Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eLOCAL EVENTS e Jay Springsteen topped the Michigan Slate Ownpiollllhip BaH Mile. AMA 600cc National Championship Series: Round 7 Pegram prevails at Lake Odessa HM By Dave Hoenig LAKE ODESSA, MI, SEPT. 7 arry Pegram ran away with the win at the 1-96 Speedway Half Mile and closed the gap on series points leader, Chris Carr, wh o did not co m pe te . With one round to go , defending series champ Carr has a 13point lead over ~egram , go. 77..The race mar ks the first time that a Nationa l was held at the 1-96 Half Mile. Pegra m had to overcome restart after restar t, includ'ing on e with only seven laps re~ain. ing, which wiped out the fu ll straigh taway lead he had built up. "W e had th e bike set up perfect for the starts and I just kept getting good on es," said Eaken-Sponselle~ Racingl Arai /Tsubak ilYoko/Mollon P ro l KKiSmith Optics/Sunoco/MJ USA· backed Pegram. . T he Mi chigan H arley-D avid son Dealers Association treated a nearcapacity crowd to an exci ting ~ight of raci ng . T he most popular wm went to J ay Sp ri ngsteen , ,,:h o ~on the Michi gan State Championship Race. Springsteen out-du elled Team H ar ley's Kevin Ath erton in a race that had everyone on the edge of th eir seats. New ly crowned Jun ior Nati on~1 Ch ampion Win k Frei tas ca~JX:d o£f h.ts season with another convmang win in th e Jun ior Na tional. Th ~ Ron Wood l Avi la Mea t Co .zSh oei z'Kal G ard /Tsubak ilK&N/Hi·Po int/Hap J on es/M om / T-P Racin gl co tt Pearson-spo nsored rid er easil y held off hi s closes t challen ger, James Hart, to record his sevent h win in the 12 races ru n this year. Freitas also finished eigh th in the 600cc Na tional. L 30 Time Trials Ath ert on fired o£f the quickest lap of the night, a 22.755 seco nd lap. Springsteen and Steve Beattie were the on ly o ther riders to break the 22-second mark, posting times of 22.936 and 22.975, respectively. Steve Morehead was fourth fastest, with a 23.052. H ea ts Atherton jumped OUI to a quick lead in heat one and went on to win . Doug O'Boyle took second and just past the halfway point, Gor do n Schopieray moved by Scott Buchan for the third and last tra nsfer spot. The secon d heat was a four-ride r war, as Kent Lo ngcor led Freitas,.Kris Kiser and Springs teen until lap eight. Freitas was able to work his way past Longcor, who barely held off Kiser at the line. Springsteen looked high and low for a place to pa ss, bu t finished fourth, headed for a sem i. Heat th ree was another tight race, as Pegram , Rich King, James Hart an d Dave Durelle mixed it up. Pegram and King pu lled a slight lead, as Du relle worked hi s way aro und Ha rt. Once free of Hart, Durelle closed quickly on the lead d uo of Pegr am an d King. Durelle gained secon d behi nd winner Pegra m when King slipped high, bu t King was still well ahead of Bryan Villella, who he ld down fourth . The las t heat was close to a runaway, as T erry Poo vey pu t his Harley way out front. The race for second featured Gr eg Sims, 'Steve Morehead and D~ve Camlin, who battled over the rernaming two transfers. Cam lin took over third on lap four, and was all over Sims. On lap eigh t, Camlin sho t u~der Sims in turn two and created Just eno ug h of a hol e for Morehead to also get by, sending Sims to a semi . Semis Sco tt Stump ma de his perfect start in the first semi hold up fo r ni ne laps but on the last lap he sli pped in tu rn four and Springsteen shot by for the win . The second sem i was equa lly as tight, as Sims and James Hart battled 'over first. Sims had the lead on lap two, but whe n Bren t Armbruster fell at the ha lfway point, the race was . 