Brian for second place by less than a bike length after the two brothers went at it wheel-to-wheel for th e en tire IS laps, drafting and redrafting one a no the r while they pulled away from fourth place finisher David Durelle. Dave Hebb took fifth. " At first it wasn't as easy as it looked," said. Carr, " bu t the bike worked flawlessl y th e whole race. I got a real good drive and was able to get away. I kept looking back because I knew the Atherton brothers were going at it and I wanted to get a peek at that." " I' ve been wanting to beat Brian for a long time," said brother Kevin , who also fini shed second behind Carr at the April 30 600cc National Half Mile in Phoneix, Arizona. " I' ve been trying to catch (Carr) but I don't know if it's possible. He Ilys." "T ha t was one hell of a race," said Brian. "By the halfway flags I wasn't getting a good drive. Kevin was getting a better dri ve and that's what It took. I guess I shouldn't have taught him everything I kn ow. If someone had to beat me I'm glad it was my brother." . Carr collected the $1000 winner 's share of the $5000 600cc National purse, which he graciously donated to the Ted Boody Trust Fund. The fund was established for Boody's family after he was killed in a racing accident at the May 7 Ascot Half Mile. . Kevin Atherton earned . second place money of $655 and Brian took home $425 for finishing third. The victory stretched Carr's lead in the battle for the first-ever 600cc National Championship. Carr leads the series 79-53 over Pete Hames; who didn 't compete in today's race. Grand National Champion Bubba Shobert, who won the two opening rounds in San Francisco and who hasn 't raced in a 600cc event since, is third with 40 points. Kevin Atherton has 38 points and two-time .National Champ Ricky Graham, who didn 't race today, is fifth with 36. Since today's race was held in co n j u nc t io n with the Grand National San Jose Mile, a special, shortened program was used. The program featured three, 12rider, eight-lap heat races which transfered the top three finishers to the final; fourth through II th went to one of two 12-rider, eight-lap semis. The semis transferred the top three to the IS-rider, IS-lap main even t. Brian Atherton rode his WoodRotax to a fast time of 37.409 seconds during time trials. Carr was second fastest (37.555), Durelle clocked in third fastest :(37.673) and Kevin Atherton was fourth fastest with a 37.753 clocking. Perry 's H-D / ArailRon Wood/ TsubakiiNHI/Jim Sehl-backed Brian Atherton raced hard with Don Howard and Bryan Villella during the early stages of th e first eigh t-lap heat race, but finally took an easy win when Howard and Villella dropped out with mechanical ills. Atherton was followed to the checkers by Dave Hebb and Bobby McDowell. Villella headed for the pits on lap three wh en the engine locked up on his Wood Rotax exiting turn two . . Howard retired on lap eight when his Harley lost the rod and busted the cases. Heat two was a Chris Carr affair all the way. Carr put his H-D Motor Co.lShoei/Hap ]ones/R.S. Taichi/ Tsubaki Harley in front of the pack by ' the end ' of lap one and never looked back. Jon Cornwell finished second and Steve Aseltine took third. Kevin Atherton won the third heat aboard his Perry's H-D/Ron Wood! Arai/Tsubaki/Farver Sawmill/Hog Wash/NHI-sponsored Wood-Rotax. Durelle challenged late in the race, but ended up second when Atherton drafted by him at the start/finish line on the final lap. Aaron Hill took the last transfer spot. Wood-Rotax-mounted Eric Graybill won the first eight-lap, semi over Kris Kiser and Darin Balderston. The race was red flagged on lap four when Mike McDonnell and Donnie Harrell went into the hay bales in tum one. Neither rider was seriously injured, according to AMA officials. The second semi went to Harleymounted Joel Green, who was followed home by Sal Hoffman and Mark Corsetti. . The race was stopped on lap four and called complete after Eric Green touched his front wheel to the rear wheel of Craig Howard's WoodRotax as they raced into tum three and both rid ers went down. Green wasn 't seriously hurt; Howard was . taken to the hospital with a possible broken shoulder. Brian Atherton was first off the line in the -IS-la p main event, followed by Carr, Kevin Atherton and Dave Hebb. At the end of lap one, Carr had taken the lead from Atherton, leaving the elder brother to contend with younger brother Kevin and Durelle. On lap three Carr was pulling away ' from everyone, while the Atherton brothers edged away from Durelle, who was defending fourth from Aseltine, Hebb, Hill and Balderston. Carr was gone. By lap five of the IS-lap main event, the race for the lead was over. . The fans got quite a sh ow from the Athertons, however, who were all over each other going into and exiting the turns. Brian held the edge across the stripe through lap 11, but on lap 12 it was Kevin who was on top. The passed each other continuously for the last three laps, and it was Kevin who had the upper hand when they took the checkers on lap 15. Durelle, Hebb, Aseltine · and McDowell swapped fourth for the final few laps 'and finished in that order. Jon Cornwell took eighth, Joel Green finished ninth and Hill took 10th. Sal Hoffman, Balderston, Mark Corsetti, Graybeal and Kris Kiser rounded out the field. Results 15·LAP 600cc NATIONAL: 1. Chris Carr (H-Dt 2. Kevin Atherton (W-R); 3. Brian Atherton (WR); 4. David Durelle (W-R); 5. Dave Hebb (W-R); 6. Steve Aseltine (H-D); 7. Bobby McDowell (Han); B. Jon Cornwell (H-D); 9. Joel Green (H-D); 10. Aaron Hill (H-D); 11. Sal Hoffman (H-D); 12. Darin Balderston (H-D); 13. Mark Corseni (W-R); 14. Eric Graybeal (W-R); 15. Kris Kiser (Han). 600cc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Chris Carr (79); 2. Pete Hames (53); 3. Bubba Shobert (40); 4. Kevin Atherton (3B); 5. Ricky Graham (36); 6. Will Davis (29); 7. (TIE) Steve Eklund/Garth Brow (27); 9. Dan Ingram (26t. . • 10. (TIE)Ronnie Jones/Charlie Orr (251

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