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/127206
Dan Ingram (31) chased Chris Carr (20) throughout most of the 25- I~p final. A few laps from the fin ish Ingram snuck by for third. Carr was fou rt h. " Davis j ust made a fu nny move go ing into three," sa id Spri ngs teen . "A nd he took me an d Day o u t. It was something I wasn't expecti ng." With Sprin gsteen , Dav is a nd Day o ut of the race, Pearson collected th e runner-u p position , four seco nds adr ift, of Parker, who posted th e fastest q ua li fying race with a tim e of 6 minu tes, 9.661 seconds, and Bro w ad va nc ed to th e fin al by finish in g third . Dave Mill er a nd Darling fin ish ed fourth an d fifth , resp ectively, semi-bo und. In gram flew o ut of the gate at th e initia l start of th e third heat race until officials red-flagged it after deeming the start a n " u nfair" o ne. Once underwa y, however , In gra m agai n n a il ed th e start to show Cha ndler, Tam my Kirk , Graham and Curt Rehm ert th e wa y around th e mi le oval. As the riders ca me off turn three, Chand ler managedto wor k his way around In gram as G ra ham d id likewise to Kirk. T he lad y racer q ui ckly initiated ' a no the r pass and retook th ird fro m tile for mer Indy winner. In gram also regained th e lead positi on af ter jockeying around with Ch an dle r, a nd established a slim lead . As th e race wo und do wn , Cha nd ler o nce again forced his way into the lead while Kirk co nti nu ed h er struggle in holdin g off Gra ha m for third. On the final lap, both Ingram a nd Graham tried moves in th eir separa te battl es, b ut bo th fail ed by a slim margin. Chandler earned th e win by inc hes over In gram as Kirk narrow ly p ulled off thi rd . Reh rner t remai ned in fifth th e entire race to earn th a t posi tio n. Will Davis bega n th e fou rt h and final heat ra ce with a clean ho lesh ot. 'Scott Stump soo n cha nged th e o rder as he passe d the H arl ey-Da vidson rider o n th e first lap , wit h Carr, Poovey and T im Mert ens co mp leting th e top five. By th e tim e th e rid ers ca me arou nd for the third lap, Carr had worked hi s wa y into the front p osi tio n wi th Poovey- a nd Merten s clos e behind. Davis fell back to six th ahea d of H onda rider Ronnie J ones when things aga in star ted to hap pen up fron t. Mert ens motored pas t Carr a nd Poovey down th e back stra ig ht to tak e hi s first shot a t the lead . Carr q uickly bo unced back and rega ined th e n u m ber o ne position , but Merten s hung tough in second . O n th e ninth"lap, "Poovey again pi cked up his pace and found a line around bo th Mertens a nd Ca rr. As" th ey ente red the fin al la p, th e race was far from being de termi ned. As th e riders exi ted the fin al turn , Carr o nce agai n p ushed his way into the lead a nd scored a narrow wi n over Poovey. Mert ens grab bed a close th ir d, a nd Davi s a nd J o nes, in fourt h and fifth , resp ecti vely, wou ld hav e to try and qualif y in a semi. Semis Preceding the first of two IO p -la sem is, each of whi ch would advan ce th e ' top two fin ish ers to th e final, Springs teen ran in to a problem in . the pits as hi s bik e la y sp inning on th e ground, in gear. " T he throttl e stuc k," said the Ba rt el' s H arl eyDavidson ri der , " And wh en I went to press th e kill switch it shoc ked the cra p o ut of me a nd I let go. Wh en I cras hed in m y hea t race I tore my fro nt end u p and had to borrow one fro m (Ra ndy) Texter. H is ha ndl eba rs were painted a nd my ki ll switch was n 't grou nde d." With th e problem so lved , however, Sp rings teen gra bbed the lead ahead of H ebb, H erndon, Tom Maitland and George Roeder. By the time th e field ca me aro und for lap three, H erndo n h ad p assed H ebb and began dicing with Sp ringsteen for th e lead. T he two went at it the rest of the race with Hern do n edgi ng o ut Sp ringsteen in a side-by-side fini sh. r- II