Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

to a seventh p lace position in ' 90. Going into his 10th Camel Pro seaso n , the rider who hails from the racing hotbed of Cockeysville, Maryland , a suburb of Baltimore, has yet to live up to early predi ctio ns of greatness. He's been accused of not devoting himself entirely to the task at hand - raci ng - o n more than one occasion a nd he seem s to be continually hopping from one team to th e n ext. Like Ingram , he ' s an alumnus of the Ea ken / Sponselle r team a nd in th e past he's also ridden ma chiner y from th e Edd ie Ad ki ns stabl e. H e ca m pa igned G ardn er Raci ng H arl eys at the end of th e '89 seaso n a nd did so th roughout '90, bu t he came u p pointless a t five of th e 15 Na tionals and for the firs t tim e in three years fai led to taste cha m pagne as o ne of the top th ree finis hers in winner's cir cle, just mi ssin g th e bubbl y by fini sh in g a sea son-high fourth at th e spring San Jose Mi le. H e'll have to p ut on a seaso n- lo ng race face to stay in the ' top 10 in 1991. Given the a mo unt of na tural tal ent he possesses, plus th e co m pe ti tive Billy Weibl er-prepped Gar dner XR7 50 he 'll ride again this seaso n, look for Farris to repeat hi s seventh place finis h. 8. TerryPoovey #18 Age: 32 Hometown: Euless, Texas exa n Terry P oo vey is en teri ng h is 16th season on the GNC circuit. He hasn' t tasted th e winner's champagne since 1985 and on ly his consistency has kept him in the to p 10 the past several yea rs. In 1990, the savvy veteran lo gged four fif th p lace finishes, two at mil e ra ces a nd two at half miles. H e had a brief taste of a weekly paych eck when he rode for Team Honda in 1983, but a fa lling out with team manager Gene Ro mero saw h im lea ve th e tea m . H e was replaced by Bu b ba Shobert, and as they say, the rest is hi story. Poovey has a godfather who backs h is H ondas under the n ame of Marioneaux Raci ng a nd he ha s a brother, for me r racer T ed, who supports him co me hell or high water. He showed everyone last year that age hasn't ero ded his tal ent o n o val tracks - he' s not a threat a t P eoria - and he raced strongl y despite an injured shou lder th ro ug ho u t much o f th e year. But given th e o p positio n he faces , the best he can hope for th is year is to repeat h is 1990 finish . If he ca n stay healthy, he' ll do that - put Poovey down for eigh th . T 9. Kevin Atherton # 3, 2 Age: 20 Hometown: White Pigeon, Michigan ... . T . . h e 1988 AMA Junior National Cha m p ion and 1989 Camel P ro Ser ies R oo kie of the Year had a n up a nd down year in 1990. HeIailed to score points in a n umber of events and missed a few after ta ki n g a beating in a get-off a t the P eo ria T'T, but he ended the year with a runneru p performance behind H a r ley teammate Scott Pa rker at th e Sa cramento Mile. Much is ex pected of the youngs ter and few doubt that he'll de l iver. H e has th e tal ent to perform' at a peak level , and h e certain ly has a n adv a ntage o ver a ll but tw o o ther rid ers in tha t he has a spot o n th e H a r ley factory team . If he ca n put h is act together a t each race he'll move up in th e sta nd ings . We see h im doing th at this year; h e'll fin ish fifth. 10. (Tie) Will D avis #21 Age: 26 Hometown: Goldsboro, North Carolina ..... ill Davis finished the year in exactly the same position h e did the previous seas on, bu t the similarity en ds ther e. In 1989 h e scored his first and on ly National .vic to ry - at th e Lima Half Mile a nd added two other top five finishes to that. The highest he p laced in 1990 was sixth, doing so at th e Daytona Short Track, the spring Sacramento Mi le, and the Indy Mile. The only time th e spotl ight was aimed at Davis was when he claimed Scott Parker's bike at the Alb uque rque Mile. He has a strong group of ba ckers and a topnotch mechanic in former racer Eddie Adk ins. The co mbi nation has the ability to do be tter, bu t