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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127279
a comfortab le distance ah ead of Bryan Villella. who had gotten th e best of a d uel wi th Dan Ingram. Aaron Hill an d Ca na dian Steve Bea ttie, who was mak in g hi s National deb u t. Beattie advanced from the Junior ra nks fol low in g th e L abo r Day weeke n d Springfield Mile wh ere he fin ished second in th e Junior National. The th ird heat race was one that the late Roxy Rockwood. who truly was . the voice of San Jose. would ha ve described as a Texas vs. Oklahoma battle, Texan Poovey. wh o was celebrating his 32nd birthday, and Oklahoman Jones left eventual third place finisher Keith Day in the ir dust after the earl y lap sorting o u t period and they then co n d u cted a m asterful display of mi le racing, swapping the lead at different points around the Harold Murrel l-prepared track. It was obvious that neither rider wanted to be in fro n t comi ng out of turn two on the last lap and after the white £lag was displayed the y both obviously slowed en tering turn one. "Terry led into turn one on the last lap and slowed down and slowed down even more," said Jones. " H e looked back at me and I raised my right elbow to show h im I was totally o ut of the thro ttle, H e had to lead down the back straight and I go t by him and wo n." J ones won by grabbing th e lead coming o ut of turn four and wi th a str ong dri ve off the corner prevented .Poo vey from drafting by at the finish line. " Hey, he go t me twice before this year li ke that." said Ma rio n ea u x Racin g's Poovey. "and I got him at Springfield. I almost stopped in turn one. I looked back at him and he was just cruising behind me. H eck, I went down the back straigh t at half throttle. " " He and I were both laughing on the cool-off lap," said J ones. With a grin on his face, Poo vey said. "I was n 't laughing . I was p issed-off. " Northe rn Californian Kei th Day finished a lo nely th ird. Parker led th e final heat race field off the lin e an d only relinq uis hed th e lead to Tim Mertens for the second half of the opening lap. O nce he drafted back by Mert ens on the front straight at the end of lap o ne, Parker too k con trol of the race. Behind him was where the action took place and it reached a fever pitch on the fifth lap when his followers scatt ered in turns three and four . . "Kevin (Atherto n) hit me." said Mertens, who dropped ba ck fifth . wh ere he would finish, in the scuffl e. " It (the hit and pass ) was alright. I'm not com plaining." " They were running up high in turn three and I just went low and got by all of the m," said Atherton, who closed the ga p on Parker but finished second ahead of the third place finisher. Donahue Harl ey-Davidson-backed Dave Du relle . Rookie Expert Larry Pegram on the ESP/FIG Racing H o n da finished fourth, headed for a semi. Asked about the contact, Pegram said, " Wh ich time?" Semis Aaron H ill , Dan Ingram and Dave Hebb fought over the two transfer spots available in th e first semi and although Hebb led eigh t laps of the 1O-lap race, he was relegated to a third place finish by wi nner Hill, who held off a las t lap draft pass attempt by runner-up Dan Ingram. to win by inches. Pegram pulled the holeshot at the start of the second semi. but the red £lag came out due to an "uneven start." The second time around it was Will Ronni e Jones leads Chris Carr, Scott Parker, Mik e Hale, Terry Poovey and Jay Springsteen through a San J ose turn. Davis out front going into turn one, but for the first four laps Ted Taylor was at the point. Davis took over for good on lap five, and he wo n in a photo finish over ESP Racing's Ri cky Graham with Mertens taking a close-butno-cigar third. Taylor was fou rth. Last Chance Qualfier Taylor jumped the line at the start of the Last Chance Qualifier and was placed on the penalty line aft er the race wa s red-flagged. Bellevill e Honda/ Stump I n su ra n ce-ba cked Mertens p ulled the ho leshot and led the first six laps, although pressured all around the trac k by Taylor and Pegram in a race that saw them run three abreast at times. When the chec kered flag waved. it was Mertens the winner by th e slimmest of margins over Taylor. Pegram, who held th e lead at the line at the end of laps seven through nine, d ro pped back to fifth on the last lap, beh ind Mert ens . Taylor, Brian Atherton and Ken Netto, J u n io r I n vi ta tional Twenty-two yello w plate riders took part in an invitational race that saw all q ua lify for the two heat races that would advance the top six finishers from each to a final. The first heat race was won by Tony Donahue with fast qualifier Brian Tillson takin g second and Steve Mayfield third. Steve Raymo nd won the second heat over Pau l Pol hemus and J am es Hart. The IQ.-Iap final required a restart aft er an uneven first attempt at a start. Once the race was underway for good, Donahu e led ov er Ra ymond and Tillson at the line at the end of th e first five laps. but the lead was being swapped all over the track and on the eighth lap Raymon d took over for good, opening a sma ll but winning gap. Hart burst on the scene on the ninth lap and finished second, dropping Donahue to third and Tillson to fourth. N a tional Asked if he had butterflies as the field gridded for th e main. pol e-sitter H ale said, " No. I'm gelling used to it. Bu t this is the biggest moment of my first Expert year." Ti tie co nte nders Parker and Carr Tuner Bill Werner (left) and Kenny T olbert (su nglasses on head) work on Scot t Parker's damaged bike. They repaired it in time and Parker went on to win . After 25 furio us miles of flat track racing, G rand National Ch ampion Scott Par ker beat Harley-Davi dso n teammate Chris Carr across the San J ose Mil e finish line.