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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127155
.... v ..0 .o ..., u o Grand National Champion Scott Parker is joined by girlfriend Wanda and one very happy tuner, Bill Werner (right) in winner's circle . t . . Moorehead? Whatever. Morehea'd is all smiles after winning the Camel Challenge. That's "Miss Sacramento Mile" and announcer Dave Despain. a Ron Wood Wood-Rotax 600cc single. They finished in that order . Last Chance Qualifier Farris turned in a strong, consistent performance to lead the Last Chance Qualifier from start to finish and earn the 17th and final starting spot on the 25-mile National starting grid. Brow finished second and was followed home by H erndon, R ogers and At herton. Camel Challenge '8 The Camel Challenge could have been a film scene from IO-year-old racing footage. It featured Morehead a nd Springsteen battling for the top spot from the word go. The two drafted past on e another several times during the five-lap sprint race, but at th e end it was the Findlay Flyer who managed to win over the three-time champ by a wheel and take the lion's share of the prize money. , . Parker, who was bumped around in traffic going into turn one on the o pe n in g lap, managed to work hi s wa y from fifth at th e start to third by the end o f lap two, but he never had a ny cha nce of ca tch ing th e two front runners. Graham , Hames a nd J ones fin ish ed fo urth th ro ugh sixth a fter runni ng in those positio ns for most o f th e ra ce. " I' ve been in a dozen Cha llenge races an d I' ve never finis hed better , th a n seco n d," said Mo reh ea d . ' " T h a n k God it 's fi na lly come true. Th a t H a p J on es/M ert L a ww ill H arley ra n perfectl y." ' ' ~ I hung with hi m off o f turn four, and I th ou gh t I might be able to pass ' h im , but he's a smart g uy to race wit h ,", sai d Springsteen. " 1 knew if J ay was goi ng to pa ss me, he 'd pass on th e o utside (i n turns three an d four)," said Morehead . " So I ran her in as hard as I could and just tri ed to get a good co rne r." " I guess I was sleep ing, " Parker said. "They jumped o n me off the bat. With these Cha llenges, you have to be th ere from th e get -go ." National Parker was sitting on the pole for th e fina l Camel Pro and Grand National Championship ra ce of the , year. Lined up a longside him on row o n e were Morehead , Carr, Day, Shobert and M ertens . Graham, Hames, Pea rso n , In gra m , Springsteen and Chandler sat on row two, while Felicia, J o nes, Filice, Poo vey a nd Fan;' filled out th e field in row three. Shobert nailed th e holeshot at the start of the main event and was followed into turn one by Graham and Da y. Day went down between turns one and two, but his Dan's Plumbing Honda popped back onto two wheel s almost immediately with Da y still in the sadd le. ' Day downshifted and took o u t after th e pa ck , but he was at th e rear o f th e field. Morehead a lso h ad immedi ate p robl em s and h is wo es p u t h im out o f th e race. The coi l o n hi s Laww ill H arley slid back in its mou nt and shorted ou t against th e fuel tan k, which burned o ut the bike's wiring. T he Ca mel Challenge winner was out of th e , Nat io nal before h e' d com p leted a single la p. At th e end of lap o ne, Shobert led Carr, P ark er , In g ra m , P ear son, Graham a nd Mer tens. Parker, who was r u n ni ng wi th fres h rubber o n th e rear o f hi s bike a nd j us t "cru ising" until th e tire warmed up, d rafted by Carr o n lap two , p assing hi s teammate on th e inside as th e duo entered turn three, to ta ke over second. Parker claimed th e lead in the same turn o n la p three wh en h e went around Shobert on the outside. That wa s it. Race o ver. Parker was go ne . By lap five, th e leading tr io was p ulling a way from th e field, whi le G ra h am an d Ingram arg ued o ver fourth , and Sp ri ngsten and Pearson trad ed six th . In gram wa s out of th e race on e lap lat er , how ever, th e victim of so me so rt o f internal en gine p ro blem in h is Shobe rt H onda. T he engine had th ree races o n it w ithout bein g re bu ilt - Syracuse, Springfi eld a n d . Ascot. " We were trying to sq ueeze one more ra ce o u t of it , but it was no go, " sa id Skip Eaken, who tunes Ingram's bike when he's n ot working on Shobert's mounts. "I don't kn o w what happened. It was something in terna l. There were no holes in it so we didn't throw a rod. " On lap sev en , the