Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA Grand National ChameioIishie-/C_am_el_Pr_o_Ser_ies_: - -=- ~ R_OU ll_d6 _ a n ignition m iss th a t mad e ' him the slowest (26.772) o f the 32 rid ers who mad e a n a ttem p t a t th e track record. Steve Eklu nd 's 1981 record (set in a daytime event ) o f 23.263 survived. ~ Chris Carr (20) leads Scott Parker (I), Dan Ingram (31), j ay Springsteen (9) and Ronnie jones (16) around Louisville. Carr all the way at Louisville By Bert Shepard "I \ 8 _ I LOUISVILLE, KY,JUNE3 . t reall y feels grea t," said Louisvill e H alf Mile winner Ch ris Carr in winner 's circle. " !L was pr etty sim p le: Qua lify fifth fastest, hol esh ot th e heat, hol esh ot th e main a nd run 20 perfect laps. We had a perfect day." Carr did have a perfect day with th e excep tion of his fifth pl ace fini sh in th e Camel Challen ge th at was dominated by his Harley-Davidson factory team teammate Scott Parker. Carr's " perfect" performance a lso sla sh ed more than 14 seconds off Steve Morehead's 1988 20-lap main event record. Carr's tim e was 8 minutes, 04.900 seconds , co m pa re d to Moreh ead ' s 7:50.234. Carr ' s reco rd perform an ce, that mo ved him back into th e point standings lead , cam e Su nday afternoon, after tornad os forc ed the cancellation of th e sched ul ed Saturday ni ght pro g ra m. Gra nd National Champ ion Parker finished second to his stabl erna te a nd no w trai ls Carr, 101 to 98, in the Camel Pro Series point standings. Ronnie J on es, aboard th e Garvis H onda-backed H onda NS750, fini sh ed th ird . " Hey , I've won th e H onda race for th e last four weeksI It's rea lly too bad that th er e is no co n tinge ncy program fo r us like th ere is for the H arl ey gu ys." said th e lik eab le Oklahoma rid er. Time Trials A concentrated effo rt had been made befo re a nd after the rain-out to do something diff erent with th e limesto ne su rface of the Louisvi lle Downs oval. Wheel packing, th e app lica tion of 10 tons of ca lciu m cloride, a nd a great dea l of brushing yield ed a rock-hard sur face to sta rt the da y off. The hope of a multi -line race tra ck dis appear ed quick ly a fter the first two practice sessio ns . Most of th e rid ers echoed Parker's th ou ghts abo ut the abrass iveness o f th e sur face: " It's abou t like 60grit sa nd paper or a bi g D-A grind er." Ti re wea r wou ld be a co ncern for the ma in even t. Almost all o f the riders felt tha t wav ing off th e first o f the two attempts a t th e clock was a good idea; the ho pe was th at th e groove wo uld grow by the second a ttem p t, Parker and Moreh ead (bo th two- tim e win ners at Lou isvill e) elected to ta ke th eir first sh ots. Parker 's 23.740 a nd Mor eh ead 's 23.824 wo u ld remain th e fastest with o ne excep tio n: Rusty Rogers too k the T ed Fros t/ Ca rl Pat rick/Bell / J ohn n y Goad/Harley o n a 23.683 to ur o f th e bla ck groove to co me u p wi th top qualifier hon ors. " I'm as surpr ised as a nyo ne. I have been hopping arou nd o n diff erent bi kes every weekend. T he first time th e front end p ush ed really bad : I cha nged my line and tried to be smoo th ," added Ro gers. T u ner Carl Patrick was happy, " !L is kind of ni ce LO have a pi lot tha t holds it wid e open." Ronnie J on es ea rne d his spot in th e Ca me l Cha lle ng e with a 23.849 lap. Carr was a few h u ndred ths back with a 23.851 lap for fifth fastest. Roo kie se nsatio n Mik e H al e . ed ge d Dan In gr am by o ne o ne-thousant h of a seco nd , 23.9 17 to Ingram 's 23.918, to p u t a lock o n th e sixth fastest time and the last spot o n th e grid for th e $17,500 