Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ _ DIRT TRACK AMA Grand NationalChampionship_S_er_ie_s:_R_ou_n_d10 e ma kin g a ru n a t Stu mp, but got in to turn one too ho t and slipped off the g ro o ve , allowing Atherton to close. Atherton would make a final run, but come up just short and be off to the semis along with fourth-p lace finisher Rex Fisher. Semis The first semi began with Estep taking th e lead a nd p ulling away . Greg Sims gave chase in the early stages, but on th e fifth lap Ronnie Jones and Springsteen went past and started to close in . Es tep's margin began to sh rin k as Jo nes made his move, getting away from Springsteen who would fi nish third ahead of Sims. Jones made a run at the flag , but cam e up short by a bike length and a half. Chris Car r, unaccustomed to racing in the sem is, made short work of the, second on e, reading the starter and running away, spending most of the time working o u t h is plans for th e main. "We mad e a few ch a nges in th e semi," Carr said after the easy win. "We ran a li ttle bit low er gearing. We had some pr etty resp ectable lap times. This track seems to heat the tires up so fast. Wh en they get hot they do n' t work as good and want to ska te. We'll flop the tir e around for th e main. It ' s a good thing the track's sli ppery . If th e othe r g uys ma ke a mi stak e we can take advantage of it." Behind Ca rr there wasn ' t a lot o f passing bein g done. A&R Racing's Will Davis was second from the start to the end, tho ugh he was p ressur ed by Team Undo's Bre tt Land es and Dorsey Builders ' Harold Dorsey. The three ran in formation to the end, the order never changing as they finished almost a straightaway behind Carr. The final riders into the main would come from the third semi and Morehead wasn' t taking any chances . Right from the start he was out front and slowly he began to pull away. Georgie Price was second for the entire race, the Moro ney's H -D-backed rid er d iving far ther into turn th ree a nd u sing th e cu shion to power ou t for the run down the front s tre tch. It kept h im in second, bu t he couldn 't catch Moreh ead w ho wou ld win by over two seconds. Toward th e end of th e se m i, Price b egan to feel heat fro m Pe n n State Cycle's Kevin Varne s, but held h im off. The top three were into the main, Kevin At her to n fi n ished fourth and w as thro ugh for the night. National Tho ugh he got the holesh ot an d led the 17-rider field into turn one, it wasn 't immediately apparent that Graham was on his way to a runaway win in the 25la p main eve n t. H e wa s ri ding with d eceptive smoothness, st ay ing low on th e g roove as Morehead gave chase, th ough, ultimately he realize d it was futile. "I got a hell of a start and I ran w ith him for about two laps. Then the Honda kep t d isappearing," Morehead said. As he d isappeared Graha m was getting pit signals from his crew giving him the ma rg ins a nd e ve n he cou ld n 't believe it . The ma rgin grew until he m ade a mistake la te in the race that caused him to look over his shoulder to see how much gro und he'd lost. The re was no one the re and he knew his margin was safe. "The guys wer e giving me gaps like thi s," Graha m sa id showing with his hands an ever increas ing dista nce. "I made a mistake and I wanted to see if I was going to ge t passed . When I looked back a nd sa w no one th ere it got me pa ra noid . My rh ythm kin d o f wen t aw ay when I got the lead." But it wasn't enough for anyone to take advan tage of and he con tinued his rejuvenation with the win. "I can appreciate this so much more now ," Graham said . Mo re hea d 's ra ce was mu ch like Graha m 's . No one was able to mak e a serious run at him and he was happy to ' see his results improvin g. "I b roke at Lim a, I was third las t week, and now I'm second this week. It shows that I'm not too old to do this," Morehead said. 'T m just tickled to be on the box. I kep t looking back and no one was there." ' . There was a race behind him and it was a good o ne, Terry Poove y a nd Rodn ey Fa r ri s goi ng at each oth er almost from the start. They we re joined by .Parker on the fifth lap, bu t he overcooked it goi ng in to tu rn one and slid o u t in the m id d le of the turn on la p seven. "I was trying to catch those guys and I go t in there a little hot. It was either go o ve r the high -s id e o r la y it d o w n, " Parker said. He was able to safely slide _ out, bu t the pack was bearing down on him caus ing some concern. " I s aid , 'Damn. Where all these guys comin g from?'" As th e pack tried to avoid h im, Poovey and Farris were able to draw away, Estep leading Rogers, Carr, and Hale. Farris moved up on to Poovey on the 12th lap and began probi ng. They were side by side on the 16th, though Poov ey wasn't ceding any ground. It wo uld be the 19th lap before Farris was able to get by, driving underneath the Texan out of the second turn to take the fina l spot on the rostrum. "It took me a while to get it going ," Farris sa id. " I kept trying him on the "outs ide and he'd drift u p and bl ock me. I was going high and diving d own and I beat him in the middle of the corne r. If I'd have go tten by soo ne r me and Morehead wo uld have had some fun ." But Poovey' s troubles d idn 't end ther e. Estep was on the move, ha vin g run in fifth fro m the sixth lap on and with two lap s to go he passed Poov ey for fourth, despite ha ving troubles wit h his brakes. "T he b ra kes s ta rt ed fa di ng ab ou t seve n laps from the end," Estep said. "It was hu rtin g me ge tting into the corners and you kind of ride you r brakes coming o ut of th e co rners her e. You use them just abo u t the whole way aro un d the track. Terry was spinning a lot in the end and I drove arou nd hi m in tw o. I faded back, went in the ou tside of tum one, then s tuffed it in there, mad e the turn a nd za p ped hi m on th e in sid e. I / - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '-- - - - - - - ---'--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------.,--- Professi nal rider de o picted during closed- urse event Do not anempl thesemaneuvers Dress properly loryour ride witha helmet, eyepr co . otect long-sleevedshirt, longtrousers ion, , glove and bo s ots.Yamahaand the MotorcycleSafely Foundationencourageyo utoride sa felyand res theenvironment. Fo further information regardingtheMSF rider course,pleas pect r e call 1-800·44H700. Do not drink an ride If is illeg and dangerou Speciication subject to change without notice. ©1 993Yamaha MotorCorporation, U.S.A. (Cypress. CA 906301 d . al s. f s 10

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