Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Scott Parker (1) came from mid-pack to take the lead near the halfway point. The racing was this close throughout the 25-lap final. Semis T he first of two semi -final races, each of which wou ld send two riders to the ma in , saw J ones jum p off the fro nt line to lead Aseltine, Will Davis and Geo rge Roeder in to the first turn. Aseltine a n d Davi s immediat ely began working on the H on da rider wh o was havin g a tou gh day. On the second lap of the 10-lap race.. Aseltine sn uck by J ones and into th e lead. H owever, Jones retali ated a nd quickly moved back into th e spotlight position. J ones later ma naged to hold off Aseltine to the fini sh . Scoll Pear son and Bro w chased Ingram fro m t he sta rt of se m i number two. Pear son and Ingram traded posit ion s a few tim es wh ile they stretched o u t a lead over Scott Stump. .Back in the pack, Estep was trying to make up for a poor .start, a nd th e Harley-Davidson rider a ppeared to be doing a good job of it. During the final laps Estep mov ed close to th e leaders and managed to pull within striki ng distance. Un fort unately, for Estep , time ran o ut and Ingram ' took th e win over Pearson. . Last Chance Qualifier A short tim e aft er trailing Ingram and Pearson across th e finish line in th e second semi , Estep returned to the Last Chance Qualifer to become th e final rider to make th e main. Estep came from fifth, aboar d his Steel-M asters /Cu stom Cycl e Suppl y/ Sh o ie/ An sw er / Sm itt y' s/ Hog Wash /Ca strol- sponso red H arley -Davidson, to pass Keith Day, George Roeder, Chance Darling and Randy T exter before getting th e check ered flag. Junior National Larry Pegram started his weekend off on th e right foot , after posting a 36.693 second lap aboard hi s WoodRotax in th e Junior time tri al s. Mik e Hale was second fastest, at 36.703, with Andy Tressor third thanks .to a 36.773 lap. Kris Kiser, th e points leader coming into Sp ringfi eld , and Audie Huff rounded o u t th e top five. After an argument with a n AMA official conce rn ing wh ere he was to star t, Larry Pegram ca me from the inside of the front row to show Steve Raymond and Kiser aro und th e tra ck for th e first mile of th e first heat race. As the six-lap ra ce began to fall into th e late laps, Pegram managed to o pen up a o ne-seco nd lead while Steve Rasmussen chopped hi s way through the pack for second. At th e finish Pegram collec ted th e runaway win, with Rasmussen , Raym ond, J ason Fletcher, Kiser a nd Andrew Segalini each taking transfer spots. Heat race number two saw Karl Klement/Ron Wood/Shoei/Tsubaki/Superfuels/Red Line Oils/ ; GPS Racing-ba cked Hale get th e early drop on Huff, an d th en battle with th e Rotax rider throughout th e entire race. Each rider occu pied the po int posit ion fo r a tim e, with Huff - even tua lly pulling o ff th e win. Huff's 3:41.338 victory over H al e, Bart Schm u lbac h, Danny Koelsch , Vernon Bro wn e and David Lloyd gave him first p ick in th e 12-rider main even t. I Before the start of the race, Tresser, wh o was fourth in th e point sta ndings, su ffered mec hanical woes on the starting gr id. T he problems lat er spe lled disaster for him , wh en he was forced to watch th e main fro m th e in field. H ale came from the m iddl e of th e first row to edge ahead of Grayboy Kawasaki/Gardner R acing/Bell / Spectr o/Snap On T ool s/John Beare Ford-sponsored Huff, Rasmussen , Pegram and Kiser at th e start of th e 12-lap final. The top three riders managed to break a way from th e rest of the pack on th e third lap, but remained in a tight group. Lap after lap, th e top positions stayed th e sa me , with H al e managing to stretch out a comfortable lead . When it wa s all over, H ale pi cked up th e win over Huff, with DK Motorcycl es/Yok o Ra cewear/Rfelvl Custom Farming/ Shoei and Bill Baxter-backed Rasmussen third, Pegram fourth and Fle tch er fifth. Kiser dropped back to seventh, finishing behind Raymond who took sixth. Huff and H al e were th e ones who ben efitted th e most with the day's outcom e. Huff came from second in th e sta ndings to first, wh ile H al e, who was fifth before Springfield, picked up three positions for secon d, o ne point behind leader Huff. Kiser . dropped from the points lead to third, tied with Pegram at 84 points. National Seventeen riders sat on three rows awaiting th e start of th e 25-lap main even t. Shoei/Marioneauz Racing/ H ap Jon es /S is emore/Tsuba ilJ. Stinchfield/Mesquite Custom Cyclebacked Poovey occu p ied th e ou tside of row one, with Tim Mertens, Carr, Morehead, Parker and Herndon to his left. Once underw ay, Poovey shot ou t to th e early adva ntage, but as they came aro und to co mplete th e first lap, Carr led Sponseller Racing's Moreh ead, Po ovey, Mertens, Graham and Doug Davis. Poovey th en moved into th e lead position after bumping Carr to second. Poovey blazed the way up until the fifth lap, when two- time Gran d National Ch ampion Graham managed to work th e draft and take th e lead. However, Graham 's sta y in first was short-lived, as Carr displaced the track lap-record holder to assu me