'stop ped. H art made the most of the 'I restart and he shot into the lead . Sims made one last desperat e attemp t o n the llast la p , but slid off the gr oo ve and 'had to settle for second beh ind Hart . Last Chance Qualifier Stump ho leshot the Last Chance Qualifier, and held the lead for all 10 laps to advance to the main . N ational Fast hea t winner Pegram had first choice of starting posi tions, and chose third from the wa ll. The front row was made up of Camlin, Ath erton, Pegra m , Poovey, Freitas and Durell e. Longcor, O 'Boyle, King , Morehead ~nd S<;hopiera y made up row two , while Springsteen , Kiser, H art and Stump sat on the last row. . The race got off to a rocky start, in fact severa l rocky starts. Camlin led into turn one on the first start, which was dee med ragged . T h e second attemp t wa s led by Peg ra m over Camlin Atherton and King, who had foll owed Pegram ' from row two. This lasted two laps, until O 'Boyle fell hard in tu rn two. A com plete restart was ca lled for. . Pegram 'o nce agai n led, this . tim e over Camli n and Kin g. Pegr am pulled away wh ile everyo ne else fought for their posi tio ns. " When I got ou t front , I thought so mebody would be right on me for a while. I kn ow there were some guys as fast as me. I tho ught I cou ld be smoo th and pull away. I looked back six or seven laps into it, an d I was go ne." said Pegram. . Pegram was indeed go ne, holding a full stra igh taway lead, but the race fo r second was fie rc e. Kin g h ad dropped somewhat off the pace as Camlin, Morehead and Atherton raged on. Atherton moved int o second on lap six, followed by Morehead . Poo vey became a new player in the game on lap seven as he caught the pack. Camlin was back in second on lap eight, o nly to have Poo vey take over on lap nine. La p 14 saw Dave Dur elle trying ~o go under Springsteen in turn three in their battle for eighth, bu t Du relle clipped Spri ngs teen's back tire and high-sided, bri ngi ng out the red n~g. Durell e made the restart, but Kiser, who was ru nning 10th, cou ldn' t get his Ro tax to start in ti me and join ed Stump and O 'Boyle o n the sidelin es. " T h e restart ha d me wo rri ed. I fig ured so meone wo u ld j u m p the restart or I would mess up. I got a good start and ran it in hard until I cou ld pu ll away," sai d Pegram. The o rder remai ned Pegram, Poovey, Camlin, Moreh ead and Athe rton until the last lap, when Athert on ma de a bold move o n the outside in searc h for traction high on the track. " It was a desperation move, any thing to try and pass. It was single file, but good racing," said Atherton. " We had a blast. A little bit of bumpin g and shoving made it all exci ting for the cro wd." Un fort u na tely for Ath erton, th ere was no tr action up h igh, and he dropped two positions to King a~d Springsteen . Pegram scor ed th e wm over Poovey, Cam lin and Moreh ead. Michigan State Championship Springsteen and Ath erton sq uared away in th e Michi gan Sta~e Ch ampionship. The two Harley nders kept the crow d cheeri ng , as they pulled away from Gordon Sch opiera y, who held third. Springsteen looked to have it covered. " I hi t a ho le in turn on e, slid high and Kevin got un der me. I th ink he got out in the £Iu£f and I was ab le to drive bac k by ," sai d Springst een. Springsteen did everyth ing but fall, but quickly reco vered and passed Ath erton down the back straigh t to bring out the biggest cheer of the.nigh t. Spri ngsteen scored a popular wm over Ath erton and Schopieray. . J u n io r National Freitas rea d the gree n light perfectly and led the J un ior National a ll the way. J ames Hart stayed clos e for . a whi le but eventuall y was all alo ne m second. J enneman held down third over fas t J un io r qua lifier, Kent Longcor. CI Resul ts TIME TltJALS: I. Kevin Atherton (22.755); 2. Jay Springsteen (22.9! 6); ! . Steve Beattie (22.975); 4. Steve Morehead (2!.052); 5. G r

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