Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ DIRT TRACK AMA Grand National Championshill"<:_am_el_Pr_o_er_e_ S i s: R _O_UD_d_ 9 laps, 18-year old Pegram rounded the grooved-clay track the fastest, posting a tim eof23.992 seconds aboard hi s ESP Racing Honda. Pegram's flying lap was nearly a second faster than the previous track record of 24.84, set by Ban Mar kel in 1970. "Track record? Cooll" said Pegram. " I hope th is is the first of man y to come." . Pegram was the o nly rider to break into the 23-second bracket, as Donahue H arl ey-D a vidson -sponsored Dav ey Durell e was seco nd fastes t wi th a 24.224 time. J on es' 24.234 ranked third fastest , just ahead o f Keith Day's 24.240. Parker a nd Will Davis rounded o u t the fastest six who would compe te in th e Cam el Challenge, postin g 24.259 and 24.272 times, respectively. ~ Ronnie J ones (16) scored his second win of the season in fro m of his hometown fans. Larry Pegram (72) finished a close second. Dan I ngram holeshot the 20-lap main , bu t dropped to th ird p lace by the finish. J unstoppable at ones Oklahoma City Half Mile By Do n n Maeda Photos by Mi tch Freidman and Maeda 10 _ OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, JULY27 " I 've set five goa ls for myself; to pa ck the sta nds, qual ify for the Camel Challenge, win my heat, win the Challenge, and win th e main," said Ronnie Jones prior to the Oklahoma Hal f Mil e. In wh at many wou ld consi der a fai rytale day for th e 32-year-o ld Oklah o ma n wh o was involved in promo ting an even t for th e first time, J ones met each of hi s goals in grand style. As copromoter of the race a t the Oklah om a State Fairgrounds, Jones' first goal was met by a cro wd tha t was estimated to be well over the 10,000 mark. The Ronni e Jon es /Keith Brewerpromoted, Dub Rich ardson Ford & Isuzu /KXY 96 FM-sponsored race, marked th e first time in 14 years that an AMA Grand Nati on al event has been held in Oklahoma. Jones co nt inued to please hi s hometown crowd by po sting th e day's third fastest qualifying time aboard his Ga rvi s Ho nda -sponsored Honda RS750, whi ch was good enough to place him in his first Camel Challenge of the year. After ru nning away with the win in his heat race, Jones seemed unbeatable as he stormed from last to first in the five-lap, $17,500 Camel Challenge. In the main event, a race he described as " the lon gest 20 laps of hi s life," J ones sto rmed past early lead er Dan In gram and thw arted a laterace charge by Hagerstown Half Mile winner Larry Pegram. J ones' eig h th career Gra nd Nation al win moved him up a not ch on the all tim e dirt track win list, tying hi m wi th Gary Nixon, Ted Boody and George Roeder Sr. for 24th p lace. In overall Grand Na tio na l wins (dirt trac k and road races), Jones is tied wit h Boody and Roeder for 32nd p lace. Five of J ones' career wins hav e come on half mile tracks, two in short track events, and o ne in a IT. Jones has yet to score a win at a mi le a tiona l. " If I can keep rid ing like this, that day (win ning a mil e race) isn 't too far off, " said J on es. J on es' win closes the poi nts gap betw een h im self and seri es points lead er Ch ris Carr and defending Gr and National Cham p io n Scott Park er. Carr was fifth o n th e day and Parker I I th , and with seven ro unds rem aining, Carr corui nes to lead Park er, 126-116. J on es sits 24 points o ut of first, with 102. Vetera n Steve Mor ehead , wh o fin ished 12th, holds fourth place with 67, whi le Ricky Graha m, sixth o n th e day , sta nds in fifth with 64, despite missin g two rou nds. T ime Trials Of the 51 Experts who took time trial Heats Pegram, Terry Poovey and Mik e H ale proved to be a little too anxiou s at the stan of the first lG-Iap heat race, and were sent to the penalty line. At the restart , Ingram sped off th e lin e and led Ch an ce Darling, Brian Ath erton and Davis into turn one, wh ile Pegram sho t into fifth from th e third row. In gr am began to .open an immed iate lead , whil e Da vi s a nd Pegram worked th eir way th rough the field . . By lap th ree, Davis had moved into third with Pegram close behind. On lap four, Davis charged past Darling and set o ut after Ingram, with Pegram following a few seconds behind. Although Davis pressured Ingram, the Bloomington Honda/A-R Racing/ Shoe ilHampton R acing/Emry 's Ho nda/Road Rider M.C.lHarry Lillybacked rider was first across the finish line. Davi s was second, while Pegram scored the third direct transfer to the mam. " Whe n all those gu ys got sent to the back row , I ju st took a deep breath and tried to focus," said Ingram. " Even though I won the heat, we're going to change th e suspe ns io n a bit, I'm having a prob lem with wheelspin." "Oh, I ran decent," said Davis. " I got a bad start and had to work my way up to the front, I wish. had gotten up there sooner, though." " I wasn 't worried about qualifying," sa id Pegram , who appeared disappointed with h is third -place finish . " But . wanted to win so I cou ld start from th e front ro w in the fin al. " Three starts were needed in th e second heat race. Steve Beattie jumped the gu n at the first a ttem pt and was sent to the pena lty lin e after the red flag came out. On the restart, Park er's factory Harl ey sna pped a cha in, an d he was rear-ended by ve Raymond, who took a spectacu lar trip over the handlebar s. Altho ug h he was un hun , Raymon d fa iled to make the th ird stan. T hat sta rt saw Carr lead Durelle, Graham and George Roeder off the line and pull out [0 a commanding lead within the first five laps . Roeder had his hands fu ll tryi ng to keep Gr aham at bay, whi le Parker in turn looked for a way pas t Gr aham . J ay Springsteen ran as high as fourth, but crashed ju st past the ha lfway point, bri ngi ng his eveni ng to a prema ture end . " I slipped off th e groove betw een th ree and four ," exp lained Sp ring steen. " I al most saved it, thou gh , it was real close." Meanwhil e, Ca rr's lead began to shrink in the closin g laps, as Durelle cha rged up to hi s rear fender. Durelle tried to displ ace th e cur rent series poin ts leader, but to no avail. Carr scored th e win , just ahea d of Durelle, while Roed er earn ed the las t direct transfer spot by fini shing third. Parker and Graham would have to com pe te . . m a serm.

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