Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

throug h fifth , respectivel y, well off the pa ce. Lancaster H -D's Randy T exter was the fastest off the line in heat two, bu t had Parker, Mike's Harley-Davidso nbac ked George Roeger II , Gardn er Racing's Ro nnie J ones and Carr o n h is' tail. It o nly too k Parker a few seconds to assume the lead, but the four -time champ was surprised to suddenly find himself in third beh ind T exter and Roeder on the next lap. Par ker tired of suc h ga mes and retook the lead o n lap four, and was joi ned at th e head of the pa ck by Carr o n the next circu it. T he two proceeded to swap the lead a few times, and in th e process pull well away fro m the pa ck. Par ker performed the fin al draft pass and gree ted th e checkered flag inches ahead of Ca rr, whi le T exter go t the best of Roeder and Jones to finish a di stant th ird . " T hat went good, " said Parker. " Yo u had to be a lillie careful wh ere yo u went, th e track is pretty sh itty." Bell evill e H onda 's Tim Mert en s holeshot heat three ahea d of Brenny's Cycles-sponsored Camlin, Bartels' HD rid er J a y Sp rings tee n a n d AR R acing 's Davis. At th e pa st th ree Na tionals, Davis comp lained of a lack of pow er, but at Syracuse he fo und the extra po n ies and swooped into the lead o n lap o ne. Once into th e point po siti o n, Davis made his plans clear as he pu lled a way from the field wi th relative ease. " Man, it's good to be on a fast bike again " said Davis. " We tore the bike apart, and fig ured o ut that the cases and cra nk were defecti ve." T he real race was for second. Ca mlin a n d Springst een ba ttled o ver th e po sit ion some 15 bik e-len gths' behi nd Davis, and were join ed late in the race by Donah ue Harl ey-Davidson 's Davey Durelle. Spr ings teen led the cha rge o ut of tu rn four, but Ca mli n and Durelle pu lled o u t of the dr aft at th e last m inu te and the three riders cro ssed the fin ish line in close ord er. After reviewin g a video of the finish , AMA officials declar ed Ca mlin the ru nner-up. "It feels grea t," sa id Cam lin, referring to hi s season-lo ng strea k of qualifyin g for th e Nationa l main events . T he fourth an d fi na l hea t ra ce featured a battle between th e factor y Harley of Ath ert on and the Sponseller Racin g/ T ex as H arl ey-Da vid son of Pegr am. M&:M Racing's Dan In gr am joined in th e fra y in th e earl y laps, but eve n tu a lly drop p ed o ff th e pace. Sa kai da Racing's Terry Poo vey reeled in the front-runners after a lackl uster start and tried to steal th e lead, but was aced ou t of a tra ns fer positi o n at the fin ish . Athert on earn ed th e win wit h 10 bike-lengths to spa re over Pegram , while Poo vey and Ingram fin ished a close third and fo urth , but o u t of luck. " I couldmelt it int o the turns, the tra ck isn 't rea lly grooving up and you can go just abou t anywhere," said Atherton of his hi gh-line choices. In gram led th e way at th e start of the first semi, but Roeder was q uick to cha llenge the former Syra cuse Mil e wi n ner for the point pos ition. The two riders began to pu ll away from the field in th eir battle for the lead, leavin g Spring steen and American HarleyDavidson 's Gordon Sch opieray circli n g th e track a lon ely th ird and fourth, respectively. Engl and Si gn Compan y's R ex Fish er parted company with h is Harley in turn o ne on lap five and th e red flag sto p pe d th e race . Fish er was uninjured , b ut hi s bike wa s to o battered to con tinue. In gr am led th e way at the sing lefile restart, and he and Roeder assumed A disappointing crowd of aro und 4700 watched Parker (I ) gra b the holeshot from the outside pol e at the start of the main. th eir war over the top spot. In gram was ahead wh en it counted, and led Roeder and Sp ri ngs teen across the line and into the main. T exter grabbed the ho leshot in th e second semi, but Hale sto rmed pas t o n lap one. T exter, Durelle and Beattie found thei r way past H ale by the fift h lap, as the 1990 Camel P ro Series Roo kie o f the Yea r co ntin ued to struggle wi th the front end problems that have pl agu ed him th ro ug hout the seaso n. At the finis h , Durelle nipped T exter for the win, while Bea ttie finished a close third to earn a spo t in th e mai n. Brow led the way into turn o ne in the fina l semi, bu t J on es and Poovey pushed their way past and proceeded to pu ll away wh ile trading the lead. Bro w then had his hand s full with Hud Racin g's Bill y Hern do n , com peting in on ly hi s second Nation al since undergo ing recon structive knee surgery in Mar ch . At th e finis h, Poovey edged J on es in the dash for the flag, while Herdon did the sa me to Bro w some 10 bike len gth s behi nd, to earn th e final spot in the l 7-man main event. Fast heat winner Davis sat o n the o utside pole at the start of th e 25-lap Nat io na l , wi th Pa r ker , Atherton , Gra ham, Camlin and Carr to hi s left. Wh en the field blasted through turn o ne for the first tim e, it was Camli n leading the way. Hot on Caml in 's heels were Grah am , Davis, Ing ram and Ca rr. Ath ert on su ffered a terrible start , as he was payin g mo re a u en tio n to th e firewo rks displ ay th an the sta rter. " One of the fireworks blew up o n the ground and I was checking it o ut," said Athert o n. " T hen all of a sudden I looked up and saw th e green ligh t." Atherto n ente red turn o ne nex t to last, bu t on the first lap ran hi gh ' throug h tu rn s three and four a nd swooped pas t the major ity of his rivals. " I melted it int o th ree and fo ur and p icked off j us t about everybody," said Atherton. As the field began lap two, th e running or der read: Grah am, Davis, Camlin , In gram and Atherton, Close behind were Parker and Carr. Ath ert on co nti nued to use hi s high lin es, and mo tored into the lead o n lap four. " He 's you ng, he can do tha t," said Carr (20) diced with George Roeder II (66) in Saturday night's main. Carr finished an eventual fourth, while Roeder faded to si xth. Larry Pegram (72) finished eighth. Atherton (23) led most of Saturday night's main, but couldn't fend Graham abo u t Ath erton 's wild li nes. " He doesn 't kno w better yet." Once into the lead spot, Atherton wicked it up and began to break away from th e field . On th e 10th lap, th e third member of the factory H arley- 0(( Graham (3). Davidson team ha d a 10 bike-length lead over Graha m, who had his hands fu ll with a hard-ch arging Davis. A few bike len gths ba ck, Parker rode a lonely fourt h, wh ile Ca rr and Roeder battled over fifth. 13

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