Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ADIRT TRACK AMA 600cc National Championship Series: Rou-=-nd_2_--,. ~ ~ c-r 0') 0') ........ After turning in the fastest lap of the day In time trials, Chris Carr (1) went on to cla im the victory in the 600cc National TT in Peoria, Illinois. Carr carries on at Peoria TT By Da ve Hoenig Photos by Flat T rak Fotos "E PEORIA, [L, JUNE 7 very time I come to Peoria, it's lik e comi ng home," said Tea m H arl ey-Da vi d so n ' s Chris Ca rr after earning yet a no ther win a t th e Peoria M.e. Clubgrounds. " It 's a lot like wh ere I grew tip , a t th e loca l clu b events. This is just a bi tchin' tra ck a nd [ reall y enjoy com ing o ut here." The H arley-Da vidson In c.!Ar ai/ H ap J ones/Tsubaki/Sunoco /Yok o / Knight-sp onsored rider overca me hi s worst- ever s ta rt a t th e tr ack and charged into th e lead by th e crossedhalfway flags . Overnight ra ins left th e track a muddy m ess, but after a couple hours of hard work, th e Peoria M.C .. had th e track read y to go. 30 Time trials Carr was the first rid er to tak e to the tra ck in time trial s, a nd turned in th e quickest lap of th e da y. Though it was the da y's fastest, Ca rr 's lap of 27.271 seco nds was well o ff his tra ck record of 25.550, set in 1989. Also breaki ng into the 27-second bra cket were Larry Pegram and Rex Fisher, who sto p ped the clocks a t 27.717 a nd 27.806, respectively. H ea ts Wh en the fir st o f four heat races got underw ay, it was evident that the race wo u ld n' t be a typ ical Carr runaway. Carr grabbed th e hol eshot, but Don . Estep sto le the lead on th e first lap. " I go t a good stan, th en I went wide," said Carr. Carr g lued himself to th e rea r fender o f Estep, and found a n opening a few laps la ter. Once into th e lead, Carr was able to pu ll a wa y for the wi n. Estep held on to second a nd transferred int o th e National, while Ben Bostrom , G reg Cro w and Erik Gravb eal finis hed th ird th rou gh fifth , b~t wo u ld ha ve to compete in a semi . The second heat was a wild one. In a ra re 600cc Na ti ona l appearance, Grand Natio na l Cha m p io n Sco tt Pa rker started behind Pegram, a nd waited for a wa y past. Behind the m, a five-rider ba ttle ens ued for th ird . Bar t Schmu lb ach, Wade Camlin , Wink Freitas and Dan McDonnel arg ued over th e posi tio n. With two la ps to go, Pegra m almost fell in turn th ree a nd han ded the lead to Parker. Sch m ulbac h also scooted past Pegram, and looked to be headed into th e main. On th e last lap , Pa rker slowed in an a ttem p t to drop to third, b ut hi s p lans were foiled whe n Sch mu lbach's bike broke. Pegra m was ha ppy to inherit th e lead and score th e w in , while Parker crossed th e fin ish lin e seco nd. " I wanted to fin ish thi rd , so [ cou ld get a little more trac k tim e in a sem i, but it didn 't work o u t th at way," expla ined Pa rke r, who used the race to tune up for th e upcom in g Grand Nationa l . Cha mpio ns h ip ro u n d in August. H eat three was a Mik e H a le runa. wa y, but it wasn' t as easy as it seemed for th e Texa n teenager. " O nce I go t ou t front I was trying different lines, bu t we were havin g trouble setting up th e chassis," sai d Hale. " It's gon na be a struggle a ll day." Ronn ie J o nes worked his way past Randy Roo se o n th e last lap to earn seco nd a nd a direct transfer to th e main event. The rain a nd su bseq ue nt lat e stan put J on es in a tig h t si tua tio n , as hi s wife, Trina , was d ue to give binh the following da y. " I've go t to ge t out of here by 5:30 p. m. to catch my flight hom e," said Jones . " T ri na is goi ng to have our . ba by tomorrow , and I'm leaving at 5:30, no matter wh at. " Rich Kin g grabbed th e ho lesho t in th e final heat with Aaron H ill , Tim Merten s, Kris Kiser a nd Er ick Gruber hot o n hi s tai l. H ill slipped past a t th e halfway poi nt a nd went o n to notch th e win. " My bike was ha nd lin g good, a nd [ just had to wait for a m istak e," said H ill. " W hen h e bobbl ed , I j u s t mo tored rig h t arou nd him. " King fou ght o ff th e ad vances of Merten s for th e remainder of th e race a nd held o n to th e second direct transfer spo t. Sem is Juniors Bostr om and Terry Vesta l led the way a t th e start o f th e fir st semi, but by th e halfway point, Gruber had sp li t the pa ir a n d sa t in second. Bostrom he ld tough a nd gre eted the chec kered flag in first, while Gruber a nd Vestal finished second a nd th ird , respe ctively, and head ed for th e ma in .

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