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/127198
Winner Scott Parker (1 ). third place finisher Will Davis (2 1) and runnerup Chris Carr (20) ran in close formation at Hagerstown Speedway. Dan Ingram (3 1 ) led Will Davis (21). Steve Burkholder (62), Rod Farris (9 2 ) and Steve Morehead before a crash called for a restart. Sc ott Parker (1), Steve Burkholder (6 2), Chris Carr (2 0) and Ronnie Jones (16) gas it off the start li ne. AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 7 . Hagerstown Half Mile, points lead to Parker By Jack Mangus Photos by Bert Shepard HAGERSTOWN , MD , JULY I Defen din g G rand National Ch am pion Scott Parker took over the top spot in the Camel Pro Series point standings with a decisive victory in the 9th Annual H ub City Classic H a lf Mi le. Team H a rl eyDavidson 's Park er took the 'II ' Ie~ d away f rom tAT DaV.IS, ... 1 win ner of the p revious ser res 6 rou nd at Li ma , O h io, and wen t on to win with teammate Chris Carr followi ng h im across th e finish lin e in seco nd , with Davis crossing th e line in th ird. Parker, who had started th e race in mid-pack, said, " I worked m y way up to whe re it was j ust him (Davis) and Ch ris a hea d o f me an d th en di d what I h ad to do . T he re were a lo t of h oles - wet spots, or wha tever you want to ca ll. th~~ - and you had to p~y att~n tlon. . Pa rker s WIn, worth 20 POInts, co u p led with Carr's runner-up fin ish, worth 16, mov es Parker into th e poi nts lead, 94 to 9 1 over Carr who .held the lead co ming into the race. Dou g Chandler too k advantage o f Steve Moreh ead 's m isfort une - a cras h in th e ma in event - to move in to th ird spot in th e standings wi th a tota l o f 66 poi nts, three more tha n Morehea d. Time Trials Doug Chandler, rid in g th e Han k Scott Harley-Davidson, broke Morehea d 's Hagerstown Speedway lap record , tu rn ing in a 24.259 -seco nd lap in tim e tri a ls. T he previous record, 24.478, was set by Morehead in 1983. The yo un gest a nd newest m ember o f th e Harley factory team , Kevin Atherton, was second quickest a t 24.278. Pennsylvanian Steve Burkholder was third quickest, turning in a 24.346 la p a board th e White H arl e y- Da vid son /S ho ei-ba ck ed XR750. Fourth was Pa rker at 24.427, fifth was T erry Poovey at 24.436 a nd Will Davis took the fi nal spot in th e Camel Challenge with a lap a t 24.48 1 seco nds. Ro und in g out the top 10qualifi ers were Da n Ingram , Rod ney Farris, Steve Aseltin e and Ro n n ie Jones. Onl y 35 Experts took time trial laps whi ch mean t tha t everyo ne who did so received a start ing spot in one o f th e four IO- Iap heat ra ces. The dubious distin ction of bein g the fin al q ual ifer went to George Haas, wh o logged a 29.958-seco nd la p. Facing a progra m that provides for 48 riders (12 riders in eac h h eat ), referee Du ke Olliges a llowed Brad Haas, who had fail ed to post a tim ed la p , to adva n ce to a heat race. Heats Nine rid er s, led b y po le-s itter Cha ndler, fired off th e lin e at the start of th e first hea t. Chandler led th e field into tu rn o ne but it was Marylander Farris, aboard the Ed Adkins- tun ed Harley, who was first o u t o f tu rn two a nd firs t across th e star t/ finis h line for th e firs t nine laps. Burkholder ran seco nd for th e firs t tw o laps, but Chandl er m oved . aro u nd him on lap thr ee, apparently sett ing th e finishing order. Farris maintained a lead ing ma rg in ove r Chand ler a nd th e pair pulled away fro m Burkho ld er an d the rest o f th e field. With h is home sta te crowd ch eering him on, Farris started the last lap with victory less tha n hal f a m in ute away. But j us t as quick as yo u could bl in k. he slowed and C ha nd ler was bv h im in tu rns three a nd four a nd iook the wm . " It just bro ke," sa id Farris wh o was a ble to coast across the li ne in seco nd pl ace. " Did I stretch him (C h a n d ler) ?" as ked Farri s. wh o smi led whe n told he had a co m forta ble lead until hi s bik e broke. T he smile was permissible because he kn ew that tuner Adki ns a nd crew h ad time to swap m otors before the fi na l. J o in ing Chandler a nd Farris in adva nci ng to th e ma in even t was Canadian Aselti ne. wh o took over th e th ird pl ace spot from Burkholder o n th e eigh th lap. Burkho lder an d th e rid ers wh o fo llowed him across the line faced a semi. T he second heat wa s stopped as fast as it was started. The red n ag was brough t o u t whe n Ath ert o n went down in tu rn o ne. H is factory Harley nipped and came do wn o n h im , causing a ll who saw the accident to hold th ei r br eath. Ath erton eventua lly got to his feet an d was helped back to hi s pi t area. " I' m beat up, but other than th at , I'm ok ay," sa id the Mich igan teenager. ''I'll race the semi ." Ronn ie J on es, aboard the Garvis H ond a , pu lled a pi cture-perfect holeshot on the restart, but Sponseller Raci ng 's Ingra m ha d th e lead at th e end of th e first lap and kep t it.]ones held seco nd throughou t the follow -the-leader race . Fin ish in g th ird was an elated Sco tt Sa u nders o f Mar yland , who q ua lified for hi s first-ever Nationa l aboard the Taylor White Racing Harley. T he th ird heat got underwa y with Will Davis, wh o was riding Morehead 's venerable Harley as he had th e previo us weeken d wh en he won th e L im a National , leading th e field into turn one o f th e banked ova l. But . Davi s gave wa y to vet eran T im Merten s, wh o led th e first three laps. Da vis got arou n d Mert en s an d took over th e lead for good o n la p four, stre tch ing hi s lead a few feet on every lap. Merten s a nd Burkholder d iced ove r secon d with th e