Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Chris Carr . rode to his fourth straight 600 National victory on the Springfield Mile oval. Carr now has a commanding point stand ings lead . Springfield Mile fin a l. Riding the Shoei / R .S. Taichi /Tsubaki-sponso red , Mike Camphouse-runed Harley-Davidson, Carr had a near perfect day. The Manteca , Californi a, resident logged fast tim e in tim e trials. led his heat race from start to finish and then a ll but duplicated that performance in the final. Carr was involved in a furi ous race for eigh t of the 15-laps in the final th at saw him lead all but th e fifth lap , but on th e 10th lap he opened up some breathing room over h is cha llengers and that was tha t. Ca mel Pro Seri es Rook ie of the Year Bryan Vill ell a ca me out of seem ingly nowhere, as he had in hi s heat . race, to fini sh seco nd in the final , ju st a head of third place finish er Durelle . " It was a goo d di ce for the first few laps," sa id Carr after th e race. " Bu t I was getting a real good drive ·o u t o f two and four and th at enabled me to break away a bit. I'v e got to thank my mechanic, Mik e Camphouse, who has to be really happy . because he also tuned Byran's (Villella) bi ke." Ron Wood Racing/Kushitanii Lucas Farms /MC Raci ng / Sho eil Cycle WoridlTsubaki /Hog Washl Sunoco Race Fu el -sponsored , WoodRotax-mounted Villella said, "Chris is a tough guy to rac e aga inst. I guess you could say I'm learning a lat." . Third place finisher Durell e said it was a "tough ra ce. Th e bike wor ked for me and I was able to draft a co u p le o f guys a nd hang in for th ird. " Durell e rode a Donahue H D /Ron Wo od R a cing / Sh o ei l Gen eral Engineeringl AI Mith H -Dsponsored Wood-Rotax. Ca rr earned SIOO Ofor the wi n, plus S50 for sett ing fast tim e a nd $500 via th e Bill Bl ey Mem o rial Awa rd . Ville lla received 655 for seco nd, a nd thi rd earned Du rell e $425. -. Time Trials Bryan Ville lla (24 ) finished second in the 600 National and Davey Durelle (5 8 ) took third after a race-long battle with other riders. will make the drive a lot eas ier," said Farris. Shobert's win wa s th e 35 th National victory o f h is b rill iant career and he is now o nly five wins sh y of Jay Springsteen 's a ll -time record of 40. • Results 25 ·LAP NATIONAL: 1. Bubba Shoben (Han); 2. Scott Parker (H-D); 3. Rodney Farris (Han); 4 . Terry Poovey (Han); 5. Ronn ie Jones (Han); 6. Alex Jorgensen (Han); 7. Ricky Graham (H·D); B. Keith Day (Han); 9. Don Estep (H-D); 1D. Jay Spring steen (H·D); 11. Steve Morehead (H·D);12 . Bryan Villella (H-D); 13. Rich Kin g (Han); 14. Chris Carr (H·D); 15. Don Howard (H-D); 16. Tammy Kirk (H-D); 17 . Jim Filice (Han). TIME: 14 min .. 50.471 sec. AVERAGE SPEED; 101.070 mph . GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTSTANDINGS; 1. Bubba Shoben (69); 2. Scott Parker (61 ); 3. Terry Poovev (42 ); 4. (TIE)Chris Carr / Ronnie Jones (32); 6. Keit h Dav (30); 7. Steve Morehead (28); 8. Rodney Farr is (24); 9. (TIE) Don Estep/Alex Jorgensen/Jay Springsteen (22) . C hris Ca rr and Bryan V illella (right ) celebrate in wi nner's circle. 10 Shobert adm itted he didn 't know who had won. "You just don't know in finishes like that. You're not really looking a t the line; your eyes don't focus o n th e line." To which Parker added , " P a rt ic u la r ly at over 120 miles-per-hour! " . Farris, who faced an all night drive to York, Pennsylvania, where he'd co m pe te in a half mile rac e th e foll owing da y, was all sm iles. "T h is Springfield Mile 600 Nat'l win to Carr By Jack Mangus Photos by Bert Shepard SPRINGFIELD, IL, MAY 29 Chris Carr scored his fourth straight 600cc National Dirt Track Series win as he romped home the win ner in th e I5-lap Seventy riders took tim e tri al laps, hopi ng to be among th e 36 riders wh o wo uld q ua lify for the program . Ca rr was fast qualifier with a 36.266 seco nd, 99.266 mph lap. Michi gan 's Kevin Ath ert on was seco nd quickest with a 36.495 second tour of th e ova l, a nd Durell e was third qui ckest at 36.5 155. Kris Kiser was th e 36th and last rider to qualify for the p rogram and cu t-o ff time, logged by Kiser , was 37.970 seconds. Heats Three 12-rider , eight-heat races were run with th e first three fini sh ers from each advanc ing directl y to th e fina l and the fourth through 11th pl ace finishers from each go ing to o ne of two eigh t-la p sem i-fina l races which would ad vance the top four finishers. Don Estep pulled th e holeshot a t