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/127207
IMDA's Tote Gray congratu lates winner Graham (center) w h ile runner: up Durelle (left) and third place finisher Pegram look on in "Glory Lane . " W inner Ricky Graham (3) leads runner-up Davey Durelle (58) and third place fin isher Larry Pegram (7 3 F) around t he DuQuoin Mile oval. Two-time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham edged out Davey Durelle at the f in ish li ne in the first-ever 600 National DuQuoin M ile . AMA 600cc National Championship Dirt Track Series: Round 7 Graham wins DuQuoin Mile,. Carr clinches tltle By Dave Hoenig DUQUOIN , IL. AU G. 27 Two -time G r a n d National C h a m p io n Ri cky G r a h a m made one of his rare appearances in a 600cc National payoff as .he won the' first-ever DuQuoin Mi le. " I told Ron (Wood) before. the race th at if I co uld just ride with th em in th e last corner, I co u ld get out of th eir draft and win ," 22 sa id Grah a m af ter th e race. Ron Wo od / Arai / H i- Po int/ Kusha fani Leat hers/Matt 's Muffler/ Hog Wash -backed Graham ca me o u t o n top o f a race-lo ng chess match with Davey Durell e and Jun ior rider Larry Pegram. Defending 600cc National ChamChri C hi k . pro n n s arr saw IS win s tre~ stopped at four when he crashed in t~rn three on th e fourth la p of ~he final , but ~he northern Cahforma~ retained his crown wh en Canad a s St A . It' th I 'd ith h eve Sf m e -;-k ' e o n y. n e~ w~ opes 0 over a. m g points ea er Carr - placed Sixth. That left Carr with a n ins u rmo u ntable 22-poinr lead and a seco n d s tra ig h t 600 National titl e. Just one 600 National ro u nd rem ains in 1989, t~e Septemb er 23 Cas tle Rock (Washing to n) ~i sta rted slid ing befor e the hay bal es a nd I was a bo u t 15 bal es down bef ore I sto p ped ," sa id Carr , a H arl ey-D avid son fa ct or y rid er. " Luc ki ly, I didn 't ge t into th em. I tri ed stay ing with it, to keep it run~i~g so ~ c~~ l d ge t go ing aga in , but it Ju st di ed. Eq ua lly hi gh tempera tures and hum!dity left most of th e rider s loo k in g for a way to sta y coo l betw een races. Heavy ra in o n Saturday left th e tra ck very wet on Sunday morning and tra ck preparation .p ushed practi ce ba ck ab out an hour. h .. I d T e mo isture in th e ova l track aste through practice but as tim e trials wound down the track slo wed. . . Time Trials Six ty-five riders signed up for th e p rogram, but alter practi ce on ly 62 tu rn ed in qua lifying laps aga ins t th e clock. Ron Wood/Shoei /Tsubak i/ Perry's H -D/Hog Wash /North End C ycl e- spon so red, Wo od -Rotaxmounted Kevin Athert on turned in the fastest lap at 36.04 seco nds, a lmos t a Iu ll second qui cker th an Ca rr who logged a 37.02. T erry Poovey was th ird wit h a 37. 13 tour o r th e so u the rn Illinoi s ova l. And Mike Ha le, wh o is cu rre n tly .th e topra nked J u nior rider, grabbed the po le posi tion Ior th e fourth and fin al heat race wit h a 37.23 la p. Steve Ase lti ne , Graham, Audie Huff Jr., Da ve Cam l i n, L a rr y Pegram a nd Dave Hebb ro u nded out the top 10 qualifiers. Shad Reinke was the 48th and fina l qualifier wit h a cut-off tim e of 39.83 seconds . J eff Dietz a lso logged a 39.83 af ter Reinke and was listed as firsta lterna te. Heats Atherton im mediately took contro l o r the first hea t over Pegra m , SCOIt Stump, Mike Reid a nd Kri s Kiser , bu t on th e second lap the Mic higa n ri de r dropped back to seventh. " We're ha vin g igniti on problem s," said Ath ert on. " It will run a nd th en it will q ui t, th en run aga in. " Pegr am took con tro l o r th e race ah ead of Reid a nd Stu m p, but th e fire ca me back in Ath ert on 's bi ke and he cha rged to th e front to stay. P egram Iin ish ed sec o n d a lte r a multi -rider batt le Ior th e spo t and Ca m li n