Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SDIRT TRACK e AMA 600(( N ational Championship_l_'rt_ ac_S _' R D Tr_ k _en es_:_OU_Dd_3 and both rid ers cartwheeled down the front stra ig h t. Both ma chines and riders were removed from the tra ck as racin g co ntin ue d . Rasmussen was okay, but Ll oyd went to th e hospital with a co m pound fracture in his arm, broken fin gers a nd a broken wrist. Steve Beattie moved into fir st o n his Deeley H-D/Shoei /Silkol en e/I. M. Leathers/Champion/Footage Tools/ Ron Gibb 's Pain t!Brian Olsen Ra cing/ Mom & Dad-sponsored Harley. Aguila r was then cha llenged by Bart Schmulbach . Agu ilar came o ut o n top of a tight race fo r second. Ri ck y Anderson led PaulPolhemus home in fourth . Chris Carr (I ) leads Da vey Durell e (58) and Mike Hale (12N ) at the start of the 600cc Hal£ Mile at Rapid City. Fletcher flies at Rapid City By Dave Hoenig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos "T RAPID CITY. SD. AUG. 7 hi s is the best, Carr just lit up on the restart," said a jubilant J ason Fletcher, explaining how the Warren, Connecticut, ju nior had just defeated the current kin g of the 600cc class, Chris Carr. T he National was red-flagged o n lap I4 wh en AI Eadie and Randy Roose fell in turn two . The two-time defendin g cha m p io n, Carr , looked to have th e first National held on the Black Hills Speedway half mile locked up, until the restart Iound a chink in Carr's armour. " T he clu tch was out. I had to jam it into first to get off the line. I had no feel in the clutch. Unfortunately we had the red flag . That's one of those things that happen," sai d a philosophical Carr. Rookie Mike Hale also charged by to chase the Edmonds Ra cing/Spectro /Bob's Shop/R&I Mfg.!Jim Tipping/Bell /Wilcox M.C.!Fat City/ Mom & Dad-sponsored Fletcher home. Time Trials Ven turing into a new track had mos t riders sea rc h ing their gear charts, while many were looking for Goodyear number eig h t tires as required by th e rules for 600cc Nationals. Seventy-six juniors and ex perts timed for th e 48 available spots. Carr's 23.40 wa s th e quickest , but Bryan McDowell (co mi n g out of sem iretirem ent) a nd T erry Poovey were just a tick back at 23.49. Al Eadie, Aaron Hill, Larry Pegram, Mike Hale, Davey Durelle , Scott Stump and Jeff Dietz rounded out the top 10. 28 Heats Davey Durell e jumped into the lead of heat one. Carr was close behind and pushed his Harley-Davidson. In c.! Ara iiTsubaki /Hap J o n es/ Wh i te Bros .!Yoko / Alpinestar-sponsored Harley into th e lead at the hal£way point. Scott Stump held down third until a three rider pa ck of Rick H ocking, J ason Fletcher a nd Kris Kiser ca ugh t him. Hock in g moved into third quickl y, but it took Fletcher and Kiser four laps to move by. Carr easily pulled away _ fo r the win as the top three riders rode alo ne. The second hea t belo nged to Mike Hal e o n his Bob Hal e/ Karl Klemen t! Bie££eITsubakilRed Lin e Oi l/Super Fu els/Sam Lin e/M o ti on P ro/H ot J ammin /K&N- spon so r ed WoodRotax, Randy Roose and Cory Perreault dueled over second. Roo se eventua lly pull ed clear. Bri an Ti llson passed Speedy Kell on the last lap, bu t both were headed to the semis. The third heat was a th ree-wa y battle between Tim Mertens, T erry Poovey a nd Rich King. At th e halfway point it was Poovey, King and Mert ens. On lap seven Kin g put hi s Sew What/ Wess ely Engines/Shoeil North land Oi l/Web er 's Cycl e/D ad- sponsored Rotax out front for good. Poov ey held o n for second, while Merten s had to contend with Larry Pegr am to ga in the last transfer. The last heat was dominated by the En ergy Ser v.!Shoei /Poo vey Bro s.! European Dynam ics-sp on sored AI Eadie. The Junior rid er easi ly ou tdi stanced fellow Junior J am es H art a nd