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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127278
Canadian Miguel DuHamel was impressive in winning his first-ever AMA National as he fought off the advances of both Chandler and Russell. and force him to push the bike back to the pits on the cool-off lap. Russell ended up moving past DuHamel as he tried to keep pace with Chandler; he would cross the line only 1.4 seconds behind his teammate. ' DuHamel, in tum, finished a safe third. " I knew the y would stay close ," Chandler said, while wearing a shirt that read: "Less than 100%. " "They all had new tires. I figured I'd cruise until their tires got to the same point as mine. I didn 't want to do anything stupid. I knew Scott (Russell) would be close." Both Renfrow and Sadowski took advantage of Stevens' mechanical problems to finish fourth and fifth , respectively. Spencer moved close to Stevens on the final go-around, but the three-time World Champion ran out of laps, yet still impressed many with his seventh-place finish, identical to the position in which he qualified. Spencer was having problems getting traction with his Michelin rubber after not being able to get his hands on the compound he needed. On Sunday morning, Spencer switched to Dunlops and that's what he used in the National, marking the first time in 12 years that he 'd used Dunlop rubber. Kipp dropped back to finish 14th after the synchronizing screw backed out of a carburetor, stopping the slides from opening to more than half throttle. Kipp 's Wiseco-backed Yamaha was also fitted with Dunlops, his rubber of choice since Mid-Ohio; Kirk, meanwhile, pulled out of the race on the third lap with his fairing lower falling 0((; John Ashmead, on the third Muzzy Kawasaki, finished 13th and was still hurting badly from the Miami crash that saw him break seven ribs and his shoulder blade, and puncture a lung. Another non- finisher was Quarter. ley, the victim of an RC30 lower-end probl em that was unfixable. " It must h ave happened i n practice," th e likeable New Englander said. " And the~ , ) felt it aga in on th e warm-up lap. Notably mi ssing from the field was Florida's Thomas Stevens finished fourth on his Yamaha OWOI after battling for most of the race with Randy Renfrow. Canadian Rueben McMurter. The Honda rider had crashed the weekend prior at a Canadian National in Shannonville, Ontario, and had recracked the ankle he injured at Mosport, Canada, in June. National With tire wear problems on everyone's minds, Sunday saw both Spencer and Donald Jacks, surprisingly, co nvert to Dunlops. Spencer went quicker in Sunday morning's practice with the Dunlops than he had all week, and Jacks opted to switch after practice, thus not getting any time on the new rubber prior to th e National. Despite the Dunlops having a higher aspect rat io (ma king for a slightly tall er tire), Spencer's Honda had to be geared taller due to the added traction. He. would later say changing the gearing was a mistake, however. Mike Harth, who finished ninth in the Race for the Pole, was out of the National before it even started after his Yamaha dropped a valve in Sunday morning's practice. The 24-lap, 50-mile National started in brilliant sunshine with temperatures hov ering around the I DO-degree mark, and leading the fray into turn one was Chandler. The Californian led DuHamel, Renfrow, Russell, Guenette and Stevens across the line a t the end of the first lap. Spencer completed the first la p in 10th place wh ile Kirk , who started from the last row , was o u t of the to p 15. Chandler and DuHamel put a gap on Russell , who had worked by Renfrow, the n ano th er gap followed to Stevens, who in turn had gotten past Guenette. Adamo held off Spencer, Kipp, and Sadowski as the top 10 completed the second lap. Kirk was up to 13th at this point. It didn't take long to realiz e that Chandler wasn't going to run away with this one. It was evident by a few slides here and there that he was trying, but Du Hamel matched his p ac e. Russell, too, couldn't be counted out as he stayed within sighr'of the leaders and started inching towards them. Chandler continued to lead with DuHamel applying the pressure, and on th e 15th lap th ey were joined in earnest by Russell , making it a threeway scrap for the lead. DuHamel took the lead for th e first tim e on the 16th lap, and he quickly opened up a slight advan tage on Chandler, who was only a lap away from a lso letting Russell by. 9