Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ePREVIEW 1992 Camel Pro Series I Rating the sliders .- By Donn Maeda hen the green light flashes at the sta rt of the season-opening Dayto na Short Track, 14 of the nation 's best dirt trackers will speed orr the line wit h one thing in their sights: the 1992 Ca mel P ro /Grand Na tiona l Championship. Alo ng with p restige, winn ing the Grand Nationa l Cha mpio nship reaps grea t fin an cial rewards. Eigh t months, 13 cities, 16 races and 365 la p s la ter, o ne ride r will be cro wned cha mp and collect the lion 's sha re o f th e $200,000 poi nt fund p rovid ed by th e R.J. R eyn olds T obacco Company's Came l brand. For th e p ast four yea rs, T eam-Harl ey David son's SCOll Parker has scored the $100,000 bonus, and last year he tied the legendar y Carroll Resweber with four-consecutive Gr and Nat ional titl es and brok e J ay Springs teen's all-time win record of 40. Par ker has no tched up a record 43 career-wins , an d also took over firs t on the all-time mile win list. At the start of th e 199 1 season, Par ker was tied at 25 mi le victor ies with Bubba Shob ert , but add ed four wins o n the lo ng ova ls in 1991 to up his total to 29. Can Parker do it again? Only time wi ll tell. Ah, yes . .. , It 's that time of year again. Ti me to du st off o ur crysta l ba ll to ant icipa te who we feel will do wha t, in 1992. Here are our predictions, based o n th e 1991 Camel Pro Series point sta ndings, and off-seaso n interviews wit h each of the riders. W 1. Scott Parker #1 the cha mp to pass the blue and go ld number-o ne p late to his teamm ate at the end of the '92 season. . 2. Chris Carr #20 Age: 24 Hometown: ValIey Springs, California did J ones succee d in pack ing the stands, but he also went on to win every thing in sig ht. 'George Garvis, o wner of Garvis H onda Town and J on es' major sponsor for the last three years, announced late last year that he was dropping out of Camel Pro Series compe titio n. Hit by that bad new s after six years on Ho nda RS750s, J ones will make the switch to a Harley-Davidso n XR750 ou t of C h a rl ie Ga rd ner 's Illinois-based stable. '" would have liked to stay o n a Honda since I' m so used to the m, bu t the circu mstances just wou ld n' t allow it," said J ones. " It's go n na take some time , bu t I' m sure th at I can ada pt to a Harl ey and get up to speed. " Jones has nine National wins under h is belt, seven on Hondas, and two o n Yamah as. While we can see J ones sco r i n g h is first H arl ey-m ounted Na tio na l win in 1992, we feel that he'll spend the early part of the season struggling to ada p t to his new mount. J on es will al so be introduced to pa ren thood in 1992 as hi s wife, T rina , hris Carr came so close to winning the Grand National Ch ampionsh ip in 1991 that he could taste it. Carr too k over the seri es points lead at round two of the Camel Pro Series and held it until the next-to-last round of the series. He did all he could to keep his cha mp io nshi p hopes ali ve by winn ing the Sacramento Mile season final e, but still lost the cha mpions h ip to Parker via a tie break er decision . " At the start of the year r said it was goi ng to take six wins to be champ ion," said Ca rr. " Parker won six ti mes and he's th e champ. I was mo re consistent, but I'm going to have to win more next year in order to capture the cha mpionsh ip. " A flat tire at Rap id Cit y and a first turn cras h at Pom ona derailed Carr. Had it no t been for those two inci dents , the northern Ca lifornian may have been crowned cha mp. T hree heartbreaks is too mu ch for any ma n to end ure. We see Carr, teamed with tuner Kenny Tolbert , scori ng his first Grand Nati on al Ch ampionship in '92. C Age: 30 Hometown: Swartz Creek, Michigan ast year, Cycl e N ews Edi tor J ack Man gu s o££ered hi s top 10 iist. H e hi t six of them o n the head. Wh en a few disgruntled rid ers ph o ned to argue abou t h is pred ictions early last year, he rep lied, "Hey, p rove me wro ng!" As you can see in the accom pa nyi ng list, severa l of th em did. L 1991 predicted finish ast year was a landmark o ne for SCOll Parker. Although