Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127382
David Durelle (58) holds off Keith Day (22), Mike H ale (32) and Rodney Farris (92) in the secon d heat race; th e qualifier was won by Harley-Davidson's Kevin Ath erton. laps before Springsteen struck bac k and bu m ped the Turlock, Cal ifornia, rider back to third. Wh ile Graha m stretche d out a comfortab le six- bike len g th lead , Ra smu ssen h o un ded Springsteen and repeatedly bumped into th e back of Springs teen 's H arl ey. On lap eig ht , Springsteen and Rasmussen tan gled and went down in tu rn one. The red flag came out and AMA officials called the race at 'the previotis lap 's running order. While that order read Graham , Sp ri ngs teen and Rasmuss en ; Davis and J ones were credited with second and th ird places, respectively, and becau se their crash brought ou t th e r ed flag , Sp ringsteen a nd Ra ssm ussen W sent to a semi- fina l. ere " H ell, we got lucky again,' said Davis, referring to the decision made earlier. "Eddie's go t my bike ru nning real stro ng, and I thi n k we can win it (th e National )." "I was going good in to turn o ne , when all of a sudden this kid (Rasmu ssen ) runs into the back of me," said Sp r in gst een , wh o a p peared a b i t sha ken . " He was ramming me through the wh ole race." Davey Durelle sped off the line in the second heat , but Day dr aft ed past in turn three and began to open up a sma ll lead. Rodney Farris and Hale con trolled th ird and fourth early in the race, but Kevin Ath ert on stormed up from a poor stan and slid past both riders o n lap fOUL Once into third, th e youngest member o f team H arl ey ope ned up h is AI S ta n gler-tuned XR750 and quickly clos ed the gap on Durell e and Day. Atherton drafted past Durell e o n the fro nt straigh t on lap six, and did the sam e to Day one lap later. Ath ert on scored th e win ah ead of Day and Durelle, whi le Farr is and Hal e headed for a semi. Veteran Steve Moreh ead strugg led with the track through ou t the race, and fin ish ed in 12th pl ace, just one spot shy of a seco nd cha nce in a sem i. " I too k my time gelling out fron t," exp la i n ed Atherton . " T h e tr ack 's cha nged a lo t since practice a nd I wanted to get a feel for it before I went for it." " We haven ' t ha d to make ma ny Ca liforn ian Ricky Graham (3) finished fourth, narr owly beating Michigan's Kevin Atherton (23) to the line in th e National. cha nges in the bik e setu p, " sa id Day. " It 's running real good, and it sho uld mak e my job easy." Parker was fastest a t the flash of the green lig ht in the final heat, but Carr sn uc k u nder Parker 's Bill Wernertu ned factory Harley in turn two . N ext to pass Parker was Pegr am, as he drafted pas t in turn three. Pegr am inherited the lead on lap six, but Carr struck back on the foll owing lap a nd retook the point position. After pl aying foll o w-th e-lead er for eight laps, Parker draf ted pas t both riders as they en tered turn three and went on to score th e win. Pegram performed the final draft pass of the race on the last lap, and pa ssed Carr as they ent ered turn th ree. Parker crossed the finish line the winner , just ah ead of Pegram and Carr, wh ile Terry Poovey finished fourth, j us t one position sho rt of a direct trip to the fin al. " I was real leery out there," said Parker. " I had to feel the track o u t for a few laps, irs j ust on the verge of gelling real slippery and dangerous." " I' m p umped up ," said an excited Pegram. " I feel good, real good, real ; rea l good. We'r e go nna be in there," ยท " T he track was totally different," said Carr. " As far as bi ke setup today, it's a guessing game, and I think winning the main is gon na tak e guessin ' right," Ted Taylor scored the win in th e first of two IO-Iap semis, each of wh ich wou ld advance the top four fin ishers to the main event. Sp ringsteen fini shed a cl ose seco nd after battl ing with. Tay lor throughout race , wh ile Mike Inderbitzen, of Mod esto, Cal ifornia, piloted his Harley-Davidson across the line in th ird pl ace. Hale, last year 's Camel Pro Series Roo kie of the Year, bli tzed through th e pack to finis h in the fourt h, a nd fina l tra nsfer position after los ing hi s clu tch o n the lin e and gelling away in last place. Fa rris topped all co mers in the second semi. After tak ing o ver the lead on th e lap two, the Monkton , Maryland , rider went o n to score th e win aboard his Gardner Racing Harl eyDavidson. Aaron H ill gave Farris a run for his mo ney, finishing second, j ust ahead of Steve Raymond. Poovey was ' mired at the start, but charged into fo ur th pl ace a t th e fin ish to earn a tri p to the fina l. 11