Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

dropped to a distant third, but performed a spectacular comeback aboard the Texas Harley-Davidson/Sponseller Racing machine and retook the lead two laps later with a double draft pass on the front straight. Morehead finished second, just ahead of an out-of-luck Springsteen. Semis Steelmaster's H-D's Estep gained control of the first eight-lap semi from the start, but was joined out front by Wessely Engine's Rich King on lap two. Together, the two riders pulled well away from a heated battle between George Roeder II, Rodney Farris and Rusty Rogers, but on lap six King slid into Estep and bo~ riders went down in turn one. Estep was up quickly and took his place at the rear of the single-file restart, but King was too sore to continue. Roeder assumed the point at the restart ahead of Farris and Rogers, but all eyes were focused on Estep, who set a blistering pace after starting last. Estep passed rider after rider and took over the lead in two short laps. Roeder and Farris joined Estep in the main, while the others packed it. up. Ingram jumped into the lead of the second semi and looked well on his way to the win, but the red flag flew on lap three when Rex Fisher slid into the hay bales in turn three. Fisher was unhurt, but opted not to restart. At the restart, Ingram picked up where he left off and rode the high line to victory well ahead of Kiser and Fletcher. Aaron Hill limped across the line fourth but failed to make the cut after twisting his knee during practice. Springsteen pleased the crowd with a wire-to-wire runaway win in the final semi. Half a straight behind the popular rider came Jones, who in turn enjoyed a healthy lead over Will Davis and local rookie Expert Cory Perrault. Perrault thrilled his hometown fans by passing Davis and moving into a qualifying position, but Davis silenced the crowd by promptly taking third back. Davis headed for the main while Perrault headed home. Camel Challenge With first pick on the line, Hale chose the outside pole and lined up with Graham, Parker, Atherton, Springsteen and Carr to his left. Graham and Springsteen proved a little too anxious at the start and circled back into their starting places without penalty from referee Bruce Bober. The second try was clean, and Hale moved into the lead ahead of Graham, Carr and Springsteen. Graham immediately passed Hale and took over the lead, but Carr was on fire and swept past both riders on the second lap. Graham retaliated on the next lap, and the two riders went on to trade the lead several more times. Graham chose to make his moves on the back straight, while Carr chose to make his on the front, getting ready for an at-the-line draft pass on the final lap. That pass never materialized, however, as Graham drafted past Carr on the back straight and blistered through turns three and four for the last time. Carr came close, but came up short at the line. Parker finished third, some 10 bike lengths behind, well ahead of Hale, Springsteen and Atherton. "I was hooking up real good in three and four, that was the difference" said Graham. "Ricky put in a great last two corners," said Carr. "I couldn't get the drive I needed out of four to make up the difference. Rick rode a helluva race." (Left to right) Ricky Graham, Miss Camel Sheri McLaughlin and Scott Parker celebrated after the main event. Series veterans Steve Morehead (42) and Jay Springsteen (9) battled for fourth place. Morehead was fourth, Springsteen fifth. National The day's 17-fastest racers took their starting spots for the 25-lap National just before the fairground's 6:00 p.m. Sunday night curfew, and it was Parker who nabbed the holeshot. Close behind the fast starter were Graham, Atherton and pole-sitter Camlin. Atherton zoomed into the lead as the pack raced down the back straight, but Graham made his intentions clear by diving into the third turn the hardest and becoming the third new leader on the first lap. Graham immediately put five bike lengths on the pack, but after passing Atherton for second, Parker began to close in on the leading Honda. Parker passed Graham for the lead on the third lap, and from that point on, they would be the only two riders to enjoy the front spot. Between laps three and 12, Graham and Parker would trade the lead 11 more times. Graham would take the point on the back straight; Parker on the front. "It was sure a nice change to be able to finally draft that factory Harley," said Graham. "All throughout last year I never even had a chance to do that. My bike is definitely faster this season. My tuner Johnny Goad sure did his homework this winter." "Not once did I pass Ricky on the back stretch, I tried as hard as I could but I couldn't ca:tch him," admitted Parker. Graham took control of the lead on lap 12 and went on to lead until the 21st lap. At times, Graham would stretch his lead to as much as five or six bike lengths, but never any more. Many spectators predicted that Parker was biding his time, waiting until the race's end to make his move. "I wasn't holding back, Ricky was flat out going faster than I was," said Parker. But on lap 21 all of that changed, as Parker swooped past Graham as they raced into turn one. "I never looked back and I wasn't sure where he was," said Graham. "He came out of nowhere." . "I just stayed consistent," said Parker. "Ricky seemed to be making mistakes near the end." Graham struck back with precision on the next trip down the back straight, but sure enough, Parker took over again on the front side. On the last lap, Graham hoped to do the same to Parker as he had done to Carr in the Camel Challenge, but this time he had a harder time drafting past on the back straight. "I could barely draft him" said Graham. "It was more like a drag race than a draft pass. I wasn't able to get the 7

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