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/127140
around a nd took it easy last night, so I was ra ri n ' to go," sai d Parker, who got out to q ualify earl y in the l ineu p . " I got o ut early in practice a nd figured thi ngs out, and then got aro u nd real well. " Second,-with a 26.197, was Mike Sponell er /Fabb all /Sh oei /B.V.R .I Du tro w's H onda-sponsored Rodney Farris, with third going to KKlB~ll / Wh eelin ' Wo rks/F&S-backed Morehead. " Ha nk Sco tt builds the best m o tors in the co u ntry , and I'm sitting on one here tonight," said Morehead . Shobert, wh o sh u ttled in via a private ai rp lan e from the Road Ameri ca Camel Pro road race in Wi sconsin , clock ed a 26.355 for fourth fastest. T erry Poovey put his H arley in fifth with a 26.475. Sixth was Da n Ingram. and sevent h was Springsteen , both on H a rl eys. Springsteen waved off his first ro und . attempt, bu t ca me back with a creditable second rou nd try. Eig h th went to two-time Grand Na tional Cha mpion Ricky Gra ha m, who was riding Moreh ead's back-u p bike. "Something let go in my bike (d uring the first practice session), and since I loaned Steve a bike in '82, he owned me one ," sa id Graham. " It doesn 't fit me right - my legs are IO inc hes lon ger than hi s." Forty-five riders qualified for the program , wi th the second th rough 16th p lace riders all in the 26-seco nd range. - Heat s In winning the Lim a Half Mile, veteran St eve Morehead scored hi s third National victory of the year. AltA Grand National Championship Series: Round 6 Morehead sputters to Lima HM win By Tom Mueller Photos by Bert Shepard LI MA, OH, J U NE 25 " I'm a nervous wreck, bu t there 's nothing better than win n in g a big one in fro nt of your family and fri ends," said Steve Morehead after overcoming a failing engine to wi!1 the Ohi? State Championship H alf Mile at Allen Coun ty . F a Irg~~ u n d s . Th e " F' dl ax III Flyer, whose hometo wn I S 10 on ly 28 m iles fro m the ,race trac k, too k th e lead o n th e six th go-round in the 20-lap fina l, a nd then nursed a sick motor hom e for victory. Second went to fellow H arleyDavidson pilo t Chris Carr, who got up fro nt early, fell back, and then skillfully push ed back u p into the ru nner-up slot. Third went to Ha rley factory rider Scott Par ker. fourth to defending Gra nd National Cham- ~ion Bub ba Shobert on a H o nda, a~d fifth to H arley-m ounted Ronnie Jones. In Six th was early race leader Jay Spri ngsteen, who by his performance had his co mpe titors shouting, " Sp ringer' s back!" - T h e thermometer peaked at a brutal 99 degrees at Lima, breakin g temperature records for no rthern Ohio previously set near the tum of the century. T he heat was cou p led with a steady wi nd, making for blowtorch -like conditions that were .giving pro moter Dave McCarthy fits. " We understand what the riders are -up against. and we'll do our darndest to try a nd beat Mo ther Nature," said McCarty, wh o had two wat er tru cks on hand to prep the usuall y dustfree pea gravel surface. T hough over 100,000 gall ons of wat er were a pplied, du st cont in ued to be a probl em th rough ou t th e program. Delays du e to watering caused th eAMA tosp lit the program , a nd ru n th e 750cc Na tio na l progra m prior to the 600cc races. AMA professio na l d irt track man ager J.B. Norris jo kingly referred to the event as the "24 H our s of Lima : ' whic h didn 't seem too far fro m the truth - the final race ro lled to a halt a t 2:30a.m. McCa rthy estimated th e cro wd for th e Ohio Ch ampionsh ips a t 7000. Most stayed for th e ent ire 750cc progra m (wh ich ended just aft er midnight), while only a few hundred hearty souls sta yed for the remaini ng 600cc National. Desp ite th e conditions, great raci ng was th e order of the evening, o n a no-groove course wh er e th e h o t line was a lt ered constantly through out each event. Morehead too k ho me $4000 o ut of the $33, 000 com bi ne d 750/600cc purse, $3600 for winning and $400 as a bonus for pre-entering th e event. Carr won $2655, and Parker wo n $1830, which included a $100 fast q ual ifier bon us p ut up by a loca l car deal ersh ip. TIme Trials Parker cou ldn't break Morehea d's trac k record set last year, but th e 25.740 h e la id down was good enough for fast ti me. " Hey, I laid Three l 2-ri der, 1O-lap hea ts were run , with each heat tra nsferring th e top three to th e 20-lap main event. Sco tt Pea rso n, Spri ngs teen, Parker a nd Ch ad Fel icia ran their H ar leys to th e front on lap one. bu t by lap two Park er a nd Sp ringer were 1-2, while Pearson a nd Dan In gram were jockeyin g for th ird. T he n the red flag waved for a restart. " Bob (Fa rner) slid o ut , h is bike cli pped my fro nt whee l, a nd I stepped off a t abo ut 80 or so," said Bryan Ville lla. ' 'I' m just glad that we'r e both o kay." Pea rso n took th e lead off the restart, but th en Spri nger moved up and cha llenged for seco nd. On lap four Par ker found a really low line and used it on both Pea rso n a nd Springst een to lead on la p six. Springsteen wo rked high and Pa rker low, but Parker go t th e nod. T he third a nd fin a l transfer went to Pear son. " It's ge tti n' a little bit skatey you just wait 'til you hit th e berm and start sq uari n' it off," sai d Parker, wh o wo n the Lima race in 1985 a nd '87. " T he bik e was push in g; you 'd just ska te until you hit the cushion, but yo u go tta roll the dice some time, " .said Sp ringsteen. " I just tried no t to let 'em run awa y from me." said Pea rson. "I'll take all my cha nces in the main. " Carr loo ked to hav e it all th e way in heat two, but George Roed er II execu ted a fan tastic mov e on the last lap to win. Roeder took his Mike's H arley-Davidson H arley extremely hi gh in turns o ne and two, a nd th en used th e mom en tum to sli ngs hot in a hea d of Carr on the back straig h t to take co mmand. Farris and Poov ey ducked underneath each other ti me and aga in to deci de th ir d, and Poovey go t the fina l tra nsfer spot by securing th e positi on for good on lap eigh t. Moreh ead hol eshot heat three, Keith J acob sen and Don Estep went down, and th en Mor eh ead grabbed th e lead again off the restart. H e got away clean and ra n to the chec kers unchallen ged. Don Howard plugged hi s Harley into second, and stayed there the entire race, despite a lastlap challen ge by Shobert. Bubba