Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ePREVIEW e 1993 Grand National Cham ionshi Series in hopes of continued success, Davis' hopes were dashed when he was involved in a first-turn crash with Rusty Rogers at the Indy Mile. Davis sat out the remainder of the season with multiple injuries, but recovered fully and will not be affected by them in '93. With his pair of wins as an indication, we feel that Davis will be a regular contender in '93 and a definite threat on the half mile tracks. Davis has yet to win a mile, and may finally do so this season. Davis suffered a broken jaw in a head-on car crash on February 4 and will arrive at Daytona with his mouth wired shut. Davis doesn't feel that his injury will slow him down. He'll again campaign the Louie Aruta/Craig Rogers-owned Honda RS750 with Dennis Town handling the tuning chores. Put "Winkin' Will" down for sixth. edged sword when Rogers was spit off his machine on the last lap of the Parkersburg Half Mile and dropped from second to last. Even a wildman like Rogers has to learn from such experiences. We feel that Rogers will continue to ride over his head, but not quite as often in '93. 1f Rogers doesn't crash and injure himself, we predict that he will post several top finishes aboard the Phil Wickershamowned Harley-Davidson and end the season eighth. 9. Dan Ingram .31 Age: 28 Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana 7. George Roeder II #66 Age: 25 Hometown: Monroeville, Ohio t seems year, George continues get better I Roeder Ilthat each oftomulti-time and better. The son Grand National winner George Roeder Sr., "Geo" has more than enough experience and guidance on his side, and finished the '92 season with a career-high eighth-place performance aboard the Roeder Harley' Davidson XR750. Roeder finished inside the top 10 six times and qualified consistently for the mile Nationals, which he admits are his weakness. His best finish of the season was third at the Lima Half Mile, but Roeder seemed disappointed with his performance. "1 was hoping to win," said Roeder who learned the craft of dirt track racing on the half mile ovals of his native Ohio. With such an attitude, we feel that Roeder will continue to improve and become a regular sight at the head of the pack. Look for him to be a definite threat on the shorter half miles, but don't count him out at the miles - he's definitely gaining ground. We see Roeder improving his '92 finish of eighth overall by one position. .,.....-r .. . .. '•.... , ...' ,;;:.. ,,:; '''·;':i.'!>~ t··,:,·~·>-" . '\4 ;.." , ~~)~ 8. Rusty Rogers .57 Age: 25 Hometown: Richmond, Virginia USty a man knows When back off and R fear.Rogers isothers thatcaution no play it safe, Rogers throws to 16 the wind and gasses it. Unfortunately, most of the time it works against him. But it did work once in '92, as the friendly Virginian captured his firstever Grand National win at the Hagerstown Half Mile in convincing fashion. At the next race, Rogers was again in contention for the win, but his go-forbroke style proved to be a double- an Ingram finished season the M&M D eighth overall aboardthemissing a Racing Honda RS750, despite few rounds in the middle of the season. The former factory Honda rider showed flashes of brilliance on several occasions, but more than once was hampered by mechanical gremlins. Ingram's mechanical woes were not much of a surprise, as '92 marked the first year that Ingram paired with former racer Mike Moor, who purchased the former Eaken/ Sponseller Racing Hondas from Skip Eaken just prior to the start of the season. With a full season under his belt now, Moor should have the ins and outs of bike setup figured out, and Ingram should enjoy a more-reliable mount in '93. When armed with a fast and reliable machine, Ingram is a force to be reckoned with, and has a pair of National wins to prove it. Though we are predicting that Ingram will finish 9th, we wouldn't be at all surprised to see him prove us wrong - very wrong, by finishing much higher. What remains as a question mark, however, is the reliability of the M&M Hondas that he will campaign. 10. Aaron Hill #17 Age: 25 . Hometown: Stockton, California ur wild card is that longtime racer Aaron Hill O break into theprediction for 1993 will top 10 for the first time in his career. Armed with an uncanny ability to read the tarting light, "Holeshot Hill" has had numerous chances to run away with his first National win. What has hampered the northern Californian, though, is the lack of competitive machinery. For 1993, Hill secured sponsorship from nearby Sacramento HarleyDavidson, and will for the first time contest the entire series aboard a verycapable machine. We predict that Hill will emerge as the "New Kid," even though he has been on the circuit for seven years now. Watch for Hill to turn in many top 10 fmishes, as well as possible podium finishes at the Peoria and Castlerock TIs. Hill will end the season 10th. B ut what about last year's fourthplace finisher, Larry Pegram? Unfortunately, Pegram suffered a broken left femur, broken pelvis, broken kneecap and a bruised bladder in a crash at the February 15 AMA National Championship Superbike Series opener in Phoenix, Arizona, and will most likely spend the rest of 1993 recovering. 