Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDII}}FlUCK e AMA/Camel Pro Grand Nation~ Championship---S_eri_es:_Fi_na_lr_ou_nd_ , ' ....... 0') 0') ....... ~ .c o .... u LI o Four-time Grand Nation al Champion Scott Parker is flanked by Miss Camel Paige Thomas (left) and tuner Bill Wern er (righ t). Race to Carr, title to Parker at Sacramento Mile By Don n Maeda P h o tos by Mitch Fri ed m a n SACRAMENTO, CA, OCT. 12 hile Chris Carr wo n the battle, it was h is factory H arl ey 'tea mmate, Scott Park er, who wo n the war. For the first time in series h istory, two tit le contenders ended the seaso n in a tie. At the en d of the 16-race series, Carr and Parker eac h boasted 225 points, but by virtue of more wins, Pa rker was awarded his record-tying fourth consecutive Grand National Championship. " I guess it's li ke a "push " in blackjack, and Scotty is the house," said Carr. " T hey alwa ys sa y that championships ar e wo n by consisten cy, but I gu ess in this case, it didn 't ap p ly, did it?" Throughout the series, though, Carr did prove 10 be the more consistent of the tWO, never dropping out of the to p 10, whi le Pa rker's season included a DNF and two sub -L Oth place finishes. "The season started off bad with that ' breakdown at Daytona," said Pa rker. " But I was n't really worried. I al ways seem to come o n rea l stro ng at the end of the seaso n, espec ially at the mil es." From the flash of th e green light a t the sta rt of the Valvol in e-sponsor ed Sacrame nto Mile , Parker a nd Carr set a torrid pace that separated them from the 15 o ther riders who circled the track. Gardner Racing's Rodney Farris topped the battle for th ird, and ended the 1991 series with hi s best fini sh of th e season. W 6 In a di splay of sports manshi p, Carr urged Parker 10 accompany h im o n hi s post-race victory la p. To the delight of the 18,654 spec tators on hand for th e C hris Aga ja n ian P rese nt spromo ted race, the tWO factory Harl ey riders ci rcl ed t h e tra c k toget her, celebra ting mutual victory by ta king a lap two- up aboard Carr's Ken ny Tolber t-tu ned XR 750. "It ~as something I had thought of earl ier in the week," said Carr. " I kn ew that even if I won, it would be a co ld day in hell tha t Scotty would finish third or wors e." Garvis Hon da rid er Ro nn ie J ones strugg led wi th chassis setup in the 25lap ma in event, a nd co uld onl y muster a 13th place fin ish . Ho wever, Jones ha d a lrea dy clinched third in the series, a nd finis hed wit h 169 points, well a head of Kevin Ath erto n. Ath erton, the third member of the factory Harl ey team, finis hed fou rth wi th I36 po ints , desp ite str uggling to a 11th p lacefin ish a t Sacrame nto. P arker' s fourth G ra nd Na tiona l Cha m p io ns h ip . ties , 'h i m with th e legendar y Car roll Resweber. T hey are th e o n ly ri ders 10 have wo n fou r cha mpions hips in the 37-yea r hi sto ry of th e G ra nd Nation al Champ ionshi p Series . Resweber scored his cham p ionships in the years 1958-61, also aboa rd a factory Harley-Dav idson . In his time , however , Resweb er did not enjoy a wa rds l ike th e $ 100,000 give n by Camel for th e Gra n d Natio na l Cha mp ionshi p, a nd th e $45,000 H a rleyDavidson bonus tha t Park er recieved. No t to mention paydays like Carr enjoyed, co llecti ng $5220 of the $35,000 Sacramento purse. " After I bro ke Sp ri ngsteen's reco rd of 40 wins, I set m y eyes o n Resweber's record of four cha m pions h ips," said Par ker. " No w who kno ws. . . maybe five?" T ime trials Park er attac ked the Ca l-Ex po Fairgrou nds' mile trac k a nd turned in the day's fastest qual ifyin g lap of 37.157 seco nds, at 96.886 mph , well off the track recor d of 37.012/ 97.266 set by Carr earlier in the year. " Bill Werner has go t the bike d ialed in perfe ct ly," said Pa rker. " Now all I have 10 do is rid e the thi ng ." T erry Poo vey ripped around the track aboard the Bu bba Shobert Racing Hon da RS750 10 post the seco nd fastest la p at 37.296/96.525, a nd Bartels' Perfo rma nce-backed Mike Hale turned in a la p at 37.328/ 96.442 10 be cred ited as thi rd fastest. Steve Morehead was close beh ind with a 37.338/ 96.416, whi le Ricky Graham a nd Carr had laps at 37.400/ 96.256 and 37.409/ 96.233,. resp