Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127555
GmRT TRACK Old Time Newsies Regional Half Mile e Rick y Graham (3), George Roeder II (66) and Doug Davi es (41) dice for the big ' bucks in the $1000 Edgar Fuhr Dash For Cash. Roeder pocketed the money. Larry Pegram (72) and Steve Morehead played in the Dayton mud during a heat race. Roeder bests Old Time Newsies Half Mile By Ber t Shepard DAITON, OH, JUNE 6 Be 7 eorge Roeder II is a patien t fell ow. Foul weather at the 22nd running of the Old T im e Newsies Regional Half Mile delayed th e program that ra n early into th e nex t morning, but Ro eder waited it out a nd was rewarded with the win. Roeder literally ra n a way from the field wh ile his homesta te rival , Steve Moreh ead , came from back in the pack to gar ner second-place honor s a t the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. With th e five fastest Experts qualifyi ng for a shot at the $1000 first-place prize in the Edgar Fu hr Dash For Cash, G 6 qualifyin g was interesting. T hree of th e participants in the dash q ua lified early. Dou g Davis turned in a 26.632 second la p , while Gr eg Sim s (26.487) and Ricky Grah am (26.602) were the o ther two earl y quali fiers. Roeder set the mar k for o thers to shoo t at in the middle of the qual ifyi ng sessio n a nd along the way set a new track record. "We made a few cha nges to make it hook up better and it felt like a low 26, too bad they don 't pay off the way you qualify;" mused Roeder, who blistered the track with a 25.992-second lap . Junior division winner James Hart (16P), runner-up Rod Mashue, who rode an unfamiliar bike in the main, (78X) and J ess Roeder (69F) made the best of the night. Bryan Ville lla 's ticket to the da sh came wi th a ,26.625-second lap near th e end of th e tim e trial session. Five-tim e event-winner Steve Morehead p rov ided the drama. Qualifying after Roeder, Mor ehead waived off a 26.498, a tim e th at would have put him in the dash . " I ca ught m y foo t in turns one a nd 'two a nd I knew that lap wo uld not ha ve been good enoug h to beat George. We reall y screwed ourselves - we didn 't get in the Fergi e race" said a disapp o inted Mor ehead. Mo rehead a nd tuner Ga ry Stolzenbu rg th rashed to soften u p h is Harl eyDa vidso n. . T he Juni ors were next to qual ify as the skies darkened a nd th e weather started to threaten. J am es Hart uncorked a 26.356-second la p , a nd hi s bro th er Roy popped a 26.781. J am es' ti me was the second fastest of th e even i ng , be tte red o n ly by G eorge Roeder's blast. Roy's effo rt wa s the n inth fastest overall. J ess Roeder was also very quick with a 26.943 lap. Wit h the weather closing in, the Expert s were br ought to the line first. Roeder too k co m mand of the first heat a nd was never headed. David Lloyd got an excelle nt start a nd ran seco nd , but Darr en Erichsen shadowed his every move . Wi th a lap to go, Erichsen sto le second from Lloyd, a nd th e top three finis hing and transfer positions were set . Fourth-place fin ish er Haro ld Dors ey made the IO-man main whe n Roed er ' s winning time was later declar ed the fast est of the night. In heat two, David Rayburn won the race to the first turn but Larry Pegram was at the fro nt of the pa ck after the com p letion of the first to ur . Doug Davi s was in a hurry, and got by Rayburn before the rain brought a premature ending to th e second heat. Steady rain for th e next 15 minu tes altered ,the rest of the even ing. For the next three hours, the gro und keepers , a nd Buds Race Track Service battled with what many felt was a n impossible task . The third expe rt heat fill ed the start ing line just as th e clo ck struck midn igh t and Mor eh ead went to the front for th e win. Georgie Price and a determined Ricky Graham gav e wha t was left of a 'capacity cro wd a great show as they battled for seco nd . Graham ended u p second and Price was third. Visibility was a prob lem for all but th e fro nt ru n ner. At the start of the main , Ricky