1f Pegram hadn't suffered those major injuries, we would have picked the outspoken Ohioan to fmish fourth in the Grand National Championship Series, and along the way add a few more notches to his win list. At the moment, how long Pegram will be sidelined remains a question mark, as it's the second time he broke the same femur (he first broke it three years ago in a crash in a media day practice session at the Sacramento Mile). And what about last year's fifthplace finisher Kevin Atherto.n? At time of this writing, "Cupcake" had yet to finalize his '93 plans and will more than likely spend the majority of the season getting his feet wet aboard a road racer in preparation for competing aboard the long-awaited HarleyDavid on superb ike, reportedly a 1000cc water-cooled V-twin. In '92, Atherton sat securely in third in the series point standings when a road race practice crash left him with a broken forearm. Atherton missed only two rounds of the series, but that was enough to drop him to fifth in the final standings. At the end of the series, Atherton expressed his desire to go road racing to his Harley employers and it seemed to light a fire under them. According to Atherton, arrival of the Harley Superbike may be just around the corner, and he was instructed to spend time adapting to a road racer wi thou t making any permanent ties that would prevent him from competing aboard the new Harley upon its arrival. In the meantime, Atherton plans to compete in only selected Grand National Championship races, and hints that they will probably be o:tUes. At those races, Atherton will be aboard the factory XR750 he campaigned last year, with Al Stangler again spinning the wrenches. Atherton will undoubtebly be a force to be reckoned with at the races he attends, but his lack of full-time participation will prevent him from breaking into the series' top 10. Top 20? Count on it. Last year, we predicted that threetime Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen would finish out of the top 10, but he and the Bartels' Harley team went on to prove us wrong by sneaking into 10th place at the season finale. At 35 years of age, Springsteen proclaims that he's still racing just for the fun of it. With the longer, 22-race schedule in '93, we feel that the extended series will wear on the 40time National winner. Sorry again, champ, but we don't see a top 10 fin· ish happening. After toying with the idea of retirement, Steve Morehead has decided to give it one more shot and will contest the series aboard his own new HarleyDavidson XR750. Skip Eaken built the motors, and Morehead is confident that he will have the power he lacked in recent years. Before the start of the season, though, Morehead already announced that he will miss a round because of a conflicting race date in Spain. We expect Morehead to run at the front of the .pack at the half mile races, but with his incomplete schedule and age taken into consideration, we don't see the 37-year-old finishing inside the top 10. We would, though, like nothing better than to have him prove us wrong and go out with a bang. Terry Poovey finished the '92 season 11th overall aboard his personal Honda RS750. While many pointed out that Poovey's machine was one of the fastest on the track, it was his physical conditioning, or lack thereof, that held him back. At the season finale in Pomona, Poovey suffered multiple injuries in a heat race crash, including a severely broken collarbone and punctured lungs. The gentle Tex.an will campaign his same rocketship Honda in '93, but we don't see him returning into the series' top 10. After suffering an already-disappointing season, Davey Durelle ended 1992 on a low note when he crashed at the season finale in Pomona and suffered extensive hip injuries. The tiny Minnesota resident spent the majority of the winter recovering from his injuries, and will not be fully recovered until well into the new season. Durelle and the Donahue HarleyDavidson team hope to return for the spring running of the Springfield Mile, but even Durelle admits that he won't be much of a threat. Look for Durelle to return to the head of the pack in 1994, but no sooner. 01

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