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/127392
" I got ou t fro nt right at the start," said Carr. " Fro m there it was smooth sai ling. I wasn 't rea l worried abo ut Durelle, I had a lot left. " " It took me a while to really get going, but at the end I felt strong," Durelle said. " T h ings sho u ld go well in the main." J ones wasted no time in the th ird heat , gra bbi ng the ho leshot ahea d o f Billy H ern don and Mor ehead . For all practical purpo ses, th e race was over. P romo ter/ racer J ones meth odi ca ll y p ulled away fro m Hern don, stretching o ut to an event ual20-bike length lead a t the finish. H erndon finished a lonely second, while Mor ehead ba rely held off a cha rgi ng Kevin Atherto n . "Three o ut of three so far," sa id J on es. "Everything is wo rking real good, and we sho u ld be o u t fro nt co me the Cha llenge and main event ." " I was ab le to han g with Ronnie for a while," said T exan Herndo n. " Bu t I didn't want to get up there to race with him and chance us taking eac h o ther out. 1 figured a su re spot in the main w as bett er than no thing! " Semis Graha m blasted off the line in the first 10-lap semi that would ad vance th e top fo ur fini shers to th e main event. Darl ing , Poo vey and Ath ert on followed Graha m o n th e first lap, but by lap three Ath ert on had co me alive and motored into the lead . Graham mai ntained second, whi le Poo vey di sp laced Darl ing for thi rd. Atherton cruised to th e win with a comfortable lead over Graham and Poo vey. "It took me so lo ng to get goi ng in my heat, th at I jus t wa nte d to hurry a nd ge t ' o u t front in th at se mi, " Atherto n said. Hale, the 1990 Ca mel Pro Series Roo kie of the Year, spe d off the line in the second semi , wi th Farris and Parker in hot pursu it. After doggin g Hale for three laps, Farris found hi s way past o n the back stra ig htaway and assumed the poin t pos it ion . Parker appeare d to be struggl ing wi th his bik e, and was never in posi tion to cha llenge H ale for second. Day weaved through th e field after a bad start, and assu med fo urt h o n lap ni ne. Farris g reeted the checkered £lag in first, ahead of Hale, Parker and Day. " I felt great o ut there," said a hap py Farris. " We' ve reall y go t th in gs dia led in. I can 't wait for the final." Camel Challenge Day sat on the in side po le a t th e start of the five-lap Camel Challenge, with J ones, Durelle, Pegram , Davis and Park er a longs ide. Davis was th e fastest rider at the flash of the gr een ligh t, followed by Pegram, Parker, Durelle a nd Day. J o nes was last off the lin e and entered tu rn o ne sha king his head, bu t rai led the o utside of turns o ne and two to eme r ge i n t h ir d o n th e backstraight. On the seco nd lap , Jones used th e same line in turn o ne to swoop past Pegram for seco nd, and set his sig hts o n Davis. After follo wing the lead er for two laps, Jones blasted into the lead just before receivin g the whi te flag a nd went o n to score th e $ 10,000 first p rize. Davis fini shed second, just ahead of Pegram, Durell e, Day and Parker. " I can ' t believe it," sa id an elated Jones. "Thi s is ~Ii,~s\., 9t.IP,.~L<;:':a l lenge that I've qmill fie for this year. 'il I tho ught my cha nces were over aft er I started last, but I was abl e to charge hard th rou gh all of th e corne rs. " Junio r Nation al J eff Eklu nd leapt off the line at th e sta rt of the 10-lap Junior Nati onal , with Tim Selby, Wink Freitas and Cory Perrault snappin g a t his leathers. Rodney Farris (92) passed Chris Carr (20) la te in the main event to finish in fourth place. Carr held on to fifth . Frei tas cha rged past Selb y o n the first la p , a nd closed o n 'Eklu nd 's rea r fender. Ek lu nd and Freitas began to pu ll away from Selby, who had hi s hands full wit h Perr ault. Freitas sha do wed Eklund arou nd th e track for eigh t laps, and forced hi s way into the lead as they na vigated turns three and fou r. O nce in front, Freitas extended his lead over Eklu nd to five-bike length s at the finish, whi le Perr ault edged Selby for third p lace. "The hard est pa rt about tha t race, was bei ng patient eno ug h to wa it for a cha nce to pass," said Wood-Ro ta x/ Avila Meat Co.! Drive-Up Market/ Tsu ba ki/ Shoei/ K&N/ Scott Pearson/ Hap J ones-sponsored Freitas, a former Expert who ret urne d to raci ng th is year after a several year a bsence from the tracks. " I felt great until abo ut the fifth lap, then my brakes sta rte d to fa de ," exp la ined Eklu nd. " I didn 't kn ow wh a t they'd do, sometimes they wo u ld lock up and o ther tim es they wo uld n 't! I fig u red second pl ace was bette r tha n cras hi ng and fin ish in g last." ' National Durelle occu pied the ins ide po le at the start of the main , and was joined on the front ro w by H ern do n, In gram , J o nes, Carr and Davis. Ro w two was com prised of Farri s, Athert o n, Roeder, Morehead , Ha le and Pegra m , whil e Park er , Poo vey andGraha m sat on row three. In gram had th e fastest clu tch hand, and slid through the first turn a hea d of J on es, Davis and Pegr am . Pegram scoo ted past Davis in turn two, j us t before Davis coa sted to a sto p off the track. " My chain snap ped ," said a disappo inte d Davis. J on es was ted littl e time, a nd blasted ' past Ingram on the back straigh t and into the lead. Within three laps, Jones . had pulled o ut a co mmanding 15-bik e leng th lead. ' Pegram mo tored past Ingram o n la p four to assu me the runner-u p posit ion ,' while Carr fou ght to hold off Graham and Herndo n. In a " follow the lead er" race, Farris was the o n ly rider who was able to weave th rough the pack. After startin g J ones (16) passed earl y leader Will Davis (21) and scored the Camel Challenge win . Graham returns fter being released from the Eaken-Sponseller Race T eam following his June 21 arrest for driving under the in£luen ce, Ricky Graham was o nce ag ain stu ck without a ride . " I th ought, aw man , am I gonna be retired again?" said Graham, who has spent the last five weeks touring th e country in his motorhome. On July 25, Graham received a ca ll from FIG Racing's Johnny Goad, who apparently needed a .. . . . rider to campaign his Honda RS750 th at was previously ndden by.fellow-ylrgInlan Rusty Rogers. A ltho ug h Rogers has turned in fou~ top-It] Iinishes this season, rela tions between himself and Goad had become strained. ' "T h ingshad been bu ilding up for quite a w~le' s all Goad wou ld say, concerning Rogers' release. . Rogers was missing at the Ok lahoma round, and s no t availabl e for comment by phone on pressday, Monday, J ul y 29. " I was surprised to get such a good offer," said Graham. "One minute. I was o n vacation. and the next I'm back racing again!" After fin ishing a respectable sixth in th e main, both Graham and Goad seemed pleased with the new associa tion . " The bike is good, I can definitely do good on it," sa id Graham. "John ny seemed pr ett y excited; we're looking forward to the rest of the se n." aso A II