Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ; DIRT IRACK AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 4 Grand National Champion Scott Parker (I) edged teammate Chris Carr (20) and Keith Day (22) to win the San Jose Mile in an ultra-close fin ish. Parker nips Carr at San ose Mile By Donn Maeda P h otos by Mitch Freid m an and All en Denn iso n 10 SAN JOSE, CA, ~L4,. Y1 9 , , }. ust because you won the last time you were here, doesn 't mea n you 're go n na win every time fro m here on ou t," said Scott , Parker, j us t before the San J ose Mile m ain even t. " I' m feeI in ' good , confidence-wise, but sooner or la ter sorneo ne's gotta beat you." Perh aps the words Parker spo ke were true , but not o n th is particular day. After feeling o ut the track for mos t of th e fina l, th e defendi ng Grand National Cham pion bl itzed past the leaders and went on to score a record fift h stra ig ht Sa n J ose Mile victory . Finis hi ng just inches beh ind Pa rker, was hi s Harl ey-Davidson teamma te Chris Carr, while Honda rider Keith Day, who hails from near by Sal inas, California, to ok th ird j ust in ches behind Carr. Pa rker' s win earne d him $6120 of th e $40,000 purse, and bumped him up into seco nd pl ace in th e series point sta ndings, just .njne po ints behind Carr. " Well, I'm happy that we still have the points lead," said Carr, who won $4080 for hi s second p lace finis h. " Bu t Parker's only nine points behind, and th a t' s no t some th ing to be happy about. " . Day earne d $3060 for his th ird pl ace fini sh , h is career best at a National, whi le Ronnie J ones slip pe d from second to third in the point standings after failing to com pete in the final. After crashing on th e warm-up lap and injuring hi s hand, J on es elected to wa tch from the side li nes. An esti m a ted 11,000 spectators booe d throug ho ut the day 's program, th e boos prompted by delays tha t ca used th e program to run ho u rs behi nd sche du le. Man y rid ers lost control and cras hed on the track th at required numerou s ap plica tions o f water and wheel-packing . Track preparer H arold Murrell elected to use a new che mical to hold the mo isture in the course, whic h unexpectedly left a sli ppery residue on the track's sur face as it dr ied. " It' s like glass ou t th ere," said Carr after hi s hea t race. " It 's really dangerous , guys were getting sideways o n the straig hts." Due to lack of daylight, the Junior Nat io na l was postponed until Sep temb er, when the series returns to th e Sa nta Clara Co unty Fairgrounds. Alla n McBee, Cory Perreault, J ames Hart, Paul Pol hemus Jr. and Kevin Bricker topped the five Junior heats that were run befor e the decision to postpone the final was made. Junior National points leader Win k Freitas fell victim to the sli ppery track in his hea t race, and was transported to the San J ose Medical Clinic after being treat ed for what appeared to be a broken neck at th e track. As of pres sti rne- on Monday, Freitas was listed in serio us bu t stable condition. A CAT scan was nega tive and he su ffered no broken bon es or in tern al injuries. H e will be kept under observa tio n for at least 48 hours. Whi le many riders struggled with the changing track condi tions , Will Davis went o ut to score the day's fastest q ua lifying time of 37.347 seconds at 96.393 mil es per hour aboa rd his Eddi e Adkin s-tuned Har ley-Davidson. His time/spee d was' well off the track record lap of 36.076/ 99.789 whi ch was turned in by Parker in May of last year. In q ua lifying fastest, Davis earned the pol e pos itio n in the $17,500 Camel Challenge , a five-lap das h that pi ts th e day's six fastest qualifiers against one another. " We go t lucky, th at 's for sure,". said Davis. "Everyth ing's clickin g, and th is is th e best cha nce we' ve ever got to win the Camel Ch all enge. I' m read y to do it' " The " best cha nce" paid 0 [£ as Davis wo n the Cam el Cha llenge, earning $10,000 for the win. Day posted the second fastest qualifying lap a t 37.366/96.344 aboa rd h is Harry Lilly and Tim T orcius-tu ned H onda RS750, j us t ahead of Bill y Herndon's 37.658/ 95.599 and La rry .Pegram, who tu rned in a 37.736/95.399 lap. 1990 Camel Pro Roo kie of the Year Mike Hale rod e his Bart els' HarleyDavidson aro und the track fifth fastest, posting a ' 37.779/ 95.291, while two tim e Grand National Champion Ri cky Graham ro u nded o u t th e to p six abo ard hi s Eaken -Sponseller H onda with a 37.853/ 95. 104. Graha m, wh o according to EakenSpo nseller Ra cing's Mike Sponseller missed the previous weeken d's Pomo na H alf Mile du e to bein g arrested and c ha rged with dri vin g under the influence, den ied that he was arrested. " I did not get a DUI," Graham said. " I had been drinking and I pulled off th e road to rest. T he po lice pulled up an d even though I wasn 't driving, they impounded my van. I told them I was not dri ving and they said they wanted to ma ke sure I wouldn 't. I got my van ba ck Saturday morning, bu t aft er everyth ing that happened , I couldn 't handle going to th e race. I had a .lo t on my mind. I sat down and talked wi th Skip (tuner Eaken ) and we're gonna go racing. I' ve gotten a lot off my shoulders du ring the week. I've strai g h ten ed things o ut with my fam ily, and everyth ing looks good. You can 't forget the past, but you have ' to look ahead." U n fo rt u na tely, a fte r Eaken an d Graham had sorted things o ut on Wednesda y, Eaken su ffered a mild heart a ttack and is hospitalized at Salinas Valley Memorial H ospital. " I want to stress that my conversation with R icky had nothing to do with my heart attack," said Ea ken from the hosp ital. " I had a ' high cholesterol count. I don' t feel too bad and they migh t let me out today (Mo nd ay, May 20) and I hope to be at Springfield (for the Camel Pro Series race on Sunday, May 26)." Graham go t the jump on th e pack in the firs t ofthree 1O-lap, 14rider heats that wo uld advance th e top three finishers di rectly to the mai n event, while the fourth th rough II th place ride rs would adva nce to a semi-final race. Beh ind Graham, Springs teen and Jones traded positions several times before being draft passed by rookie Expert Steve Ras mussen. Ras mussen held the runner-up position for three ,

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