Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Jones battled tooth-in-nail for the spot. Farris prevailed when Jones slipped off the groove as they raced through tums three and four on the last lap. The heat would be the second-fastest of the night, and Farris would be a welcome sight on the front row at the start of the main. Heat two saw A&R Racing's Will Davis shoot into the lead, but a nagging toothache kept him from pulling away with the win. Instead, it was Gardner Racing/Fisher Industries-backed Lance Jones who stormed into the lead and began to pull away. Parker started third and had his hands full with Davis for a good portion of the race before finally sneaking past. Once into second, Parker began to close the gap on Jones, who appeared to be tiring. Parker surprised Jones with an outside pass in tum one on the seventh lap, and from that point on was in full command. "I wasn't expecting the pass," said Jones, who recently returned from a five-year stint with retirement. "I didn't think he'd get me there, and I had to really back off to keep from drifting into him. From there on I was happy with second." Parker and Jones headed to the main, while Davis, the third-place finisher, along with the others would have to try again in a semi. The race would be the fastest heat of the night, so like Farris who was second in the second fastest heat, Jones was awarded a front-row starting position. . Heat three was red flagged when Ben Bostrom crashed shaken, but unhurt on the back straight on lap one. Dan Ingram led Carr and Atherton in the early stages of the complete restart, but in the end it was the reigning champ who performed the final draft pass and came home the winner. Atherton was second, as Ingram seemed to drop off the pace in the closing moments. Brenny's Cycle's Davey Camlin was off the line first in the fourth and final heat, but there wo ld be no stopping Hale as he took over the lead on lap two and ran away with an easy win. Camlin dropped as far back as fourth behind Don Estep and George Roeder II before putting it together and nabbing second. Estep took a spill in turn two on lap eight, but got up quickly, push-started his bike, and pulled off the track in order to prepare for a semi. Semis Three eight-lap semis would each transfer .three riders and thusly round out the 17-rider field in the National. Davis put the moves on the field in the first semi to score the win, while Wickersham Racing-backed Rusty Rogers battled into second ahead of local rider, Sacramento Harley's Aaron Hill. All three riders would head for the main, while the others would be spectators for the remainder of the night. Hud Racing's Billy Herndon and Cloninger Cellars rider Keith Day o...tdistanced the rest in the second semi, leaving Hall's H-D-backed Ted Taylor and Estep to ba ttle over the third and final transfer. Estep appeared to ·have a handle on the spot as he pulled out of the draft coming out of four on the last lap, but the holes in the track reached out and snatched him off his bike. Estep parted company with his Harley and slid spectacularly down the front straight, coming up only a few inches short of the finish line. Taylor would race in the feature. The final semi saw a drafting duel between Ronnie Jones and Ingram. The two Honda pilots traded the lead repeatedly while pulling away from eventual third-place finisher Roeder, and it was Jones who enjoyed the final slipstream across the finish line. Camel Challenge Parker, Atherton, Graham, Hale, Carr and a beat-up Estep lined up for the start of the five-lap $10,000 Camel Challenge, and it was Parker who was away the fastest and into the lead temporarily. Hale slipped past Parker and into the lead on the opening lap, and in doing SO missed a spectacular clash at the start of lap two. As the pack raced into turn one on the second go-around, Graham dove to the inside of Atherton, who at the same time dove to the inside of Parker. In an uncharacteristic fashion, Graham sat up straight on his motorcycle and appeared to be out of control as he slid into Atherton and sent him flying into Parker. All three riders stayed up, with Parker slipping far off the groove and back to last place. "Ricky slammed me pretty good," said Atherton, alluding to the fact that he thought Graham's riding was on the rough side. "[ was just pitching it in low and it .seemed as if Kevin just shut off," said Graham. "I couldn't keep from hitting him, but it was a complete accident. I don't ride like that on purpose. I don't need to." The next three laps would see Parker twist the throttle even harder than usual on his Bill Werner-tuned Harley and overcome his second-lap scare well enough to rejoin the battle for the lead. On the last lap, Hale, Graham, Carr and Parker were separated by only inches as they raced into turn three. Graham slipped off the groove and dropped to an eventual fourth, while Parker went on to nip Hale at the line for the win. Carr was third, just ahead of Graham. Atherton and Estep followed some distance behind. "I came from last to first without slamming into anyone," said Parker, obviously angry over the second lap incident. "That in itself should show that you don't have to ride rough to win." National As they lined up for the start of the National, Graham, Carr, Parker and Atherton exchanged words - some heated - regarding the mishap in the Camel Challenge. But tempers would soon flare even higher at the start of the main, this time the anger was directed towards starter Scott Zimmerman and referee Bober. Graham,.Carr, Hale and Lance Jones lunged forward before the green light flashed, but only Graham was sent to the penalty line. The booing crowd proved to be not the only ones who disagreed with the decision, as both Carr and Parker waved to Graham, urging him to rejoin them on the front row. After Carr, Parker and Graham pleaded their case with Bober, though, the crowd again voiced their displeasure when Graham was sent back to the penalty line. "Graham is the rider who kept the light from going green," said Bober, in reference to a beam of light tha t monitors the front-row starters. "If the heam of light is broken before the starter pulls the trigger, the light won't go green. Graham is the rider who broke the light and he was penalized.. We can't play favorites." "That's complete bullshit," said Parker later. "I sawall four of those guys jump the gun. Why single Ricky out? They should have sent all four of them or none at all. The AMA is so dam inconsistent. It seems like they have a new referee every couple of races, and he's always just learning." Carr was quick to admit that he too jumped the gun. "I jumped it along with the other Carr and nmDeI'-Up Soott Parker celebrated after the 2S-Iap National For Carr, it was his 22nd career National win. (Left to right) Third-place finisher Kevin Atherton, winner Chris Mike Hale (32) ran with the leaders and finished fourth. Davey Camlin (27) was 11th. guys, but they didn't send me back," said Carr. "They had to single Ricky out because they say he was the first to jump. What a crock. They should read their own rule book." Graham, quite disappointed with the decision, kept his temper under control and took his place at the back. "1 knew that I couldn't make up that amount of time and win," said Graham. 17

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