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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127565
for the program included former
Daytona Short Track winners Jones and
Steve Aseltine, as well as Hale,
Springsteen, Brow and Rodney Farris.
883
Four heat races and three semis were
run early in the day to thin the 883 field
down to the IS-rider main event. OJ
those 15 riders, the on!y noted road racer
who qualified for the feature was Low
Country Harley-Davidson's Chuck
Blackmon. Defending AMA HarleyDavidson TwinSports
National
Champion Scott Zampach failed to make
the cut. Blackmon was lapped twice in
the 25-lap main.
At the start, pre-race favorites
Springsteen and Hale blitzed into the top
two positions aboard their Bartels'
Harley-Davidsons and led Hart,
Fletcher, Clint Vahscholtz and Brow
through the first turn. Springsteen and
Hale began to open an immediate lead,
and by the fourth lap enjoyed a 10 -bikelength cushion over the rest of the field.
Hale shadowed Springsteen's every
move, and waited for his teammate to
make a mistake. Unfortunately for Hale,
he made the mistake, crashing between
tums three and four.
"I lost the front end," said Hale, who
was uninjured. "These bikes are so
heavy, they can't be thrown into a tum
like a 600."
Hart swerved around the fallen Hale
to take over second, while Fletcher and
Brow followed suit in third and fourth.
Fletcher dove underneath Hart on lap
12, sending Hart off the groove and
allowing Brow past as well.
With that, Fletcher turned up the
wick and began to reel in Springsteen,
who appeared to tire as the race wore
on. With two laps to go, Fletcher had
closed to Springsteen's rear fender and
made his move as they entered turn
three. Fletcher dove to the inside and
made the pass, but carried too much
speed into the tum and lost control.
Fletcher slid into the loose dirt high in
turn three before falling off, and
Springsteen narrowly avoided hitting
him.
"Jay left me a little room and I went
for it," said Fletcher, who was uninjured
in the crash. "I went by him but I
couldn't slow down."
"He got a wheel in on me and pushed
me out," said Springsteen. "It kinda
pissed me off, but that's racing."
In the confusion, Tom Cummings/
Arai/Joe Bisiha/RC Trucking/KK-sponsored Brow snuck into the lead and went
on to score the win ahead of Hart, who
also benefitted from the incident.
Springsteen saved third.
"I could see from the tire wear in
practice that it was going to be a long 25
laps," said Brow. "I just can't see pitching a 450-pound bike under anyone, so I
just waited."
When he pulled off the track,
Springsteen's leathers and motorcycle
smoked profusely, as the exhaust pipes
had burned through their asbestos wrapping and set fire to his pant leg.
"The pipes get awful hot," laughed
Springsteen. "But I didn't feel a thin~."
National
Fast heat winner Carr chose to start
the 25-lap National on the outside pole,
as did all of the heat race pole-sitters earlier in the evening.
"The groove is up high," explained
Carr. "If you start in the loose stuff you
don't have a good chance at a good start.
Graham obviously agreed with Carr's
thinking, as he chose to start on the outside of the second row, rather than take
the front row starting position that he
earned by winning his heat.
At the flash of the starting light,
Varnes dashed into the lead ahead of
Carr, Parker, Graham and Davis. Varnes'
time in the lead didn't last long, however, as Carr dove underneath the faststarter as they negotiated turns three and
four for the first time.
Graham was the next to make a
move, and he lunged to the inside of
tum one and forced Parker high and
wide.
"It was a clean pass," said Parker.
"Ricky got under me and that was it.
Our bikes never hit, but we were rubbing elbows, that's for sure!"
While Parker scrambled to get back
on the groove, Davis and Morehead
raced past and into fourth and fifth.
Carr, meanwhile, continued to lead but
couldn't seem to shake Varnes and
Graham. Davis and Morehead followed
about five-bike lengths back, while
Parker continued to drop back in the
pack.
"I lost my rhythm after Ricky got by
me and I started to make mistakes," said
Parker. "I was hitting my brakes too
hard and locking it up. 1 went too high
in two again and dropped way back.
After that 1 just tried out different lines
and practiced for the Grand National."
Parker finished an eventual 11tho
Atherton fell victim to the narrow
groove on lap six, and crashed in tum
four. Rather than running to the inside
of the track, though, he limped to the
outside and sat on one of the hay bales
lining the course.
"I just gave it too much gas," said
Atherton. "I have a rod in my left leg
from breaking my femur this winter, and
it hurt a little. I was scared for a second,
but I'm okay."
It wasn't until Price crashed on lap 13
and brought out the red flag that
Atherton was able to cross the track and
return to the pits.
Price had just been passed for lOth by
Poovey, and high-sided over the Texan's
rear wheel in turn three while trying to
retaliate.
Carr led the charge at the single-file
restart, ahead of Varnes, Graham and
Kiser, who got a tremendous drive and
passed Ingram, Landes, Morehead and
Davis.
.
"Ingram is a great starter, and 1 saw
that he was going outside," said Kiser. "I
just followed him and got by everyone,
including him."
Carr immediately opened a commanding lead, while Varnes appeared to
be struggling.
"During the red flag period, we
changed the rebound on my rear
shocks," said Carr. "That got rid of the
wheel-hopping and I rode a lot better."
Just as he did to Parker, Graham
pounced on the inside line and forced
Varnes high to take over second on lap
15. Varnes swapped violently as he exited tum four and immediately began to
drop off the pace.
"It was a good pass that he put on
me," said Varnes. uI was making mistakes after the restart. I thought I had a
flat tire after that, so I slowed way down.
I'm still happy, though, knowing that I
can run with these guys."
Kiser took over third, but was ousted
by Davis on lap 19 and began to fade
into the pack. The only action to follow
in the remaining laps was between Hill
and Landes in their battle for fifth.
Landes charged hard into tum one in
hopes of getting a wheel in on Hill, but
instead lost control and was spit over the
high side of Hill's rear wheel.
"I got in hotter than usual, and the
bike began to skip," said Landes, who
was shaken, but uninjured. "It skated
right into him and I went over. My teammate told me that highsiding was a
rookie move. I guess he was right."
The teammate that Landes referred to
(Left to right) Third place finisher Jay Springsteen, winner Garth Brow and runner-up
James Hart after first-ever Continental Tire National Championship 883 Series race.
Springsteen (9) and Mike Hale (32) led the early laps, but it was Brow (15) who won.
was Graham, who went on to finish second, some 2G-bike lengths behind winner Carr. Davis finished third, well
behind Graham, and Morehead and Hill
rounded out the top five.
HI was just sitting back and watching
people slam into each other," said Davis.
"It was wild. I'm not into that slamming
stuff. I was geared too low for the track
tonight - I couldn't get through the turns
fast enough."
CI'
Results
HEAT 1: I. Will Davis (Rtx); 2. Tony I'oov