same la p Ing ram 's bike broke, Farris - who had started dead last and who had been well 'out of th e to p Hlat the end of lap 'one - moved around Pea rso n and into sixth p lace. By the halfway flags , th e leaders - Parker, Shobert and Carr - were well spaced o u t and sti ll pu lling a way from the field. Springsteen and Graham wer e h aving a n outrageous struggle for fourth p lace, and Farris was running six th a h ea d of Hames, Pearson, Mertens and Poo vey. Cha nd ler, who had suffered a terrible start, was ridi ng the wheels off h is Honda in '. an effort to brea k into the top 10. On lap IS, Parker he ld a twosecond edge over Shobert a fter co m p leti ng a circuit of Cal-Expo's mi le dirt o va l in 37.23 seconds. On la p 16, Carr slowed. rrno ved to th e outside of the track a nd let th e field go under him as h e' ex ited turn two. ' "The swingarm broke in half at th e p ivot point," h e sa id. "It was like ri d ing o n o ne wh eel. " Carr a tte m p ted to co nt i n ue to circu late the track in a n effo rt to ea rn as ma ny poin ts as possi b le , but o fficia ls q uick ly decided that h e was a danger to hi mself and to other ri ders a nd p romptl y bl ack -flagged the Tea m H arl ey rider. . Pearson pull ed off th e track o n la p 17, an o the r vic ti m of mech anical grem lins . " It sta rted to slo w do wn a nd i t was pinging real bad, I didn 't want to dest ro y th e mo tor, so I pull ed o ff," sa id Pearson. By lap 20 Park er sti ll held a ver y comfortab le ed g e on S hobert , Springsteen had broken away from Graham to settle into third, and Hames wa s running fifth ahead of Farri s, Poovey, Chandler and Fil ice. On lap 22, Parker clocked in with a 37.36-seco nd lap, and by lap 23 had stre tche d hi s lead o ver Shobert to 3.74 seco n ds. Parker so u nd ly defeat ed Sh ob ert at th e checkers to prove h is point, and Springsteen powered hi s way " ba ck o n to th e box" with a very cred ib le third pl ace show ing. H ames took fourth, whi le Poo vey a n d C h a nd le r finished fifth and si x th, respectively, after co m i n g through traffic on th e final five laps. Graham slipped to seventh by the flag : Filice had worked his way in to eighth, and Farris had to settle for ninth after slipping off the groove bri efly d uring th e la te stages of the ra ce. Mertens took 10th. Rounding out th e fie ld were Jon es, Day a nd Felicio, Carr was credited with 14th , Pearson with 15th, Ingram with 16th and Morehead with 17th. . "Ther e 's no doubt (a bo u t th e champions hip ) now," sa id Parker after the race. "That probably makes th em (Team Honda) feel a littl e better a nd me too ." "It feels great to be back on the box," said Springsteen. "It's been a long time since I'v e been there. "I'll probab ly rac e a fu ll sch ed u le next yea r, but after that I'll get away from th e factory and let someone els e co me in, " sa id Springsteen . "After that I'll just rac e in selected races, the ones I want to race in, li ke the m iles." " I' m just glad it 's over," said a weary Sh obert a fter th e final. " • Results 25- LAP NATIONAL: 1. Scott Parker (H-O); 2. Bubba Shobert (Hon); 3. Jay Springsteen (H-O); 4, Pete Hames (H-O); 5. Terry Poovey (Hon); 6. Ooug Chandler (Hon); 7. Ricky Graham (Hon); B, Jim Filice (H-O); 9 . Rodney Farris (H- O); 10 , Tim Merte ns (H-O); 11. Ronnie Jones (Hon); 12. Keith Oay (Hon); 13. Chad Felicio (H-O); 14. Chris Carr (H-O); 15. Scott Pearson (H-O); 16 . Oan Ingram (Hen): 17. St eve Morehead (H-O), TIME: 15 min.. 36 .125 sec. AVERAGE SPEEO: 96 ,993 mph . 5-LAP CAMEL CHALLENGE: 1. Steve Morehead (H-O); 2. Jay Spring steen (H-OI; 3, Scott Parker (H-O); 4. Ricky Graham (Hon); 5. Pete Hames (H0 ); 6. Ronn ie Jones (Hen). FINA L GRANO NATI ONAL CHAMPIONSH IP POINT STANOINGS: 1. Scott Parker (228); 2. Bubba Shob ert (2 16); 3, Chris Carr (196); 4 , St eve Mor ehead (163); 5. Terry Poovey (140); 6. Ronnie Jon es (1171 7. Rodney Farris (90); 8, Oan Ingram ; (87); 9. J ay Springstee n (74); 10. Keith Oay (72); I 1. Ooug Chandler (69): 12. Ricky Graham (65); 13. Ale x Jorgensen (53); 14. Oon Estep (44); 15. Tim Mertens (40); 16. Scott Pearson (321; 17. Pete Hames (29); 18. George Roeder (28); 19. Rich King (27); 20 Bri an Ath erton (24), FINAL CAMEL PRO POINT STANOINGS: 1. Bubba Shobert (22B); 2. Scott Parker (I 40); 3. Ooug Chandler (108); 4. (TIE) Chris Carr 10 0ug Polen (101 I; 6 . Steve Morehead (99); 7. Terry Poovey (82); 8, Oan Ingram (61); 9. Keith Oay (51): 10. Ronnie Jon es (49).