Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ith a comfortable five bik e-length argin of victory. Farris settled into cond, sa fely ahead o f Herndon , hose third place finish ea rned him trip to the final. "I thought I was going to have to ork for that o ne," sa id Carr. "But arris went wide and handed it to me. spent the race trying di££erent stuff, feel really strong tonight. " "I was riding all wild, then I finall y Imed m yself down a nd settled into pace. Once I did tha t, I start ed going ster,' Farris sai d. "I was catching Fa rri s through one nd two ," said Herndon. " But he was etting me in th e other parts. The tra ck so tacky, there's definitely gonna be me wild racing tonight!" Darli ng dashed o££ the line in heat 0, but was quickly overtaken by ones a nd Davis, who immediately egan to pull away from th e pack. egram suffered a miserable start, but egan his charge towards the front Iter a few laps. " I caught my foot in a hole on my med lap," said Pegra m. " It felt real etchy at first , a nd it took me a whi le feel comfortable." On lap four of the 10-lap race, Davis ove into turn o ne and cut under a rprised Jones to stea l the lead. Once front, Davis pulled away aboard hi s ddie Adkins-tuned Harley-Davidson, nd earned a front row start in the ain. J ones followed in second, while eg ram stormed into third at the nish. " I felt pretty decent," said Davis. " I Ily like this track, I like this tacky uff." Jones, on the other ha nd, was not s comfortable. "The track is inconsistent," J ones id. " I can' t get the bi ke to hook up the m iddle o f the corners, and don't I fast enough." In gra m led the charge into the first rn in the fina l heat, but Parker stole e lead as they exi ted turn two . "I don 't know how he got so much rive down tha t straight," Ingram said ter. Parker wasted little ti me a nd q uickly ulled away fro m h is com peti tors . ngram sat in a co mfortable second, head of Graham, Dave Durell e a nd evin Atherton. Graham pu lled o££ the ck on la p th ree af ter catching his t in one of the many hol es th ro ugh rns three a nd four. " I co uld n't bel ieve the pain ," said ra ha m. " It h un wo rse tha n any bone 've ever broken !" Graham refused to let medics remove is boot, as he had qualified for the mel Challenge to be held .later in he evening. Meanwhi le, Pa r ker continued to tret ch his lead over Ingram and u relle, who continually swapped laces with Atherton. At the finish, it as Parker wi th a 20 bike- lengt h lead board his Bill Werner-tuned factory arley over Honda- mou n ted Ingram, ho in turn had a sizab le lead over urell e. Athert o n headed for a semi. " Excellent," was all Pa rker had to ay of his win. "Scotty got me up high, so that's here I'm go n na ride in the Challen ge. e track is tacky enough that you can retty much ride anywhere on th e rack," exp lai ned Ingram. U nl ike h is compe titors, Durelle truggl ed with the tack y co nditions. " Man, the bike gets so m uch traction hat it's th rowin g me around!" sai d o na hue Harley- Davidson-backed urelle, who weighs a mere I~O ounds. Semis Riders who finished fourth through Kevi n Atherton (23) and Bill y Herndon (19) overcame lackluster starts to work into fifth and sixth, res pectively. II th in their heat races were given a second chance to qualify in one of two semi-finals, while those who finished 12th or worse spectated. Darling had the fastest reactions in the first IO-Iap semi, but once again was displaced in the early la ps. Team Ha rl ey's At herton smoked into the lead on lap four and never looked bac k. Following Atherton across the line and into the final were Roed er a nd Mike Hale, the 1990 Camel Pro Rookie of the Year. "I'm getting tired of riding these semis," sai d the persona ble 20·year-old Atherton. " I've been having tro uble in my hea ts lately." Sp ri ngs teen blasted off th e line in the second semi, but went wide in turn one a nd dropped to third, behind Bo bb y McDo well a nd Rick H ock in g. Spri ngsteen was again bumped back a spot on lap three, when T ed Tay lo r stormed pas t, Taylor carried his charge pas t Hoc