th e sta rt of the first heat but it ' was Carr in front of Estep and Don Howard by in ch es at th e end o f th e . ope n ing la p. Carr wasted no time in ope n ing u p some breathing room and by the end o f the third lap th e q ues tio n was n ' t wh ether or not he'd win, but by how mu ch. Wh ile Carr romped home th e winner b y half a straigh taway, Estep a nd H owa rd swa p ped seco nd p lace ba ck and forth until H ow ard lock ed into th e position for good on th e six th lap. Estep fini shed an un challenged third. The second heat saw Kevin Ather'ton, Dan Ingram and Dave Hebb battle in the early going. Atherton led the opening lap , Ingram the second, and Atherton th e thi rd and fourth. Laps five, six and seven saw Ingram and Atherton hit the line side-by-side with the edge to Indiana 's Ingram. . . Suddenl y, on th e white flag lap, Vill ella charged from fourth, passed Hebb who was running th ird, and hooked up with Ingra m and Atherton for th e final ch a rge to the checkered flag with Hebb right on his tail. As th e quartet ca me out of turn four th e drafting maneuv ers started a nd at the line it was Villella the winner by in ches over Ath erton, Ingram and Hebb . The third and fin al heat was a Davey Durelle romp. The Minnesota rider led from sta rt to finish , far a hea d o f Da yton a 600 Nati onal winner Will Davi s, wh o ran unchallenged in second. Eri ck Gruber of Rockfo rd , Illinois, fini sh ed third aft er a race long di ce with eventua l fourth place fini sh er Steve Labordus and fifth placed Roger Durkee. Semis Hebb; frustrated from his fourth place fini sh in his heat race, pulled the ho leshot a t th e start of the first semi and a fter dicing with Ted Taylor and Billy Herndon for severa l laps he pulled awa y and went on to win by three-plus seconds . Herndon's race came to an end with wha t appeared to be a blo wn motor o n the third la p. Whi le Hebb pulled away Taylor , Mark Gruber and Dave Camlin hooked u p in a battle tha t ended a t the finish line _with Cam lin taking second and Gruber third. Taylor was fourth a nd . was out of th e program. The second sem i saw Bryan McDo well , Crai g J ohnson, Steve Labordus a nd Roger Durkee go a t it in a fight th at had McDow ell lead in g by in ch es a t th e line a t th e end o f laps one, two a nd three, a nd Durkee in front by inc hes at th e end of laps four and five. It was McDowell in front a t the end o f th e fin al th ree laps with Labordus tak in g seco nd and Durkee third. J ohn Faulkner, Marc Gifford a n d Jim Sum ner closed o n the lead ing tri o o n th e fin al lap but they a ll came up short a nd their da y was over. National • Carr pulled the hol esh ot a t th e star t of the 15-lap fin al a nd a t the end o f th e ope n ing lap it appeared as th ou gh he'd go on unchallenged. But that was not to be as Ingram came from a second row start to run second, righ t on Carr's rear fender, with Durelle, H ow ard , Kevin Atherton, Davis a nd Vill ella running right with th em. The next handful of laps saw th at pa ck o f riders exchange positions a ll aro u nd th e oval and in a near dead heat a t th e end of th e fifth lap it a p peared to be Durelle first across th e line by inc hes with Ingram running second and Carr third. . The seven-rider battle for the front spots co ntin ued a nd produced laps run a t over 101 mph, a nd an eq ua lly fierce di ce for th e trailing spo ts took pl a ce behind the lead pa ck. But on lap seven Carr somehow managed to ope n up a ga p over th e six riders he had been dicing with a nd me form er Camel Pro Seri es Rookie o f the Year stre tched hi s lead in g ma rgin .over rem a in in g laps to win comforta bly. With two laps remaining Davi s' . H arl ey beg an smo ki ng and h e dropped back behind th e pack to seven th wh ere he would fini sh . Vill ell a , Durelle, Ingram, Atherton and Howard cro ssed the line in that order to tak e the seco nd through sixth p la ce spots, so me distance behind winner Carr. • Results 15·LAP 600 NATIONA L; 1. Chris Carr (H· D); 2. Bryan Vill ell a (W· R); 3. Dave Dur ell e (W-R); 4. Dan Ingram (H-D); 5. Kevin Athen on (W-R); 6. Don Howard (H-O); 7. Will iam Davis (H-O); 8. Erick Gr uber (W- R); 9. Bryan Mc Dowell (H-D); 10 . Dave Hebb (W- R); 11. Steve Labordus (W-R); 12. Roger Durkee (W-R); 13. David Camlin (W-R); 14 , Mark Gr uber (H-D); 15. Don Estep (W- R). TIME : 9 min.. 04 .213 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 99.22 2 mph.

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