Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 0") ....... Chris Carr (20) leads Steve Morehead. Bubba Shobert (1 ) and the field on the opening lap at Hamburg. AMA Grand National Championship: Round 12 Carrcontrols Hamburg M By Tom Mueller Photos by Bert Shepard HAMBURG, NY, AUG. 20 " I'm out to bring the Number One pla te back where it b elongs to Harl eyDavidson! " exclaimed a confident Chris Carr after leading from start to finish in the Genesee Beer-sponsored Half Mile National at the Erie . County Farr ,sB ff I0 Spee d ua way. 6 With his win, Carr moved to second in the Grand National Championship point standings, and now trails his teammate, Scott Parker, by four points, 168 to 164. Carr displaced Honda's Bubba Shobert, and now leads the reigning champ by a mere point, with 12 of 19 events completed. Shobert ran second at Hamburg, but it wasn't an easy effort. Shobert was riding with a very tender left foot and ankle, which he injured after flying into the bales in tum one durin!! qualifying. "Heck, the foot I hurt IS the one I have to drag around here all night (with a steel slIoe)," said Shobert. "What happened was my fault. I just backed it in and the back wheel touched the dust off the groove, and all of a sudden hay bales were coming at me real fast." Third went to Da n Ingram, who was more than happy to tell everyone about his new sponsor. ''I'm riding Bubba's personal bike," said Ingram. "He sets it up for me, and I just show up and ride it." Ingram's statement proved to be more fact than fiction: While he suited up for time trials, Shobert was back under the Honda canopy putting the finishing touches on his spare bike, now sporting Ingram's number 31. . Steve Morehead, who has won four Nationals this season, was favored to win the event. Most riders speculated that if the " Findlay Flyer " got on the groove early, he 'd be gone. Morehead posted the third fastest qualifying speed, won the fastest heat of the night, and finished first in the Expert/Junior 600cc final, but then his luck ran out. Steve looked to have a solid third locked up in the main, but his bike expired on the final lap, forcing him to coast across the line in ninth. Carr claimed $4000 of the $28,000 purse at Hamburg, while Shobert earned $2650 . for second. Ingram's third paid $1725. It cost Morehead $965 to coast down the final straight; that's the ' difference between the third place-cash and the $760 he received for ninth. Passing became virtually irnpossible at Hambu rg, due to the narrow groove that was the only quick lin e around the track. A soft, silty base bordered bo th sides of the groove, and condi tions prompted riders to consider a boycott of the facility after the afternoon's first practice session. "Last year everyone said they were sick and tired of the skinny groove, so the only option is to try and build a cushion," said AMA professional dirt track manager J. B. Norris. " We put down a lo t of calcium chloride (which lessens d ust and retains water on track) but everyone still said the surface was too loose. " Steve Morehead, last year 's wi nner at Hamburg, Shobert, Parker and Ronnie Jones met with race officials over the situation, and finally agreed to ride the event. "We held the meeting to let them know it's going to be scary out there; coming off the groove to pass could be risky," said Shobert. Due'to the discussions, the second practice session didn't get off until 6:00 p. m ., but race officals ran a punctual program which had racing beginning on schedule at 8:00 p.m. Du st could have been a prob lem, but with everyone headed for the groove, racing went off safely. Time Trials The deeper the groove the faster the lap: Tha t's what most riders were saying as they either waved off th eir first round quali fying, or completely sat ou t the session: Shobert wave d off his first run which, it turned out, would have given him the second fastest time of the night. In the second session, Shobert laid down a 25.257, a 10th of a second faster than his first attempt, but it was costly. Shobert lowsided coming into turn one, and ended up with a very used setofleathers. He bruised his left hip, injured a finger on his left hand, and had to nurse a tweaked left ankle. Bubba took an ambulance ride back to the pits, but didn't opt for more medical attention. "I think we'll keep the doctor away until after the race. I won't take my boot off until this race is over." Shobert's time held for second, but fastes t time went to Terry Poovey, who came out late in the second session. "Everyone knew the track was going to get faster and faster, so I just went OMt and got lucky," said Poovey, who posted a 25.245. "I didn't plan to wave off my first try, but I got sideways in turn two and had to take another shot at it. " Poovey was Harley-mounted at Hamburg, after a year and a half as a Honda pi lo t. Poovey had been tryi ng to wor k the ignition gremlins out of his H onda, and took it down a stretch of road the previous week; instead of solving the problem the Honda broke a crank, and Terry opted to get some Milwaukee iron. Third fastest was Steve Morehead's KK H arl ey-Davidson with a 25.421, fourth was GP Racing H onda ri der Ro nnie Jones at 25.470, an d fifth was Carr with a 25.618. "I waited for the first round to go through and came up with a good second effort," said Carr, who won the 'Peoria TT last weekend. "The track won 't change much during the night. A few guys might try the cushion outside of the groove, but that'll only last one or two laps." Sixth was David Miller, who ran his Harley to a 25.677, and Parker posted seventh with a 25.739. "It's - great to ride around the cushion.and throw it sideways, but you have to learn how to get around the track faster than that," said Parker. "Down on the bottom, inside on the $'oove, that's where all the traction IS. You have to get a holeshot to win the main here, and we're still not dialed in yet. Hopefully by the main Bill (Werner, Pa rker 's mechanic) wi ll have it." . After experimentation through the last few Nationa ls, Parker's H ar ley was once again tuned to have both cyli nders fire simu ltaneous ly, instead of the alternate-fire system the team had been using. Ingram, at 16th fastest, was the last rider to lay down a 25-second lap, at 25.995. Ra ndy Texter closed out qualifying as the 30th fastest rider, posting a 27.185. Heats Four 10-lap hea ts transferred the top three from each heat directly to the final. In heat one Tim Mertens jumped the start and was moved to the rear. Poovey took Garth Brow in tow on lap one, but by the second circuit George Roeder II and Ingram moved under Brow for 2-3. Poovey ran clear of the pack, while Ingram put a wheel under Roeder on the front straight on lap three. On lap five Ingram came off the , groove in turns two-three and drifted high, but hooked back up in time to save third. O n la p six Ingram jammed under Roed er going into one, and when the dust had cleared Ingram had second. At the finish it was Poovey, Ingram an d Roeder. Shobert took advantage of his pole position in heat two, set u p on the groove, and took off to win. Parker gated second, but went full -loc k off the groove o n lap o ne. He regathered to hold second. T h ird went to Rusty Rogers, bu t Jean Bourret ma de him earn it. The Canadian got under Gary Conkling for fourth on lap four, and then closed through lap seven . Bourret got a wheel in on Rogers in turn one on lap eight, but Rogers held his line to the finish. " Half the race is getting the stan. Even if the guy in front of you makes a mistake, there's room to get by:' said winner Shobert. "Getting sideways wasn't that bad," said Parker. " I had to try everything I could to make the bike go faster so I could go after Bubba." It was. Morehead, Jay Springsteen and Brian Atherton first off the line and onto the groove in heat three. That's just how they finished, with David Miller running out of time in fourth. . " I played it smart and got away fast. It's so important to have a good heat race here," said Morehead (the fastest hea t win ner gets the pole o n the groove - in the final). " Running that groove is too much like road racing for me," said Springsteen. "You have to keep the momentu m up to get through the turns. I'd like to ride up higher in turns, but it's too soft to get away with it." Carr, Jones and Rodney Farris ran one-two-three all the way in heat four. Farris made one attem pt on Jones in turn two, but all he got was

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