Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The win at DuQuoin was Parker's fifth of the year in the nine of 17 rounds run thus far. Parker was also fast qualifier and won his heat . , ~ dropped to fou rt h o n lap three as Doug Davis and Tim Merten s dr afted by him. The next lap saw Mert en s draft by Davi s on th e ba ckstraight but the foll owing lap it was Billy Herndon's turn to pull a similar mov e a nd h e tucked in ah ead of Mertens. The draft passes conducted by H erndon , Mert ens , the Davises and Randy Texter , wh o joined wh at first ' appear ed to be a fight for second, allowed them to close th e ga p o n Parker. On lap eight the y had erased the ga p and beginnin g th e white flag Parker slipped off th e groove in turns one-two and Merten s and Herndon led him coming out of two a nd down the backstraight. H erndon, Mertens, Park er and Will Davi s ca me barreling out of turn four a nd in those last few seconds Parker pulled out of th e leader's draft at exac tly the right moment to sl in gsh ot by o n th e outside and win by in ches. Texa n H erndon , in seco nd, and Mertens , in thi rd, joined Parker in adva nci ng to the Na tio nal. " Sp onsell er R acin g 's Mo reh ead held th e pol e for the start of th e second hea t, but it was cro wd favori te Springsteen pulling off th e hol eshot and leading th e field around on th e first two la ps wi th Ch a nce Darl in g running"second a nd Curt Rehmert third. T wo-time Grand Nati onal Ch ampion Graham had started from th e penalty lin e but he used th e expe rience he has ~a i ned wh ile scoring 16 Nati on al W IllS on mile tracks to q uickly wo rk h is way th rough the field. Gr aham crossed the lin e in fourt h a t the end of th e seco nd lap and o n la p th ree he took over thi rd. T he foll owi ng lap saw Graham in front, follo wed by Springsteen, wh o has 13 mile victor ies to his credi t. Spring steen a nd Graham swapped the front spot back and fort h on th e next two laps, but were joi ned by H onda-m o unted Morehead in "a three-way dash across th e start/ fin ish lin e at the end of th e sixth lap. Moreh ead , who had reco vered fro m a bad st a rt, Sp ri nger a nd Grah am , who was ridin g th e Mu zzy's Ra cing H onda , hoo ked up in a veteran vs. veteran vs. vetera n du el th at had th e cro wd on its feet. The checkered flag waved and it was Morehead, wh o took th e lead going into turn three o n th e last two la ps and held it to the lin e each tim e, th e winner over Grah am a nd factory Harl ey rid er Springsteen . The third heat started with Poovey on the pol e but th e T exan fin ished the openi ng la p in fourth behind Carr, Farris, wh o pulled th e hol eshot into turn o ne only to be passed by Carr com ing o u t of turn two, and J ones, wh o crossed th e line side-byside. Poovey held th e lead cross ing th e lin e at th e end of th e next three laps a nd on th e fourth lap he o pened up some room over Carr, Farris and J ones , wh o wer e sw a p p i n g the " second spot back and forth. Lap six saw Poo vey's ga p go away and "the race tu rn ed into one in volv ing six riders as the junior member of th e H arl ey team, Kevin Athert on, and vet eran Scott Pearson, wh o was riding th e Babe DeM ay-tuned 'H o nda, joined the battle. Position swapping took pl ace all arou nd th e track and it was Carr first across the lin e at th e end of lap seven, a nd Poovey in front at the lin e on laps eigh t and nine. Farris, wh o had led the field ou t of turn four on laps eight and nine on ly to be pa ssed before the line, repeated hi s stra tegy on the fin al lap, but this time it worked and he took the win by in ches over Poovey, with J o nes takin g th ir d, Carr fourth, Ath ert on fifth and Pearson sixth. T he fourth and fina l heat turned o ut to be the fastest of th e day, taking less th an six minu tes to ru n (5 minutes, 59.594 seconds) and it was In gram , aboard th e Skip Ea ken tuned Sponse ller Racin g, H on da logging th at tim e. Chandler had to work for his win as In gram , ab oard th e D&S Racing (Bo b Don abedian and H ank Scott) H onda, took over the lead fro m Cha ndler wh o had passed first lap leader Charl ie Orr, on the th ird lap and held it th ro ugh lap six. Ch andler " regained th e lead on la p seven, mom ents aft er J on Cornwell went dow n in turn two, a nd held it to th e line to score the win over runnerup In gram a nd the fastest lady in raci ng, Tamm y Kirk, who took th ird , a distan ce beh ind th e front runners a nd in ches in fron t of Or r. Kirk said she pl an s to hang up her steel shoe after this season. "This is m y la st year, so I'm glad I ma de the Nat io nal. We'll race th e Alb u querque Mile in "two weeks because we wan t to make as man y races as we can before we call it qu its." Semis The first of two 1O-lap semi -fina l races tha t would advance th e first a nd second pl ace finishers in eac h to th e National sta rted o u t as a