Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRTTRACK e Series: Round 1 Dan Ingram (31), Roger Durkee (69), Scott Parker (2), Terry Poovey (18), Chris Carr (1) and Ronnie Jones (16) sat on the front row at the start of the main-Ingram led every lap. • erles 0 ener 0 n ram By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR 6 t was a privateer dirt tracker's night at the season-Qpening Daytona Short Track, as former-Honda factory riders Dan Ingram and Terry Poovey, joined by part-time racer Rich King, swept the top three positions at the Grand National Championship Seriesopener at Municipal Stadium on Saturday night of Camel Motorcycle Week. But what about defending Grand ational Champion Chris Carr and his factory ,Harley-Davidson teammate, four-time champ Scott Parker? Along with many others, they struggled to find traction on the damp and slippery crushed limestone track. A drastic change in track preparation caught many riders off guard, as most had expected the quarter-mile track that circles a football field to be hard and dry with a thin black groove as it had been at the races, Thursday's Regional and Friday's 600 National, run there the previous two nights. "I didn't like the racing that I saw earlier in the week," said Daytona's Jim France. "There was hardly any passing and I wanted to give the crowd a better show than that, so I told my crew to I 18 make it into a cushion track that had more lines." A full nine truck loads of water were dumped on the track and at 3:00 p.m. the time when practice was originally scheduled to start - the oval was practically underwater. An extensive wheel packing session followed, and an open practice session was run at 6:45 p.m., nearly four hours late. When the riders took to the muddy track, many were disgruntled, most notably Carr. "We came to Daytona early to race for what is basically expense money at the Regional and 600cc National in order to prepare for tonight's important race," said Carr. "It doesn't make sense. They decided to change it and pulled the rug right out from under us." Carr described the track as "greasy," and predicted that it would be the riders with Knight frames that would excel. Carr guessed that it would be Ingram, Poovey and Will Davis who would lead the pack. And had Carr bet on his guesses, he would have left Daytona a richer man, thanks to his win and place picks. From the flash of the starting light, Ingram and Poovey led the way and pulled away from the field. Behind them, a frantic battle for third developed and thrilled the near-capacity crowd of 9852 spectators with a multitude of wild passes. King got the best of that race, while Carr adapted fairly well and turned in a fifth-place finish behind Lundgren Motorsports' Roger Durkee. Parker floundered on the track and finished 12th. For Ingram, it was his third-career Grand National win, and the second time that the racer from Indiana has won the season-opener at Daytona. "This track has been real good to me," said M&M Racing/Budweiser of Da ytona /Shoei / Hondaline / Rocky Mountain Remanufacturing-sponsored Ingram, who piloted a Mike Moor-tuned Honda XR600. "I came to Daytona looking for a win and I got it. Once I got out front, I just stayed on the low line where the traction was." Poovey was delighted to finish second, as it was the nine-time National winner's first visit to a Grand National's winner's circle since he finished second at the fall running of the Springfield Mile in 1989. "I can't even remember the last time I was on the box," said Texan Poovey, before thanking Texas Harley-Davidson, Budweiser of Daytona, Bell, Sakaida Trucking, Tsubaki, Hap Jones and his tuner, brother Ted Poovey. "I had ':>asically the same lines as Danny, but I would've needed him to make a big mistake to get past." For Waterloo, Iowa's King, third marked his best-ever finish at a Grand National, and the Wessely Engines/H-D of Waterloo/JJ Cycle/Shoei/Nichol's MC Supply/Pro Sport/Motion Prosponsored racer was quite pleased with his performance aboard his self-tuned Rotax. "I can't describe how it feels," said King. "My dad, Richard, came down here on vacation to help me. We didn't expect this." For his win at the Camel-sponsored event, Ingram earned $4000 of the $30,000 purse, while Poovey and King took home $2750 and $1500, respectively. But what about Carr's other pick, Will Davis? Davis suffered a poor start in the main and finished ninth, but the Mother Fletcher's/Fun Products/Bell/ KK/Motion Pro/SBS/ A&R Racing/ Dennis Town-backed rider sprinted to the win in the $10,000 Camel Challenge dash-for-eash race and bagged the $5000 winner's check. "I may have finished ninth, but I'm still happy," said Davis. "I tried to use the same lines in the main that I won the Challenge with, but they just didn't work." Time Trials Ninety-six riders took time trial laps, each hoping to be one of the 60 riders that would make the cut into the evening's program. Sliding around the track fastest was Ingram, with a lap at

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