Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127575
eDIRT TRACK e AMA Grand National Chameionshie~S_eri_es:_R_oun_d_3 ---"-Wh-at a-wi-Id r-ace-," sa-id-Roe-der, who equalled his best-ever career finish on a mile track. "Let's just say that I got bumped and I did my share of bumping as well. Just Jook at all that rubber on my boom box!" Seventh-place finisher Ronnie Jones explained his race strategy, saying, "I was trying to roll out of the corners rather than hammering it, but I couldn't shake Lance. His bike was so fast! Then the other guys caught up and that was it." Farris nabbed eighth, only inches ahead of Ingram, and was happy with his performance. "We had some trouble with the bike last week but Eddie (Adkins) got that thing running good today," said Farris. "1 thought I had a pretty good lock on sixth," said Ingram. "But I ran into the back of Roeder on the last Jap and got messed up." After starting the National in sixth, Lance Jones finished 10th. "It's great to be back out there. I didn't expect to do so well this fast," said 33-year-old Jones of Gadsden, Alabama, who made his return to Grand National racing the previous weekend at San Jose after not having competed during the past five years. "It's all coming back pretty fast. Let's just say that I had a great 25-lap lesson tonight." (Left to right> Ricky Graham,. Parker, Atherton, Don Estep, Mike Hale and Carr raced in the $10,000 Camel Challenge. Keeping up with the Joneses; Lance (23C) finished 10th. Ronnie (16) was 7th. 18 "It was pretty discouraging. 1 bet things would have been different if I was on a Harley." At the restart, Parker assumed the lead with Carr, Hale, Atherton, Farris and Lance Jones doing the chasing. Graham was last. Parker and Carr settled into their traditional Sacramento Mile battle for the lead while Atherton gained control of third, just ahead of Hale. Together, the four riders began to inch away from the rest of the field. Hale held back for a few laps before motoring past Atherton for third on lap 12, and held the position until the 16th lap. "Hale got by me, but he was holding his own so I decided to play it cool and follow him," said Atherton". "But then with about five laps or so to go 1 saw that Scotty and Chris were starting to take off, so I made my move." Atherton snuck past Hale and quickly reeled in the Carr/Parker battle. "I just ran out of tire," said Hale after the race, quite pleased with his eventual fourth-place finish. "If you look at my tire, it looks like a road race slick on the left side. I was trying to save it for the last five laps, but it just wasn't there." Meanwhile, Carr and Parker continued their usual cat-and-mouse pattern out front, inches ahead of Atherton. Though he spent the majority of the race passing and being passed by Parker on the back straight, Carr began to draft his rival on the front straight with a few laps to go. "I knew that I could get him there, but I didn't want to let him know until the end," said Carr. "He could get me there too, but he wasn't well-practiced at it. That was the key." Atherton surprised both Carr and Parker by momentari1y drafting into the lead on lap 23. That would be as close as he'd get to the win, though, as Carr and Parker blasted right back past. Carr drafted past Parker on the nextto-last lap and went on to lead the entire final lap. Parker tried to close in for the kill, but a superb run through three and four by Carr kept him from doing so. Carr crossed the finish line with a few inches to spare over Parker and Atherton. Hale finished a distant fourth, comfortably ahead of Graham. Graham methodically picked off riders from the get go, most of them with apparent ease. If not for a momentary slip off the groove in the early stages, no rider that Graham passed would have the speed to pass him back. "Once Ricky got into fifth, I was hoping that someone might spin out and cause a single-file restart," said Danny Malfatti, Graham's trainer. "Then he might have had a chance at the win." . A single-file restart indeed, was Graham's only chance at a top-three finish, as the lead pack was long hone by the time he motored into fifth. With no one to draft with, Graham was left alone and out of luck. "I felt like I was flying," said Graham. "1 know that I could have won if I started on the front row." Roeder topped what was definitely the most-exciting battle in the main, and nipped Ronnie Jones for sixth at the line. Roeder, Ronnie Jones, Lance Jones, Ingram and Farris rode in close formation throughout the race and thrilled the crowd with an elbow-to-elbow dice for sixth. Roeder, Ingram and Farris came from further off the pace to catch up to the pair of (unrelated) Joneses, who engaged in an all-out war before being joined. 600cc Support The 600cc Support class race was a typical, local-boy-makes-good affair, as Galt, Ca1ifornia's Paul Polhemus crossed the finish line first at the conclusion of the 12-lap, IS-rider support race. Three six-lap heat races that each offered five transfers were run early in the day, before the opening ceremonies. "The 600 heats were scheduled in after the Grand National heats, but we were concerned about our 10:00 p.m. curfew and decided to run them earlier," explained promoter Chris Agajanian. The decision proved to be a good one, as even with the changes the program ran a few minutes late. Jeff Eklund, nephew of the late Steve Eklund, grabbed the holeshot at the start of the race but was passed on the first circuit by Polhemus. With that, the two riders began to pull away from the rest of the field and enjoyed a comfortable margin over the battle for third until the fifth lap. Matt Wait and Bryan McDowell joined the two front runners on lap five and made it a four-way scrap .for the lead, but all the while Polhemus appeared to have the field covered. "I knew that I could draft the other guys on the front straight and that they couldn't draft me," said the ~nable Dan Martin/Ron Wood/ Arai/Yoko/ Mom & Dad-sponsored racer. "But my motor had been making strange noises all day and I was just praying that it would stay together." Polhemus' motor did stay together, and he led the way as the field charged out of tum four and towards the checkered flag. McDowell tucked in close behind, but wasn't able to make use of the draft. An elated Polhemus crossed the finish line with his first in the air, while McDowell and Wait followed close behind in second and third. Eklund slipped off the groove on the last lap and finished fourth. tN Results' TIME TRIALS: 1. Ricky Graham (36.662); 2. Scott Parker (36.nJ); 3. Kevin Atherton (36.971); 4. Don Estep (37.159); 5. Mil,,, Hale (37.185); 6. Chris Carr (37.218); ,. Lanco Ion.. (37.347); 8. Billr Hemdon (37.524); 9. Ronnie Jones (37.539); 10. WH Oavil (37.565); 11. Dan Ingram (37.571); 12. Davey Camlin (37.599); 13. George Roeder U (3737.675); 14. Rusty Rogers (37.692); 15. Ted Taylor (37.845); 16. Aaron Hill (37.887); 17. Rodney Farris (37.931); 18. Mike OiUon (38.092); 19. Grog Sims (38.182); 20. Keith Day (38.207); 21. Sal Holfman (38.234); 22. Steve Beattie (38.233); 23. Ja!Ofl Fletcher