too k th ird. . Heat number two p roduced a riverider battle as Dave H ebb jumped in to the lead ah ead o r Carr, Huff, Andy Tresser and Aa ron Hill. Carr too k over th e lead o n lap two but it was Huff in front o n lap four. Ca rr got bac k in front at th e halfway flags bu t hi s p ursuers never los t his d raf t. Wh ile ru n ning seco nd , Hebb slipped o rr the groove on lap seven and th at dropped him from contentio n. Junio rs H uff a n d Tresse r ke p t th e pressure o n Ca rr, but the defending cha m p won th e race with Tresser seco nd, Huff third, and Hill a close fourt h but sem i-bo u nd. Durell e a nd Erick Gruber were first off th e line a t the start o f heat three but Poovey quickl y dropped Gruber back a not ch a nd drafted Durelle. Meanwhi le, Wood- Rotaxmounted G raham was recovering from a poor start a nd slowl y reeled in th e lead duo, ca ugh t th em on la p six, ga in ed the lead o n la p seven , lost it to Gruber on the next la p , a nd th en regained it rOT good on lap nine. Durelle edged Poovey for seco nd while a semi-bo und Gruber held orr Wi ll Davis for fourth . Jun ior rid er Mike Hale dominated th e last heat, scori ng the biggest runaway victory of th e da y even th ough it was j ust over a second slo wer than th e previous heat wh ich Grah am wo n. Eri k G raybeal held seco nd until the final lap wh en bo th Jamie Grylicki a nd Steve Aseltine draf ted by to ta ke seco nd a nd third, respectiv ely , with Grayb eal fini shing fourth and headed fo r a semi-fina l. Semis Only the winner from eac h o f the two sem is would adva nce directl y to the fin al and it a ppeared as th ough Dave H cbb wo u ld be the ma n in the fir st go . Hebb was lead ing whe n th e red flag ca rne o u t o n la p six after Peter H ook ba iled in turn th ree. H ook was taken to th e hospi tal wit h a suspected dislocated shoulder. T he restart saw Hebb in fron t again b u t Aaron H ill was on the move and he took over th e lead o n la p n in e and stayed th ere to ta ke the wi n with H ebb seco nd a nd Stu m p th ird. Will Davis too k over the lead from Graybea l on la p fo ur or the second sem i, but Gruber charged and alter worki ng h is wa y arou nd Graybea l sli pped by Davis a t th e finish line Ior the move and transfer spot. last Chance Qualifier H ebb go t th e h ol eshot a n d enga ged in a lead swa p p ing battle with Davis th at becam e a three-rider righ t as Stu mp joined th em on lap eig ht. The chec kered flag saw Heb b tak e th e win to advance to the fin al with Davi s and Stump running a close seco nd a nd th ird, but out o r th e progr am . Junior Main T he 12 fastest Junior s from tim e tri al s were schedu led to com pete in the main even t. . but live or them op ted to sit o ut th e race, because o r mech an ica l p robl em s or because they preferred to save the ir ene rgy and machiner y Io r th e 600 National. Larry Pegram and Andy Tresser had qual ified Ior the 600 National but ra ced th e Juni or fin al a nyway . Pegram led the first eigh t laps, but Tresser blasted hi s HRD/ ABC Bod y Sho p / Deiss & Sons Mara th on/Carl Tresser/ Ara i/Tsu ba ki/Sports Fuel/ Kendall /Y oko R a cew ear/K&N sponsored Wood -R o tax by Pegram o~ lap nine a nd held him off for the wm, 600 National H al e led th e 15-ri der field orr the line at the start o r th e I8-lap National with Graham a nd Pegram close behind. T he end of lap o ne saw Pegra m lead Graham, Carr, Hale and the rest or the field across the start/finish line, but Graham was in fro n t on lap two. Carr got in fro nt momentarily, but went down in turn th ree and was o ut or the race . G ra ha m , Pegram a nd Du relle then waged a fierce battle for th e lead, foll owed by Hale, Aseltine, Poovey - who was fighting th e flu , H ebb, Ca ml in , Atherto n , H u ff, Gruber, Grylicki, Tresser and Hill;