Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Kevin Atherton (23) took control on lap one and left Rodney Farris (92), Ricky Graham (3), Chris Carr (1), Jason Fletcher (65) and Scott Parker (2) behind to battle for second. track. Morehead finished a half straightaway behind Graham, but nevertheless secured a direct transfer into the main. Fletcher was a distant third well ahead qf Tommy Colson and George Roeder II, but all three would join the rest of the field in a semi. "Squaring the comers off seemed to be the hot ticket in the heat," said Graham. "But my guess is that the moisture will come up out of the track and make the groove slippery. When that happens, we'll ride higher up." Ronnie Jones got a great start aboard the Garvis Honda RS750 in the second heat and led Parker and Aaron Hill into turn one, but Atherton was on fire and charged through turns one and two down low and assumed the lead as they raced down the back straight for the first time. Atherton then established an immediate lead, but that would vanish as soon as Parker made his way past Jones. Parker reeled in his former teammate and proceeded to stalk him throughout the race. Parker used the low line in turns one and two that he had s~en Atherton use on lap one to steal the lead, but Atherton squared the next set of comers off to retake the lead. On the last lap, Parker attempted the same feat, but once again, Atherton squared the corner and slammed the door on his good friend. At the finish it was Atherton with five bike lengths to spare over Parker, while Jones and Hill finished equally spread apart in third and fourth. "The harder I rode, the slower I went and visa versa," said Atherton. "You gotta go easy in the comers, it's getting slick." Carr left little doubt in anyone's mind as to why he is the Grand National Champion by absolutely destroying the competition in heat race three. Michael Varnes was hot off the line, but Carr passed him on the first lap and waved goodbye to the rest of the pack. Carr tried a few different lines before opting to ride high in the turns. Reigning Canadian National Champion Steve Beattie gained control of second at the halfway point and proceeded to pull away from fast-starter Varnes, and held on to finish second and earn a spot in his second National of the series. Beattie caught his foot in one of the holes that began to form down low in turns one and two and was nearly yanked off his machine, but he recovered well enough to enjoy a sizable lead over Varnes and Willie McCoy at the flag. "It's getting a little rough out there," said Carr, who enjoyed a full straightaway lead at the finish. "I felt real comfortable, and feeling comfortable is half ·of the game. I think the race is going to be just above the groove." Heat four featured more than its share of thrills and spills. With the exception of Farris and Hale, the entire front row and most of the second row jumped the gun and was sent to the penalty line. With that, most onlookers expected Hale and Farris to run away with the two direct transfer positions. At the start, Farris nabbed the holeshot, but Undo Racing's Brett Landes surprised Hale by squirting ahead of him and into second from row two. Springsteen also caught Hale off guard by diving underneath his younger Bartels' Harley teammate and motoring into third. Landes did everything he could to fight off Springsteen, but the elder statesman of dirt track racing motored into second on lap four and set after the quickly-vanishing Farris. Hale also passed Landes on the next circuit. Mea'nwhile, Rusty Rogers was on the move after starting on the penalty line and was visibly one of the fastest riders on the track. In typical fashion, Rogers rode high, rode low, and twitched around on his way into fourth behind Hale. But just after Rogers made his move on Hale, the red flag came out when Varnes stepped off in turn two. Varnes walked away from his crash, but wasn't able to make the single-file restart. Farris sat first in Hne, ahead of Springsteen, Hale and Rogers, since the restart reverts back to the running order one lap before the red flag. The remaining four laps were wild ones, thanks to none other than the wild one himself. Rogers bezerked past Springsteen and set after Farris like a man possessed. Rogers used his low line in one and two to make the pass and went on to score a popular win, inches ahead of Farris. Graham was fastest off the line, but dropped to sixth before working back up to second. Springsteen and Hale followed a few feet back, but would ride a semi for another chance. "At the restart I was thinking shoot, I'm back in the same boat behind Hale again," said Rogers. "But I just did what I had to do. That low Hne is what cost me last year, but I had to use it. I knew that Rodney was gonna give me a helluva run in the last corners and he did. It was a blast." His reference to last year's Parkersburg event was prompted by the fact that in that race he was running second with just one lap to go when he crashed on the low line. Semis Three eight-lap semis each offered three transfer posi tions, and would round out the 17-rider National. After a false start, the first semi was further delayed- when Rex Fisher crashed unhurt in tum two on the first lap. On the second restart, Fletcher gained control and battled with Aaron Hill before yet another red flag came out. This time, it was rookie expert Bart Schmulbach who crashed in tum two, On the third start, Fletcher again jumped into the lead and fought off the repeated attacks of Hill to the finish. Third-place Bret Beyer qualified for his first-ever Grand . National aboard his Suburban MotorslJoe & Wayne Houpt/ Bell/General Engineering/Squirts/Midwestern Anodizing/K&N-backed pur- 11

• Cover