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/127208
O"l 00 O"l ,...... Scott Parker (1) edges Ronnie Jones (16) at the line in the Camel Challenge. It was the third straight Camel Challenge victory for Parker. New Ju nior National Champion M ike Hale (right), Junior National w inner Larry Pegram (center) and Stephen Beattie on the victory rostrum . 8 h is hands full , though, as Hal e and Ca nadia n Step he n Beat tie stayed in - his draft or he in th eir 'sth rou gh ou t the race. Ha le led o ut of turn fou r o n the fina l la p , bu t Pegram slingsho ued past h im to take the wi n aboa rd his Pj-Lk iley'a/ Smiuv's.' Mik e Camphouse/ K KI Ara iiTs ubak ilM J USA /Jeff C hisa mspo nso red Wood-Rotax. Hale didn't have mu ch of a cha nce to publi call y cele bra te his ti tlewin ning p erforman ce nor d id Pegram get io celebra te hi s win for long on the victory rostrum because th e weather was threaten ing a nd th e program sp eeded up. Camel Challenge Ingram , Mor ehead, Parker, Day, ' Springsteen and J o nes lin ed up for the five-lap " dash for big cash" and at the flash of the gre en light it was Par ker first off the li ne a nd first into turn on e. But .Sponseller Racin g's Morehead led out of turn four and was fo llo wed across the line by Par ker, J ones, Springs teen, Ing ram and Day. La p two saw" J on es ou t front a t the line with Moreh ead, Parker a nd Sp rings teen cross ing right-with him. Ingram a nd Day had dropped o u t of th e front running pack's draft. J ones led across th e line at th e end of laps th ree a nd four. On th e' fina l lap , Pa rker followed J ones th rough turns o ne and two a nd down th e back straig h t, obvio us ly cont ent to go throug h turn s th ree and fou r and hit the start of the front straight in Jo nes's draft. Par ker's 's tra tegy worked and aft er following J o nes out of turn four he tuc ked in beh in d the Oklahom an a nd then p u lled o ut of h is draft and passed him just yards befo re th e fini sh line. Perfect tim in g netted Parker $ 10,000 or $2000 per mile. " Morehead taught me somet h ing at Alb u q ue rq ue," sai d Pa rk er. "Something about sleep ing on the line a nd I' m mak in g th a t lesson pay off. Bu t, hey, that was some race. T hey came o n hot and I just n ipped Ro nn ie." Last Chance Qualifier Only the winner of the IO-lap LC Q ad vances to the National and that man was SCali Stump, who too k o ver the lead on the sixth lap a nd th en ni p ped Geo rge Roeder a t the li ne. Stump's victory was a photo finish one as officia ls once again had to use the Cycl e News Finish Line Camera to decide th e win ner. A disa ppointed Roede r was seco nd, just inches shy of the wi n , whi le third went to Canadian Jon Co rnwell. National T he National gri dded just as the sky dark en ed a nd the wind, whi ch had been present a ll da y, in creased in velocit y. Springs teen o p ted to start o ne slo t in from th e g ra n ds ta n d pole , Chandler took that slot, and Morehead , Parker, In gram a nd J o nes lined up on th e fron t ro w to Springer's left. Row two , starti ng from th e outside pole, was occu pied by Bro w, Poovey, Merten s, Da y, Durell e a nd Carr, wh ile Da vis, Estep, Atherton , Texter a nd Stump sat on the third row . Third place finisher Steve Morehead. Camel Challenge winner Scott Parker. Miss Camel Pro and runner-up Ronnie Jones celebrate. Mor eh ead was fir st off the line a nd he led the field around on the firs t lap , crossing th e line in front of Springsteen, In gra m, Parker, Jones, Merte ns, Poo vey and th e rest of th e field. Moreh ead was a lso first across the line a t th e end of lap two a nd he had a bike len gth or two in hand over the tig h tly bunch ed trio co nsisting of Spri ngs tee n, In gra m a n d Pa r ke r , w ho we re fo llowed b y another pack consis ti ng of J ones, Poo vey a nd Mertens, Pa rker took the lead away from Mor ehead as they dove into turn three on the third la p, The defe nd ing cha mp held the lead do wn to the line with Mo reh ead close be hi nd in second , press ured by In gram a nd Springs teen. Behind the four frontru nners came Poovey a nd Merten s who were running wheel-to-wh eel or side-by-si de dep ending o n where they were o n th e oval, a nd th en J ones, Carr a nd Chandl er, wh o were waging th eir own fight. As th e rid ers started th e fo urt h la p , it began drizzling a nd referee Olliges walked ou t to th e groove a t the start / finish line and slid his foot back a nd forth o n the surface. Cas ting a n eye toward the sky, he shook hi s head . Parker and In gram crosse d th e lin e side-by-si de a t the end of lap four, as