Camel Challeng e. " I ca n 't believe it, we were pr a yin g rea l hard ," said H al e. juySprings tcen, T im Mertens and David Durell e ro unded o u t the the to p 10 q uali fier s. Flori d ian Pau l Visba l's H arl ey had Heats Heat on e had· Rogers o n the outside pole, th e cho ice of all of th e pol e sitters. Merten s, winner of the 1987 Louisvi lle Camel Challenge, jumped th e start and brought o u t th e red flag . But Mertens was not to be deni ed. His third row start had th e adva nt age o f being o n the groove and by th e fir st turn th e Bellvill e Honda-backed racer was in third p lace. Rogers had th e holeshot but slipped off the gro ove in turn three a nd th e heat belonged to five-time Lou isville winner Jay Springs teen on the Bartels' Harl ey-Davidson/Bell / Motul Oi l/Wax Shop-sponsored XR750. Rogers kept Sp ringsteen honest and LOok seco nd , a nd Mertens held on to his tick et to the main for all 10 laps. Craig Estell e and Chance Darling finished in fourth and fifth, respe ctively, headed for a semi. Sixth place was debated by Bob Sweeten, Devon Pri tchard and Paul Visbal. Lady Luck rode with Darling in th e rac e. The Ohio ra cer's Harley went on one cylinder with two la ps to go and Pritchard closed to with in a few feet at the flag, but came up sh ort. Parker had the Harley-Davidson Mot or Co. In c.lBell /TsubakiiAIW Of Am eri ca /H.O .G.lITT-back ed , Bill Werner-tuned H a rley on th e poi nt after on e lap of heat two. Durelle circula ted in seco nd pl ace in front of the war betw een Scott Stu m p and In gra m . Stump was a ble to hold Ingram off fo r five of th e laps, but on th e sixth lap the Cl ermont, Indiana, ra cer drov e und er Stump at th e entra nce o f tu rn th ree. For a moment it look ed like he had go ne in LOa hot a nd wou ld not be ab le to ge t turned, but he manag ed LO as Stum p p ulled a long side th e H onda-m ounted rid ers raced for turn four. In gram had th e momentum and h is ticket to th e main . With a lap to go, In gr am clo sed on ru n ner-up Durel le bu t ran o u t o f time. Darren Erichs en finish ed fifth in front of Steve Burkho lder, Tim Best a nd j ohn H ol m es. Moreh ead had the pol e for the third 1 hea t, bu t H al e had th e reflexes that too k him LO the first turn a t th e head of th e field. T exa n H al e proceeded to p ut some di stance o n the field with th e H ot J a mmin/Tsubak ilRed Li ne O il s/ Super Fu el s/Bob H al e/BieHe H elm e ts/ Sam L i n e/ Mo tio n Prol , K&N-backed XR . I Mor eh ead was in second pl ace doing hi s best to ho ld o ff th e p ress ur e ap plied by T erry Poovey, Kevin Ath erton and Rod Farri s. Running in first, H al e had eno ug h o f a lead to slip o ff th e groo v'~ in th ree a nd four and get back on without losing a pl ace. On lap four , Poovey' s drive off of turn two carried him under Morehead. int o turn three. On the eig h th lap,' Moreh ead was in the sights of Farris a nd Ath erton, but Ath erton fell as he: Morehead a nd Farris exited turn four. The Wh ite Pi geon, Mich igan, rider ran over his .own left foot a nd go tl tangled in the bik e as it rod e him to th e ground, br inging out th e red flag.) After a few a n x io u s m oments th et cro wd in turn four cheered loudl y aSI the Harley team pil ot was u p an d head ed to the ambula nce. ~ Meanwhile, Moreh ead a nd Poovey] were hard at work on the ir bikes. Moreh ead a nd hi s tuner, Mert La w~' wi ll , had g uessed wrong o n th e geari llg ~ a nd too k off a toot h . " We p racticed both o f Merr's bi kes a nd O I'Pai nt j (Morehead 's XR7 50) and decided on

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