Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ DIRTTRACK AMA Grand NationalCham ionship/Camel Pro Series: Round 2 ~ R id ing the Mert LawwiIl-tuned Harley, pole-sitter Steve Morehead led the first II laps of the 2.'i-lap National final before being sideli ned with a seized piston. Steve Rasmussen and Andy Tresser (lOY) took their J unior Nationa l main event race right down to th e wire where Tresser's draft pass attempt came up short. 8 Farri s, Cha ndler a nd Ca m lin occ up ied ·the th ird row . Wi th ·the clock strik ing midn ight. th e g ree n l ight fl a sh ed a n d t he Nat ion al was fin all y underw a y - but not for lon g. Menen s had jum ped th e light a nd dove into turn o ne a lo ng with th e front ro w staners a nd referee Duke Olliges agreed with th e sta n er wh o brought o u t th e red £lag to sto p th e race. Menen s a rg ued for a second or two but th en pl aced hi s bik e o n th e pena lty line, kn ow ing he faced a lon g figh t to get near th e fron t. T he Rolling Thunder Show p rodu ced its second cla p o f thunder as th e Na tion al go t underwa y agai n - th is tim e for good. Lead in g th e pack across the lin e at th e en d of the openi ng lap was C ha nd ler, foll o wro by Moreh ead . Eklu nd , G rah am , Springsteen a nd the rest of th e field . Cha ndler maintained his lead o u t front a t th e lin e for the nex t four laps, pr essured closely by Moreh ead. with Eklund , Parker. G ra ha m , Ca rr a nd Poovey making up Ihe pack of pursuers who were just a few bike leng ths beh ind th e front two. T he end of la p six saw Moreh ead a t the po int , a few bike len gths a head o f Ingram . wh o had a few bike len gths o n Ekl u nd and Carr. who were dici ng side-by-side over th e th ird spot. T he next la p saw Pa rker hook up wi th Eklund a nd Carr and the foll ow- ing lap til" defending Camel P ro cha mp wen t mt o turn o ne hard to ta ke over th ird . I.ap nin e e nd ed w i th Moreh ead sa ili ng o ut in front. fol lowed by Ing ra m a nd Par ker. A dis tance bac k. Ek lu nd held fou n h o ver Spri ngs teen a nd Ca rr . Lap 10 ended wi th Moreh ead ma in taining his lead posi tio n, but In gram lo st seco nd as Pa rker sailed by him a t th e lin e after a draft pass. In gram th en found himself bein g hounded by Carr. T wo laps lat er. o n lap 12. th e pi cture up front quickl y cha nged as Moreh ead sudden ly slo wed in turns three a nd four a nd in th e sh uffle Pa rker went under him to tak e o ver th e lead, with teammat e Ca rr followin g him to tak e over second a hea d of In gram. wh o was now foll owed by Sp rings teen . Eklund. Ath ert on a nd Graham . "I think it seized a pi ston ," sa id Laww ill a bOUI Mor eh ead's mechanic cal prob lem . " It star ted to pin g." said Moreh ead . "a nd I knew so meth ing was wrong." Both Morehead a nd Lawwi ll look so me co nso la tio n in kn owing that wh ile th ey were running, th ey were up front . " We' ll get 'em ," said Mor eh ead . T he race up front th en turned into a Parker vs. Carr duel th at saw the pai r swapping the lead spot nearly