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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127382
eDIRT TRACK AMA G National Cham ionshi /C rand amelPro Series: Round 4 ~ - ~ Jay Springsteen (9) and Steve Rasmussen (45Y) collided and crashed in the second heat race shortly after this photo was taken. Will Davis (21) trails the pair. When he was th rough screa ming, the 30-yea r-o ld ride r from N orth Carolina tha nke d hi s sponsors: Mother Flet che rs, Circle Bell , Z Galleries, North Caro li na H arl ey-D avid so n Dealers Association, Zoom , KK Mo tor cycle Supply, Bell an d th e California V-Twins, and tu ner Eddie Adkins. Ronnie Jones didn't race after crashing on the National wann-up lap. Will Davis (center) won his first-ever Camel Challenge, beating Keith Day (left) an d Larry Pegram (right, partially hidden by announ cer Bill Spencer). 12 Graham was fastest off the line in the five-lap Camel Challenge, and led Davis, Day, Pegram and Herndon into : turn one. Hale, who qualified fifth fastest , fail ed to make the start of the race as th e Bartels' Harley-Davidson pit crew raced to install a new clutch in his bike in time for th e main event. Graham led for three la ps, but on . . the fourth circuit Pegram and Day drafted past on the back straight, As the pack rounded the track for the last ti me , Davis came alive an d drafted in to the lead into turn three. Davis went on to score the win ahead of Day, wh o sn uck pa st Pegram a t th e checkered flag. Just inches beh ind Pegram was Graham in fourth , whil e Herndon cros sed the finish line a distant fifth. " Yeah!l" screamed Davis, as he lifted th e $10,000 repl ica check above his head . " I' ve busted my bu tt, and I finall y won th is th i n g l I ca n' t remember much of it, bu t it was great!" National As the field ro unded th e track for their warm-up lap prior to the final , Day and J ones both lost contro l and cras hed in turn one. Day go t u p un scathed , while J ones was not as fort una te. J on es injured hi s left hand , rippin g th e fin gernail off hi s ring finger and smas h ing h is little fin ger. " I do n't kn ow wh at happen ed," said Day. " All of a sudde n ; I was o n th e ground." " I wasn 't even goi ng fast," sai d Jones as he wince d in pain . "A ll of a sudden I lost both wh eels, I do n' t have a cl ue why." After having hi s hand bandag ed, J ones decided to sit out th e main after inspecting hi s bike. . " I can' t figure o ut wh y I cras hed, and I don't wan na go out there if I'm not IOO-perce nt, " said a disappointed J ones, wh o was second in the po int sta nd i ngs goi ng into Sa n J o se. "There's always next week , tho ug h, it's a long season." To the dismay of the crowd, another break was ordered for one more watering of the track sessio n befor e the start of the main. While the water truck circled th e trac k, Pegram sa t o n the sidelines watc hi ng as his pit crew struggled to replace a damaged rear brake line. " I don't kn ow when it happened," said an an xio u s Pegra m. " Maybe during the cha lle nge, I didn 't have an y brakes on the parade lap." Davis sat on the inside po le pos ition at the start of the main, accompa nied on the front row by Day , G raham , Athert on and Parker. Durelle, Spring. steen, Farris, Taylor and Carr composed row two, while Poo vey, Hale, Raymo nd and Hill made up row three. Pegram was forced to start o n the pen alty li ne after his mechanics failed to repair h is faulty brakes. Graham led the Roll in g Thunder Show off the line at the sta rt of the final , with Park er, Carr and Ath erton in tow. The four riders proceeded to p ull away from the second group of riders, whi ch included Day, T aylor and Farris. While Graham , Carr and Ath erton traded the lead numerous times, Parker seemed co n tent to hang back in fou rth. It wasn 't until lap 12 of the 25-!ap final that Parker charged to the front , but even then the lead cont inued to change with each lap. Parker, Ather- to n, Carr and Graham eac h took thei tu rn s dra ftin g int o t he p o i n positi on. Meanwhile, Day began to close th ga p on th e leaders, and found himsel in th e middl e of things. Day displace Graham and Atherton on lap 21, an mo tored into third beh ind Carr an Parker. As the field ro unded the track fa the last time, Parker tra iled Carr as the exi ted turn four. As is commo n on th long mi le tracks, Parker scooted i behind Carr and draft ed past just a they crossed th e fini sh lin e. Parker gal the-nod over Carr, whi le Day greete the checkered flag in third. Graha and Ath ert on sped across the lin e i fourt h and fifth, respectivel y, " It was a clo se one, " said Parker "Since I' ve won thi s race before, l knew I cou ld win it aga in , and I did. W were so close coming o u t of four, I j us held o n and hoped fo r the best." " Did you get a ph oto of that ?" aske Carr, who seemed to question hi a n no u nced finis h ing po siti on . " kn ew it was gonna be either me a Scotty wh en we were coming out a .four. I wanted to break away when was leading, but it was too sli ppery." "Th is is great," sa id Da y, wh seemed quite pl eased with his perfor .man ce. "T his is the best I' ve done. Th day went grea t. Now all I' ve goua d is keep it up ." " In the who le race, the wor st I eve ran was where I fin ished ," said disappointed Graham . ' I was eith first , second or th ird for the wh ole race and I ended up fourth ." " T h ey got me," sai d Athert on. " Once Day and Grah am go t by me thoug h t 'Uh , o h.' T hose Hondas see to h oo k u p . rea l good down th straights ." . After dicing wi th Durell e for the majority of the race , Farris crossed th finish li ne in six th p lace. " We do ne good," said Farris . " We could 've done better, but sixth pay: good, and it 's better than seventh." Durelle nursed an injured shoulde across the fini sh line in seventh pla ce. " I crashed in the 600 (Natio na l Champions hip TT) races yesterday,' sai d Durelle. " I di slocated my shou lde and bruised up my leg, and I wa strugg ling o u t there." Hale started the ma in with a fres clutch, but in the early laps, began t experi ence problems. " I couldn't dowrishift, th ere was n clutch ," said Hale. " I did OK considering. I'm bummed that I missed th Camel Challenge, but it's the main that counts." Pegram storm ed through the pac after being put on the pena lty line a th e start, and crossed the finish lin in ninth pla ce.