Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRAK C AMA Grand National Championship/Cm r a elPoSeries: Rounds 6&7 " We just had 'the wrong combo for the ma in," said Carr o f his fourthplace finish . "The mois ture ca me up a nd th e track felt greasy. I j ust never felt comforta ble." Like Athert on, fifth -pl ace finish er Davis str uggled with h is health. " I ate a grea sy pei ce o f tenderloin a nd I got foo d poisoning," said Davi s. "I felt real wea k o u t there." Roeder fin ished sixth, right behind Davis, to record h is best-ev er fin ish o n a mile track, whi le Pegra m finishe d a lonely seven th a few bike len gths behind . Rounding ou t the top 10 in close order alt ho ugh quite a way back were Ingram , J on es and Ca m lin. ~ Teammates Parker (1) and Carr (20) tra ded th e lead seven times in Sunday's main. On Sunday, Graham (3), T im Mertens (53) Pegram (72) and Will Davis (21) argued over fou rth . G raham top ped Davis and Pegram at the finish line . Mertens was eigh th. 14 At t he halfway point, At herton began to back off th e pace, and his seemi ngly insurmoun tab le lead began to shrin k. " I started to cough and choke," said Atherton . " I figu red it wou ld be easier to let R icky ca tch up and follow h im tha n to lead ." And ca tch up G raham d id. Slowly . but sure ly, Graham at e away a t the . distance between h imself and Ath erton , as did . Parker to clos e the gap between hi mself a nd Graham. Gra ham closed to the rea r wheel of Ath erton , bu t seem ed co n ten t to fo llow. " I ca ugh t up and figu red tha t I wo u ld just stay behind him; there was no reaso n to pl ay games," sai d Graham . "Then I looked back a nd saw Sco tty coming a nd I figu red it was time to go ." Graham drafted past Atherton o n the back straight o n the 20th lap , bu t Ath erton struck back two laps la ter. Not to be o u tdo ne after catc hi ng up, G ra ham retook the lead on the sta rt o f th e 23rd lap , a n d never aga i n relinq uis hed it. On th e las t lap , Pa rker sn uck into seco nd, bu t wa s sent bac k to third when Atherton dove into turn th ree for th e last time. Ath ert on then proceeded to la tch ont o th e rear wheel o f G ra ha m's Goad- Irby/ Arai /Hondalin e/Weim er P lum b in g / Fl o o rs b y Long/ Sp orts Cente r/Yamaha o f Salin as /S&S U no ca llT sub aki /M att ' s Muffl e r s/ Sp orts /L M F / H a y w a r d Tire/ Hog Wash /Ma tt Rohr/ Aamco/ Ed Fish er /J o h n n y Du P on t-backed H onda RS750, bu t it would be in vain as G raham edged hi m across th e finish lin e bv a few in ches. Parker fini shed on ly '; brea th beh in d in third, wh ile Carr fina lly go t th e upper hand on Davis and Roeder for fourth. "T he re was a tai lwind o n the front straig ht th a t mad e it real hard to draft," sai d Atherton. " I wa nt ed to lead off four, but Ricky wouldn 't let me!" Parker was less than festive after the even t. "The track was a pi ece of shit , a nd not because I did n 't win, " sai d Parker. " It was ro ug h , groov ed up a n d dangerous." Jun ior National J ohn Resso bested Raymond Du gan, Ban Schmu lbach a nd Ty H oward in th e firs t six -lap J un ior heat, a nd a ll fou r rid ers earn ed transfers to th e main. Allan McBee mad e q uick work o f the second heat after a poor sta n a nd led J ess Roeder, Roy H a n a nd Rob Mill er into th e m a in , w h ile J ames H a r t ditch ed th e field in th e third a nd fin al hea t. T ra iling H an across the lin e a nd in to the main were Kevin Varnes, Ken Yoder a nd T im Selby . At the sta rt o f the 15-lap J u nior Natio na l, Roeder , the wi n ner of the seaso n-opening Springfield Mi le, led th e way into turn o ne. Roeder immediately began to leave his peers behind, wh ile McBee, Du gan a nd H art ba ttl ed over second. . Resso came to life on la p three after a poor start, and closed in on the lead pack. Resso motored in to .second on lap six, and a t a bo u t the same time, Roeder began to fade. " T he th rottle tightened u p , and m y arms p umped up," said Roeder. Resso passed Roeder on the next la p , as d id Hart and McBee a few seco nds la ter. Ro eder lost h is front end o n th e I I th lap in turn two a nd the red flag ca me out. Resso was never serio u sly cha llenged after the single-file res tart, and not ched th e win j ust a hea d of McBee, Varnes a nd Selby. "This is great, " said Moroney's H a rl ey- Da vid son /Sh eldon O il spo nsored Resso. " I fast timed toda y a nd won my heat. I go t a bad start in th e main bu t I was able to pass pretty wel l." Sunday Lik e Gra h a m did o n Saturday, Pa rk er laid claim to Su nday 's event ea rly o n as he posted th e fastest qualifyin g lap of the da y. Parker 's 38.302/ 93.989 la p was n earl y two