ectivel y. Carr earned the final spot in th e five -la p, $17,500 Camel Cha lle nge, a dash-for-cash race that incl udes only the six fa stest qualifiers of the da y. Heats Dim in ut ive Dave Du rell e pu t his ligh t weigh t 10 go od use in the first heat , a nd sped into turn one wi th the lead . Beh ind Dur ell e came Park er, J a y Spri ngs teen a nd Carr, all racin g for one of the th ree d irect-transfer position s. Durell e was unto uchabl e for th e first th ree laps, a nd stre tched o ut 10 a com for tab le lead whi le the o thers tried 10 keep u p. J ones sudde n ly eme rged a mo ng the leaders after starti ng poorly, a nd closed to Carr's rear tire. _ "I had to ta ke my time," said J on es. " I didn 't ge t a great sta rt , but I didn 't wa nt to ge t over -anxio us." Carr and J ones found a ' ho t line around Spri ngs teen , a nd took over third a nd fourth, respecti vely, wh ile Parker began to ree l in Donahue H arl ey-Davidson 's Durell e. Parker ate a way a t Durell e's lead, a nd found h is way past at the halfway point of the 1O-l ap race. Once Parker got by, Durell e seemed 10 slow, a nd allowed firs t Carr, then J ones 10 scoot past. " I didn't feel real comforta ble, a nd' wh en Parker caug ht me, it ra ttled me a bit," said Dur elle, who finished fourth. Once into the lead, Parker exte nded; hi s lead to 10 bi ke-len gths at th e' c hecke re d £la g. Ca rr ca me h om e second , j us t a hea d of J on es. " T ha t was as easy as it looked," said Park er wit h a smi le. "Now all I ha ve! to do, is do it two mor e tim es." •I "We have 10 make a few cha nges ," said Carr. " I' ve go t a goo d feel for wha t I have to do now to beat him. " Graham was fastest into turn one in th e second heat , but slip ped off the groo ve a nd allowed Will Davi s and Poovey by. Poov ey dra fted past Dav is and assumed the lead o n the back stra ig ht. Farris suffered a poor start, but h is : wild riding was rewa rded when he moved into fourth. behi nd G raha m. J USt behind Farris sat Atherton, who ' was also mired a t the start. G raha m blew pa st Davis on lap four a nd sett led int o seco nd. O n the next la p, Farr is a nd Atherton also carried thei r ba ttl e past Da vis. Together , Graham. Atherton a nd Far r is freight-tra ined u p t() Poo vey's rea r wh eel to make it a four-way battle for the wi n. Atherton rod e the hi gh lin e on lap eigh t a nd mot ored into the lead, on ly 10 have Poo vey reclaim it o n th e foll o win g la p. In th e dash for the checkered flag , Poovey was able to edge h is co mpe titors, wh ile both Graham a nd Farris were a ble to dra ft pas t Ath ert on . "Hey! I look ed lik e I' m supposed to, didn 't I?" said Poovey of his win . " I felt fast er in th ree a nd four, but they were gell in g me in one a nd two. T hat 's ' okay, I saw Kevin use a goo d lin e wh en he go t by me. Now I kn ow where 10 go later." " Man , the cl ut ch went ou t a t th e start ," said a relieved Farris. " I did a ' damn wh eelie rig ht off the lin e, and wh en I gra bbed the clu tch there was nothing there!" T he -th ird hea t saw Rookie Steve Rasm ussen lead the field into turn one, bu t Eaken -Spo nsell er Racin g's Larry Pegr a m for ced hi s way past o n the back .stra ig htaway. ' " I pu lled wa y insi de on the bac k straight, and I fou nd a ho le 10 get by," said Pegra m. T exa n Bill y H erndon a nd vetera n Steve Mor ehead followed Pegr am past Rasm ussen , and bot h look ed for a way into the lead . Hern don was the first to make a move, and drafted past Pegr am as they ente red turn three, but Pegram reta lia ted with a n ident ica l pass o n the next lap. On the sixth la p , the leaders were jo ined by Hale, who was forced 10 wor k through the pack. _ Hal e d rafted in to the lead o n la p seven. Ha le th en tried 10 br ea k the draft, but instead slipped off th e groove in turn three and dro pped 10 fourth. "Can you believe it?" Hal e sa id. " I , worked my buu off to ge t tip front, th en sli p ped and went from first 10 fourth." Peg ram was h appy to gai n the lead. a nd held o n 10 win heat th ree. Herndon o u t-dashed Mor ehead 10 the line, bu t just after the £lag th e tWO riders made ' co ntact and Herndon was sent to the gr ound.

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