Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ~ C - - _ , By Donn Maeda rofessional dirt traek racers have spent the off-season readying their machines, bodies and minds for the start of the 1993 Grand National Championship Series. That's all over with and now's the time for the racing to begin. It gets Wlderway, sadly minus the Camel rider pOint fWld it enjoyed since 1974, at the series-kickoff in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 7. Although the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has opted to sponsor only selected races Wlder its Camel brand banner in '93, gone is the $200,000 series point fund, which inspired many a rider to travel across the country in pursuit of valuable series points. Camel will, however, sponsor 14 of the 22 series races, plus 10 of those roWlds will feature the popular $10,000 Camel Challenge dash-for-eash races. The season opener at Daytona's Municipal Stadium will be one of the Camel-sponso red events, and it will include a Camel Challenge race. But with the absence of Camel as the off;cial series sponsor, gone is the familiar blue-and-gold number-one plate. The number one plate adorning Carr's motorcycle will be white with a black numeral as was the tradition prior to Camel pushing for it to be blue and gold during Bubba Shobert's reign as champ. Whatever the color, the plate is arguably the most prestigious in American motorcycle racing. Who will rise above the rest in 1993? Will Carr do so again, will Parker, will it be a seasoned veteran who's been chasing after it for years, or will a fresh new face emerge as the dominant force? No one knows for sure, but we all have ow: hunches. How do we at Cycle News feel the 1993 Grand National Championship Series will end? Read on and see. Let's start at the top, in order. P 1. Scott Parker #2 Age: 31 Hometown: Swartz Creek, Michigan ast year, Scott Parker and his HarleyL Werner-tunedto factory start, Bill Davidson got off a slow but 14 - L.- - 1993 Grand National Championship Series - ePREVIEW once \mderway looked well on their way to earning an unprecedented fifthstraight Grand National Championship. Parker won five races and enjoyed a healthy lead in the series point standings when a frea k acciden tat the Oklahoma City Half Mile that involved teammate and rival Chris Carr put him on the sidelines with an injured knee. Parker scored no points at that race, and while Wldergoing extensive therapy lost the point lead to Carr when he sat out the following rOWld. Upon his recovery, Parker roared back with a vengeance and won three out of the remaining five races, but came up two points shy in the end. Carr was crowned the new champion, and Parker was left with a bitter taste in his mouth after losing to circumstance. Parker has a point to prove in '93, not only to his fans, but to himself as well. The knee injury hasn't slowed him down, and losing the title has only made him hWlgrier. Parker excels on the big mile tracks and has his fair share of half mile wins as well. Perhaps his only weakness is on the smaller short tracks, but with only two scheduled in '93, we don't foresee that as a problem for the four-time champ. Two IT races are also included in '93, and although Parker has yet to win one, he is definitely no slouch on the jump tracks. We predict that Parker will attack the series in 1993 with more intensity than ever before (if "that's possible from such a fierce and determined competitor), and race into the record books by earning his fifth Grand National Championship. 2. Ricky Graham #3 Age: 34 Hometown: Salinas, California n 1992, Ricky Graham turned a lot of heads aboard his Johnny Goad-tuned Honda RS750s, as he showed impressive speed on many occasions and finished no worse than fourth at the majority of the races. Only a broken hand at the Daytona Short Track and two freak mecharrical failures kept Graham from making a serious bid for the championship. Many were surprised at Graham's performances, as he had become a rare sight at the front of the pack in recent years. Personal woes have marred Graham's past, but the two-time Grand National Champion seems to have put that all behind him. Teamed with rookie Expert Brett Landes on the newly-formed Team Undo, Graham will attack the Nationals in '93 with fresh equipment and greater financial backing than in recent years. Lack of power in comparison to the factory Harleys cost Graham more than a few wins in '92, bu t the Sarah Irby IJohnny Goad Honda should be up to par this year. We feel that Graham will battle throughput the season with Chris Carr for runner-up honors, and in the end will edge the reigning Grand National Champion by virtue of being more consistent over the long haul. I 3. Chris Carr #1 Age: 25 Hometown: Valley Springs, California after his stagnant season aboard Harleys and most likely add to his list of National wins in 1993, but the strain of jumping from machine to machine and from sponsor to sponsor will wear on the veteran and hold him to fourth. 5. Mike Hale hris Carr achieved his lifelong goal of becoming the Grand National Champion in 1992, and will return aboard his Kenny Tolbert-tuned factory Harley-Davidson to defend his number one plate. With his biggest goal met, it's no secret that Carr's future plans will eventually carry him away from the dirt and into the high-speed world of road racing. In the off-season, Carr expressed a definite desire to make the transition after a one-year title defense in order to pursue a more financially-rewarding future on the pavement. As a five-time 600cc National Champion, Carr is accustomed to carrying a number one plate, but we predict that the weight of the Grand National Championship will weigh down the new champ at the start of the season. Carr will score his share of wins, but with his dream realized, we feel that he will lack the extra edge required to pull off a second-straight championship. Carr has nothing to prove, and knows it. We predict that Carr will finish his last season on the oval tracks in third, only a handful of points behind Graham. #32 Age: 20 Hometown: Carrollton, Texas C 4. Ronnie Jones #16 Age: 32 Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Mike about seaA skandand Hale younghis 1992 will son the Texan frown shake his head. Hale and his fa ther Bob struggled with a new chassis throughout the year, never able to get it to steer quite right. Hale also played hurt through most of the series, as he underwent surgery just prior to the start of the season to have a titanium plate from an earlier injury removed from his wrist. Hale's tender wrist was further aggravated in a crash at the Oklahoma City Half Mile, and later in the season a high-speed get-off a t the Springfield Mile set him back even further. Hale will begin the '93 series fully healed, and according to father Bob, "Mike has been training harder than he ever has." Hale and the Bartels' Harley team will contest both the Grand National Championship and the newly formed Continental Tire 883 National Championship Series, while at the same time trying to hit as many 600cc Nationals as possible. Hale now has three full seasons under his belt, and we feel that with any luck the full-time college student will finally live up to the expectations placed on him and finish fifth. 6. Will Davis made the switch from Honda to in 1992, R onnie JonesHarley desirable.but his results were far from After being a force to reckon with for COWltless years, Jones struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar machines and became a rare Sight at the head of the pack. Though he insisted that it would just take time to adapt to the Harley, jones will switch back to Hondas in '93. Unable to find a full-time sponsor, jones will split the series between two different bikes and tuners. jones and former sponsor George Garvis will reun ite for the races in the eastern half of the country, and at the rounds in the West jones will compete aboard the Loral Lake Racing Honda RS750 owned by Californians Al Bergstrom and Rod Lake. We feel that Jones will come to life #21 Age: 28 Hometown: Goldsboro, North Carolina W ill Davis was the big surprise in 1992. A longtime Harley rider, Davis switched to Hondas buf struggled in the first half of the season with a faulty engine. After finally sorting things out, Davis came to life and won back-to-back Nationals at the West Virginia and Oklahoma City Half Miles, proving that it was the motorcycle that was holding him back. Anxious to return to the big mile tracks

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