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/127586
Privateer Honda rider Ricky Graham (3) enjoyed a comfortable lead over Team Harley-Da vidson's Scott Parker (2) at the end of Saturday night's 25-lap National. Heats The first of four IQ-Iap heat races was delayed for 30 minutes when the racers realized after their parade lap that the setting sun was unbearable as th e y raced down the back straight and into turn three. "You can 't see a thing," said Parker. "And at 130 mph you want to know where you're going." Heat race one left the line at 8:30 p.m . after the sun went down. Rusty Rogers took contr ol at the start, b ut Gra ha m and Parke r w asted little time a n d assu med the all-impo rtant top two positions that wo uld trans fer the m d irectly to the National. The two former champs exchanged the lead via draft passes thro ughout the race, and it wa s Graham who held the upper hand at the finish. Terry Poovey worked by Rogers for third, but they, along with the rest, wou ld ra ce aga in in a semi. Larry Pegram coa sted across the finis h line fifth after his motor blew up with only a few feet to go. Will Davis was the fast starter in heat two, but Atherton zipped into the lead on lap one and opened an im medi ate lead that would stre tch to nearly a full straighta way at the finish. Hale finished . a secure second and w o ul d transfer directly to the main, while third-placed Rodney Farr is and the rest would try again. Davis ' race cam e to a premature end when a part in his carburetor came loose. Ronnie Jones showed flashes of bril. Hance early in the third heat race, but Davey D u rell e and Steve Morehead worked pa st the racer/promoter in the midstages of the race and took over the two di rect transfer positions. Durelle nabbed th e win w ith a commandin g lead, whi le Morehead edged Jones by a few inches for second. Don Estep gra bbed a h uge holeshot from the seco nd row in hea t fou r, but Carr and Springsteen shook the sleep out of their helmets quickly and motored into first and second, respectively, by the second lap. Carr wen t on to win with a IS-bike length lead ove r Springsteen, who in tum led Estep and the rest of the field by a half straightaway. Semis Rogers ran away with the win in the first eight-lap semi, leading Davis and Kris Kiser across the finish line and into the main even t. Along the way, however, Rogers kicked up a rock that caught Davis in the chin and sent the thr ee-time Na tio nal winner to the ambul a n ce . Davis had the gash in his chin bandaged and returned to his pits in order to prepare for the Na tional. "I d idn't see anything coming - all of a sudden, 'BAM: and m y face shield was covere d with blood," said Davis. Poovey and Aaron Hill disputed the lead in the second semi, and in the end it was the veteran Poovey who scored the win with only inches to spare over Hill . Tommy Colson finished a distant third, but would join the others in the feature. The third and final semi was a barnburner, as Estep, Jones, Roeder and Canad ian National Champ io n St ev e Beatti e lock ed into a vicious four- way battle for the win. In the end, it was Jones, the mos t ex p e ri en ced of the bunch, taking th e win over Es te p, Beatti e and an out-of-Iuck Roeder, wh o would sp ec tate for the res t of th e evening. 600 Support ' Mike Hacker, Eric Bostrom and Matt Wait scored wins in the three eight-lap heat races, but it was Jim Seele/Poole's H-D/ Baldwin's Cycle-s ponsored Scott Sehl who stole the show in the IS-lap main. Wait grabbed the holeshot and diced for the lead with Hacker, Ha rt, Mike Reid and L.J. Schaidt for most of the race. Seh l had started miserably, and after finding his lines, slow ly but surely worked towards the fron t of the pack. SehI closed in on the leade rs on the next to last lap, and as the field received the whi te flag, Sehl ran third behind lead er Hart and Hacker. Sehl hustled on the final lap and took ov er the point position before racing ho me the w inner ahead of M.Lynch Transportation /Cliff's Honda &; Yamaha/Gayton Oliver/Mom &; Dadsponsored Hacker a nd Dale's H-Dsponsored Hart. National Fast- hea t winner Atherton chose to start the 2S-lap featu re on the outside pole, smack-dab in th e mid d le of the groove. Par ker, Carr, Spr ingsteen, Ha le and Du relle sat to Atherton 's left, while Graham - runner-up in the secondfast est heat - passed on his front-row starting position. "I figured it would be .better to start on row two on the groove than on row one in the loose stuff," said Graham. Gr aham 's plans were foiled at the sta rt when both he and Atherton got sideways and suffered miserable sta rts, whil e Carr grabbed the holeshot and led . Parker, Hale and Durelle into tum one. At herton a nd Graham went to work quickly, however, and sliced throu gh the field wi th a vengeance that carried them into the lead dr aft by lap five. Af te r lea ding the first la p, Carr dropped as fa r back as sixth be fore catching back to the lead pack of Parker, Hale, G ra h a m a n d Atherton on lap eigh t. "I sta rted the race with a new rear ti re and I coo ked i t on th e first two laps," said Carr. "I got real sideways a couple of times and dropped way back before I regained my composure and caught back up." Graham, Parker, Carr, Atherton and Hale hooked up and fre igh t- trained away from the rest of the field, and for the next dozen laps would engage in a heated battle for the point. Graham led the majority of the laps past the start/ finish line, as he had an obvious advan tage down the back stretch and through turns three and four. "My bike was working better than everyone else's," said Graham. "I was able to ge t hooked up jus t about an ywhere, while the other guys looked like they were fighting it." Graham circulated the middle of the tr ack, just above the groove, while Parker opted to go low. "I could go about anywhere, but I felt the most comfortable way down low," Parker said. Ca-rr too k a line similar to Graham, but Atherton rode the high line, near the hay bales. On lap 21, Hale's luck ran out while he was running a strong fifth, and the Bar tels ' Harley rider coasted to a stop with a dead ignition. "I was just sitting back and watching, waiting to make my move," said Hale. "Then she just quit coming out of two." At the same time that Hale retired, Graham decided to make his move and began to break away from the rest of the field. Almost im media tel y, G ra ha m opened up a five-bike length lead over Parker and Carr, who appeared to hold each oth er up in their drafting war over second. "I think we got in each oth er's way a b it ," sai d Pa rker. " But we got sma rt pretty fast and cu t it au t." Parker passed Carr for good on lap 23 and set out after the fleeing Graham. Parker d id s ucceed in r ee lin g in Graham, but that was as close as he'd get. Graham blistered the final two turnsa nd g ree ted flag man Stev e Fa rra ci' s checkered flag with room to spare over Pa r ker. Ca rr wa s th ird, a few bike len gths back, while Atherton dropped off the pace and finished a distance back in fou rth . "I almost hit a hay bale on lap 22," said Atherton . "I got screwed up for a few turns and they got awa y." "With five to go I put my hand d own and quit leaving the door open for those gu ys," said an ecstatic Graham. "When I crossed the finish line I shouted in my helmet. I usually don't do that, but I was so happy." Morehead finished a distant fifth, 17