Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

numero us times, as each rider wou Id draft past the ot he r o n th e lon g stra ig hts . On th e whi te £la g lap, Ath erton cha rged past a sur p rised Pegra m as they entered turn three, a nd set o ut after Jones. Ath erto n pu lled alo ngside J on es, bu t came u p just inches short a t the finish lin e as J ones scor ed the win. Pegra m grabbed the last tra nsfe r spot wi th h is thi rd pl ace fini sh , leavin g fourth pl ace fin isher, three-tim e Grand Nat ion al Ch ampion Springsteen, to face a semi . "I've go ua make so me suspe ns io n cha nges for the fin al ," said winner J ones. "T he re's a big whoop-de-do coming ou t of two, a nd it mu st th ro w your rear end abo ut six in ches in the ai r. It 's pr ett y rough ." " I 'm hav ing a lillie trouble hooking up o u t of four," said Ath ert on. " We're gonna mak e so me cha nges fo r the main. " " Everything was go ing grea t until I sta rted thinking ! I figured I'd stay behind Ronnie on the back straigh t a nd draft past him o ut of four, " sa id Pegr am. "The n all o f a sudde n Ath erton went by. I'm p um ped u p , th ou gh, tha t wasn ' t a n easy q ua lifier. " Mar ylander Rodney Farris, aboard the Gardner Harl ey, passed Virgin ian Ru sty Rogers, who was aboard the J ohnn y Goad Honda, late in the first sem i a nd held on for the win. T exan Herndon crossed the fin ish lin e third, just .a head of Moreh ead , wh o was struggling with his bik e a nd had 10 settl e for fourth, the last tra ns fer spot. "M y tuner, Hank Sco u, co uld n' t mak e i t ton ight," sai d Moreh ead. "T his is a brand new fra me, a nd I can 't figu re o ut how 10 adjus t it for this track." Da vis, on the Edd ie Atki ns Harl ey, led the way in the second semi, a nd was foll owed across the fin ish line by a ha rd-ch a rg ing Springstee n , back agai n th is year on the Ba rtels' XR 750. Don Estep a nd Bo b by McD o well earned the last two po sit ions in the fin al. Camel Challenge When th e day's six fastest qualifier s lined up for a cha nce to grab the lion's share of the $17,500 bein g pos ted by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co m pa ny in the Ca me l Cha llenge, it was Pa rker who left the lin e th e fastest. Park er 's lead was short- lived, ho wever, as Carr a nd Da y draft ed pas t him o n the back straigh taway. Day went o n to hound Carr, but slipped orr the groove on la p three a nd dro p ped to last. Parker too k over the second posi tio n but co u ld do lillie 10 reel in Carr, who had opened up a com mandi ng lead . Graham he ld o rr the cha rges o f Ath ert o n to fin ish in th ird beh i nd winn er Carr a nd Park er. Carr cro ssed the finish lin e 10 bik e-len gt hs a head o f Pa r ker a nd collected a check for $ 10,000 for his five-lap effort. " I feel really good, a nd I can't wait for. the main even t!" exclaimed Carr . "Tonig ht's the night." Junior National Wink Freit as did hi s best 10 foll ow the exa m p le set by Carr, as he powered ' his self-sponsored Woods-Rotax to the win in th e Ill-lap Junior fin al. Freitas grabbed the lead ea rly in the first six-lap qualifier, a nd fended orr the cha rges of James Hart and Steve Mayfield. J eff Annen topped J ohn Simonsen in the battle fo r the fourth and last transfer posi tion. Heat race number two was won by Tony Don ahue, a boa rd th e Donahue H a rl ey-D avid son-b ack ed H arl e y. Ch asing Don ahue across th e fin ish line were Paul Polhemus jr., Cory Perreault, and Dal e J enneman, on ly inches apar t. ...... ...... ..... 0.. -< Larry Pegram (72) led Ronnie Jones (16) and Jay Springsteen (9) in the third heat race. Pegram finished fourth in the final. Sow le Racers-backed Allo n McBee to pped J eff Eklund, nephew of 1979 Nationa l Champion Steve Ek lund, in the third and final Junior heat race. Michael Dill on and Bart Scmu lba ch finis hed th ird and fourt h, respect ively. The 12-lap .J unior fina l was restarted aft er Ek lund went dow n ha rd whi le exiting turn four on la p th ree. Eklu nd laid on the track for a few minutes, and retir ed for the evening wi th a suspected brok en co lla rbo ne. Californian Freitas and Minnesotan Don ah ue traded the lead throug hout th e l O -lap restart , but it' was Frei tas who was in the lead position as they g reeted the checkered £lag. Po lh em us fini shed a close th ird , whi le McBee follow ed in fourth place. National T he 17-rider National field lined u p with fast qualifier Carr occu pyi ng th e o u tside (gra ndstand ) po le pos ition, joined on the front row by J ones, Poo vey, Durelle. Atherton, a nd G raham. The second row was co m posed of Day , Pegram, Parker, Da vis, Roger s, a nd Farris, while Springsteen , Hern don, Estep, More head, and McDow ell made up row three, At th e £lash of the green light , Poo vey grabbed the lead, followed by Jones and Carr. Athe rton was slow o rr the lin e bu t by la p two had worked into third behi nd J ones a nd Carr. Poo vey slipped back to fourth , whe re he stayed for five laps befor e fin ish ing an event ua l eigh th. Meanwhile. Atherton was on the gas a nd draft ed past both Carr a nd J on es on th e back stra ig ht on lap four. Once into th e po int position, Atherton turned up the wick and p ulled o u t a five-bik e len gth lead over J on es a nd Carr, wh o traded positions repeatedl y. en Parker had be buried in th e pa ck at th e start , bu t by lap five of the 25-lap race he had moved in to a di stant fou rth. Beh ind Parker, Pegram a nd Graham .waited for a n o pport uni ty to pass th e defending cha m pion. T hey got tha t cha nce o n la p eig h t, when Pa rker slid o rr th e groove in lUTIl three and lost his d rive. Up front, Atherton began to slow Kevin Atherton led the main event until he slowed with a blistered rear tire . wi th a bli stering rear tir e, a nd was passe d by J on es a nd Carr o n lap 14. Parker worked pa st Graham, Pegram a nd the fad in g Athert on a nd was inches behind the two front-runners a t th e start of lap 18. Parker ass umed th e lead o n the 22nd lap a nd led Carr a nd J ones until the white £lag la p. Going do wn the back straig h t fo r the last time, Carr drafted past Parker a nd went on to clai m th e win . J ones was the next 10 stri ke, as he tucked in behind Pa rker as they exi led tu rn four and sq ueaked pa st just before the fin ish lin e. Carr, J on es and Parker flew past the checker s o n ly in ch es a part. " No com p laints whatsoever !" said Carr. "I'm tied wi th J on es for th e points lead , a nd we're go n na try 10 keep this mom entum go ing for the rest of the seaso n." Carr's win n ing tim e was 15 minutes, 38.658 seconds, more than I0 seconds o rr th e race record (15:25.690 set by Pa rker in 1985.) " Second 's not bad ," said Jones , wh o has never wo n a m ile Na tion al. " Bu t beat in g Scouy a t a mi le is the real acco m plishment . 1£ we ca n beat him , we can bea t anybody ." "They got a good jump right orr the bat, whi le I spent the who le race

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