Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; DIRT TRACK AMA Grand NationalChampionship_/_m_el_Pf_ _n_ : R_OU 2 C a oSe 'es_ _Dd_ _ ~ Chris Carr (20) drafted past four -time Grand National Champion Scott Parker (1) to score his second-consecutive win of the season and third Sacramento Mile win in a row. Carr continues to rule Sacramento Mile By Donn Maeda Photo by Mitch Friedman SA CRAM ENTO, CA, A 1 PR. 8 cott Parker may be the King of th e Mil es, but Ch ris Carr ha s stolen the Sacrament o Mile cro wn. A cro wd of 16,483 spe cta tors turned out for the Chris Agajanian Presentsp romoted event to witness Carr's thirdconsecu tive win at the Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds, wh ile four-time Grand National Champion Parker was aga in for ced to p lay the bridesmaid. Carr's victory extends the Team H arl ey-Da vid son Sacramento Mil e win strea k; he and teammate Parker have won the last eight races at the fair grounds. " T his is like a hometown race for me," said H arl ey-Davidson/ Arai /Hap J ones/Sunoco/Knight/Yoko-backed Carr, wh o ha ils from nearby Valley Springs. ''' 1 th ink it' s an advantage being able to sleep in your own bed the night before. " For Carr, the win made i t two straight. He won the season opening Daytona Sh ort Track the first week in March . "Yeah , I've won two so far, but I'm not gonna put a lot of pressure on myself yet, there's 14 races to go," said Carr, who pocketed $5000of the $33,000purse. All was not lost for Parker, th ou gh , as the Harley-Davids on /Bell /HOG/ SBS /Tsuba ki- sponsored defending champ jumped from seventh to second in th e series point sta ndings, 16 points behind leader Carr , 40-24. Parker also fatt ened hi s wall et with a win .in th e $10,000 Camel Challenge. " The way' I look at is, hey, I have more points than I did last year at th is tim e," said a con fident Parker. ''I'm not worried." Rounding out the top three was S 6 Eaken-Sponseller Racin g/Texas Harley Dav idson /Sho ei /M ot ion P ro/ Supertrapp/ Sunoco/MJ USA-backed Larry Pegram, wh o reeled in and passed a slowing Ricky Graham in the last few laps. Graham battled with Parker and Carr th roughout mos t of the 25-la p National , bu t bega n to slow in th e closin g stages with a laboring motor. Riders struggled throughout th e evening with a track that man y co nsidere d th e wor st-ever a t th e fairgrounds. A new inside guard rail had been in stalled, a nd beca use of the recent rainy wea ther in the area , the work wasn 't fin ished unt il the week prior to the even t. The track was still damp as the 38 Experts too k to the track for tim ed quali fyin g laps, and deep holes and ruts began to form in - the turns. Time trials Parker bounced around the trac k fastest in qual ifyin g, pos ting a lap of 38.866 seconds at 92.626 mph. Though it was th e fastest of th e eveni ng, Parker's time was well off th e track record of 37.012/ 97.226 set by Carr in April of 1991. Rounding o ut th e six fastest qualifiers who wo uld compete in the fivelap Camel Cha llenge were Kevin Atherton , Carr, Ru sty Rogers, Pegram and Mike Hal e. Heats Sacramento marked the debut of a new race format that now offers four, rather than three, IO -Iap heat races, and three, ra ther than two, IO-lap semis . Each heat race transferred the top two finishers to the main, while the third throug h last pl ace fini shers rode in a semi . Each semi offered three tra ns fer positions. La st yea r, a rider th at finis hed last in hi s heat wo uld spend the rest of the even ing spectating. T he new format was designed to give a ll ride rs two cha nces at qualifyin g. Parker ri pped off the lin e in th e first heat , bu t two-time Grand National Cha mpion Graham snuck by on th e back straigh t o n the first lap. Parker a nd Graham engaged in a drafting d uel that carried them away from the rest of the pack, but the red fla g came ou t on lap seven when Texan Willie McCo y fell vi ctim to th e rou gh conditio ns. Parker headed the pack at the sing lefile, fo ur-lap restart, but Grah am again snuck p ast o n th e back stra ig h t. Graham led for only two laps befor e anot her red flag came o ut. McCo y and second-year Expert J ason Fletch er tan gled in turn three, but neither rider was injured. The race-was ca lled and Graham was credi ted with the win. Pa rk er clai me d th e second d irect transfer posi tio n, while the rest would wai t for ano ther chan ce in a semi . " I felt great, I could stay right with Parker an d draft right by him," sai d Graham who was riding th e Goad -Irb y Honda RS750. " I' ve been training hard and I can see it pa ying off now." Heat two saw a heated dice between Rodney Farris, back o n the Eddi e Ad kins XR750, and H arl ey teamster Atherton. Farris assumed th e early lead , but Atherton sli pstreamed past on th e th ird lap. Farris retaliated a few laps later, but it was Ath ert on who crossed the finish line first. Three-time Grand Nati on al Champion Jay Springsteen , a bo a rd th e Bartel s' XR750 , finished a distant, but comfortabl e third, but would ha ve to ride a sernr. " T he track is rea lly ro ug h , but there are a few good lines out there," said Atherton. " Farr is was going good, I didn 't expect him to pass me back." Ingram, in his fir st ride on th e M&M Honda RS750, sho t off the line in the third he at, but Hal e, abo ard th e Bartels' Harley, found a faster lin e through turn two and stole th e lead . No t for long, though, as Carr dr afted past both Ingram and Hale on the foll owing strai gh t and assumed the point. Hale slipped off the groove on the next la p, all owing Carr and Ingram to sli p away. The red flag came o ut on lap four when Californian Keith Day lost control in turn two and crashed hard. Day was kicked over the bars in a series o f holes and h is Honda smash ed through the ou tside guard rail. Day was transported to nearby U. c. Davis Medi cal Center for exa mination, and was treated for a fractured ankle. Ingram head ed th e pa ck on th e single-file restart and went on to score the win . Carr traded draft passe s with the Indiana rider, but came up with th e sho rt end of the stick at the finish and had to settle for seco nd. "You hav e to pay attention to where yo u go o u t there, and you 've got to hang o n real hard," said Ingram. The fourth and fin al heat belonged to Pegram. Aaron Hill grabbed a huge holeshot at the start of the contes t, but Pegram would not be denied. After starting third, Rogers found his way

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