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/127583
Carr railed past Graham on the outsides of th ree a nd four on lap 14 and stole the lead , and immed iately began to open up a small lead . "When Carr g ot b y me he w as haulin' ass," said Graham. "But then he seemed to rela x and sta rted to swap a little. I knew that he had to be tired after coming from so far back." Carr ' s small a dva n tage withered awa y in the followin g lap s, an d by lap 19 Graham and Farris were back on his tail. "O nce I go t in to the lead my lin e seemed to go away," said Carr. "It just went to powde r out there, but 1could n't change my line because of the way my bike was set up. I tried to go low once, but I almost got off." Gra ham d rove out of tum four low and hard on lap 21 and retook the lead , buttha t wou ld n 't be the end o f th e 'thr ill s. Wh ile G ra ha m be gan to inc h away, Farris turned it up a notch and he too, began to apply the pr essure to Carr. As they raced out. of fou r and towards the white flag, Farris pow ered past Carr and into second, setting the stage for a barn burning last lap. Graham rod e his same low-high-low line through three and four, while Farris stayed smack-da b in the middle. It was Carr, th ough, who thrille d the cro wd with a wide-open , feet-off-the-pegs ride through the cushion tha t fell a few inches short at the flag. Graham, Farris and Carr crossed the finish line - in tha t orde r - in tight formation. . " I knew that I was go nna have to jus t bu ry it if I w anted to pa ss a n yone," said Carr. " I had to gi ve it all I had to ho ld on - the bars wanted to jerk out of my hands. I'd sa y that the track was the driest I've ever seen it tonight." "I changed line s th roug h one a nd two a hundred times an d they ha d me bea t there, but I had them cov ered in three and fou r," sa id W in ch este r Harley-Davidson /Witt s H-D / Lynch Tr ans p o rt ati o n / Ste ve St orz / Valle y Cycle Cen ter /Myer s Trucking /Mac & Mary /Larry Go rdon / Fr e d Schm u lbach/Bell/ Fox/Zoom-sponsored Farris. "They were go ing too high. I fou nd a smooth line, but it took a lot of throttle contro l. I kn ew Ricky wo uld ho ld his line and I figured Chris wou ld go real hi gh , so I just stayed lower a nd held on." Graham was thrilled with his win, as it was only the thi rd half-mile Grand Na tional victory of his career. "I ha ven 't w o n a ha lf mile in 10 years," said Graham , in reference to his 1983 Ascot Half Mile win. " I us ed to ha te these things (half miles), but now I just look at the m as another race." Beatt ie ran un challen ged for fourth and thru st his fist in the air as he sped across the finish line. It was the Deeley H-D Canada /Sh oe i/ Ts uba ki / Champion /1M Leath ers /Body Double/ K&N/ Mike We ll s /W ea se l Raci ng /M ik e Mage e /M i kun i / S B S / Br ian Olson /Produmax/Mom & Dad-spo nso red racer's best-ever Grand National finish. "I love Lima, I won here as a Junior, and I've always mad e the Expert mains here . The tracks I grew up on in Canada were pea gravel also," said Beattie. - - - - - - - - Continued on page 19 After winning the 883 National, Ricky Graham opted to dump his victory champagne. Third-placed Mike Hal e Oeft) and runner-up Jason Fletcher (right) looked on. like makes It all comes down to what you've got digging in-to the track when you • 10 • their tire needs under all kinds do come down. Just two contact points- so they've got to be the best of track conditions. Getting I realized that standing in the crowd as Jeremy McGrath crossed the finish line. I checked out Jeremy's tires. the input necessary to develop better tires, not Dunlop. of course. I may not be in his class but I do ride aggressively. And in my mind. when I'm up and ' just for the champs, but for guys like me. Dunlop running. I want to be ahead of the pack. I decided my tires had to be Dunlop. is committed to me and I'm committed to Dunlop." They've proven themselves on the track In the AMNcamel Supercross 250CC class, Jeremy McGrath. on his Dunlop-equipped Honda. dominated the field to take 1st place. In fact. Dunlopwas the choice of 8 out of the top 10 riders. Also victorious on Team Honda was Doug Henry in the 125ccAMNcamel Eastern Region Supercross - all top ten finishers chose Dunlop tires. For a closer look at the winningest brand of tires in the U.S.• visit your nearest Dunlop Performance Center and ride with the champions. and paid offwith the heftiest contingency payments of any tire manufacturer. Not only that, but every raceI go to, I see Dunlop personnel workingwith the pros, studying -. r Jeremy McGrath - /9932S0cc AMA/CamelSupercrossC hampion ''I 1 9 9 3 "~ A M ~ / C A M E L 250c =c::::::o::= 125cc Eastern Region ., SUPERCROSS SER IES Jeremy McGrath Doug Henry • _ • CHAM~IONS: , Hondi=a == = = Honda Dunlop 100% Dunlop 100% 9