Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

37 seconds, as he stopped timer Gil Dosmegan's clocks at 36.998. Rounding out th e top 10qualifiers were Chris Carr, Terry Poovey and Davey Durelle. The track had started off " slow" and had go tten " faster" as time trials wound down. Man y riders had waved off th eir first a ttem p t and to a man those who did ca me back and logged faster laps th e second time out. Among th e top-ranked riders who opted to take th eir first lap were Chandler who qualified 13th, Farris who was 14th, and Davis 18th. Heats The first of four 10-lap heat races tha t would ad van ce the top three finishers in eac h to the National final produced a th ree-rider fight involving fast qualifier Chandler, H arley factory team rider Carr, and T exa n Poo vey on the Marioneaux Racing Honda. Poo vey p ulled the holeshot, but it was Carr leading the field into turn three, out of four and across th e line at the completion of the opening lap. The fro nt spots shuffled in the turns and via drafting passes on the back straight but it was Carr first to the line at the end of the nex t lap. Lap three saw Poovey at the point with Carr and Ingram right with him. Carr had the lead at the end of lap five, Ingram showed the way on lap six , Carr was back up front at the line on lap seven , Ingram on lap eight, and then Poovey out front as th e wh ite flag waved indicating one lap to go. Poo vey led Ingram and Carr into turn three aft er a wheel-to-wheel charge down th e back stra ig ht and he was out front as th e front running trio burst out of turn four. That's just where Ingram wanted him to be and the Indiana racer drafted by the Texas racer at the line to take the win. Carr a lso tri ed to draft by Poovey but his charge came up inches short and Poovey took the runner-up spot. Finishmg fourth , and semi-bound as were the riders who followed him in the fifth through ninth spots - in this case everyone behind him as only nine riders started the race, was Scott Stu mp who had the leading trio in sight but was never ab le to hook u p to their draft. Merte ns pulled the holeshot at the start of the second heat and polesitter Morehead was dead last into tum one. " I missed second gear and it went whing!" said the Findlay Flyer who has doubled as a sprint car racer this summer. Durelle led Mertens, Don Estep, Davis and a charging Morehead across the line at th e end of the opening lap, but it was Mertens out fron t at the end of the next three laps. Lap fiv e saw Honda-mounted Estep in front at the line ahead of Mertens and Morehead , wh o had caught up with th e leaders on the previous lap. Morehead took con tro l of the race on lap six , but he wasn 't able to snake Mertens who got by Estep on lap seven and Durelle who dropped Estep to fourth on lap nine. Mertens led Morehead and Durelle out of tum four as they headed for the checkered flag and, just as h is teammate had done in the previous heat , Morehead used a draft pass to n ip Mertens at the line. Durelle fi ni sh ed third, inches behi nd: Mertens. Jones, Farris and Parker were the first three riders to dive into turn one at the start of th e third heat and by the time the y came to the end of the backstraight the y had esta blished themselves as the lead group. Parker led Jones and Farris across the line The red flag comes out to halt the National final after six laps and the riders signal those behind them. at the end of the initial la p , but Farris took the lead going into turn three on lap two. Parker was back in front via a draft pass at the end of the lap. Farris repeated his turn th ree move on lap three, only to see and feel Parker take the lead wi th a draft pass at the line, a pass accompanied by a slap on Farris' leg. Parker followed Jones out of turn four on the fourth lap and duplicated his pr evious lap draft pas s, this tim e reaching over and squeezing Jones' arm as he pas sed. Jones led laps five and six at th e line, but it was Parker out front at th e line on lap seven and he was never headed where it counts and he led Jones across the finish lin e at th e end of the race. . Missing on the fina l lap wa s Farris, who had slowed dramatically on lap eight and cruised by a fading third on lap nine. He did n't co me around to complete th e race and third p lace and a spot in the National went to veteran Garth Brow, who had been a distant fourth two laps from the finish. "T ore up th e transmission," said tuner J oh nny Goad of Farri s' fate. Ingram, who had missed two of the last three Camel Pro Series dirt track races d ue to conflicting road races, sat on the front row next to pole-sitter Keith Day, Springsteen, Rand y Texter, Kevin Atherton and Steve Aseltine for the fourth and final heat race. Prior to th e race , tuner Scott said, " We want to move up to third in th e point standings. I think Doug can do that. He has his dirt tra ck race face on now that he's finished the road race season with the title. " Chandler's race face was visible to all as he followed Texter and Springsteen into tum one and down the backstraight. Chandler was seco nd going into turn one and he led T exter and Springsteen across th e line at th e end of th e opening lap. It was Chandler first at th e line at th e end of th e next four laps and he appeared to be opening up so me br eathing room. over Texter and Springsteen. But Springer started a charge on lap six that saw him blast by Texter and then take the lead from Chandler going into turn three. Chandler drafted by for the lead at the line at th e end of th e lap, but it was Springsteen at the point at th e end of lap seven. That lap saw Day drop T exter to fourth , but Day's charge came too late and he was out of th e front-runner 's draft. Mu ch to th e cro wd' s deligh t, Springsteen hooked up in a battle with Chandler that lasted right down to the checkered flag . They crossed Jay Sl?ringsteen (center) huddled under an umbrella with Dan Ingram and MISS Camel Pro as everyone awaited the official's decision. th e line side-by-side and this reporter 's notes show that in hi s opinion th e win went to Springer, but that was scratched out when it was announced that Chandler was the winner, and then changed again when it was announced that the videotape showed Springs teen inches ahead of Chandler a t the finish lin e. Spri ngsteen 's heat was th e fastest of the four at 6 minutes, 05.644 seco nds, a little more than two -tenths of a second quicker th an heat three whic h h is teammate Parker won. As it turned o ut, less th an a tick of th e clock wo uld mean the differen ce betw een th e winner 's sha re of th e . purse, $5750, and the runner-up's share, $3815. Semis Two IO-Iap semi -final races were run , each of wh ich would advance the top two finishers to the National final. Stump pulled th e holeshot a t th e start of th e first sem i and led the first six laps, all th e whil e engaged in a heated battl e with Davi s, Curt Rehmert and Estep. Estep took over th e lead for good o n lap seven , th e same la p that Davis moved into second to stay. Davis pr essured Estep the rest of th e way, but the finishing order was Estep first , Davis second and Last Chance Qualifier-bound Stump and h is Stump Be Patrick Ra cing Honda third. Texter pulled a repeat of hi s heat ra ce holeshot at th e start of the seco nd semi and he led Steve Burkholder and the field aro u nd o n th e opening lap. Lap two saw Ath ert on first across th e lin e ahead of Texter and Burkholder and ih ey repeated th at each and every lap. Ath ert on and T exter crossed th e finish line in close co mpa ny to tak e the advancem ent spots while Burkholder finished th ird, off th e pa ce of th e front two, and faced th e La st Ch an ce Qualifier. Junior National Foll owing th e Expert sem is, th e $2000 Junior Nation al wa s run. The titl e-deciding race pitted th e top six fini shers from each of two heats aga inst each other and occu pying th e pol e was fast heat winner a nd point sta ndings leader Mike H ale who had th e winner of the second heat , Larry Pegram, sitti ng next to him. Ha le led the opening lap of th e 12-lap fin al , but the rest of th e way it was Baltimore, Ohio 's Pegram ou t front. "T he Baltimore Bullet" had 7

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