Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRACK e AMA Grand National Championship~S_eri_es_:_oUD _l_2 R _d _ (Left to right) Second-place finisher Chris Carr, winner Ricky Graham and third-placed Steve Morehead were all smiles after the 25-lap National. race, hoping that my luck would change, but 1 guess that wasn't enough." Morehead was quick to take over, and for the next eight laps led the majority of the race with Carr glued to h is re ar fen d er. Davis struggled with his Honda, but managed to stay in the battle for third with Farris on his rear tire . . When the halfway flags were shown on lap 12, Morehead controlled the po int with Carr right on his tail. Davis and Farris battled over third approximately five bike lengths behind, while Graham raced to catch up some 10 bike lengths further back. "I was trying as hard as I could right from th e s ta r t , but 1 couldn 't get hooked up ," sa id Graham of his so-so speed in the early part of the race. "But when I saw 01' Springer go by everyone way up high, that gave me the idea to . try some thing to tally different as well." Gr ah am be gan to modify his lines, a nd used a n ex tr emely low line into Steve Morehead was awarded $5000 by the R.J. Reynolds Tobbacco Company for his win in the five-lap $10,000 Camel Challenge dash-for-cash race. never a factor, and after flns ihing . Iast, hurried back to the p it s to install a well-used tire. When asked by announce r La rry Maiers what he d id to score th e win, Morehead replied matter-of-factly, " I didn't shut off," and the crow d w ent wild. "I knew n o o ne was go n n a g et underneath me ," Morehead sa id later. "I got out front an d guarded that low line with m y life. This is the first Challenge I've been in all year and the first one that I've won since Pomona in 1991. It's about tim e." 18 National Fast-heat winner Carr se t his Harley on the groov e at the start of the 2S-lap National , while Morehead, Graham , Davis , Parker and Farri s lin ed up to his left. Jones, Pegram, Herndon, Hale, H ill and Atherton sat on row tw o, wh ile Sp ringsteen, Poovey, Roeder II, Es tep a n d Colson made up the t hi r d ro w. Roed er , however, stood on th e line withou t a machine as his pit crew hurried to repair a failin g clutch .' Roeder's machine was fixed just in time to make the s ta r t, a n d i t w as Morehead who led the Rolling Thunder Show into turn one. Davis took over on the fir st lap, and Parker, Ca rr, Farris and Springsteen jo ined in th e chase . Graham completed the first lap in sixth, bu t a few small mistakes d ropped him as far back as eig hth before he rega ined his momentum for good. The crowd went ballistic on lap five w hen Sprin gsteen w en t to the to p of the track and pa ssed most of the field so fast that the ir ha ir must've go ne for ward. Within one lap, Sprin gsteen had gone from sixth to seco nd, an d looked to pa ss lead er Da v is a s well. Un fortunat ely fo r the th ree- t ime champ, he would never get the chance to try, as a crac ked oil tan k sp ewed oil on his rear tir e and sent h im slipp ing ba ck in to the pack. "I w ent wa y up high, just like in the old d ays," sai d Springs teen. "I th ought, ' H o t damn, I'm go n na wi n a no ther one of these thing s!' Bu t, oh well , it was fun while it lasted ." Davis' luck would also run o ut, as the Honda rider found himself with no rea r brake as he led the pack int o tum one on lap seven an d ra n far off th e gro ove . "I went hauling into one but when I went for the rear brake there wa s nothing th ere ," sa id Davis in d isb eli ef. "I shaved my moustache off before th is turn one to pass most of his competitors. By lap 15, Graham had closed in on the Davis/Fa rris battle. Davis, struggling with no brakes, went wide into turn one and allowed Graham pa st .-' Atthe same time , Carr finally found a way past Morehead and quickly began to pull away. . " I had turns three and four dialed, but I was never really able to get going in one and two," said Carr. "Once I got past Steve 1 just tried to get away." Carr did establish a 10 bike length . lead at one point, that is, until Graham found his way past both Farris and Morehead on laps 19 and 20 with his . "patented" low line into tum one. With five laps to go, Graham found hiinself with five bike lengths between himself and Carr, but twisted the throttle harder than ever and began to reel in the lead er. "I sa w th at he had a pretty good lead on me , but 1 figured that if I had come that far, I cou ld go all the wa y,"

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