Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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eDIRT TRACK e A Grand National Championship S_en_'es_:_ound 8 MA ~ R __ -'----- _ Two-time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham (3) topped four-time champ Scott Parker (2) and Steve Morehead (42) in the National. It was Graham's second win in a row. Will Davis (21) got the jump on Graham (3), Rusty Rogers (57), Mike Hale (32), Steve Beattie (26) and Jay Springsteen (9). Graham rolls on at Michigan Half Mile By Bert Shepard LAKE ODESSA, MI, JULY 3 aliforn ian Ricky Graham spoiled the homecoming party for Michigan riders at 1-96 Speedway by grabbing his third National win of the series in convincing style. The Californian's win came after an all-out war with horne-statefa vori te Scott Parker, who overcame a third-row start to dice with Graham. Graham, though, pulled awa y in the C 12 closing stages of the race and went on to po st his 29th-career win and take over fourth on the all-time win list, surpassing Bart Markel. In winning, Graham pulled further ahead in the series point standings and enjoys a 12-point lead, '120-108, over defending Grand National Champ ion Chris Carr, w ho fi ni s hed .fifth. Chasing Honda RS75 0-mounted Graham and factory Harley-Davidson XR75D-mounted Parker across the finish line was veteran Steve Morehead aboard his privateer Harley. Honda-mounted WiIl Davis finished a solid fourth, comfortably ahead of Harley team rider Carr. Graham earned $4000 of the $28,000 purse, while Parker and Morehead were awarded $2750 and $2000, respectively. Graham 's pl ans o f a no th e r clean sweep were foiled by non e o the r than three-t ime Grand Nation al Cha mp ion Jay Springsteen , the obvious favorite of the estimated 4500-strong crowd . Together, Graham and Springsteen along with Jason Fletcher - had the crowd on its feet as they battled in the Harley-Davidson 883 National. Springsteen edged Graham by a mere half bike length, driving the crowd into a frenzy, whil e Fletcher finished a close third. Springsteen's win narrowed Graham's po ints lead in the 883 series to nine, 85-76. Fletcher is a distant third with 56. Time trials Before the start of p ractice, there was a great deal of spec ula tion as to what kind of racing surface the track wo uld offer. Previous races at 1-96 had been held in less than idea l conditions, and many racers were skep tical. As it turned out, the track featured a narrow one-line groove at the end of practice. By the time riders took to the track for time trials, the temperature dropped and so did lap times . Only two riders were in the 22-second bracket. Rusty Rogers led the way for a while with a 21.884-second lap. "Something seems to set us back every week but we're not giving up," said Rogers. "We 're still having fun, but one of these days our luck wiIl change and I'll sit on the box all night long, just like last year at the Hagerstown Half Mile. This is a start, though." Graham spoiled Rogers' moment of glory by circling the track in the night's fast time of 21.839 seconds. No one would better the Team Undo/Frontier Ford/Panasonic Car Audio /Z Galleries/Motion Pro/HDG / Arai/Tsubaki/Fox/Pro Plates/Clawson Honda-sponsored former champ's time,