Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Athert on cru ised to a 5.2-seco nd win wh ile Bro w, aboard a ESP Racing Honda, and G ra ha m , o n the John ny Goad/Sarah Irb y Honda, ra n together for second and third. Roeder 's charge through the field came u p just short as he finis hed fifth , on the tail of Pegram 's ESP Racing H o nda. The second hea t was red-flagged on the firs t la p when Mi ke Sco tt went down in tu rn three. Sco tt esca ped wi thou t injury. The red flag was a great re lief for Park er who had· blown the start and was runnin g mid-pack. Ca rr led the field into tu rn o ne at the restart, followed by Park er, 1990 Camel Pro Series Rookie of th e Year Mik e Hale a nd local favorite Da n Ingram. Soon it was Parker, Carr a nd Hale in a three-rider breakaway. Bill y' Herndon and Ingram battl ed for fourth. On lap six, Carr bobbled and nearly went to the wall in tum two , dropping him to fourth . In two sh ort laps, however, he charged back to ca tch the combined draft of Herndon and Hal e. At th e finish it was Parker all alone, 1.83 seconds ahead of Hud Racing Honda rider Herndon and Carr, who finished side by side at the line. Herndon was credited for second over Carr in the photo finish. Donahue Harl ey -Davidsonsponsored Durelle was somewhat of a surprise winner of the third and final heat. It wasn't so much that Durelle had nudged out Poovey at the line for the win that surprised people, it was the fact that Durelle's heat race was three seconds faster than the other two . Durelle took command from the start on his Jerry Whilmey·tuned Harley, and o nly some wild riding on the part of Texas Harley-David sonbacked Poovey got him close a t th e finish. Garvis Honda 's Jones nailed down the final direct transfer spot by finishing third, ahead of semi-bound Rodney Farris and Steve Morehead. "I think the track got a little faster for each heat race ," said first time polesitter Durelle. "I mys elf was a little surprised at the speed though. I hope to be able to do th e same in the National. " Semis Texan Hale wheelied his Bartels' Harley o££ the starting line in the first 10-lap semi, dropping the front wheel down just in time to set up going into tum one. Hale led Coninger Cellarssponsored Keith Day and Gardner Racing's Farris as the pack completed lap one. The race .tu rned into th e closest of the night as Roeder, Will Davis and David Conlin moved into the draft of the leaders at the mid-race point. Things got very hectic as the lead group entered tum one for the final time and there was a great deal of bumping and banging going on as six riders were fighting it out for only four advancement spots. Honda-mounted Day seemed to be the most aggressive rider of the race and he was rewarded with a first-place finish over Farris and Hale. Davis held off Roeder by just inches to nab the final transfer spot. Five riders jumped the gun at the start of the final semi, including polesitter Pegram; all five riders were moved to the back of the field. Canton, Illinois rider Dave Hebb was a benefactor of the false start and led the field into the first turn. It didn't take long for racing veteran Morehead to come to the head of the pack. Morehead, who had been shaking down a new frame all night, was David Durelle (58), Terry Poovey (18), Seou Parker (1), Ronnie Jones (16) and Kevin Atherton (23) thunder through a tum. obviously starting to get th e feel o f th e ma chine. Back row starter Pegram was th e fastest man on the track a nd by the halfway mark, he had chas ed down Morehead a nd Ingram to take the lead with an ins ide move d iving into turn one. Out front, it was the yo u ngs ter and two veterans battling it ou t. On' th e last lap the 18-year-old Pegram pulled out a five-b ike lead on Morehead , wh o had celebr a ted his 35th bi rthda y the da y before th e race, wi th Ingram a sim ilar distance behind Moreh ead in third. Rookie Greg Sims m ad e a last ditch e££ort to ca tch Hebb for th e final tra ns fer spot but came u p short. National Even th ou gh Parker had won hi s heat, tuner Bill Werner changed a few things on Parker' s bike for th e 25-la p . final. "We th ink we ca n go even faster, " claimed Parker. " I wan t th is win bad. " As the rid ers wer e introduced by announcer Dave Despain , it was apparent from th e crowd's response that they also wanted to see Parker break the all -time win record. At the flash of the green starting light, fast qualifier Durelle motored h is way into the lead . Poovey was right on the Minnesota rider's rear wheel as the first lap ended and Parker crossed the line in third, 10 bik e lengths back from the lead duo. Poovey took the lead bri efly on lap two, but Durelle slipped underneath him to regain the top position. Parker flashed by in third followed by J ones, Camel Pro points leader Carr, meanwhile, was stuck in traffic somewhere just inside the top 10. Durelle started stretching o ut hi s lead on the next lap and by lap five he was in firm command of a Grand National rac e for the first time in hi s eig h t-yea r ca reer. Poovey, Jones, Parker and Ath erton wer e running wheel-to-wheel in th e battle for second. Carr had cleared most of the tra££ic and was now sitt ing in sixth pl ace with a open track a hea d of him to that battle for second. On th e lap eight, Poovey raised hi s hand a nd pulled up in turn two . A gas line had come o ff and his bike sputtered to a stop. Poovey reach ed down and got th e line back on to re- Chris Carr (20), Ronnie Jones, Larry Pegram (72) and Kevin Atherton mix it up. enter the race, but the Texan was out o f co nte ntion. By, the 10th lap Durelle was still solidly out front and was starting to get excited. " I never looked around to see wh ere th e pack was, " Durelle said. " As the race went on I couldn' t believe no o ne had passed me. "Being out front all alone I think sort o f broke my co ncen tr a ti on . I sta rted m essing up on a few turns and kn ew that som eone was closing on me." Tha t someone wa s Parker. The Harley pilot was sta rting to perform hi s Indy Mil e magic and had pulled clear of the battle for second to close on Durelle. " I was just tryin' to be steady a nd not try to make up the gap all at o nce," Parker said later. On lap II , a roar cam e up from the cro wd, Parker had just tak en over the lead. H e now had only to hold o ff Durell e for 14 more mil es to become a legend in his own time. But Durell e .was not q uite read y to giv e up th e fight and on la p 16 he tem pora ri ly forged a head o f the defending champ. Parker q uickly regained the lead a nd began to pull away from Du relle. Atherton , Carr a n d Jones were locked into a gr eat battle for third place. Carr was fighting to stay high enough in th e points in an attempt to stave o££ Parker. " I' ve been at this game for seven year s now and it's time to win the cham p io n sh ip ," said a determined Carr. In th e closing laps,. Durelle 's bike began to sp u tter. His crew had not put enough ga s in th e tank. "CYn the last two laps I got off th e groove thinking that th e rest of the pack would be zooming by me," said Durelle . "Luckil y the bike fired up aga in a nd mad e it hom e." On the fin al lap th e Indy crowd ros e to its feet knowing th at hist ory was being made. They cheered Parker all th e wa y home to th e checkered flag. " T ha t last lap "] was really being ca u tio us," said Parker. " I didn 't want to mak e a ny dumb m istakes." Park er too k th e checkered flag 2.36 seconds ahead of Du rell e, whose bike was runnin g on fumes. It was th e first victo ry podium appeara nce for Durell e at a Grand Na tional Cham pionsh ip race. Carr and Pegram finished side-by- 11

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