di d Moreh ead and Spri ngsteen who were a few bike len gths beh ind the fro nt two. Poovey was runn ing a solitary fifth , a bike len g th or two in front of J ones and Merten s who crossed the lin e side -by-side. At the end o flap five it was In gram first by inc hes over Pa rker, Morehead and Springsteen were co nt inuing their d uel, and Poovey, J ones a nd Mertens were n o w h ooked u p together. T he ra in increased as th e riders came down to the lin e to com plete lap si x with th e runn in g order readi ng Par ker, In g ra m , Spri ngstee n, Moreh ead , J ones, Poovey, Merten s, Carr, Chandl er a nd Day. Just after th e field crossed th e line a nd sta rted lap seven, Olliges ordere d th e starter to wave th e red flag. The field ga the red a t th e start l fini sh line as crew members ru sh ed to cover up th e bikes. A few minutes after th e race had been stopped, th e rain in creased a nd it was obvious th at it wo u ld be impossibl e to restart it. Olliges a nd Ba rda cons u lted the rul e book , a nd then ga thered th e riders together to an nounce their decisio n to not a war d po in ts but to payou t th e purse in the order the - ri ders q ualified for th e fina l. Springs teen didn 't ge t his desired 41st National victo ry bu t he was smiling anywa y, " I told th em I'd trade them the money for th e Natio nal win , bu t they aren' t going for it," said Springer. " Anyway, it feels good to be runni ng strong again. I' ve go t to give a lo t of cred it to Al Stan gl er wh o maintains m y bike. He wo rks a t th e factory all week long helping Bill Werner wi th SC li 's (Parker) bike and then a goes home a nd works o n mine. "Mi ke Mockab ee bu i lds th e motors o ut in Californ ia and he's go t me running strong a nd, of course, I' ve go t to thank Bill (Bartels, ow ner of Bartels' H arl ey-Davidson in th e Los Angeles area)," said Spri ngsteen before dashin g for cover in wha t had now become a very hea vy do wnpour. .. Ano the r five- la p Br ym er National," sa id promoter Don Brym er w he n h e fir st spo tted this reporter foll owing th e race. Brym er was referri ng to th e 1973 Atlan ta Mil e Nat ional th at had to be ca lled after five la ps du e to excessive dust. The lead to th at ra ce rep ort compared Brymer to General Sherman , th e " Yan kee" gene ra l whose troops had burned Atla nta to th e gr ound during th e Civil War, because Brymer had fail ed to properly prepare th e At la n ta · ova l p r io r to the Na tional. No one questioned hi s lack of co n tro l of Mother Na tu re a t Syracuse. • Results PAY·O UT BAS ED ON HEAT RACE FINISHES: 1. J ay Springsteen (H-D) $57 50; 2. Scon Parker (H0 ) $38 15; 3. Dan Ingram (Hon) $2485; 4. Steve Mor ehead (Hon) $1700 ; 5. Doug Chandler (Hon) $1460; 6. Ronni e Jon es (Hon) $1340; 7. Terry Poovey (Hon) $1220; 8. Tim Men ens (Hon) $1160; 9. Keith Day (Hon) $1100; 10. Ganh Brow (H-D) $1040; 11. Chr is Carr (H-D) $975; 12. Davey Durelle (H·D) $915; 13. Kevin At henon (H-D) $885; 14 . Don Estep (Hon) $835 ; 15. Randy Texter (HD) $825; 16. W ill Davis (H· D) $795; 17 . Scon Stump (Hon) $765. • 1O-lAP JUN IOR NATIONAL: 1. Larry Pegram (HOI; 2. M ike Hale (W·R); 3. Stephen Beani e (H-D); 4. Andy Tresser III (W·R); 5. Jam ie Gry licki (W R); 6. St eve Rasmusse n (H-D); 7. Au die Hull Jr . (H-D); 8. Andrew Segali ni (W - R ~ 9. Mark VanHousen (H-D); 10 . David DuHaime (W·R); 11. Br ian Tillson (W-R); 12. M ichael Eadie (W-R). TIME: 6 min., 13.448. GRAND NATIONA L CHAM PIONSHIP/CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Scon Parker (2 10); 2. Chri s Carr j 178); 3. Dan Ingram (119): 4 . St eve Morehead (110); 5. Terry Poovey (103); 6. Doug Chandler (96); 7. Ronnie J ones (86); 8. Rodney Farris (75); 9. Will Davis (67); 10. Ja y Spring st een (66 ); 11. (TIE) Kevin Ath enon/R icky Graham (47); 13. SIeve Aseltine (34); 14 . Tim M en ens (231 15. George Roeder II (29); 16. Bill ; Herndon (27 ); 17. Steve Eklund (25 ); 18. Scon Pearson (19); 19 . Don Estep (17); 20 . (TIE) J on Cornwell /Pet e Hames (I 2). FINAL AMA JUNIOR NA TIONA L CHAMPIONSHIP DIRT TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Mik e Hale (13 9); 2. Larry Pegram (134 1 3. Audi e ; Hull Jr. (12 7); 4. Kris Kiser (116 ); 5. Andy Tresser III (115); 6. St even Raymond (64); 7. (TIE) M ichael Eadie/Steve Rasmussen (63 ); 9 . Jason Fletcher (40 ); 10 . (TIE) Jam ie Grylicki/Cli nt Vahsholtt (27); 12. Scon Mohan (26); 13. Brian Tillso n (23); 14. Dann y Stanley (221; 15. Jam es Han (2 1); 16. Andrew Segalini (17); 17 . David Lloyd (14); 18. (TIEl St ephen Beatt ie/ Rob Ma jes ki (13 ); 20 . (TIEl Randa ll Bereman/ Kevin Bricker (9).