the point position for two laps. . The dash for the finish line saw Scott Parker (1) narrowly edge out Chris Carr (20), Steve Morehead (42) and Rodney Farris (92) for the victory. On th e 10th lap, Poovey returned to the fro n t positi on as Graham tucked in ahead of Carr. After a horrible start , Parker was fourth , in front of Ingram and Farris, Morehead and H erndon. T welve riders were in th e lead pa ck, and co nsta nt ' shu ffling of positions was the nam e of the ga me. A few la ps lat er, Harley-Davidson In c.lBell /Tsubaki/Harley Owners G roup/ITT/ AIW of America-sponsored Parker appeared to be th e one to beat , after jumping from fourth to first in two laps aboard the Bill Werner-tuned XR750. Graham pulled off after his motor began smo king heavily, wh ich opened the door for several riders, includi ng Moreh ead, who held the lead on the 19th lap. Moreh ead moved steadily through th e pack and managed to lead for a short time on lap 19. But with only five miles remaining, Parker was back in command, with Morehead second, tra iled by Poove y, Sponseller Ra cing's Ingram, Carr, Hud Racin g's H erndon and Chandler, wh o was riding the Hank Scott-tuned Honda. The last few lap s a ga i n saw cons tant lead changes with Poovey , Carr and Morehead each leading for a sho rt time. Morehead led Carr, Parker and Farris at the start of the last lap, but it was Parker who came ou t of turn four in th e number one spo t. In a mad dash for the checkers, Morehead was shoved against the wall , allowing Carr to tak e over second. " I got pushed ou tside, " said Morehead , "And I hit th e wall with my footpeg. There was no room for me wh ere I was." Fortunatel y for Morehead, he recovered to finish third, im medi ately behind Parker and Carr. Farris, aboard th e Ed Adkins-tuned H arley, fini shed fourth, still with th e lead group, while Poovey, H erndon and Ingram finished in their own pack, j ust a few yards beh ind th e lead pack. " Going down th e back straight," said Parker, " I wondered what to do. (I asked myself) should I lead th e last lap? I felt th e last coup le of laps, I was going as fast as th em in turns three and fOUT, and I thought I could hold th em off. T he race was interesting. There wasno ti me to let you r b r a in rest. Every tim e I'd turn around, th ere would be two different guys there." " What made the race so good," sai d Carr, " Was that there was two distinct gr ooves. There was a low line th at you could charge under- Mike Hale (12N) topped Audie Huff (hidden) in the Junior final. neath and th en push th em ou t, and then there was ' th e ou tside groove wh ere everyone fr eight trained. Today's a classic case of why we should be on TV. I think motorsport . fans would ap preciate and enjoy wha t we do." " I was proud of th em all.r. said Morehead. " Good gentlem en racing. I felt I raced with everyone on th e track. This has got to be one of the best ra ces I was ever in . There were so many different lead changes, and let me tell you, you ca n 't go forward as fast as you can fall back. And you ca n't believe th e draft with six people that close. T here's a n air pocket that sucks you up and runs yo u deeper in the corner. " • Results 25-LAP NATIONAL : 1. Scan Parker (H-D); 2. Chris Carr (H-D); 3. Steve Morehead (Han); 4. Rodney Farris (H-D); 5. Terry Poovey (Han); 6. Bill Herndon (Han): 7. Dan Ingram (Han); B. Doug Chandler (Han); 9. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 10 . Steve Aseltine (Han); 11. Kevin Athenon (H-D); 12. Doug Davis (H-D): 13 . Don Estep (H-D); 14 , SCali Pearson (H-D); 15. Ronnie Jones (Han); 16. Tim Menens (Han); 17. Ricky Graham (Han). TIME; 14 min .• 48 .402 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 101.305 mph . AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/ CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. SCali Parker (114); 2. Chris Carr (107); 3 . Steve Morehead (76); 4. Doug Chandler (73~ 5. Dan Ingram (68); 6. Terry Poovey (60); 7. Will Davis (5B); 8. (TIE)Rodney Farris /Ronnie Jones (44); 10. Ricky Graham (35); 11. Steve Aseltine (30); 12. George Roeder II (29); 13. Jay Springsteen (23); 14 . Kevin Athenon (21); 15. SCali Pearson (16 ); 16. Tim Menens (13); 17. (TIE) Jon Cornwell/Don Estep (12); 19. Bill Herndon (9); 20. (TIE) Brian Bonesteel/Steve Eklund (8). 10-LAPJUNIOR NATIONAL: 1. Mike Hale (Han); 2. Audie Huff Jr. (W-R); 3. Steve Rasmussen (H0);4. Larry Pegram (W-R); 5. Jason Fletcher (WR); 6. Frank Kaiser (H-D); 7. Kris Kiser (H·D); B. Danny Koelsch (H-D); 9. Ban Schmulbach (W-R); 10. Andrew Segalln i (W·R); 11. David Lloyd (WR); 12. Vern Browne (W-R). AMA JUNIOR NAT IONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS; t . Audie Huff Jr. (B7); 2. Mike Hale (86); 3. (TIE) Kris Kiser /Larry Pegram (84); 5. Andy Tresser III (70); 6. Mi ke Eadie (44); 7. Steven Raymond (3B); 8 . Jason Fletcher (33); 9. Danny Stanley (22); 10. Steve Rasmussen (21); 11. Scali Mohan (20); 12. (TIE) James Han/Rob Majeski (13); 14 . Andrew Segalini (10); 15. Kevin Bricker (9); 16 . (TiE) Gary Ferravanti!James Hauptman/Shane Jolly/Brian Tillson (B). 7

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