seconds slower th an Graham's fast la p the previo us da y. "T he track is as slick as snot," said Parker , who was a n early q ua li fier. " It seems to be getting slo wer as th e day goes o n, I'm g lad I didn' t wave off or something. " Park er was indeed correct, as q ua lifying times go t slower a nd slower as the sessio n progressed. Atherto n , Ca rr, Mor eh ead, Rich Kin g a nd Durell e ro unded ou t the six fastest q uali fiers. Park er grabbed the hol esh ot a t th e sta rt of the firs t heat and for a ll practical purposes, the race was over. H e went on to lead eac h o f th e 10 la ps u nc ha llenged an d ro mped off wi th th e win. Poovey, Mertens a nd H ern don argued o ver the runner-up a nd th e th ird and las t d irect tra nsfer spot,with Poovey eme rging wi th second , som e nin e seconds be h i n d P a r ker , a nd Mert en s takin g third. "T he tra ck is better today , but it 's st ill like glass o ut th ere," sa id Par ker. " O nce I go t th e sta rt , I just went to work." . Ath erton led th e field in to tu rn one in the second hea t, b ut slipped 0[£ the groove on the second la p a nd dropped to fourth beh ind Ha le, Ingram and Texter. Athert on wast ed litt le tim e and imm edi at ely repassed Texter. A few turns la ter , Ath ert on a lso m ad e quick work of Hale and In gram and motored back into the lead . O nce into the lead, Ath erton ex tended his advantage to 10 . bike lengths at th e finish. Ingra m held on for th e runner-up position ' over Rogers, T exter and Hale. Pegram, who ra n fifth in the earl y go ing, p u lled off the track o n lap seve n when his carbu retor fell o ff. G ra ham ripped off th e line a t the sta rt of the third heat and led Durelle, J on es and Ca rr. Durell e momentar ily m oved in to th e lead, but G raham was quick to ans wer with a pass of h is own. Carr ca me to 'life o n lap six a nd swoope d into the lead, wh ile J o nes a nd Du rell e ca me together in tu rn one. Durelle drop ped o ff th e pace . for a moment, but rega in ed his composu re in tim e to in heri t third wh en J ones coasted off th e track with a broken ign itio n coil. Graham led the charge ou t o f turn fo ur fo r the ch ec ke re d fl a g , bu t wobbled a bi t. T hat was a ll Carr needee d , a nd he was q ui ck to draft by and stea l th e wi n. Graham join ed Carr in the main, whi le Durell e wo ul d have to try again in a semi. Morehead was q uick to jum p into the lead in th e final heat race, but was surprised when Kin g blasted past by on lap five. Moreh ead g lued himself to King's rear fender, but was again u pset whe n Brow a lso muscled past on lap seven. Pat ience wo u ld pay off for th e series veteran as a slip o ff the groove sent Brow reeling back to last. Kin g recorded the wi n wi th only in ches to sp a re, wh ile Moreh ead was happ y to transfer with a second place finish. "A fter a ll the clutch problems I had yesterday, I'll ge t th ere a ny way I can ," sa id Moreh ead. Aaron Hill wa s the speedy start er in the firs t sem i, a nd led Roeder , T exter a nd Gordon Scopieray on th e firs t lap. Roeder fou nd a hot line around H ill and went o n to run away with the win . Hill held on for second, w hile th e third and fina l tra ns fer spo t went to Mertens, who overca me a mis erab le sta rt . Durelle boasted the q uickest clutc h hand in the second semi, and p ut hi s ho leshot to good use by notch in g an easy win. A fo ur-r id er scrap o ver second deve loped bet ween Es te p , H erndon, H al e and Brow, wi th H ern don and Estep fin ishi ng seco nd a nd th ird, respectively. Bro w a nd H al e wou ld spen d the rest o f th e da y spec tati ng. The firial semi fea tu red the most actio n, as Davis je tted o ut to the early lead over Rogers and Camlin . Pegram and Jones started on the back ro w and were force d to banzai through the Held in an a ttempt to q ual ify. At th e halfwa y po int, it loo ked as if J on es and Pegram would be ou t o f lu ck , b ut a n im pressi ve la te-r ace charge carried th em not ' on ly up to, but past th eir rival s. Pegram earne d th e win in ch es ahead of J ones, whi le a du m bfoun de d Dav is fin is hed an eq ua lly close third. Camlin fini shed a close fo urth , but wo uld sit o ut the ma in event for the first time thi s season. Parker chose to start the 25-la p main even t on the outside pole, a nd proved hi s choice was a wise one by grabb ing th e hol esh ot. Ingra m , Ca rr a nd Ath erto n follow ed th e cha m p into tu rn one. " Whe n I got th e ho lesh o t, I figured th a t I' d try to sp lit," said Parker. But Ca rr h ad o ther ideas , a n d qu ick ly d ispl aced In gram befor e latching o n to Parker 's rear tire.

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