Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRACK AMA Grand National Championship_Ca_m_el_Pr_oS_er_ies_:_ou nd 2_ -'-R_ _ _ ~. After 25 laps, Chris Carr (20), ~ onnie Jones (16) an d Grand National Champ ion Scott Park er (1) cr ossed the finis h line in th is or der, on ly inches apart. Carr perfectat Sacramento Mile By Do n n Maeda P h o tos by Mitch Fr ied man "T SACRAMENTO, CA, APR, 6 hi s is the year," said T eam Harle y-Davidso n' s C h ris Car r. Al th ou g h a smile adorn ed h is face as he spoke, the 23year-old showed tha t he has never been more serious as he top ped the Sacra mento Mi le at th e Ca l-Expo Sta te Fairgrounds. After fin ishi ng the last two seaso ns as runner- up to teammate Scott Par ker, wi th the most 'recent bein g " heartbreak ingly" clos e, Carr hopes tha t hi s seventh year on the Ca mel Pro circuit will reward hi m with the coveted number o ne plate. T he 14,600 specta tors were kept on the edges of their sea ts, as the top three positions were decided on the last lap of the fin al. Carr, Ronn ie Jones and .Parker ran within inc hes of each ot her through out the closi ng laps of the final. _ San dw iched between T eam HarleyDavidson 's Carr and Parker was J ones, abo a rd th e Garv is Honda. Jon es drafted Parker as they exi ted turn four for the fin al tim e and barely edged the three-time cha mp at the fin ish line. " H ey, somebody 's go ua keep those dam n Harley g uys in line," said the O kla homan . Carr rode flawlessly th rougho ut the evening's program , winning every race in whic h he competed, and tiei ng Daytona seaso n opener wi nner Jones for the po int sta ndings lead af ter two rou nds of the 17-ra ce series. Bot h riders have 36 poi nts, wh ile veteran Steve Morehea d, sixth on the nigh t, foll ows wit h 22 points . Carr clea ned up at the pay window, co llecting $4460 from the $33,000 pu rse, .$10,000 for winnin g the Camel Challe nge, $5000 in Harl ey-Davidso n bon us money, p lusaddition al cont in- , gency prizes. T he Sacra mento Mile marked the first time that a new stream lined race forma t was followed , in wh ich th e 42 fastest riders in tim e trial s qual ify for o ne of th ree 10-lap hea t races; th ree rid ers advance directl y from each heat, and the fourt h th rough 11th finis hers go o n to o ne of two 10-lap semi -fina ls. Each semi offers fo ur transfer positions, and th ere is no longer a Las t Chance Q uali fier race. Tim e T ri a ls Carr got the ball rolling by postin g th e even ing's fastest qua lifying tim e o f 37.0 12 seconds for an average speed of 97.266 mph, besting the track record of 37.020/97.245 m ph set by Par ker in 1988. Parker was close beh ind wit h a 37.048 lap , whi le Larr y Pegram surprised man y by scoring the evening's thi rd -fas test time of 37.078. Kevin Atherto n, Ri cky Graham and Keith Day ro unded out the top six fastest qual ifiers that wou ld fill the Cam el Ch allenge field. " It 's alwa ys nice to have your name next to a track record," said Carr. " But th ere are more important .th ings, li ke winn ing the main event." H eats Carr holesh ot the first heat fro m the o utsi de and led Ru sty Rogers, Day and Steve Rasmussen thro ug h turn o ne. Carr began to establish an immediate lead , and would not be cha llenged throug ho ut the to-lap race. After ' a lackluster start, Davey Durelle repeatedly used the back straig h t to dr aft past his competitors and into second place wher e he would fin ish ap proximately to bike-len gths behind winn er Ca rr. Day held o nt o the th ird, an d last direct tra nsfer posi tio n . " I lost third gear righ t after the finis h ," said Carr, as he wa tched his tuner, Kenn y Tolbert work o n hi s factory Harl ey. " 1 was doing a plug check as I came off the track and it ju st went. Good thi ng it happen ed then, inst ead of in the fin al. " Missin g the transfer spo ts were the likes of Ru sty Rogers, first-year Expert St eve Rasmussen , diminutive Ted Taylor and Cam el Pro Roo kie of th e Year Mike Hale, wh o fin ished in the 4-5-6-7 spots. Morehead was fastest off the line in the second heat, but lost the lead to T erry Poovey as they entered turn three. Next to displace the "Findlay Flyer" . was Ricky Graham. Wh ile the three front -ru nners traded the lead back and forth, Parker was recoverin g from a poo r start and began to close in. He dropped Mor eh ead o ut of the last transfer spo t as he took over third. As the lead trio exited turn four for the final time, Grah am led Poo vey and Parker in the dash for the checkered flag. Poovey tucked in behind Graham and drafted past for the win as they crossed the fin ish line. Parker finished third. "T here 's some pretty bad bumps co ming ou t of two," said Poovey, who for the first time in five years was aboa rd a H arley-Davi dson in Grand Nation al Championship Series competition. " Things are looking good, now if my sho ulder would just stay pu t . . . " Poovey suffered a dislocate d sho ulder early in the season last year and wore a brace for the rema in der of the season. "T his is th e fir st good ride (sponsorsh ip) I'v e had in a whil e," said Grah am , referrin g to hi s Eak en Sponseller H onda rid e that he picked up late last seaso n. " I hurt my hand earl ier in the week in a practice crash, th en h urt it aga in while I was walking my dog, but I feel prett y good tonight." " I slipped o ff the g roove and thought 'Oh no, I' ll never catch up l', , bu t I was able to get back up into th ird ," said Parker. " Bill and I are still getting a feel for the bike." Faci ng a semi after the checkere d flag waved on th e second heat were veteran s Morehead , Will Davis and Rodney Farris, who finished 4-5-6. Teenager Pegram had the q uickest reflexes amo ng those in th e fina l heat race, while veterans J ones, J ay Springsteen and Will Herndon followed hi m in to turn one at the start. Atherton started poorl y, but quickly reeled in the front-ru nners and slid into third. J ones an d Pegram trad ed the lead

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