every lap . Behind the m attrition struck as severa l riders p ulled o ut o f the race. among th em th eir teamma te Athe rto n. " T he rear cyli nde r quit," said a dejected Atherton. " We th in k it mi ght ha ve been th e spark p lug wire. The end of la p 20 saw Carr inches ahead of Parker. follo wed by Ingram a nd Springsteen, wh o were run ni ng side-by-side as th ey wo ul d until th e end, and Eklu nd . who was runn in g in fifth pos ition by him sel f. Graham a nd Davis were fig hting over sixth, a nd Mert en s, w ho had made a charge through the fiel d fro m h is pe na lty line stan . was tra ili ng them in eig h th, foll owed clo sel y by Cha nd ler, Poov ey a nd Day. Carr a nd Pa rker co n tin ued to du el a ll a ro u nd the tra ck wit h Pa rk er seem ing ly testing Ca rr both o n th e straigh ts a nd in the turn s. La p 23 sa w him dra ft by Carr a t th e line. but Ca rr was in fro nt o n lap 24 as th e chec kered nag waved. It a ppeared Parker wanted to trai l Carr as they exi ted turn four o n th e fina l la p to repea t the draft pass that had worked success fully j us t two laps befo re. But he d idn 't have th e cha nce to do so as Ca rr di d wha t he had to do .a nd gai ned a few precious inches of space over Parker in turns three a nd fo u r an d ca me roaring down the front straigh t in fro nt a nd th en acro ss th e finis h line first to score h is 10th Camel Pro Seri es victory. Fo iled in h is a tte mpt to pu ll o ff a d raft pass, Pa rker finished seco nd. his wi n streak on mil e tracks broken. " I got through turns three a nd fo ur better than he d id," was ho w H arl eyDa vid so n / Ara i/Tsubaki /Yok o / Hap Jones-backed Carr summed up the last la p a fter ha vin g ta ken tu ner Kenn y To lben for a ride o n th eir victory lap . " He's go ing to be to ugh all year ." said H arley-Davi dson/Bell lTsubak ii AIW o f Ame rica-sponsored Pa rker o f his tea mmate. Wh ile Par ker had been un abl e to pu ll off th e dra ft pass o n th e fin al lap. In gram successfully did so, edging o u t Sp ringsteen for third. Ek lu nd. wh o wi ll be 35 thi s June and wh o is sta rt ing hi s 15th year o n the Ca mel Pro Ser ies circu it, fini sh ed fifth. Dav is edged ou t Grah am for th e sixth s po t, with Cha nd ler. Day and Mertens ro u nd ing o u t th e to p 10. eN Resu lts T IME TRIALS: 1. C h ris ('..an (3tU l05 ~. ) ; 2. St rv(' Ekl un d (38.857); 3. T err y Pom.. y (3f'.8.1)6); 4. S,rvt" r Mor eh ead (38.873): 5. 5<"01 1 Parker (38.9Z8); 6. O;ll In gra m 138.9 - 0): 7. ];.1 )" Sprin gsteen (38.957); 8. Kl'id 1 ll;oy (39 .0'2 0); 9. Ri, k)" G ra ha m (39. 100); 10. Rodne Farri s (39. 104); II . Kevi n Atherton (39.25 1): 12. Da\ 't Durell e (39.271); 13. Tn! Tayler (39.37 1); 11. Wil Davis (39.386); 15. Ro n n ie j ones (39.-1 23); 16. Aa rm H ill (39.6221; 17. ll()u ~ a ... ndler (39.710); 18.5,,,,, Burkholder (39.78-1); 19. Tim Mer te ns (39.8221: 20 Jon Comwel! (39.832); 21. David Camlin (39.836) 22. Sa l H o ffma n (39.857); 23. G1 H offman (H · ll) ; 10. Robe rt Damron (H · D). 