Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ DIRT TRACK___ ~ Series:Round 10/11 YRACUSf 7 GRAND NATION L 50 A Ricky Graham swept both legs of the Syracuse Mile doubleheader, extending his win stre ak to a record five. Graham sweeps Syracuse Mile d -h dr ouble ea e By Donn Maeda Photos by Dan Mahony and Maeda SYRACUSE, CA,JULY 17·18 hey say that all good things must come to an end, but Team Undo's Ricky Graham defied that cliche by trouncing his competition during both rounds of the Syracuse Mile doubleheader, extending his win streak total to five. In winning, Graham became the first rider in the history of Grand National Championship competition to win five T 16 Nationals in a row, but more importantly, the former two-time series champion extended his series point standings lead to 37 over defending Gr and Na tional Champion Chris Carr, who turned in third and second-place finishes. With a total of six wins thus far in the series, Graham boasts 180 points to Carr's 143. Parker sits 20 points further back with 123. "Unbelievable," said Graham, who piloted the Johnny Goad-tuned Honda RS750 to his pair of wins at the New York State Fairgrounds. "I came into this weekend with an open mind . I wanted to just take it race by race and not worry about any win streaks." • Graham enjoyed a comfortable lead over Team Harley-Davidson's Scott Parker and Carr on Saturday night, but Sunday afternoon's action was much closer. 50 close, in fact, that runner-up Carr felt as if he might have bee n the winner. Graham greete d the checkered flag only a hair ahead of Carr, while Te xa s Harl ey-Da vids on's Kev in Atherton barely edged his former teammate Parker for third a few bike lengths furth er back. Atherton was also a factor early in Satu rday night's race, but a few small mistakes dropped him off the pace and he finished a d ista nt, but secure fourth. Wh ile Graham appeared to breeze around the track on both days of competition aboa rd his Team Undo/Panasonic Ca r Audio/Fro n tier Ford /HDG / Arai/Fox/ Clawson Honda /Motion Prosponsored Hond a, both Carr and Parker seemed to have it a bit tougher aboa rd the ir pair of fac tory Harl ey- Davi ds on XR750s. ."Ricky was getting around the wh ole track well," said Carr. "There was only one place wher e I feel that I had him be at, but he went so fas t everyw here else that I couldn't really make it work." When asked if he thought Grah am had any sort of power advantage, Carr replied, "No, Ricky is just rid ing his bu tt off." Fo r h is p ai r o f wi ns at the Mike Kid d Promo tion s-promoted, Express Mart-sponsored events, Graham pocketed a gra nd total of $10,000 . $5000 per win - from the $33,000 per race purses. Carr's two-day earnings totalled $5700, w hile Parker and Atherto n earned $4900 each. Dry, slick, and dusty track condi tions greeted the rid ers in Saturday'S lateafternoon practice sessions, but as the sun went down, moistu re seeped to the surface and provided a good racing surface. When the participants retu rned on Sunday mo rni ng, most exp ected the track to be d ry and slick as it had been in the previous day's practice sessio ns, but wer e p lea santly surprised wit h a track that held up well throu ghout the . day. "We put the cones ou t d uring practice in order to widen the groove," said promoter an d forme r Grand National Champion Kidd. " Last year we ha d a real-narrow groove on Sunday, but this year I had the track prepared differently - the way I want ed it do ne." A less-th an -exp ected number of spe cta tors was on hand to witness the races. Kidd estimated Saturday night's crowd to be a tad over 4000, while Sunday'S race attracted a healthier crowd, es tima ted to be near the 7000 mark. Poole's Harley-Davidson-backed Scott Sehl topped Mike Hacker and James Hart in Saturday night's 600cc SUPI?0rt final, while Modesto HarleyDavidson's Matt Wait pulled off an upset win in Sunday's 883 National over Graham and three-ti me Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen. Saturday Par ker sped aro und the track aboard h is Bill Werner- tuned XR750 and stopped the clocks at 37.344 seconds at an avera ge of 96.401 mph , and his hot lap would hold up as the fastest of the day. . "Right now i t's rea lIy slick out there, " sa id Pa r ker, who felI far off the track record of 35.968/100.089 set by Bubba Shobert in 1986. "Moisture will probably come up and make it tackier, but it wi lI be pretty dry tomorrow." 6 For the fir st time in seven races, Gr ah am failed to qu alify fastest and ranked a lo wl y - for h im - eighth, behind Parker, Atherton, Da ve y Durelle, Carr, Springsteen, Keith Day and Mike Hale.

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