Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRACK e AMA Grand National Championship_ _el_Pr-'--o_Sen_'es_:R_o_un_d5 /C_am Ricky Graham (3) led Ronnie Jones (16), Scott Parker (1), Kevin Atherton (23) and the rest of the field at the start of the final. Graham (3) and Chris Carr (20) argued over the lead throughout the final. Graham storms back atSpringfield Mile By Donn Maeda Photos by Bert Shepard and Maeda "E 4 SPRINCflELD, IL, MAY 26 verybody count s me out, " said form er Grand Nation al Ch ampion Ricky Graham , whose last National victory came in 1986 a t th e Indianapolis Mile, before the Springfield Mile. "T hey say, 'Oh, Grah am wi ll n ever win a no the r Na tio na l.' But mark my wor ds, I'm go n na win o ne soo n ." Graham backed up hi s word s by edgi ng Team Harley-Davidson 's Scott Parker at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in front of nearly 14,000 specta tors. Gr ah am 's wi n marked the firs t time that a Natio nal mile was won by a non - T eam H arley-Davidso n rider since H onda-mounted Dan In gr am won the Syracu se Mile in 1988. In the 18 Mile Nat ion als run prior to Su n day's Springfiel d race, Parker had won 16, while Ca rr to pped two. Besid es ending a five-year dry spell for th e two-time G rand Na tio na l Champion , Gr aham 's win moved him ahead of Parker for the most career wins at Springfield. Enteri ng the event, Parker and Graham boas ted six win s eac h, with Parker's last five coming in consecutive races. Graham 's win cam e under cloudy skies, as ra in delayed the event for over fo ur hours between the hea t races and the semi-fina ls. Trai ling Gr ah am and Parker across the finish line was Chris Carr. With his third place fin ish , Team HarleyDavi dson 's Ca rr maintains the series points lead wi th 75 points, but teammate Parker is close beh ind with 69 po ints. Graham's win vaulted him into fourth with 48 points, only two points behind Ronnie Jones, who finis hed fifth at Sp ri ngfield. Grah am's win earne d h im $5760 of the $40,000 purse, wh ile Par ker went hom e $3840 ric her, and Carr poc keted $2880. Wh en th e 57 Experts took to the track for tim e trials, Parker ro unded the track fastest with a time of 35.657 seco nds , at 100.962 mil es per ho ur, far off Gr aham's 34.548/ 104.203 record set in 1984. Graha m was close beh ind at 35.679 / 100.899, whil e third fastest q ua lifier Kevin Ath erton, the th ird member of th e H arley-Davidson factory team, was th e last rider to break un der 35-seco nds with a 35.8 14/ 100.519 lap lo gged o n tim er Gil Dosmegan 's clocks. For the second week in a ro w, 1990 Roo kie of th e Year Mike Hal e qualified for the five-lap $17,500 Camel Chall enge race tha t fields the day 's six fa stest qu alifi er s. Bartels' Performan ce-backed Hale posted the fourth fastes t lap at 36.025/ 99.931, ahead of Don ahue H arl ey-Davidson rider Davey Du relle, wh o turn ed in a 36.039/ 99.892 for fifth fastest. Carr rounded o ut the top six fastest qualifiers, posting a 36.011/99.803, to grab th e last slo t in the Camel Ch allenge. " I felt great o u t there," said Parker. " We've go t the bike really dial ed in ; we didn 't have to make any real drastic cha nges to th e bike. I' m real confident abo ut making som e history today." T he hi story Parker was referr ing to was wi nn ing h is 40th Na tiona l which wo u ld ha ve q ualified him with alltime win leader J ay Springsteen. " I haven 't felt this good since I rode for Team H onda," said Graham. " I feel tota lly at ho me o ut there, and I was real close to Park er." H ea ts T erry Poovey blasted o££ the lin e in the first of th ree 10-lap heat races, and _ led Parker, Larry Pegram and Carr int o turn on e. Poovey led for the first three laps, bu t Carr and Parker drafted past, and took turn s at the point po sition ' for the nex t five laps. Poo vey struck back and led on lap seven, but was forced to settle for third at the finish , in ches behind Carr and Parker after Parker led coming o ut of turn four on the final lap, only to see Carr pull off a pi cture- perfect draft pass at th e fin ish lin e to sco re the win. Carr, Parker and Poovey transferred directl y to the ma in even t, while the fourth through ninth place fini shers headed for a semi. " It was real close," said Carr. "Scotty tried to break away , but I got a real good drive and was able to get him at the line, We blistered a tire pretty bad, but I guess that's the problem with running tires that are 18 year s old in design." " Ch ri s rode real strong, " said Parker. "The track is shaping up pretty good, and I'm co unting on being up front in the final. " " I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time" said Poovey, who seemed pleased with third place. "I felt good, though, the best I've felt all year. I was running with the two point leaders, so I must've been going OK." Steve Morehead was the fastest o££ the line in the second heat, but Durelle took over the point position before the completion of the first lap: Jay Springsteen and Graham forced their way in to second and third, respectively, t while Mor ehead faded to an event ua l fifth · pl ace. Springsteen stormed into the lead o n lap four , but event ually succum bed to the char ges of Durelle and Graham. Dan Ingram blitzed through the field after start ing on the second row, and stole third from Springsteen o n lap eig ht . Up fron t, Du rell e a n d Graham repeatedl y tra ded the lead, bu t it was Grah am wh o performed th e fin al draft .pass and greeted the checkered £lag in first place. Du relle finished second, wh ile In gram earned third place and a trip to the final. "There's not mu ch I can say," said G rah am, wh o appeared ca lm .an d relaxed. " T hi ngs are as perfect as th ey can be, I wanna win this one bad." . " R icky drafted past me on the back straigh t, and I thought, 'Okay, I'll get him co m i n g o u t of four ' " said Durelle, who wore a brace on the left shoulder he di slocated a week earlier at th e San Jose 600 National TT. " Bu t, man, Ri cky went so fast through three and four l" " I felt terrible in practice" said · Ingram, who was aboard a Honda RS750 sponsored by Bloomington (Indiana) Honda. "But we made some changes to th e chassis and I star ted to feel pretty good. I got a bad start and I was abl e to work my way up pretty well. " Ath erton gained control of the third heat race on the first lap and began to establish an immediate lead. Behind the Team Harley rider, Rodney Farri s, · Rusty Rogers and Dave H ebb argued over the runner-up position. The three riders were joined by Bill y H erndon ·at the halfway point, but when rain bega n to fall , the race wa s cut sho rt at nine laps. Alt hough the runnin g or der was Atherton, Rogers, Farris and H ebb a t the red £lag, th e o££icial fini shing or der was taken' from the lap before. Kevin Ath erton was credited with fir st, Farris second, and Hebb third. H erndon , Rogers and Mike Hale woul d have to ride a semi. " I wish they hadn't stopped it," said a disappointed Athe rto n. " I was on my way to pos ting the fastest heat. I felt good, though. I go t aw ay early and

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