we don 't see them overcoming th e formidable opposi tion they fac e m uch better th an they d id last year when Davis ' sco red 26 fewer points than h e logged the previous year. We'll tab Davis for n inth. W 10. (TIE) Tim Mertens #53 Age: 29 Hometown: Belleville, Illinois ast yea r mark ed th e 10th yea r T im Merten s ha s co m p eted in th e Camel Pro Series a n d he cracked th e top 10 for th e first time, esta b lish i n g personal highs of 12 po in t-pay ing fini sh es, seven of those in th e top 10. The H onda-mounted privateer will turn 30 the day after th e sea son-opening Daytona Short Track, one of on ly three even ts at wh ich he fai led to qualify for the main event la st year. H e's a rider you ca n all but be t will be on th e starting grid for the Nationa l final , but rarely enjoys a front row startin g position. That a nd more im po rtant ly the la ck of horsepow er keeps him fro m running up front o n mile ova ls, a lthou g h he did fin ish fifth in the autumn Springfi eld Mil e. H e m ore than know s his wa y around the half mile ova ls, ha ving sco red his ca reer best finish o n o ne, a second at th e Lou isvill e H a lf Mil e in '82. We see an upand-coming r ider keeping th e veteran Mertens out of the to p 10 this year. Top 15? You ca n bet on i t. L That 's how we see th e top 10 rid ers from last yea r doing this season, bu t if you're sharp-eyed, you 've noticed th at we didn't pick any of them fo r l Oth. Why? Well th ere 's th is you ng Texan named Mike Hale who locked up the Camel Pro Seri es Roo kie of th e Year award without a contest. Hale tr aveled th e ci rcui t 'wi th his fath er , Bob , a nd fin ished th e year tied for 13 t h wi t h t wo-tim e G rand Nationa l Cham p io n Ri cky Gra ham , beh i nd th e above li sted top 10 rid er s (actua lly I I because of th e tie for 10th ) a nd a no ther tal en ted youngster, R usty Rogers. The on track and a t-t he-bank high ligh ts of h is year included earn in g $5000 for bei ng the Roo ki e of the Year a nd do u ble th at for winning th e Ca me l Cha lle nge a t the season -en di ng Sacra me n to M i le. Th e form er J u nior Na tio nal Cha m pion got his feet wet in '90, impress i ng many o n th e Camel P ro Series ci rcu i t a nd to hel p strengthen his effort in his so p homore year, he's pi cked u p ba cki ng from Bartels Performance. T he h igh schoo l senior su ffered a brok en left wrist in a p ost- season race in Ital y a n d will carry a tita n iu m plate around th is sea son, but he do esn 't feel th a t will hamper him. There ar e quit e a few knowledg ea ble dirt tra ck folks who feel th ere's a Number One p la te in H al e's future. We see him making hi s m a rk by moving i n to the bottom slot of th e to p 10 this yea r. But we won 't be surprised if he finis hes higher. ' Who els e? Well, do n't ever lea ve o u t two-time Grand National Champion Ri cky Graham. He was and is a rider to co n tend with , particularly on mile ovals. H e suffered a broken arm a t the September San Jose Mi le, but had the entire off -season to recover. Graham took o ver the Skip Eaken/ Mike Sponseller Honda wh en Ingram left the team, and the 32year-old Ca li fornian will return to the tea m as its so le rider th is season. If he can stay healthy all year, he has th e ability and machinery, not to mention yea rs of experience, tha t co u ld ea rn him a top 10 fini sh - a high spot in the top 10. Young Larry Pegram will be on a Skip Eaken-prepped "rent a bike" Honda in mile a nd half mile ra ces this yea r. The Ohio r ider' s sea so n was a ll but over when he was seriousl y injured early i n th e season in a pre-race day pr actice session th at was run on the Sacramento Mil e fo r the benefit of bo th th e press and riders. He came back, many feel prem aturely, toward th e en d of th e season and scored a handful of points at Springfield and Sacramento. H e'll be ligh ter this year, having shed the rod tha t was p laced in hi s femur, but how he 'll perform