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eDIRTTRACK e Series: Round 1 Roger Durkee (69) turned in his best-ever Grand National finish, fourth, while Rich King (80) did the same by finishing third. (Left to right) Ronnie Jones, winner Will Davis and Don Wilson following the $10,000 Camel Challenge. and this time chose to start on the outside pole. Durkee, Parker, Poovey, Carr and Jones filled out the front row. Ingram found the most traction at the start and towed Poovey, Durkee, King and Carr through tum one. Parker spun his rear wheel on the line and began lap one in seventh behind Morehead, who had gotten a tremendous drive from the third row. Ingram and Poovey both stuck to the conservative low line and began to open an immediate lead. "1 ran her in dbwn low where the moist dirt was," said Ingram. "1 heard Terry back there but I just made sure I didn't leave room on the inside." Meanwhile, the rest of the pack rode high, low, and everywhere in between while jockeying for position. A pack consisting of Durkee, jones, King, Morehead and Carr argued over third, while a few bike lengths back followed Cornwell alone in eighth. "1 came down here just to have a good time," said Cornwell. The versatile Canadian Cornwell had finished fourth in the 250cc Grand Prix road race at the Speedway the day before. "1 haven't ridden a dirt tracker in over a year, and I was surprised that it came back to me so fast.," Fay, Davis, Brow and Graham raced for ninth quite some distance back. "1 couldn't run the same lines that I did in the challenge," said Davis. "There were so many people all around you, that you had to just go where there was room." By the 10th lap, Ingram had opened up a small cushion over Poovey and Jones had gained control of third. King and Morehead chased after Jones, and managed to get away from Durkee and Carr. "Danny got away a little bit because I made a few small mistakes," said Poovey. "1 wasn't tired at all, and I was able to cut a few hot laps and close back in." 20 the inside pole worked against him, as outside pole-sitter Davis ripped into the lead. Ingram was a close second, with Wilson, Jones, Poovey and Atherton in tow. Wilson became the first rider to make a move by powering past Ingram as they raced out of two, and gained a bit of breathing room when Ingram coasted to a stop in the next tum. A loose spark plug wire was found to be the culprit, and Ingram was credited with last place. Davis established a 10-bike length lead over Wilson at the finish, while Jones, Poovey and Atherton followed evenly spaced. HI worked my butt off all winter after I got hurt at Indy last year," said Davis. HI had another setback when I was in a car accident, but here I am racing as hard as ever. You definitely need a good start to win on this track. I hope I get a good one in the main also. H NatiorW Fast-heat winner Ingram learned from his Camel Challenge experience, The running order remained basically the same until lap 17, when jones suffered a flat rear tire and pulled off the track. "After the cha llenge, I asked my tuner George (Garvis) to take some air out of the tires because I thought I'd hook up better," said jones. "1 guess it was the wrong call. The tire was just too soft and couldn't hold up to the beating." With Jones' demise, King inherited third but had a hard-charging Morehead to contend with. "There were a lot more racing lines to choose from," said King. "1 just tried to stay smooth and pick the same lines I thought Morehead was using." Up front, Poovey continued to hound Ingram, and at one point pulled alongside him as they raced down the front straight. "1 was running down so low that my own front tire was throwing mud onto my faceshieId," said Ingram. "1 reached to pull a tearoff and the bike wheelied out of four." Poovey tried, but carne up short and was forced to settle for second, just a few feet behind Ingram. King held on for a comfortable third when Morehead crashed out of contention on the final lap. "1 rode the whole race up high, but I tried to go down low on the last lap," said Morehead. '~I gave it a little too much gas and threw it all away." Durkee was glad to motor past the downed Morehead and finish fourth, posting the best National finish of his career. Carr was fifth, and Cornwell, Brow, Camlin, Davis and Graham c0mpleted the top 10 finishers. "1 stayed on the bottom of the track through most of the night, but there