Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ DIRTTRACK AMA Grand NationalChampionship/Camel ProSeries: Rounds 6&7 Goad-Irby Hon da RS750, spe nt the ent ire race engaged in a dogfigh t for fourt h , and prevail ed at th e wave of th e checkered flag. With th ird and first -place finishes, Parker cont inued to ex tend his' series points lead over Carr, 11 7-106. "T ha t's the idea, just keep plugging awa y," said Pa rker. Grah am and Parker each earned .$5000 for their respective wi ns, as each event boasted . a purse of $45,000. A di sappointin g crowd of ap proxima tely 6100 spec tators watch ed as Grah am scored hi s Sa turda y n ight win , an d even less - app ro ximately 4700 ca me o u t o n Su n day to witn ess Parker's triumph. "We attribute th e low turnout to the ca nce la tio ns a nd rai n -o u ts in th e past ," said former Gr and National Ch ampi on Mike Kidd, th e AMA National dirt track manager and promoter of th e weekend's races. "We have a five-year pl an that we hope will get this event back on its feet." In 1989 an d 1990, th e Syracuse National was rained out and th e promoter of those even ts, Don Brymer , refus ed to give ticket refunds, insisting that ticket holders use the tickets for the " following year' s" race. Another promoter stepped forward last year and the even t returned to the schedu le, but was then dropped when irate' ticket holders from the two previous rainedo ut event s insisted on being able to excha nge their " old " tickets for the '91 ra ce. Kidd' s solu tio n wa s to offer reserved seat ing for the general ticket price to those who po ssessed unused tickets. e Saturday Two-time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham (center) bested Kevin Atherton (left) and Sco tt Parker (right) on Saturday. Parker (I) roared back with a vengeance on Sunday and notched his 47th career National win ahea d of Chris Carr (20). Graham, Parker pour it o n at Syracuse Twin Mile s By Donn Maeda Photos by Mitch Fri edman and Maeda 12 SYRACUSE, NY, JUNE 1 3-14 t was a weekend of cham pio ns at the Mike Kidd Promoti ons Syra cuse Twin Mile, as two- time Grand National Cha mpio n Ricky Graha m I and fo ur-time Grand National Champi on Scott Parker ruled the two-day even t. Graham swep t Sa turday ni gh t's program at the New York State Fair- ' gro u nds i n co n vi nci n g sty le and no tched his first win of the season , while reig ning cha mp Parker did the same in Sun day' s day race. Graham 's 26th career Nat ional win ca me at th e expense of early race leader Kevin Atherto n, who fell victim to an ongoing battle with bronchitis. bu t man aged to salvage second . Park er suffered a less-than-stellar start and worked into a close th ird by the race's end. Parker bo unced back on Su nda y and after a race-long battle with h is fellow H arley-Davidso n facto ry team rider and biggest rival , Ch ris Carr, notch ed his 47th Natio na l win , extendin g his own record. Carr was a close second, wh ile Ather ton 'again str uggled with breathi ng difficu lties and fini sh ed a dis tan t thi rd. Gra ha m , aboard th e Gr ah am set the pace early in the day by posting the fastest qualifying time of 36.774 seconds at an average speed of 97.89 m ph. Grah am 's lap was by far th e fastest of the day, as he was th e on ly rider to break the 36-second bracket. Carr was second fastest, over a ha lf-second slowe r, with a 37.266/ 96.60. Graham 's hot lap was well off the track 'record of 35.968/ 100.89 set by Bubba Shobert in 1986. " T he track isn 't as fast as it was then. The clay isn't stay ing together in the turns, " exp lained Graham . "T he best way to get th rough the turns is to just no t shu t ofr." Also q ual ifying fast and ro un ding out th e top six in close order were Will Davis, Larry . Pegram, Atherto n an d Davey Camlin. Ho wever, ther e was no Camel Ch all en ge at the even t. ,As fast quali fier, Graha m sat o n the outs ide pole of the first of four heat races th at eac h o ffere d two direct transfer position s. .At th e flash of the green ligh t, Steel Masters-backed Don Estep sped off the line and led Gra ham, M&M Racing's Garth Brow and Deeley Harley-David son-sponsor ed Ca na dian Steve Beattie throug h the fir st turn. Graham stuck to th e rear whe el of Estep 's H arl ey, and th e two riders slowly but surely p u lled away from the rest of the field . Brow spent the entire race a lo ne in thi rd , whil e Beattie battled over fourth in the earl y stages wi th Jas on Fletcher. It wasn 't until th e fifth lap tha t Graha m made a move and forced his way into th e lead. "T hey wa tered th e track befor e the heat s, and I knew it would be totally different," said Graha m. " I needed to get a feel for it befor e I pi nned it." Estep wou ld no t give up easily, th oug h , and he swa pped th e lead with Gra ham a few times befor e eventua lly dropping back near the fini sh . Graham crossed the finish lin e six bike lengths ahead of Estep , while Brow, Beattie and Fletcher finished th ird

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