Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; DIRT TRACK AMA Grand National Championshi ~ Steve Eklund (8) and Tim Mertens (53 ) both worked their way up through the pack during the main, and ended up disputing sixth place. Eklund was the victor. Winner Morehead talks to the Ascot fans as (left to right) Parker, Ted Otto, Carr . and J.c. Agajanian, Jr. , watch. Morehead dedicated the race to Ted Boody. 8 led, followed by Moreh ead a nd j on es. Ca rr was mired at the start, but by la p two he 'd passed Morehea d a nd j ones to move into the seco nd slo t, At herton ha d go tten a good start from hi s last-row grid position, but he fell in turn two th e second time around. " I lost th e front en d and went stra igh t into th e hay bal es. I hit m y head pretty good," th e unhurt At herto n said la ter. T he running order for th e majority of la p s wa s th en set with Pa r ker na rrowly lead in g Ca rr, followed by Morehead, j ones a nd Springsteen. Behind th e lead grou p ran In gram , Me rt en s, Eklund a n d Gra h am . Mert ens got aroun d In gram for sixt h p lace o n lap three, a nd on lap five Eklun d a lso got by In gram for sevent h. A few laps la ter Eklu nd passed Mert en s for six th pl ace, and th e two wo ul d hold th ose positions till th e fin ish. With Parker an d Ca rr pulling away, Morehead h ad resigned himself to third pl ace a n d ba cked off, but soo n found h im self ca tch ing up to the two H-D factory tea m ma tes. " I tried to be carefu l so I didn ' t spi n it o u t in the slippery st uff ," Moreh ead sai d lat er. " I moved down , and the slower I went, th e faster I went!" On la p 10, Mor eh ead made hi s move, goi ng u nder both Pa rker a n d Carr o n the back stra igh t, " T h ose gu ys were up h igh, messi ng arou nd , a nd I just went right under 'e m ," Morehead recalled la ter. Pa rk er was not co ntent wi th seco nd a nd began to pressure Mo reh ead , P a rk e r ri di n g th e cus hio n w hi le Morehead rod e th e groove. Par ker went to school o n Moreh ead, stu d ying his li nes, a nd on the fina l la p went u nder Morehead going int o tu rn o ne. Bu t Par ker drifted slightly wide in tu rn two, a nd Mor eh ea d agai n went u n de rnea th to retake the lead. Pa rker showed Moreh ead a whee l in turn four, bu t at th e finish it was Morehead taking the win by a wh eel-l en gth, "Those kids are mak in g me ride m y tai l o ff, " said Mor ehead , who stresses machine preparat ion over th e ballsy ri ding o f th e yo ungsters. H is wi n n ing time was 7 mi n utes, 26.327 seco n ds, mor e th an 10 seco nds o ff th e race record (7:15.43, set by G ra ha m in Septem ber 1983). " H e just co me under me a n d I th ought 'O h . #%&1''' said Pa rk er. Ca rr cruised home to a com fortab le third pl ace. "Scotty was setting a rea l tough pa ce and then a lo ng ca me Mor eh ead . I jus t sa t back a nd wa tched . I pretty m uch sett led in for thi rd pl ace. " Ca rr said. j ones fin ished fo urt h , th e same as last sp ring. " I had th e same problem tonight that I had here last fall ," j ones sa id. " It wa s cha ttering goin g into th e co rners. It 's so bad that it blurs yo u r Andy Tresser won the 1O.lap Junior National after finishing third in his heat race. The northern Californian now leads the Junior National point standings. vision! The sooner yo u get back o n th e gas the better, but yo u have to get it under co ntrol before yo u ca n turn it on. It rea lly tires you OUL " Springstee n h eld fifth p lace from start to finish, m uch to the dismay o f the highl y-partisan Sp ringer fans in the sta nds . Beh ind th e a forement io ned six th and se ve n rh -p la ced E k lu n d a n d Mert en s carne Cha ndler, who stead ily wo rked u p from a third-row , last-place sta rt to fini sh e igh th . T he AM A Na tio na l S uperbike Championship points lead er is sti ll ge tt ing used to hi s new Harley.Ibu; sa id th at it handled better a t Ascot than th e H onda he ro de here last year. Ingram slip ped backwards through th e field, event u a lly being passed by Graham a nd Davi s a nd fini sh ing 11th; Cornwell and Pearson fill ed in th e fin al two spots. Foll owing th e post-ra ce festivities which included taking hi s tunerM ert La ww ill for a victory lap, Moreh ead exci ted ly dashed for a pay phone, still wea ri ng hi s stee l shoe. Once th ere, th e long line a t th e pay phone let him cut righ t 10 th e front to ca ll h is wife, Ci n dy. Clt Un believable. Results TIME TRIALS: I. Soou Parker (2 1.765); 2. Chris Carr (22. 114); 3. Ricky Graham (22.223); 1. Dan Ingram (22.248); 5. J on Co rnw ell (22.'n6); 6. Steve Morehead (22.355); 7. W;II Davis (22.3 92); 8. Ronnie Jones (22. 478); 9. Kevin Athenon (22.506 ); 10. Steve Ekl und (22.544 ); I I. J ay Springsteen (22.569) ; 12. Ti m Mertens (22.5 78); 13. George Roed er II (22.588); 14. Doug Chander (22. 588) ; 15. Rodney Farri s ' (22.687); 16. Mike H ale (22.73 1): 17. T=y Poovey (22. 744); 18. Aaron Hill (22. 767); 19. Keith Day (22.830 ); 20. Mike Inderbitzen (22.9 10 ); 21. Charles Orr (22.930); 22. Don Wilson (22.963); 23. Bobb y McDo well (22.963 ); 24. T

• Cover