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/127213
Three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen (9) second at Sacramento. Third place went to Rodney Farris (92). Scott Parker set a record by winning his 10th National of the year. The Sacramento Mile win was Parker's 30th National career victory. AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Series: Round 16 Parker ices the cake in Sacramento By Farren Williams Photos by Mitch Friedman SACRAMENTO, CA, OCT. 7 Team Harley-Davidson's Scott Parker iced the cake on a near-perfect season durin g the 30th running of the Bu dweiser Sacram en to Mile. P arker won the 25-lap Camel Pro final by a straightaway after leading every lap and the Michigan id d '. h db k n er ro e m~o t e r~cor 00 S when he claimed hIS 10th Na- 8 tional win of th e year, the 30th of his career. Parker, who wrapped up his second consecutive Camel Pro Championship last weekend in San Jose, followed up at Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds with a scor ching ride in th e feature race which left his com petitio n six seconds into his dust. He also topped the six-rider, five-lap Camel Challenge sprint race after starting fifth and working his way through the pack. Second place in Cal Expo's feature race went to Parker's HarleyDavidson factory teammate, Ja y Springsteen, who earned runner-up honors the tough way after a racelong, handlebar-banging duel with Maryland's Rodney Farris and Harley factory rider Chris Carr, of California. Gardner Racing Harleymounted Farris finished third, and Carr had to settle for fourth. Indiana 's Da n Ingram rounded out the top five. Parker's victory marked his 10th Camel Pro win of 1989, which broke Bubba Shobert's record of nine National wins in a season, set in 1986. It also marked Parker's nirith mile win of the year, which gave the factory Harley ace a perfect nine-fornine showing this season on th e nation's mile ovals. Since modern Grand National dirt track racing began in 1954, only six men hav e won every mile on the schedule. The last time it -was done wa~ in 1986 w~~n Shobert won sl?,-of-SIX .. It feels great to Win 10 Nationals in one year," said Parker. "It might have been boring for the fans , but it was a great race for me. I loved it. " After the start it was clear sailing,' Parker said. "When you 're leading that many la ps it seems it takes a longtime to reach the halfway point. " When I was running her into the corner on th e last lap, I look ed up and wondered, 'if this thing locks up can I coast across the fin ish line?' Your mind really gets working out th ere," Parker said. While Parker was cru ising out front, Springsteen, Farris and Carr were locked into a vicious battle for second that more than gave the fans their money's worth. In the end it was the experience of the three-time National champ that won out. "A couple of tim es I rolled off th e throttle down the straight and followed those guys to see what they were doing," .Springsteen said. " I just kind of outsmarted them. " "That was wild, " said an elated Farris. "One time Chris bumped into Jay on the straight. Then I shut off going into the corner, Chris shut off, a nd we ran into each other. But we just kep t going." " J ay, Rodney and myself were having a great run," said Carr. "It was nip and tuck. I ran into Jay 's boom box on the front straight, then Rodney and I collided in turn one. It was good, hard-fought, Camel Pro racing. It was fun." Parker's win, which was taken before 17,232 northern Ca lifornia race fans, earned him $4420 in first place money, $500 in lap money and an undisclosed bonus fro m HarleyDavidson. He a lso took home . $10,000 for winning the Camel Challenge. Springsteen's share of the $33,000 National purse came to $2935, and Farris co llected $1910. Parker's big payday , however, ca me the week before in San Jose, California, when he earned $100,000 for winning the 1989 Camel Pro Series ti tle. Car wrapped u p second in San Jose, and $30,000 in point fund money, but going into Sacramento the $20,000 for third p lace was still up for grabs. When the smoke had cleared at Ca l Expo State Fairgrou nds, third place Came] Pro money went to Sponseller Racing's Dan Ingram on a Honda, who edged teammate Steve Moreh ead and SuperTrapp Racing's Doug Chandler, who was aboard the Hank Scott-tuned Honda. Morehead took fourth in the final standings ($ 15,000), and Chandler claimed fifth ( 10,000). The top 10 was rounded out by Terry Poovey ($7000), Ronnie Jones ($6000), Springsteen ($5000), Farris ($4000), and Will Davis ($3000). Time trials Parker powered his H-D /B ell l SuperTrapplHog Wash l AIW of Am eri ca I T s u ba ki -s ponsored Harley-Davidson to a fast time of 37.105 seconds, at an average speed of 97.022 mph, just a click off his own record of 37.02/97.245, set here one year ago. Second-fast time went to Michigan's Springsteen, who turned the timers at 37.487. California's Alex Jorgensen, who came o ut of retirement to run San Jose and followed sui t at Sacramento, was third fastest with a 37.579 clocking. Morehead was fourth fastest (37.657), Carr was fifth fastest (37.673), and Ingram took th e last spot in the Camel Challenge with a 37.70 clocking, after waving off a 37.83 on his first attempt. The top 10 was filled out by Ronnie Jones (37.734), Keith Day (37.751), Kevin Atherton (37.764 ), and Chandler (37.814). There were 45 Experts on hand to . qualify for the 48 starting spots. Heats North Carolina's Will Davis led the pack off the line at th e start of th e first 10-la p Expert heat race, but Ca lifornian Day was in control by th e end of the backchute. Parker was mired in traffic after a midpack start. For the first three laps Davis and Day traded the lead, but at the beginning of lap four Parker flew by the two leaders and took the point -' with a hard run, deep into turn one. . Pa rker was never headed. T he Dayl Davis battle was joined by Atherton, and the trio fought for second do wn to the wire, with Day edging Davis for runner-up honors. Atherton was relegated to the semis, along with Curt Reh m ert , Cha nce Darling, Ra ndy Texter, Lawrence O 'Con ner and Kenneth Netto. Parker's winning time was 6:21.118. Heat two saw rookie Scott Stump nai l a perfect holeshot. He was followed into turn one by Tim Me rtens, J o n es, .Chandler and Springsteen. Jones had the lead before the first lap was co ncluded, and Springsteen passed Chandler to mov e into fourth. Bartel's Harley-Davidson-backed Springsteen slipped way off the groove in turns one and two on lap two, but made up for it on lap four when he moved from fourth to second by drafting past Stump and Mertens going into turn three. He set his sights on Jones, and gained ground every lap, but Springer had to settle for second when he ran out of race. Mertens topped a hardfought battle for third , sending fourth-pl ace Chandler and fifth finishing Stump to the semis. Also semi-bound .were Scott Saunders, Ted Tay lor, Don Wilson, and Michael Scott. Jones' tim e was 6:22.59. In heat three California 's Sal Hoffman was first off the lin e, but by the end of lap two he had faded to seventh, and Ingram was setting the pa ce for Farris, Bobby McDow ell, Scott Pearson and Jorgensen . Farris chased Ingram for the full 10 la ps but could never get enough drive from his Harley to catch th e Sponseller Honda rider. Ingram took the win, followed home by Farris and Jorgensen, who finished a com for table third after drafting past Pearson and McDowell in the early going. Filling out th e field with trips to the semis were McDowell, Steve Edklund, Scott Pearson, Steve Aseltine, Hoffman, and Dan McDonnell. Ingram's time was 6:20.7 1, the fastest heat of the night. Carr nipped Morehead for the win in heat four, following a race-long duel that saw the Findlay Flyer and the factory Harley rider swap the lead several times. Morehead had the lead at the end of lap one with Texan Terry Poovey running second, and Carr in third. Carr used the first five laps of the 10-lap heat race to pass Poovey and catch Morehead, then the leading duo fought too th -and-nail for the final five laps with the nod going to Carr. Poovey finished third to take the last direct transfer to the main.