Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRACK A Grand National ChampionshiE_ MA /C_am_el--,-Pf_oS_en'es_:R _D_d1 _ _OU _ 4 _ ~ the sta rt of the 25-lap ma in event, ahead of Chris Carr (20), Kevin Atherton (behi nd Carr) and Ronn ie Jones (16). Parker continues reign at San Jose Mile By Don n Maeda Ph o tos by Mitch Friedman and Mae da SAN JOSE, CA,SEP.15 f Ch ris Carr is th e Prin ce of Peoria , then. defen di ng Grand Nationa l Ch ampion Scott Parker m ust be the King of the San J ose Mile. Just as Carr dominat es at the TT Nat ional a t th e Peori a M.C.'s facility, Parker cont in ues to do soat the Santa Clara County Fa irgrounds ova l. Besides holdin g the fastest single, ,and 25-lap race reco rds, the 29-year-old from Schwartz Creek, Michigan, ha s won th e last six San J ose Mile races, often in runaway fashi on. And h is most recent win on Sunday was no different. After following H arley-Davidson teammates Carr and Kevin Atherton , and Donahue Harley-D a vidson's Davey Durelle for nearl y half of the 25-la p National, Parker forced h is way to th e front and dropped the ham mer on the 17th lap to break free of th e pack. Althoug h they made valiant efforts to r~ 1 in Par ker, Carr and Durelle were forced to settle for th e second an d third step s on th e podium. Atherton gree ted the checkered flag in fourth pl ace. In winning, Park er earned th e lion 's share of the $33,000 pu rse and went I 8 home $4860 richer. Parker 's 43rd career win came in front of an estimated 10,OO O-p lus sc reaming fans wIio atten ded the Custom Ch rome sponsored even t, an d moved him wi thin a single poin t of Carr, who current ly leads the series points chase, 194-193. Garvis Hond a-backed Ronnie J on es crossed the fin ish line in sixth p lace behind Mike Hale and ma intains third in the po int sta ndi ngs wi th 165, wh ile Ath erton 's fourth p lace fin ish brou ght h is point total to 112, goo d enough for fourth in the standings. Mu ch to th e disappointment of teenager Hal e, mi ssin g fro m the day 's program was th e $17,500 Camel Chal lenge. as the das h-for-cash race was o n ly sc he d u le d for I I of the 16 Nati onal s. H ale po sted the day 's fastest q ual ifyi ng ti me, a 37.395 second, 96.269 mph lap , well off the record of 36.076/99.789, set by Parker in 1990. "That's a bummer, qual ifyin g fast, and then th ere's no Cha llenge," said H ale, who has twice won the $10,000 check for first pl ace in th e Cam el Challenge. "But then aga in , there's II ot her times in the season to try for it." Carr was second fastest, at 37.453/ 96.120, ahead of Atherton's 37.471/ 96.074, and Parker's 37.526/95.933. Durelle rounded out the top five fas tqualifiers, turning in a 37.555/ 95.859 lap. Heats Hale sat on the po le in the first of three hea ts tha t each offered th ree direct transfer positions into the ma in , but it was two-time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham who ha d th e fastest clutch hand at the flash of the green lig h t. Hale wasted little time, how ever, an d forced his way into the point-posi tion before the completion of th e first lap. Graham, Larry Pegram and T erry Poo vey chased after the Bar tel s' Per fo r m an ce/Bob H a le/ Bieffe/Motio n ProlTsub ak i/Redline/ Sam Line- backed rider, but met littl e success. Hal e, the 1990 Ca mel Pro Rookie of the Year , p ull ed out to an event ua l 4.5 second lead, and greeted the checke re d fl a g nearly a full straighta way ahea d of Pegram , who worked his way into second. "That sure felt good," sai d Hal e. "At about the halfway point, I looked back and there was no one there, so I tried a lot of different lines." " Man, Mike was go ne," said Ohioan Pegram. " By the tim e I go t into second. there was no touching h im ." Poovey also found hi s way pas t Gra ha m, and scored the th ird tra nsfer position to the main . "T he track is pretty slick," said Poovey , who was aboard the Bub ba Sh obert Racing H ond a RS750 for the first tim e. " We'll have it' dialed in for the main, though." Carr and Durelle co n tro lled th e secon d hea t, as the two riders argued over the lead thro ugho ut th e 1O-lap race. Keith Day, who hails from nearb y Sali nas, Californi a , a n d nearby Arbuckl e, California 's T ed Taylor, kept Durelle of Min nesota and no rthern Californian Carr honest, but were forced to take the bac kseat to the two front-runners. Carr controlled the first few laps, and looked to be pulling away, bu t Durelle closed the gap near the halfway point. "I was havin g some trouble with the rear tire," said Carr. "It started to bl ister a little, so I had to slow down a little. The track seems to be getti ng faster and faster." At the finish line, Durelle nipped Carr by inch es, whi le Day was able to hol d off Taylor for the th ird ticke t to the main . "That was a tough one, I' ni happy to win it," said Durelle, who lists his spo nso rs as Don ah ue Harley-Davidson, Subur ba n H-D, Bell, General Engi neering/Storz, AI Muth H-D , ,.Maxima and Yoko. " For a while, I tho ught Chris was gone, but I was able to snea k up on him . The track seems to be cha ngi ng as the day goes on, we're gonna make some cha nges before the main: . . " "T he track is a lot different tha n it was last time," said Day, who fin ished third at the spring San J ose Mile. " I hope we can ru n up front again, come the main event." . T exan Bill y Herndon had an itchy clutch hand at the start of the third, and fin al heat race, and was sen t to th e back row. Vetera n Steve Moreh ead led' the charge in to the first turn , with Parker, Jones and Atherton on hi s coat tai ls, but Park er found hi s way past Morehead on the opening lap, and for all practical pur poses, the race was over. Just as Hale did in the first heat, Par ker pulled away from his compe titors and scored th e win with a sizeable lead ab oa rd th e Bill Werner-tuned factory Harley. "Smooth sailing," said Parker with a smile. " O nce I got o ut front, I had no worries. I fel t pretty good."

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