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/127155
.... V .D. o ..... u o Bubba Shobert (1 ) pulled the holeshot at the start of the National. ahead of Steve Morehead (42) and Keith Day (2 2). Shobert f inished in second . standings when he finish ed sixth in the National and both Morehead and Carr dropped out of the main event with mechanical difficulties. Shobert also claimed hi s first-ever AMA National Superbike . Championship this year, locking up th e titl e October 2 wh en he fini sh ed second to season-long rival Polen a t Sears Point th e weekend before th e Sacramento Mile. Time Trials Parker gassed his Harley XR750 to a record tim e of 37.02 seconds to top one-lap qualifying runs. Morehead powered hi s Lawwill Harley to a second-fast time of 37.329 seconds, while Springsteen claimed th e third-fastest clocking of 37.385 aboard a n Al Spangler/Mike Mockbee-built Harl ey. Hames clocked in .Iourth fastest at 37.533, GF Racing's Ronnie Jones was fifth fastest. at 37.553, and twotime Grand National Champion Ricky Graham.uiding a Rob Muzzybuilt Honda RS750 , rounded out the top .six qualifiers who would make up th e Camel Ch all enge field with a time of 37.556. Filling out the top 10 were Bryan Vill ella (37.565), Sh ob ert (37.592), Dan Ingram (37.695) and veteran Alex J orgensen (37.697). Fifty-five rid ers attempted to qual ify for th e 48-rider field. The 48th and final rider to make the program wa s Oregon 's Dan Bennett. His cu to ff tim e wa s 39.36 1. Heats The first l2-rider, 1O-lap heat race, which transferred th e top three riders into the mai n event, turned out to be a previewof th e Nati onal. Shob ert led Park er into turn o ne, but Parker powered past Sh ob ert with a n o utside move in turn three and never looked back. By lap three Parker had a .1.23-second lead. By lap six hi s margin was 2.95 seco nds and one lap later he stretch ed hi s advan tage to 3.30 seconds. Parker th en turned in a 37.31-second lap on th e final go-around to finish almost four seconds up on Shobert. Shobert and Ingram battled for second place whi le Parker pulled away. Shobert's factory Honda and In gra m 's Bubba Shobert Honda swapped the lead almost every lap - Shobert passed Ingram time and again going into turn th ree and Ingram continually drafted past the defending champ going into turn one. When the smoke cleared, Shobert had just edged Ingram for second. Fourth and a semi berth went to Poo vey, while Harley-Davidson: mounted Garth Brow also earned a semi spot by finishing fifth . Heat two featured a runaway win .' .Ior Morehead and a'Iierce three-rider ' battle for second that invo lved Tim Mertens, Scott Pearson and Rodney Farris. Morehead nabbed the holeshot and powered away to an earl y lead . H e turned consisten t la ps in the 37.4second range to pull away from the second-place battle and win th e race with a four-second margin of victory. Farris led the battle for second in th e early going, but Mert en s took over o n lap six a nd held second until the end. Pearson a nd his Jim Kell y/ Fran Brown Harley dropped Farris to fourth o n th e eig hth la p to set the final finishing order for the top four spots. Chad Felicio finished fifth. Keith Day co llected th e win in the third heat race after holdin g off strong c h a lle n ge s from form er cham ps Springsteen and Graham, whil e Jimmy Fili ce chased th e leading trio from fourth. - Da y, Springsteen and Graham passed a nd repassed one a no the r, go ing down ' the front stra igh t and into tum one side- by-side every lap fo r the fin al five laps. They took th e ch eckers in such close quarters ·tha t fan s weren 't sure who had won. AMA officials gave the call to Day with Springsteen getting th e nod for second and Graham third. Filice finished fourth, about three feet behind the front runners. Rusty Rogers cla im ed fifth . H eat four was a runa way for Team H arley's Carr, wh o left Jones a nd H am es to argue over second for mos t of the race. Carr turn ed co ns is te n t la p s between 37.30 and 37.65 to win easily. J ones held onto second for th e first nine laps, fending o ff a strong cha llen ge from Hames. On th e white flag lap, how.ever, fourth-running Chandler took advantage of a laterace charge to just nip Hames and J ones a t the fla~. Hames took third, and the last direct transfer to the National. Jones , who held second for mos t of the heat, had to settle for fourth and a spot in the second semi. Aaron Hill finished fifth. Semis Farris nabbed the holeshot in the first 1O-lap semi-final race , followed Jay Springsteen (9) returned to winner's circle with a strong third place finish . He's seen here leading ninth place finisher Rod Farris. Veteran Steve Morehead capped his best season by w inning the Camel Challenge and pocketing $10.000 for doing so. by Will Davis, who was ridin g Ronnie Jones' backup bike. At th e end of the first lap, however, it was Poovey in th e-lead. Although he didn't break away from th e other riders until after lap five, Poovey held the point for the duration to · claim the win. Farris and Feliciobattled for second wi th Felicia leading when it counted and Felicia was in the main while Farris, who finis hed third, was headed for the Last Chance Qualifier. Brow fin ished fourth with Herndon fifth and Davis slipping to six th at the flag. Filice, riding Mert Lawwill 's second Harley, led the second semi from start to finish, holding off a hard-charging Jones in the opening la ps. Jones eventually settled into a comfortable second, where he finished over a hotly contested battle for third involving Rusty Rogers, Hill and Kevin Atherton, who was riding 7