the season started on a bad no te - his factory Harley-Davidso n blew up a t the seaso n opener, the defending cham p ca me back swinging to break th e all-time win record and score h is record-tyi ng fo urth -consecutive Gra nd Nat io nal C h a m p ion sh i p aboard th e Bill Wer n er-t un ed fa ctory H a rl eyDa vi d son. For the pas t three years.Pa rker's po ints adva ntage over three-tim e runner-u p Chris Carr has gotten smaller and sma ller. Last year, the du o fin ished the seaso n in a tie, but Parker was awa rded the cham p ionsh ip by virt ue of hav ing scored more wi ns. " No w tha t I' ve broken the all-ti me win record and tied th e record for fou r champions h ips, I can set my eyes on number five," said a confiden t and op tim istic Parker. "And after th at , who kn ows...Maybe number six?" , Altho ugh, Parker has hi s sights set high and feels that he 'll retain hi s titl e in '92, we feel that he may lack the desir e when it comes down to a door-die situation . With four G rand Nation al Champ ionships and 43 National wins to hi s credit, Parker can' t be as hungry as Carr. Look for 1991 finish I. Scott Parker 2. Chris Carr 3. Steve Morehead 4. Ronn ie Jo nes 5. Kevin Atherton 6. Jay Springsteen 7. Rodney Farris 8. Terry Poovey 9. Will Davis 10. Mike Hale L 18 youngs ter succeed in fin ishing fou rth , overall; but he fin all y " broke the ice" by wi nni ng his first Nati onal at the Pom on a Half Mile. " Cupcake", as h is frien ds call him , stood on th e winner's podiu m two othe r times d urin g the seaso n, and bank ed $20,000 by winni ng bo th Springfield Mile Camel Cha lle nge races. Contrary to off-season ru mo rs that had h im being dropped from the Ha rley facto ry team , Atherto n will return in 1992 aboa rd Al Sta ng lertu ned factory H arleys wi th his sig h ts set on the n umber o ne p late . " Now tha t I' ve wo n a Na tional, I th ink mor e wins will come," said Atherton. "T hey always say that the first o ne's th e hardest, and after th at th ey get easie r. Well , Pom ona was the easiest race of my life, so let's hope so!" Although we see Ath ert on adding to his win list in '92, he still lacks the yea rs of experience th at hi s elder teammates po ssess. But we do see him making it a factory H arl ey-David son 1-2-3 sweep , fini shing th ird. I. Scott Parker 2. Chris Carr 3. Ronnie J ones 4. Kevin Atherton 5. Larry Pegram 6. Steve Morehead 7. Rodney Farris 8. Dave Durelle 9. Ricky Graham 10. Mike Hale 3. is du e to give birt h in May. Put Ronn ie down for sixth and a box of Pam pers. Ronnie Jones #16 4. Age: 31 Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma o nnie J on es' fondest mem ories to dat e came in 1991. Besides winning three National s, somethi ng that Jones had never done befor e in a single season , the personabl e Oklaho ma n made a su ccessfu l debut as a race promoter in hi s hometown. Not o n ly R Kevin Atherton #23 Age: 21 Hometown: White Pigeon, Michigan he third member of the factory H arl ey-Davidson team , Kevin Ath ert on , fin ally came of age in 1991. Not o nly did the personabl e T 5. Larry Pegram #72 Age: 19 Hometown: Columbus, Ohio egram enjoyed a landmark year in 1991. Wh ile o thers struggle for years to score their firs t Na tio na l win , young La rry notched h is first victory in only hi s second year o n the Camel P ro circuit. La st year, Pegram ro de a n Ea ke n -Sponse ller R acing H on da RS750 and was the o nly Honda rider besides J on es a nd two-t i me Grand Na tio na l Cham pion Ri ck y Graham to win a Nat ional. In '92, the team will field th e T exas H arl ey-Davidson-owned XR750 , the o ne T erry P oov ey ca m pa ig n ed throughout mo st of '91, for Pegram . They feel that with " Worm" in the saddle, they have a legitim ate shot at the title. "If 'we don 't hav e any dumb luck and get the bike set up right, I can see myself winning the whole thing," said a confident Pegram. " I' ve only been on the H ondas for one seaso n, so I don't th ink I'm going to hav e as hard a tim e adap ti ng to a Harley as some of the older gu ys." As with any new team , we feel th at P

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