battl e betw een th e Davises - Doug and Wil l. The two led the field off the line and into turn o ne. Will Davis led o ut of turn two but it was Doug Davis , aboard the Larry Zumbrum/ Ronnie Jo nes (1 6) leads the charge to the checkered flag with Scott Parker, Chris Carr (2 0) and Rodne y Farris (9 2) in his draft. KK Mo torcycle Suppl y-sponsored Harley drafting by and into th e lead going down the ba ck stra ig h t. Doug held he lead at th e lin e th rough lap four but th e fifth lap saw him slow with mechanical problems and drop ou t of the race. Lap six saw Will Davi s in front, followed by Randy Texter a nd Chan ce Darling. Both T exter, Darling and trailing rid ers were covered in oil that onlookers thought had come from Will Davis's engine, seeing as how he had dropped o u t of th e race. T he white flag lap ended with Doug Davis first , Darling second and T ext er third, but the fin al lap saw Texter make wh at ap peared-to be a bri lliant mov e as ' he pitch ed hi s Eastern H -D Dealers Associat ion/HD, In c.z l.ancaster H -D/). Richard G ra y, Esq .lBell / Cas troll Wilb urn T rucking/ J im and Doll y Varnes/ Penn Sta te Cycles-spon sored XR7 50 into turn three at wh at ap peared to be twice the speed of Davis an d Darling to ta ke over th e lead. Texter exited turn four in front of Davis and crossed the lin e th e win ner. "I lost my brakes," said Texter, which explained wh y he went into turn three so fast on th e fin al lap. Asked if it was Dou g Davis wh ose engine had coa ted him and hi s bik e wit h oil , Texter said, "No. It was him, " po int ing at Will Davis wh o was pi tted across from the Pen nsylvania rider. Davis's oi l tank, th e rig ht-s ide number pl at e type, had sp lit a sea m. Davis was seen repairin g the damage with liq ui d solder in pr epar ing for th e Nation al final. Few in the crowd saw Texter an d Will Davis cross the lin e as mos t eyes were on turn four where Darl in g and Steve Aseltine had crashed with the chec kered flag in sig ht. Darling went down exiti ng th e tu rn and Aseltine had no pl ace to go . Darling was quickl y on hi s feet but Aselti ne lay mo tionless as the a ttending medi cal crew wor ked to free hi s head which was wedged beneath th e gu ard rail. Fearing head inj uries, they d ug beneat h hi s helmeted to provide roo m. Once extri cated, Canadian Aselt in e was take n to hosp ital in Mt. Vern on by helicop ter wi th a suspec ted br oken leg a n d broken a r m . The h ospi tal , whi ch is a p pro ximately 50 miles by road from th e Duquoin Sta te Fairgrounds, lat er reported that X-rays revealed no broken bon es. After a lengthy del ay (officials o p ted to wait for th e return of th e he licopter ), th e second sem i got underw ay. Carr pulled th e hol eshot but it was H arl ey Center/Fast G lass/ Low Bu ck Racin g Tea m/S hoe ispo nsored Charli e Orr with th e lead at the end of the ope ning lap. Carr slip ped off th e groove in turn two on th e second go-a ro und and Pearson go t by to ru n second behind O rr down th e backstraight. Carr regained seco nd by drafting by Pearson to th e. line and o n th e next lap the H arl eyDavidson factory rider took over th e lead on ce agai n. Orr go t loose in tu rn two and dropped to fourth as Carr and Pearson ran o ne-two and Carr's team mat e, Kevin Atherto n , mov ed into th ird. The th ree hooked up in a pa ss/ repass battl e th at saw Carr in front at th e line on la ps five and six, Pearso n on top at th e end of lap seven , Carr in front at the end of eight, and Atherton tak e the lead goi ng into tu rn one at the start of the wh ite flag la p . The 'trio hit turn one at th e sta rt of th at fin al lap an d Carr got a tre men do us dr ive out of turn two to head down th e backstrai gh t wi th a few in ches of breathing room. Ca rr held the lead to the line with Atherto n drafti ng by Pearson , who had second go ing in to th ree and co mi ng o ut of four, to ta ke second away fro m the veteran Ca liforn ia rid er. LastChance Qualifier Pearson held th e pole for the 10lap "w in or pack up" Last Cha nce Q ua lifier. " Sco tt and I will h it as man y races as we ca n, " said bike ow ner Bab e DeMay. " We're doing,it ou t of pocket, so we rea lly wan t to make it to the fin al. " Pear son , wh o is kn own as th e fastest sta rter in the bu siness, was go bbled up off the line and was fifth exi ting tu rn two on th e first lap. H e worked his way up to second beh ind lead er Donnie Estep by th e end of " the lap but had h is han ds full dic ing wi th O rr ., Geo rge Roeder and Doug Davis. Estep led la p two a nd on lap th ree a ppeared to be breaking away fro m the battl e behind him. Bu t on lap four th e drafting quartet of O rr , Roeder, Davi s and Pearson caugh t up with Estep and it was Orr leading th e qu intet across th e lin e at the end of the fifth lap. Estep was first across th e line at 7

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