Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 en ........ Dan Ingram (31), Steve Morehead (42), Ronnie Jones and Terry Poovey waged a close battle for fourth in the National. Bubba Shobert (1) won the Camel Challenge, beating Terry Poovey (18), Dan Ingram, Chris Carr (20), Tim Mertens (53) and Scott Parker (11). Tammy Kirk (5) won a semi over Randy Texter (65), Brian Atherton (9 8 ), Rusty Rogers (57), Garth Brow (15), and Steve Aseltine (221. Shobert holds his $10,000 Camel Challenge prize aloft. flanked by third place f inisher Terry _ Poovey (left) and 'runner-up Chris Carr (right) . 12 Desp ite their drafting, the Harley me n cou ld n ot close on Shobert, who was more th an two seco nds ahead by lap 15. H e would ex tend th at ga p to nearly fou r seco nds by th e end, and was barel y visi b le to a nyo ne beh in d h im. O n lap 17, Atherton's day came to a sk iddi ng h alt dow n the fro nt stra ig ht after h is drive chain bro ke. H e saved it.wi th so me body English a nd stopped by turn one's o u tside Armco barrier. Beh ind J ones, in a race for eigh th, were Cha nd ler, Farr is, Mertens and Kin g. Chandler bro ke free of the pack a nd m oved in on J o nes, wh o wa s running seventh , durin g the la st lap, but th e cha rge was too la te. Da y joined th e grou p dicing for ninth , bu t Kirig took th e position, followed by Fa rr is a nd Mertens, R unning in the next-to-last slot was the popula r Kirk, whose motor was su ££eri ng fr o m a suspected dro p ped valve. Also a d isap point- ment was Graham, whose Ha rley had no major fau lts, according to its tuner Mert Lawwill, but many small on es that added up to a s low machine. . After Shobert waltzed to h is easy win , Parker used his superior drafting ability down the fro nt straig ht to beat H-D Mo tor Co.lShoei/ Hap jones/Taichi/Tsubaki-backed Carr. "I knew it wa s goi ng to be a race to the Iin e a nd I did n ' t ca re if we had to -do 45 m ph down the back straightaway," H -D Mo tor Co .lBelll Tsubaki / H a r ley Owners Groupsponsored Parker said. " I was going to let him lead. I got a good draft se t up a n d didn 't mak e .a n y mista kes." In gr am followed th em in, trailed by Morehead a nd Poovey. Shobert said th at th e o n ly th ing that worried h im durin g th e race were h is tires. " Halfway through th e race, I go t to thi n king a bo ut it - maybe I'm burn ing u p my tires, " he sai d. " Bu t shoot, we co u ld have gone another 25 laps." Now in a three-way points battle for th e Grand Nationa l Cha mpio nship, Shobert said he is looking forwa rd to the tai I end of the season with five more miles o n th e sched u le. " It's goi ng to be reall y close racing a nd th e thi ng that's going to brea k it u p, if it gets broken up, is g uys havi ng tro u ble with their bikes." • Results 25 -LAP GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: 1. Bubba Shob ert (Hon) 2. s een Parker (HD) 3. Chris Carr (H-D) 4 . Dan Ingram (H-D) 5. Steve Morehead (H-D) 6. Terry Poovey (Hon) 7. Ronnie Jones (Hon) 8. Doug Chand ler (Hon) 9. Rich King (Hon) 10. Rodney Farr is (Hon) 11. Time Mertens (Hon) 12. Keith Day (Hon) 13. Bryan Villela (H-D) 14. Ricky Greham (H-D) 15. Tammy Kirk (H-D). TIME: 14 min.• 48 .502 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 101 .244 mph. 5-LAP CAMEL CHALLENGE: 1. Bubba Shobert (Hon); 2. Chris Carr (H-D); 3. Terry Poovey (Hon); 4. Dan Ingram (Hon); 5. Tim Mertens (Hon); 6. Scott Parker (H-D). • GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS : 1. Scott Parker (144 ); 2. 8ubba Shobert (131); 3. Chr is Carr (124); 4 . Steve Moreheed (121); 5. Terry Poovey (88); 6. Ronni e Jone s (83); 7. Rodney Farris (67); 8. Jay Springsteen (46 ); 9. Don Estep 144) 10 . Keith Day (37). ; CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bubba Shobert (123); 2. Doug Polen (72); 3. Steve Morehead (63); 4 . Chris Carr (491; 5. seen Parker (47); 6. Doug Chandler (44 1; 7. Randy Renfrow (40); 8. Terry Poovey 1 371; 9. Rodney Farris (331 10. ; Reuben MeMurter (27).

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