Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• 00 00 . O':i ...... Camel Challenge winner Terry Poovey (1 8 ) topped Scott Parker (1 1 ), Dan Ingram (3 1 ), Bubba Shobert 11). Keith Day and Ronnie Jones. under the leaders going in to turn three and sailed ho me th e winner, $10 ,000 richer. Pa rk er , In g ram , Shobert, Day a nd J o nes followed the Texan across the finish line in th at , order. Shobert's fourt h pl ace finis h ' was wor th $ 1500 - $750 he'd keep and $750 he'd han d over to Mertens. " Well a t last he can buy his lit tle girl tha t swi ng set," said a la ughing Pa rker, in referen ce to th e ans wer Poovey had given the a n nou ncer last year a t Springfield when asked wh at he'd do with the cas h if he were to win th e Camel Challenge. " I'd like to thank Harry Marion eaux for b u ying th e bike a n d havi ng fait h in me," sai d a very emo tional Poovey, Miss Camel Pro helps Terry Poovey hold his $10,000 Camel ' Challenge check. They're joined in winner's circle by Parker (right) and Ingram. I fell out of the draft or what," said Merten s, obviously very co ncerned over hi s problem as he was sched uled to com pete in the next race, th e Camel Challen ge. As Merten s pondered his problem, Vill ell a a nd Davis were breathin g eas ier as th ey had finish ed 1-2 in th e semi to ad vance to th e mai n. Camel Challenge 8 Merten s fired up hi s ailing moun t as tim e for the Camel Ch all en ge a p proac hed . H e li st ened to i t intentl y, as did first alternate Bubba Shobert. " If you run o ne of these th ings until it dies, they cost abou t $5000 to fix ," said Merten s. Shobert th en came up with an offer Merten s cou ld not refuse. Shober t agreed to sp lit whatever he wo n in th e Camel Challenge if · Mert en s would drop o ut of th e race. The deal was on - Mertens was ou t a nd Shobert was in. . As the ligh t turned green to start the five lap das h, the ominous dark clouds li ngering over head sprink led a few large drops and everyone held their breath for the nex t 3 mi n utes, 3.614 seconds. Sidelined Mert en s m ust ha ve been watch in g with a smile as Sho bert led at the end ofla p one with J ones, Da y, Parker, Ingram and Poovey in tow. T he turn three sh uffle took place o n lap two a nd sudden ly it was J ones leadin g Shobe rt , Po o vey, Da y, Parker an d In gram. At th e end of lap three it was Shobert back up front a t th e start! fin ish line with Poovey now running second, ' a head of In gram, Parker, Day and J ones. Positions continued to sh uffle a nd at the end of th e next to last lap, lap fo ur, it was Ingram in the lead wi th Parker second , Sho bert thi rd a nd Poovey fourth. Poovey dove Last Chance Qualfier Tammy Kirk led the first two laps of the La st Ch ance Qualifier but then an ignition system wire came loose and dropped her to the back of th e field. She fixed the problem but then a piston brok e and her day was over. Spri ngs teen, Feli cio, Burkholder an d King swa pped pos itions for the entire 1O-lap race with the nod going to three-time Grand Na tional Ch am p io n Springsteen. National Wh en th e field gridded for th e 25lap Nationa l, fast heat win ner J orgensen selec ted a starti ng spot o ne posi tion off the o u tside wa ll. Carr came next , o n the wa ll, and ro und ing o ut the fro nt row we re .Pa r ker , Durelle, In gram and Sh obert. Shobert led the first lap wi th the fie ld on h is rear whee l a nd h e continued to hold th e po int after th e first five la ps were in th e books. At the end of the fifth la p the order was Sho bert , In gra m , J o nes, J o rgen sen , Du rell e, Parker, Carr, Day, H erridon a nd Poovey - all running in a tight drafting and passin g pack. T he en d of th e 12th la p saw Sho bert still leading, bu t the order beh i nd h im n ow read P ark er, Ingram, J orgen sen, Carr, Poo vey, H erndon, J ones a nd Spri ngsteen. Will Davi s led a foll ow ing pack ahea d of Ath ert on, Ch andler, Howard, Villell a and Roeder. Each of th e follow in g la ps was a n experiment as every rid er in th e lead pack tri ed to get to th e front and! or form a last la p plan. With five laps re mai ni ng it was Parker in fro nt, followed by In gram, Shobert, J orgensen , H erndon, Poovey, Carr a nd Day. Parker was first across th e lin e as th e whi te nag was disp layed wit h Shobert, In gram , Herndon, J orgen sen , Carr and Poovey ri ght behind him. With th e cro wd standing, nearly drained fr om th e ac t io n the y'd al read y witnessed, th e drama heig h tened as Shobert slipped in turn two a nd in the blink of a n eye Ingram was by hi m and aft er Pa rker a nd th e lead. Shobert qu ickly recovered a nd tu cked back into the ac tion , runnin g th ir d as Jorgensen got by H erndon a nd moved in to fourt h. Parker, with vi sio n s o f th e Num ber O ne p la te th at has eluded him for years dancing in hi s head, smoothly negotia ted turns three-four and go t a masterf ul drive off of four th a t ena bled him to hold th e lead a n d score the victory a hea d of In gram. . Shobe rt, wh o h as ca rried th e Gran d Nat iona l Champi on ' s Number One pl a te for th e past th ree years a nd knows he has hi s work cut ou t for hi m if he wishes to carry it for a fourt h time, said, " I was having trouble in the mi ddle of th e turns. We jus t didn' t have the combi natio n like we did a t DtrQuoin.' • Results 25 -LA P GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPI ONSHIP FINAL: 1. Soon Parker (H· D); 2. Dan Ingra m (Hont, 3. Bubba Shobert (Hon); 4. Alex Jorgensen (Hont, 5. Bill Herdon (Hon); 6. Chris Carr (H-D); 7. Terry Poovey (Hon); 8. Jay Sp

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