kin g, but could n 't close on McDowell, who had a su bstantial lead. Terry Poovey wo rke d thro ugh the field after a lackluster start, a nd edged Hocki ng on the fina l lap to ea rn a trip to the main. " Yeah I," said McDowell. " I finally got a ha nd le on the track." "That was a close one," said a jovial Poovey. " I almost didn't make it, huh?" Camel Challenge Carr chose the inside pole at the start of the five-lap Camel Challenge, and was joined on the line by Herndon , Davis, Darling, Ingram and Graham. Carr's choice proved wise as he sped o££ the line in the point position, bu t Davis sn uck pas t the factory Harl ey rider in turns o ne a nd two. As the pack began lap two , Davi s led Carr , H ern do n, Ingr a m, Graham a nd Dar ling in the pursui t of the $ 10,000 first prize provi ded by the R .J . R eyn o ld s Tobacco Co mpany. Graham slowed on lap three, unable to ignore the pain shooting up his left leg. "I cou ldn' t put my foo t down in the turns," said Graham , obviously disappointed. "Every time I did, I'd catch it in a ho le and twist my ankle more." Meanwhile, Davis circled the track with dollar signs in his eyes, and held o££ a hard-charging Carr to the finish . Herndon finished third ahead of Ingram, who continued to struggle with suspension setup, while Darling and Graham brought up the rear. In winning, Davis became the first rider in the 1991 season to win two Camel Challenges, as he also scored the Cha llenge win at the San Jose Mile in May. Eight di££erent winners have scored in the n ine races held thus far . "You know, I was just talking about that the other day, how it's been good that so many di££erent guys have won," laughed Da vis. " I hate to see that spoiled, but hell, I'm sure glad it's me doing the spoilin'! It was a helluva Tire controvers!---::..- :.=rf=.:. .;3c::....::..::es=--su:. _ s a result of an informal protest filed at the July III Hagerstown Half Mil e round o.f the Camel Pro Series,.AMA officials 'have been keeping close tabs on the ures mounted on competitors' machines. . . 'Ole A:M~ ,Jimi ts ride rs to the use of approved tires. Currendy, Bridgestone IS me only we manufacturer whose product can be used in AMA Grand Na tional Champiensl'iip events. Of the three compounds that Bridgestone manufactures; GD2. CD5 ;md cbs, the AMA requires that National competitors run the hardest compouna , CD8. A The congovers,v "I~,.,.n m t t Lhad to o-top was. r wanted to do it," Davis said. Al th?ug .Davis' co mp laint was heard, i mmediate action was not taken, according to DaV'lS s. bike owner and tuner, Eddie Adltins. Later, just before the main event, the rear nre mounted on Morehead's motorcycle was inspected and found to be a regulation one. He sa.id he didn 't change it (after his heat)," said Adkins. "But we say he did. Our rnam problem w.asnot with Morehead. but the wa y ia which the AMA handled the situa tion . If myri der had a prohlem with that tire, ~ should have immed ia tely looked into i t to satisfy 110tonly him, but Morehead as well." Due to .~ors that a tool capable of changing 'the tire stamping is being used , AMA offiCia ls took extra care to inspect tires a t Rapid Cily. The tires of the top th ree li ~ishers in bo~ the main ~ent and the Camel Challenge at the Rapid Ci ty Half Mde were COnfiscated and Will be analyzed by Bridgestone officials. "We're 110t on a witch hunt, " said Bill Amick, AMA communications manager. :'There:s an aWfl;l1 lot of smoke about people using the wrong tires. a nd we're Just trying to see If there's any fire. " "Steve ~ore~ea~ i.s not in any way bc:ing focused on," added Amick. "Rather than ca tching individuals, we are looking to prevent the use of such tires all together." " We just wa nt to see this th ing over with, " said Adk ins. "The AMA made the rules: and it's the.ir job to «:nfo rce them , not o urs! One thing I've noticed, though, IS that ever smce al l th is co n trove rsy sta rted, there's been a wh ol e new set of guys in the winner's circle." Our a ttempts to reach Morehead were unsuccessful. . " Lto It 11

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