Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRTTRACK AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 3 m Scott Parker (1) got the jump on Steve Morehead (42), Chris Carr (20), Tim Mertens (53), Ronnie Jones (16) and Jay Springsteen (9) at the start of the 20-lap National. Morehead w insfinal Ascot Gold Cup By Brian Catterson Photos by Mitch Friedman "U G RDENA,CA, M YI2 A A 6 nbelievab le!" shouted Steve Mo re h ead as h e ret urned from th e victory la p foll ow ing h is first-ever Asco t Half Mile wi n. It may ha ve ta ken hi m I7 years to do so, bu t Mo reh ead fina lly wo n a Na tiona l at Ascot. R iding hi s Lawwill & Gard ne r H arley-Davidson XR750, th e 31-yea r-o ld, Findla y, Ohio resident m oved by H arley-Davidso n fac to ry rid ers Scott Parker a nd Chris Ca rr in one fell swoop to take th e lea d o n th e 10th la p of th e 20-la p ma in, the n th warted Parker' s la st-lap pass ing a tte m p ts to sco re h is 16th ca reer Grand National Championship win , hi s 12th o n a ha lf mi le. Moreh ead 's victory was spec ia l since this wa s sla ted to be th e last-ever Asco t Gold Cup, a nd th e seco nd- to- las t dirt track race to be run o n th e legen da ry n ot-qu it e-a-true-h alf-mi le before its lease runs o u t at th e end o f th e year; th e Septem ber 29 N a tio na l H a lf Mi le will mark th e final cha p ter in Asco t's 32-yea r hi story book. ..It rea ll y means a lo t to me to win th e final Gol d Cup a t Ascot, " sai d Morehead, who th en presented the Gard ena Ch amber o f Comm erce: supplied Go ld Cup to th e Agajanian family " fo r th eir su p port o f the riders over the yea rs." J .C. Agaja n ia n , Jr. ac ce p ted . th e award in th e name o f h is fa the r and na mesak e, the la te j .C, Agaja n ia n, who incidentally was inducted into th e Indian apo lis Mot or Spee dway H all of Fame on Friday n igh t. Morehead the n ded icated the race to a ride r he ca lled "the finest privateer who ever lived ." Said Morehead, "Two years ago we bu ried Ted Bood y, and I'd like to dedica te th is to hi m." Boody d ied in a la st-la p cras h at Asco t in 1988. For h is effo rts, Moreh ead pocketed the $4000 winner 's share of the $29,5 00 to tal purse. Parker fin ish ed second after lead in g the majo ri ty of th e race, wh ile teamma te Ca rr finish ed sligh tly off the pace in th ird. Ro u nd in g o u t the top five were Ronn ie J ones aboard h is Garvis H onda and J a y Sp ri ngsteen a board th e Bartels' Harl ey-Davi d son. T he race was wa tch ed by a reported 8144 spectators. . Carr's "s how" p osition was good eno ugh for him to reta in hi s lead in the ser ies po int sta ndi ngs. Wi th three of 17 races co m p leted, Ca rr leads with 49 po ints, followed by Parker (42), Da n Ingra m (37) a n d Jay Sp ringsteen (32). The 20 points Moreh ead ea rned for th e win va u lted h im from 15th to fifth in the title cha se wit h a to ta l o f 25 po ints. Time Trials Practice began o n a so u r n ot e with rid er co m p lain ts over tra ck conditi on s. T he us ua lly mo ist , deep, tracta b le Ascot dirt was dry, slic k a n d dusty, and after th e fir st practi ce session Carr remarked th a t hi s bike staye d so clean it did n' t even loo k like it had been ridden. Ca rr sa id th a t hi s factory H arley was set up th e sa me as for last month's Sacramento Mi le, with the exce p tio n of different gea ring for th e shorte r track a n d th e add itio n of a Pirell i MT 53 fro nt tire to co m p le me nt the Goodyear rea r, a co m b in at io n used by if n ot everyo ne, th en certai n ly by th e ma jority o f th e co m peti to rs. " We use a Pirelli front tire here where we use a Goodyear everyw he re else," Carr sai d.:..The o nly o the r p laces we m igh t use it (the Pi relli ) are a t so me o f th e pea g rave l tracks back eas t." T he trac k was hea vil y wat ered befor e the seco nd ro u nd of p racti ce, a nd th e riders found it much more to thei r liking . T ime tria ls sa w Parker top th e tables as the o n ly rider of th e 33 a tte m p ti ng to q ual ify able to dip into th e 21second bracket , tu rn in g a quick lap of 21.765 seconds. Next best was Carr, th e la p record hol der (2 1.175 se t last fall ) with a 22. I 14 a fter wavi ng off h is first a tte m p t. R icky Grah am wa s 'th ird quickest , turni ng a 22.223 a board h is privat eer H o nda a fte r cras h i ng . in practice. Ingram wa s fourth q uickest with a 22.248 . o n ' h is ESP Raci ng H o nda , wh ile hi s Canadian team ma te J on Cornwell was fifth q u ickest wit h a 22.276. . Ro und in g o ut the to p - 10 qual ifiers we re Mo r eh ead (22.355), H a rl e ymou nt ed Wi ll Dav is (22.392), Jones (22 .4 78), H -D fa cto r y r ider Kevin Atherton (22.506) an d vet eran H on da ca m paigne r Steve Eklu nd (22.544). . H eats Pa rker co ntin ued th e domi nati on he bega n in quali fying by runn in g away with th e firs t of four, 1O-lap heat races, eac h of wh ich wou ld send the top- th ree fini shers d irectl y to th e Na tional , T he two -time Gran d Na tiona l Champi on a nd one-time Camel Pro Series cha m p led from start to fi n ish , shado wed by J ones the ent ire race di sta nce. Third p lace was dispu ted by T erry Poo vey a nd At h ert on, with the vetera n o utdoin g th e yo ungster for th e fin a l transfer position. Poovey was rid in g in pain with a separa ted sh ould er a fter he 'd laid it down in p racti ce to avo id h itting th e fallen David Camlin , who broke h is co llarbone in th e incident. It was the fir st time in four years tha t Poovey had crash ed th e Honda . T he second heat was a virt ual replay o f th e first, wi th the b lack-and-orange factory Harley of Carr leading all b ut I

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