Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Canadian Steve Aseltine pulled the holeshot off the li n e at the start . of the main and led every lap to w in the '89 600 Nation~1 Series opener. Winner Steve Aseltine sprays the bubbly while runner-up Chris Carr (left) and third place finisher Rodney Farris (ri ght ) await their turns. Defending 600 champ Chris Carr (1 ) passed Rodney Farris (9 2) to take over second on the eighth lap, but he couldn't catch Aseltine. AMA 600cc National Championship Dirt Track Series: Round 1 Daytona Short Track to Aseltine By Henny Ray Abrams DAYTONA BEACH, FL , MAR. IO Can adian Steve Aseltine h eld off a determined las t lap charge by Harley Davidson 's 600cc Na tional Champion Chris Carr to win the open ing round of th e Championsh ip se ries at Daytona Bea ch 's Municipal Stadium. Taylor I White Racing's RodneyaFarris, Harley-mounted, was close third in th e 25-lap main event, round four of the Daytona Dirt Track Series. In winning his second event in as many days on th e new track, Cougar Gulch Distilling-sponsored Asel tine. boost ed himself up i n th e Daytona Cycle Week Series sta ndings. Foll owing the race, Farris held first with 55 points, Carr was second wit h 53, Aselti ne third with 50, and Garvis H on da 's Ronnie J o nes, fifth ton igh t, fou rth with 46 points. "You reall y have to ride yo ur tu tu off to beat these guys," Harley 600Rmo unted Aseltine sai d. " I know Ch ris isn 't going to let me go three for th ree tomorrow night (at the .o p cn i ng rou nd of t he Grand Na tio na l Cham pionsh ip Series on the sam e track)." The win was wo rt h $2000 to Aseltine from the $11,000 purse. Carr wo n $ 1355 and Farris $850. In a separa te Junior main for th e 12 fast est Junior qualifiers, Texan ' Mike Hal e won easily over Clinton Vahsholtz, and Brian Tillson . All three were Wood-Rotax-mounted. Afte r two programs of sloppy racing ca used by a light drizzle, ton ight's race was a better indicator. of n ormal track conditions and rider o p inion was split. Som e liked it sloppy, some liked it dry . And th ere were eq ua l ar guments as to wh ich caused more ru ts. One thing th at did improve dramatically was th e crowd. Tonight th e sta nds were nearl y filled to capacity as th e temperatu res moder ated , although o n ly to the hi gh 40s. Ca rr used essen tially th e same lin e as Aselti ne , running it deep into the corner, getting it turnd at the a pex, and heading for th e ins ide on the exit. It pu t hi m a t the top of timed qual ifying with a lap of 19.658 seco nds . Aseltine was seco n d a t 19.799, followed by Tim Mert ens (19.830), Will Davis (19.900), and a tie for fifth between Terry Poovey and Farri s at 19.927. These six fastest riders earned the pole po sition s for the six lO-rider , 1O-lap heats. Wi th a cu t-off time of 20.680 for th e LOp 60 rid ers, 56 of the 116 who signed up didn 't make th e program. Heats Garth Brow jumped into th e lead of the first heat followed by George Roeder Jr. and Peter Hook. Carr, sent to the penalty line for jumping the start was an earl y fourth , but with on ly two rid ers adv ancing directly LO th e main from each heat, he had pl enty of work ah ead. On th e second la p he went high around H oo k on the o u tside, but it took a lap to ma ke it stick. A bobble by Brow going into turn o ne on the fifth lap dropped Brow to fourt h so th e order at the half way mark was Roeder, Carr, H ook a nd Brow . Ca rr pressed for the next five laps wi th Roeder sticking to the groove and b lockin g Ca rr 's exit. He dove un der Roeder in turn three on the last lap , but got in too hot and Roeder was able to get it turned faster, winn ing th e sp ri nt to th e flag by a wh eel. Carr was second with H ook , Brow , and the o thers to th e sem is. Gardner Racin g's Brian Atherton was briefly in fro nt in th e second heat until Aseltine developed his midtrack lin e and too k over the lead exiting turn two o n th e second lap . Ath erton was then second with Rich King third, and Pete Hames fourth. Halfway into th e race Aseltine was 50 yards in fron t, a margin he would str etch at th e finish. Ath erton was being pushed by King and went under him to start the eigh th lap. Hames was a clos e third and they would finish in that order as a trio. Only Aseltine and King, however, were in th e main. From th e'middle of the front row , Sponsell er Ra cing's Dan Ingram jetted into turn one ahead of R usty Rogers, Duane Veeder and Mertens. Ingram steadily pulled away for th e win and th e transfer, leaving the second spo t up for grabs. Belleville Honda's Mert ens went under Veeder in th ree and four on th e second lap, but it wasn 't until th e ninth that he was abl e to get past Rogers going down th e backstraight, Rogers would finish third with Veeder fourth. " T here 's a little more traction tonight because the moisture's not coming down on it," Ingram said. "Everybody's trying to get their best stuff dialed in for tomorrow night. " Chief amo ng them was HarleyDavidso n 's Grand National Champion Scott Parker wh o would begin his title defense th e following night.

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