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/127385
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Chris Carr (1), Rodney Farris (92), Troy Noms (85), Aaron Hill (17), Ronnie J ones (16) and Mike Hale (32) made up row one.
Carr scored his th ird 600cc National vic tory of the year in run away fashion.
Carr conquers Peoria TT
By Dave Hoenig
Photos by Flat Trak Fotos
PEORIA, II., MAY 18
ea m H arl ey-Davidson 's Chris
Carr scored a co nvincing win at
th e Peoria TT. leading Bartels'
Performance rider Mike Hale a nd
Ga rdner Ra cing's Rodney Farris across
the fin ish lin e. Kno wn as the " Pri nce
of Peoria," Carr has no t lost a race at
the track since 1987. when he fin ished
second behi nd Team H onda 's Bubba
Sh obert in bo th stops of the Camel Pro
tour.
"I kn ow th is strea k wi ll someday
come to an end," said Carr. "But I
guarantee that the guy who beats me
is going to have to work for it! "
Carr served notice that the day was
hi s, by posting th e day 's fastest qu illifying time of 26.759 seconds. well off
hi s record of 25.550 that he set in
August of 1989. Hale was seco nd
T
fastest. turning in a 27.067 lap time.
just ahea d of Ronnie J ones' 27.15!1.
Ri ch Kin g logged in a t 27.407. and
Aaro n Hill rounded ou t the to p five
fastest qual ifiers with h is 27.456 lap
tim e.
Carr blasted to the front of the first
heat, and led Larry Pegram and Eri ck
Gru ber arou n d the co u rse . whi le
Junior co m petitors Kent Lo ngc or and
Geo rge Garvi s Jr. battled over fourth.
Kyle Long went down 'i n turn four.
and the red nag came out.
The restart was a carbon co py of the
first. with Carr sho wi ng Pegram,
Gruber and Longcor the fast way
around the track . Longcor's day came
to an end when he sp uttered to a stop
with a dislodged spark plug wire . Carr
flew his Kenny T olbert-tuned factory
,
Harley to an easy win , ahead of Pegram
and Gruber. who filled the 'top three
transfer posi tions. Garvis finished
fourth. but headed for a semi.
Hale scored a runaway victory in the
seco nd heat race aboard his Bob Haleturned Harley-Davidson, while Dave
Hebb , Farris and J eff Eklund argued
over second. Farris blasted past Hebb
and set after Hale. wh ile Ricky Graham sto rmed ou t of nowhere to challenge for third. Graham sailed past
Hebb as they navigated the jump. and
scored the last tra nsfer pos ition. Hale
greeted the check ered nag well ah ead
oCFarris and Graham.
J o nes powered his George Garvisiuned Honda to the th ird heat race win.
ahea d of Troy Norris and Rex Fisher.
Norris and Fisher excha nged positions
throughout the race. but it was Norris
who crossed the finish line in second
pl ace.
Hill led th e way in th e fourth . and
fin al heat , but was under cons tan t
pressure from Ri ch King. Kris Kiser
held third. but Don Estep sailed pa st
at the halfway point. Arai/Tsubakisponso red Hill scored th e win ahead
of King and Estep .
Hebb an d Kiser topped the two semifin als. in whi ch only the winner would
advance to the final, and Willie McCoy
scored the last transfer position by
winn ing the Last Ch an ce Qualifier.
Hale occu pied th e inside pole position at the start of the final . and was
jo ined o n the fro nt row by Jones, Hill.
Norris, Farris and Carr. o n the outside
pole.
Carr fou nd the most traction at the
start, and led the field through the first
tum.
,
" I've never started a National up on
the groove," said Carr. " I guess it dried
up enough to allow me to get to the
corn er first."
Carr's lead was sho rt-lived. how ever,
as Jones went down hard i n the
switchback and brought th e red nag
o ut. J ones was sha ken, and retired for
the da y.
Carr duplicated his holeshot on the
restart. and for all practical purposes.
th e race was over. Carr broke away
from the field on the first lap and went
on virt ua lly un challenged. Farris led
the race for second. with Hale. Graham. King and Pegram in tow.
As the hot and humid condi tio ns
bega n 10 wear o n the riders, Hale
closed in on Farris and sto le second
near the halfway mark of the 25-lap
race. Farris tr ied to retaliate. but to no
avail. Pegram scooted in to fourth .
whi le King fo ugh t off the ad vances of
Graham. Carr gree ted th e checkered
nag in first. ahead of Hale, Farris,
Pegram and King.
" I just tried to ride as smooth as
possibl e," said Carr... It wasn 't easy.
turns three and four were as rough as
I've ever seen them."
I was just trying to come here and
make th e podium ."· sai d Hal e. who
ski pped h is high school graduation
ceremo nies in Texas to come to Peoria.
" My dad has got the bike hooking up
real good. You had to ride slow in some
spots. but stay aggressive."
Frank Kaiser blasted off the line in
the J unior National. with J eff Eklund.
T im Selb y and Kent Longcor in tow .
Just before the halfway point. Eklund
and Selby carried their momentum
past Kaiser and into th e top two
positions. Kaiser struggled with a pair
of loose han dlebars, bu t held onto
third; ahead o f Longco r. Eklu nd
fought off th e race-long charges of
Selby. and scored the win aboard his
Lillie!M oti on Pro! Ara i/Serrano!
O 'Neal/Uncle Rick-sponsored WoodRo tax, Selby finished second , ahead of
Kaiser and Longcor.
"It's been a long day, " said Eklund.
" I was ho ping to get into the 600
National, but you can 't help some
th ings."
0'1
Results
Time T riab: I. Chri. Carr (26.759 S