Aar on Hill. Hill took over second on lap seven. Se m is The first semi narrow ed down to a two rider battle between New En gland Juniors Brian Tillson and Fletch er. Tillson held the adv antage until th e last lap when Fletcher shot around on the outside. Tillson made a desperate attempt to div e under Fletcher goi ng into turn one, but drifted into Fletch er ' s rear wh eel. Tillson was down and his qu est to mak e th e National wa s over. Kris Kiser a nd Steve Beattie moved u p to second a nd third and were headed for the LCQ. The second semi fell to another J un ior rider as Clint Vahsholu held hi s Data Tel/Vahshohz Auto a nd the gang /Mom & DadlTsub ak i/ Sh oei/ R oger Warden /G eorge Va hs ho l tzsponso red Wood-Rot ax in fro nt o f Dave Hebb. Hebb cha llen ged earl y but had to hold o ££ a late race challe nge from Larry Pegram. Last Chance Qualifier Kris Kiser led the pack aro und o n lap one with Cra ig Estell e, Dave Hebb a nd Mickey Fay right behind. Hebb too k over second on lap two but the H art Racing / Ar a iiTsubak i /S cott USA/ AXO/Honda Maui sponsored Kiser was pulling a way. Larry Pegram quickl y knifed through the field after a slo w start, Pegram took over second on lap six and lat ch ed onto Kiser , but co uld not wor k his way a ro und in th e remai ning four laps. 600cc N ational The National sta rted as expec ted with Carr establis h ing himself in front ove r Hal e, Durel le, King, H art, Mert en s, Kiser , Roose, Hill a nd a dis tant Flet cher. Fletcher started experimenting with a hi gher line than anyone else was using and by the fifth la p he was in fifth locked in battle with Durelle and King. Lap seven saw Fletcher around Hal e a nd into second. Fletcher was slo wly closing in on Carr leaving Hale alo ne in third at th e halfway mark. King, Durelle, Mertens. Hill , Hart, Roose, Poovey, Perreault, H ocking, Eadie, Kiser and Vahsholtz fill ed the field . Although the top three positi ons see me d settl ed th er e was co ns ta n t pass ing back in th e pack. On lap I4 Ead ie and Roose bailed in turn two, sto p p ing the race. On the restart Hale shot to th e in sid e of Carr a nd Fletch er a nd led lap 15. Fletch er had co ntro l o n lap 16. " I went o n th e in side o n th e restart so I wouldn 't be bumped o ££, then I went back up top. Everybody was using the bottom line a nd I just went up. I co u ld ride a lot harder into the turns." said Fletcher. Carr was mired in third with the laps running out. " Fletcher got th e thing working good and he deserved th e win ," said Carr. Ri ck King held down fourth while T erry Poovey picked up four positions o n the restart for fifth . The bigges t loser other than Carr on the restart was Durelle, as he dropped to II th from fifth. Junior J aime Aguilar led the 12 fastest nonq ua lifying Juniors a ro un d th e first two laps. Unfortunately Steve Rasmussen , who was running second. sli d down exi ting turn four. David Ll oyd crashed into Ra smussen 's fall en bike P r o-Am Eighteen Pro-Am rid ers sign ed up for a last minute Pro-Am event. The two qualifying heats were won by KurtBoehlke and J.P. Simonsen. Boehlke and Simonsen worked their way arou nd earl y leader Ken McConn ell and waged war over first. Simonsen worked his Bud weiser / Anderson Cycl e & ATV / Co u ga r Gulch/Grandma & G randpa/Gnarl y Racing/Oz Racing-sponsored Honda into first on lap six and held on! for a narrow victory. Verdeen Langland, David Bachmeier and Dan Argano foll owed. ell Resu lts TIME TRIALS (TOP %1) : 1. Chris Carr (23.40): 2. Bryon McDow<1I (23A 7): 3. Terry Poovey (23A9): 4. AI Eadi e (23.63): 5. Aa ro n H ill (23.68): 6. Larry Pegram (23.72): 7. Mike H al e (23. 78): 8. DaY< Dwel le (23.80): 9. Seen St ump (23.82): 10. j

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