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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eDIRTTRACK e AMA.Grand National Championship Series: Round 14 ~------------- ------ DC TY TI (Left to right) Grand National Champion Chris Ca rr, two- time champ Ricky G rah am and fou r-tim e titl e-h old er Scoll Park er finish ed secon d, first and th ird, respectively. Graham "starts over" at Rapid Ci~ Half Mile By Dave Hoenig RAPID CITY, SD, AUG. 11 t had only been three days s ince Rick y Graham sa w his record-se tting six -race win strea k snap ped by Grand National Champion Chris Carr at the Peoria IT, but the Team Undo rider arrived at Black Hills Speed w ay anx ious and ready to go. "I'I l just h ave to start another (w in streak )," sai d Graham before the start of the d ay's ev en ts at the Mike Kiddp romot ed Rapid City Half Mil e, a rare mid-week National h eld in conjunctio n w ith th e Black Hills Ra lly. And that's jus t wh at he d id. At the flash of th e gree n light, the two-time Grand Na tio n a l Champ ion assumed h is usual p osit ion a t th e front of the I 10 / pack and went on to lay th e gro u nd work for what he hop es w ill be h is second wi n strea k of the series. Traction was the bu zz word in the pits as everyone loo ked for the slig h tes t edge on the slick track. Bu t while everyone seemed to struggle, Gr aha m made it look ever so easy ab oard his Team Undo /Pana so n ic Car Au dio/ Fr ontier Ford lJ a c k S is em ore / HDG / Arai /Fox/Z Galleries/Mo tion Pro/ C la wson Honda-spo nsore d Honda RS750. "I used a trick tha t (1962, ' 65 an d '66 G rand Na tional Champion) Bar t Markel taught me when I rode for him ye ars ago, " said Graham . "I didn't use my brake at all, I s lo wed down b y tu rnin g in to the turn with m y front w heel. Th en it was throttle control to keep from breakin g loose." But wha t about th e man who had def ea te d Graham a t the previous ro und? Carr ran s trongly throughout the ra ce an d finished a solid second . At o ne p o in t, the Te am Harl ey Davidson rider moved up a nd sh owed G r a ha m his front wheel, but h e co uld n' t match the pace tha t Graham se t soon a fte r. C arr slipp ed another four poi n t s b ehind Grah am in the series poin t s tandings a nd no w sits 36 behind,231-195. "It migh t be sli p p ing a way," sa id Carr, in refer en ce to his hopes of successfully defending his title. "We can't seem to stop Ricky, he 's just riding his butt off." Carr' s fa ctory H arl ey teamm ate , four-time cha m p Scott Parker, finish ed th ird and maintains third in the point s ta n dings with 151. "We have really been struggling for the past few weeks, " sa id Parker, happy with h is finish . "I 'm just glad to be on the bo x. Now I'm ready for the ne xt round." For th e win in front of 6600 ra ce fa n s, Gr aham won $40 00 o f the $28,000 purse . Graham padded h is bank account with ano th e r $ 100 0 by w inni n g th e