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
Scott Parker celebrated w inning the Grand National Championship by w inning the Sacramento M ile . r AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Series: Final round Parker wins Sacto Mile, takes title' By Farren Williams Photos by Mitch Friedman SACRAMENTO, CA , OCT. 8 T ea m H arl ey-D a vidson 's ' Scott P a r ker turned in the stellar performance of his , racing career Saturday night at Cal-Expo ' Sta te Fairgrounds to win th e season clos ing Sacramento Mile and put all doubts to rest ab ou t who had "really" won th e 1988' AMA ยท G ~an d N anona I Ch arnni n - , am p io 6 Sh ip, Parker rode perfectl y to put on an exa lte d show for th e 18,641'race fans in attenda nce . During qualifyin g he turned a 37.02 seco n d, 97.244 mph lap, sh attering the ' p revious track record set last fall by Chris Carr at 37. 117/ 96.991. H e wo n th e fir st heat race with a fo ur- second m ar gin ,of victory ov er his perennial rival , T eam H onda 's Bubba Shobert , th en fi n is he d four seconds a hea d of Sh ob ert to win th e' main even t. T h ree -t i me Grand N at io n a l Champion Jay Springsteen , Parker 's te~mmate , m ad e the night .even br ighter for T eam Harley-Davidson by finish in g third in th e Nationa l, H arley-m ounted Pet e Hames fin ' ish ed fourth and T erry P oov ey, a boa r d th e Marion eaux R a cin g H onda, rounded o u t the top five. In the six-rider , five-lap $17,500 Ca me l Cha lle nge, th e win ner was veteran Steve Mor eh ead . The Ohio rider , wh o had hi s best sea son ever in 1988, cappe d the year by co llec ting $ 10 ,000 for hi s fir st- ever Ca me l Challen ge victory, scored 'aboa rd a Mert Lawwill H arley-Davidson. Finishing seco nd by th e width o f a wh eel was another old p ro , Spring - steen, who earned $2500, mi ssing 10 gran d by less th an two feet. Parker cla ime d third to co llec t $2000 aft er . " sleep in g on th e line." Parker was th e biggest m on ey winner in th e $40 ,000 National, however, claimi n g $6100 for winn in g th e race, plus lap-leader money a nd show money. Sh ob ert ea rned $4160 for seco nd pi us th e spec ia l $400 he receives a t every National for bein g th e Grand Nati on a l Champion (a t n ext year 's dirt tra ck National s tha t m oney will go to Parker ). Springsteen ea rned $2835 for finishing third. Shobert's onl y hope o f win n irig hi s fourth co n sec u t i ve Grand Nationa l Ch ampionship had rested o n th e decision of an AMA appeal hoard whi ch met in Sacra me nto Friday even ing. The board co n vened to reconsid er Sh ob ert's disqualification a t th e September I I Syra cus e Mil e wh ere Shobert won th e race, but hi s factory Honda was found at a post-race weigh-in to be 1.5 pounds under th e AMA minimum weight of 320 pounds for Iour-valvemachines. H ad th e board upheld Shobert's ap pea l, returning th e 20 points for win n ing th e Syra cu se Mil e, th ere would have been a mathematical cha nce he co u ld win th e cham p ion sh ip if he did well tonight a nd Parker . had p roblems. . The three-man board (Ch ris Carter, Bob H ansen and Kevin H enry), however , listen ed to o ver two hours of testimony; deliberated nearly two ' hours, th en denied Shobert's appea l, dashing the H onda rider 's hopes for a fourth-straight title. Although frustrated a n d bitter with AMA offi cial s, Shobert immedia tely went to fellow ra cer Parker an d con gra tulat ed him fo r w inn in g t he cha m p io ns h ip, " As th in gs turned ou t, it didn 't ma tter. Even if Shobert's ap pea l h ad been upheld , th ere was n o way he co u ld repeat as cha m p with Parker riding a s well a s he was tonight. Parker h andil y won the Sacramento Mil e, whi ch would have earned him th e titie even if th e a p pea l board h ad re tu rned the 20 points Shobert lost at Syracu se. Parker came aw ay from Ca lifornia's sta te ca p ital th e new Grand National Champion - no ifs, ands or buts. After Parker won the ra ce, Shobert said, " T h is is the way it's been going for the past two months. Parker's tough. This just goes to show tha t what h ap pen ed last night (at th e appeal board hearing) doesn't mean a thing. I know and he knows wha t happened last n ight wasn't the way he won th e championship. He 's a damn good rider. He's' th e cha m p io n this year." " I'd lik e to thank everyone who's worked so hard and so long for this," Parker said. "Especially (tuner) Bill Werner. He prepped th e bike excellent - it worked bitchiri' ! " And I'd like to thank Bubba Shobert for being a hell of a racer and a h ell of a guy ," said Parker. "It's gr eat to be standing on th e box between these two guys (Shobert a n d Springsteen ) who h ave so m an y Nationa l wins between th em." Parker's cha m p io n s h i p g ave , Team H arl ey-D avid son its first National tit le follo win g a fou r-year domination o f G ra nd National dirt , track racing by T eam H onda Harl ey h adn't o w ned th e G rand N ation al Championsh ip since Randy Goss won it in 1983. It a lso gave , cre w ch ief Werner his fifth Grand N ationa l Championship title. Werner turned th e wren ches [or Gary Scott in 1975 and then for Jay Springsteen in 1976-1978-1979. Parker was due. He's been cha sin g th e title since his ro okie Expert year in 1979, wh en he was the yo ungest ro o kie in AMA history a t agel Z, He won two Nationals his rookie year. He was seco nd-ra n ked in 1986 a n d 1987, ' third ranked in 1985 and fourth-ranked in 1984. He's been knocking on th e championship door for th e pas t five years and tonight he kicked th a t door open and fin a lly stepped across th e threshold. He 's been riding on th e facto ry Harley team since 1982. Although frustrated th at he will n ot be th e first ra cer to win four co nsecu tive Grand Nationa l titles sin ce Carroll Res weber did it between 1958 and 196 l, Shobert certain ly has nothing to be ashamed of. This seas on Shobert wrapped up hi s fourth straight Camel Pro title when he finish ed second at the August 28 Indianapolis Mil e. For winning that title Shobert co llected the Camel Pro point fund's top prize of $100,000. Parker finished second in the Camel Pro Ser ies and by doing so earned $25,000 in point fund money. _ SuperTrapp Ra ci ng 's Doug Ch andl er, wh o was tied withMore' h ead for fifth in th e Camel Pro stand in gs go ing into th e Sacramento Mil e, finished third in th e series sta nd in gs to' collect $20,000 in point fund money. ' , Chandler a n d Moreh ead ca me into tonight's race tied with 99 points eac h . They trailed fourth-ranked Harl ey factory ride r Chris Carr (100) and third-ranked road ra cer Doug Pol en (10 1). Ch andler took an unexp ected third p lace in the Camel Pro