Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Dan Ingram (31) led Kevin Atherton (23), Parker (beh ind Atherton), Carr (20), Mike ,Hale (32), Ri cky Graham (3) and Rod ney Farris (92) at the start of the 25-lap fin al. past Hill and challenged Pegram in th e end, but Peg ram performed a p ipure-perfect draft pass to score th e Parker (I) and Graham (3) exchange d the lead several times, but Graham's engine began to fail and he drop ped to fou rth. WID. " I feel good eno ug h to win it all," said Pegram, who switched from a Honda RS to a Harley XR for 1992. " I can 't even tell a differen ce in th e bike (Har ley from H onda ). It actually seems easier to ride." Bartels' teammates Springsteen and Ha le stole the show in the first semi as th ey drafted away from the rest of th e field with ease. The two riders each too k th eir tum at the head of the pa ck, but it was the younger Hale who scored the win. Donahue H-D 's Dave Durelle sn uck into the th ird and last tra ns fer po si tio n. A&R Racing's Will Davis controlled the seco'nd sem i, hands do wn. Davis sprinted off with an easy win , wh ile George Roeder II, Ca na di an Steve Beattie and Craig Estelle arg ued over the remaini ng two transfer pos itions. A slip off the groove cos t Roeder a spo t in the sho w, as Beattie and Estell e finished second and th ird , repectively. Hill grabbed another standout holeshot in th e fin al sem i, but Ronnie J ones, riding a Harley XR750 for the first time after having spent years campaigning a Honda RS750, slid hi s Gardner Racing mount into the lead o n the first lap. Although Hill stayed close , he never found a way past Jones. Brenny's Cycle/Wiebler's H -D-backed Dave Camlin finished a lonely third and earned a spot in the main. . Camel Challenge For 1992, th e Camel Challenge purse has been cu t from $17,500 to $10,000, but th e race action was as good as ever. Carr reacted quickest at the flash of the green light and led Hale, Atherton and Par ker across the line at the end of the first of five laps. Hale found a hot line on lap two and swooped into th e lead, while Parker nosed his way past Atherton for third. Carr and Hale exchanged the lead twi ce more, but were sur p rised on lap four when Parker drafted past both of th em on the back straight. " I didn't get a great start and I was j ust runni ng third, when I thought, 'Hey, you better get going if you want to win this on e,' " said Parker. Once into the top money position, Parker hel d his line an d won , scori ng the $5000 first pl ace check, ahead of Carr, Hale, Atherton and Pegra m. Rogers ran as high as fo urth on the third lap, bu t p u lled from the track sho rtly thereafter when his " boom box" muffler - req ui red beca use of stiff noi se restrictions at Ca l-Expo fell off. "1 figured that I'd better pull off before I dropped a valve," said Rogers. "The main is wh a t counts. " J u nior I n vi tati o n a l Third h ea t wi n ner J eff Eklu nd blasted off th e line fastest at th e sta rt of th e 12-lap Junior main event and led Craig Howard and hea t two winner Cory Perrault into tum o ne. H eat one w i n n er Allon Mc Bee mi ssed a shift off the li ne, and was nearly rear- ended by the second and third row s as he struggled to get hi s bike into gear. Eklund , the nephew o f form er Grand Nati on al Cha mp ion Steve Eklund wh o lost h is life afte r su ffering brain damage in a race two years ago, enjoyed the lead for only a few laps, as McBee blast ed through the field after fina lly getting hi s tra ns m iss ion enga ged and stole the lead on lap six . Once into the point position, McBee began to pu ll away from th e rest of the field. Eklund, Perrau lt a n d H o ward battled over the runner-up pos itio n, but it was Ek lund wh o topped tha t battle. McBee scored an easy win over Ekl und, Perrault and Howard. Ronald Bro wn finished a distant fifth . " After I missed that sh ift on the li ne I had to reall y work hard to catc h up," sa id So wle R acer s/Stin ger /Sho ei/ T orco/Walter Bros. H -D/Zoom/Custom Ch rom e/R enta r ia Bros. sponsored McBee. " Once I go t o u t front, th ough , I just set my ow n pace and pu lled away." National Fast heat race winner Ath erton chose to sta rt the 25-lap Na tio na l o n the o u tside pol e, but it was In gram who ha d the fastest clutch hand and led th e field into turn one. Atherton sn uck past a slowi ng In gram on the back stra igh t and assu med the lead. " My rig h t foo tpe g fell off," said a disappointed Ingram , wh o dr opped to an event ual 16th. " I had no thing to p ut my foot on 1 As the race went on, my leg started to cra mp up from just trying to hold on." Wh ile Athert on bega n to p ull away , Grah am, Pegram , Park er and Carr battled over second. " My plan was to sp lit early," said Athe rto n, wh o en joyed a 15-b i ke length lead on la p five. Pegram sli p ped off th e groove in tu rn three o n lap six and mom entarily dropped off the pace , but recovered in tim e to hang o n to a distant fifth. "Someone ra mmed me right off the groove," said Pegram. " I lost a lmost a whole straigh tawa y on those guys after th at ." Parker took co nt ro l of the battle for second o n lap seven and bega n to close the ga p on Atherto n. Graham and Carr stu ck to the rear of Parker's bike and followed suit. Atherton began to lap slo wer riders on lap eig h t, and by lap nine, Parker had reeled in h is you nger teammate. " Whe n I started to lap gu ys I loo ked back and saw wh at a lead I had ," said Atherton . " Then I tho ugh t abo u t last year and decided to slow it down a bit so I wou ldn 't burn up my ti re again." Atherton bro ke away early a t last spring' s Sacra mento Mile, but overheated a tire and dropped back to fifth at the fin ish. Parker snuck up and passed Ath erton on lap 10. Graham and Carr were next to cha llenge Atherton , as they also had caug ht up. At the halfway poi nt Parker, Atherton , Graham and Carr rode on ly inc hes apart, wh ile Pegram circled the track a lonely fifth . Beh ind Pegr am , Farris , Roger s a n d a struggli ng In gram arg ued over sixth, while J ones, Sprin gsteen and Hale battled for ninth. After tak ing o ver the front running posi tio n, Parker enjoyed the lead for five lap s until both Graham an d Atherton dr afted pa st him as the y entered turn one. 7

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