'Time: 6:35,8-1 :--iATIONAL: 1. Ch ris Carr (H -n); 2. Soon Park er IH-O ); 3. Dan In gram (Ho n ): 4. Jay Springsteen (H. D ); 5. Steve Eklund (Ho n): 6. Will Davi s ( H-D); 7. R ie ky G raham (Ho nj : ~ , Doug Cha nd ler ( H-D); 9. Ke-i th Da v (H u n) : 10. Tim Mer ten s t linn ); I I. Ronnie jones ( H o lI ); 12. T t'r ry Poo vey (lion ); 13. Da vid . Camlin (H- D ); H . Kevin Arhenon (H· D): 15, 51('\.'t: Moreh ead (1-1 · 0); 16. Rodney Farri s ( H· D): 17. Dave Durelle (I I-D). Time: 16;05.37 Averag e Speed: 93.28M mph (Reco rd : Scott Parker . Sept . 2IJ. 19M 97.225 mp h ) 5, CAMEL PRO S ER IES POINT ST AN Dt :-lGS (Arte r 2 or 17 events): I, Chris Carr (36): 2, Da n In gr um (33); 3. 5< '-011 Pa rker (26): -1 . J ( 10); 9. (T I E) Rodney Farri!'l / R i('k t"), G r a h a m ( 8); II. (T I E) Doug Ch an d ler / R ich KinJ;rrerr y POO\'r")' ( 7 ): 14: Ke it h DOl)' (6): 1. . mE) Tim Mel1('ns/SI ('v(' More head (5 1; 7 17. Kevin Atherton ('J); 18. (T I E) Da vid Camfin / Mik e H a lt· (2). JR. T IM E T RI Al-": I. j ess Roed er ('10. 187 ); 2. Steve Ma yfield (40, ! 77); 3, Andy Tres-er (40.515 ); 4. St ev e Ra ym ond ( 40. 608 ); 5. 511'V C" R asmussen ( 4 0. 6~0 ); 6. P;oul Palhcmus Jr. ('10.650); 7. S Ieve Beattie (40.693); 8. Danny Stanley (·1O. 69~) ; 9. O'f)' Perrault (40.846): 10. T ony Do na h ue (·10.867); I I. ); j aime Al(u ilar (40.9-10); 12. Kevin Bricker (40.9-15 I! , Ton)' H oldsclaw (4 1.056); H . Brian Titbon (4 I.:!OI) ; 15. AI Eadie (4 1.352 ); 16. Speedy I(ell (4 1.,169); t 7. Cl ill\ Vuh sholtz (41.486); 18. Chad J\,kC r.lck("11 ('11..7 ); 19, j im y Sanchel (4 1.59 1): 20. 60 Donn ie H and l (-11.610); 21. Raben Baem.a (11.6 19); 22. Donald Pa ul (4 1.8 12); 23 . G a ry Fer ra u mi (42.29 8,; 24. Sch rn u lbaeh (12.! 14); 25. Eri c Larst'n (42.5:' 9,; 26. Ian Sl-gedy (42.832): 27. Rand) ' &reman (13. 136, ; 28. Evan Pl ymal . (43.336); 29. Robt-n 1\ll"iring (H .399,L. JR. HEAT I: I. S tt"\,(" Ra ~mu~ scn (H· D); 2. Danny Sian ley (\ \'· R ); 5. Ton)' Ho ld!.cla"" (W · R) ; 4. Oint \'ahdlOhl (\ \' · R); 5. Co r)' P("fT;lult (H -O); 6. Jess Rot:de r (l1 ·D ); 7. Er ic L.If~en ( H -D ): 8. Ban Sehmolboch (II' · R); 9. 1;on Sl'Iln!)" (lI· ll) ; 10. Rollero Baco ..a (H ·D ); I I. Slt'ven Ra ymo nd (H·D). T im e: 4:08 .260 J R. HEAT 2: I. And)" Tr",...r (W· R) ; 2. SIeve Ik-.tui e (H · D ): ~. SIC'\'(' Ma y£i('ld (W· R); 1 . Bri an Till l>t)fi ( \ \'· R) : 5. Paul Pal ht'mu !> j r. ( W · R ); 6. J a im e r\g:ui lar ( U -D); 7. AI Eadie (H -D ); 8. T on y Don .lhue (1 -1.1) ; 9, Ch; ld l\kCr;u-kl'n : 10. Donal d Pa u l (W. R ); I I. Jimmy Sanehf'1 (l Ion ); 12. Gary Fttravanti (\V·R I. Time: 'I:OM, 337 JR. NATIONAL: I. Slevt' R.m nusl>('n (H- D); 2, Andy T leSSl'1 (W· R ): 3. Sll'Vt' Bl'~n (20); 2, Andy Tresfol.·r (16 ): 3. Stev(' Beaui(" ( 15): 4. Dan Sta n )t'y (I I); 5. Gn)' Pl"rrau ll (10 ): 6. Uria n Til lson (9); 7. Jt"S~ RonJl'r (13); N. C lint Vahsho ltl Ol ; 9. Sln '(' Ma) he)d (6); 10. I T OllY Hnldsdaw (5); I I. P;: UI Polhl"mu\ Jr. (4); 12. Jaimr- r\~i lar (5) . nan

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