Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRACK e AM! Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round I Ste ve Aselt ine (36) crashed on the first lap of the final as Steve Morehead (42), Chris Carr (20), Dan Ingram (31), Jay Springsteen (9) and Ronnie J ones (16) ska ted by. Ronnie J on es (16) took the lead just past the halfway mark of the fina l and led ru nner-u p Chris Carr (20) acr oss the finish line at Municipal Stadium. J ta esseries op er ones k en By Henny Ray Abrams 18 DAn ONA BEACH, FL MAR 9. " W hen you ge t down on a real sli p pe ry tr ack a nd Ronn ie J o nes ca n make it work on th e bouorn, nob od y's go ing to beat h im, " said H arley-Davidson teamster Chris Carr afte r fi nishing second to th e Garvis Honda / Mo torcycle Stuff/ Missile Engineering-backed Ron n ie J on es in th e open ing race o f th e 1991 Camel Pro Seri es a t Dayto na Beach 's Municipal Stadium Saturday ni gh t. J o nes, the Oklahoman with 10- career lifetime wins o n th e Daytona short tracks, wasn 't th e fastest rider most o f th e cool and damp ni ght, but hi s years o f expe rience told him that eventually th e tra ck would chan ge a nd whe n it did , he'd be read y. " I reall y figured the guys wou ld ride h igh early ," J on es said. I had th e fifth fastest (o f six ) heats. I figured th ey'd pu sh th e cushion up to th e ba les a nd have to come do wn to me. I kn ew th e " track wou ld co me to us." Pati en ce was the key. Jones got a n avera ge start, somethi ng th a t' s hard to ov erco me on the grooved cru she d lim eston e track, and was fifth after th e first lap. Gradually, he worked his wa y up, pa ssing Carr just pa st the halfway ma rk th en pulling away before a near capaci ty crowd. The Municipal Stadium holds 10.000. For winning the 25-lap National, Jones earn ed $4135 o f the even ing' s $47.500 purse, with runner-up Carr ta ki ng $2745 a nd third-place finisher Steve Moreh ead , on th e T a ylor White/ Sheperd Ch emical Co.lKK Mot orcycle Supply H arley-Davidson, pocketi ng $1785. But th e big mon ey-winner o f th e ni ght was Camel Challenge winner Steve Aselti ne. The No b Hill Body Sho p / Mo mllDeeley H -D-backed Canadian led all five la ps to pi ck up the .$ 10,000 win ne r's chec k. Second p lace netted Carr an ad ditiona l .$2500 with .$2000 goi ng to third p laced Ri cky Graham in hi s first ri de on th e Ea kenSponsell er/ Arai H ondal in e H on da . Ian Segedy finished fourth on th e Stark County HOG/ Canton Cycle/ Street & T rai l Harley a nd J ay Sp ri ngsteen fift h o n the Bart els' H arley. Camel Pro Cha mpion Scott Parker began th e defen se of hi s title, and th e quest for a record-tyin g fourth champ ion sh ip in a row, with di sappointment. Wh ile running seco nd to teamm at e Carr in the seco nd heat, he suffered a blown engine, coasting into the pits and unabl e to advance further. " I was going down the front stretch and heard a lo t of grindi ng. T he thing just b lew ," t he th ree-tim e G rand National Cha mpio n said. "This is just like '89 when we didn 't get any points here , but 1 went on to win 10 races. Sure it's "a disappointment but there are 16 other races a nd we're getti ng ready for Sacramento." Pa rk er may have discovered his problem earlier, but a lack o f practice caused by ra in ea rlier in the day and th e previous night, delayed p ractice until after 7:00 p.m. It was scheduled to start a t 3:00 p.rn. , but extensive track work had to be do ne. T he first heat, sched u led for 8:00 p .m ., was ru n at 9:10 p. m . As it turned ou t, i t was well worth th e wait with traction every where, dep en ding on your setup a nd a consta ntly cha nging surface. T he riders kn ew tha t a nd took adva ntage of it wi th nearly half o f the 68 en tri es waving o ff on th eir first qualifying a ttem pt. Among those waving o ff was Garth Brow. Bu t on his second try, lat e in q ua lifying , he bl istered th e track wit h a 19.731 second lap , th e on ly rider in the 19s and nea rly half a second faster than Carr. Brow, who recent ly married a nd moved to Florida, was riding Sp ri ngsteen 's p lay bike wi th th e two sp li tti ng all wi n nings 50/50. T he fast time earned Brow th e pole position for the fir st heat and he made

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