is anyone's guess. So me say well , o th ers feel th e acc ide n t might have det uned him, while o thers say he's too wi ld on the tr ack. Mike Hale and Pegram were p icked as th e riders wh o would co ntest th e Rookie of th e Year co ntest right down to th e wir e. Because o f Pegram 's accident, that didn't happen . We 'll have to wait and see what kind of comeback Peg ram ca n m uster. He 'll get th at co me back underw ay by rid in g a factory KTM at the Da ytona Sho rt Tra ck . Hi s ea rly season performances wi ll tell the tal e. And then th ere's Ru sty Roger s, The rider from Virginia showed flash es o f brilliance last yea r, but j ust as o ften faded in the heat of the ma i n event battle. J ohnn y Goad will o nce agai n field a Honda RS750 for Rogers and if he ca n perform as well inmain events as he does in qualifying and in hea t races, he ' ll be a th reat for a top 10 finish. There are a lo t of o th er riders who travel back and forth across th e co u ntry, see king fame a n d fortune. But Iewof them .will ever achieve tha t goal. They more often th an not are sent packing prior to ma in even t ti me, a nd if Lad y Luck and Da me Fo rtune sm ile o n th em , the best th ey ca n hop e for is a back o f the pack sp o t at the end of th e final. Among the g ro u p, though , are rid ers wh o can be im p ressive o n any given da y. R id er s li ke Californ ian Keith Da y, who sco red points in every Camel P ro Ser ies mile race la st yea r with a hi gh fin ish of seventh a t the fall Spri ngfield Mil e, a nd David Durell e from Minneso ta, who took p art in nine main eve n ts in '90 wi th a seasonh igh seven th place fin ish a t the Lo uisvi lle H alf Mil e. We'll have to wait a nd see how last year 's top-ran ked Junior rid ers handle th e transfer to th e Expert ranks. L eading the class last year was Brian Tillson, who won the ti tle by ea rning points in all II rounds of th e Na tional Ch ampi on ; sh ip J u n ior Dirt Track Series. Tillson o n ly won onc e, a t the Albuquerque Mil e, but he logged four runner -up finish es. T he New Englander will make his Camel Pro Series debut at Daytona. Tillson's closest ch all enger for th e Junior title in 1990 was Steve Rasmussen , w ho like Tillson scored one win , but Rasmu ssen isn 't among the pre-entrants for th e Da ytona Sh ort Track round of the Camel Pro Series. Two -time Junior Nat iona l win n er J ason Fletcher finished third in th e points chase, hi s wins coming at th e H ambu rg and H agerstown Half Mile rounds. H e'll leap into the Camel P ro fray at Daytona aboa rd an Ed monds Racing Harley. Last year 's yellow pl ate rid ers will find that ou t when th ey mix it u p w ith th e white pl ate ve te ra n s. They'll have their wor k cu t o ut for them. The Camel Pro Series gets the green light in th e Daytona Sh ort Track at the bea ch cit y's Mu n icipal Stadium o n Saturday ni ght, Mar ch 9. The previous ni ght, most of th e . riders we mentioned will ta ke part in a 600cc Na tional. Scott Parker won the 600cc Nat ional last year, bu t Dan Ingram ca me up th e winner of th e Camel Pro race. H e was fo llowed across the fin ish lin e by runner-up Chris Carr and Canadian Steve Aseltine, who finished third. Those three shut the winner 's circle door on two of the handful of rid ers who have achieved greatness - Jay Springsteen and Scott Parker. The two champion ride rs from Mich igan have scor ed a total o f 77 Na tional victories between th em ! Parker, who won seven Na tionals last year - 10 th e year before, needs but three victories to tie Springsteen for the most career victo ries, 40. Is there anyone who'd bet agains t th at happening? O r th a t Park er wo n' t pass The Legend, Springsteen, o n the all-time win list. It'll no doubt be a record-setting year th a t you can foll ow through our " we were there so you co uld be there" covera ge. Sta y tuned to see how o ur predicI:N tio ns held up. 23

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