Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Harley-Davidson BB3 National final. Ja s on Fl etcher took s eco n d and Springsteen was third . Time trials Despite hea v y watering, hot and w ind y w eat her left the high-banked ov al hard and slick. Halfway through the firs t practice session more water was added, th en ' a light rain shower muddied the situation. Many racers expected the track to yield a tacky surface , bu t s u c h co n d iti o n s n ever e me rged. The groove wa s wide a n d smooth, but it was dry and 'slick as well . A&R Racing 's Will Da vis was th e fifth rid er to take to th e track during th e tim ed qualifying sessio n and the Honda rider gave everyone a time to shoot for. Hi s 22.995-second I a p held up as th e fastes t of the d ay, as no one e lse w ould d ip into the 22- sec ond b r a ck et. N o o ne ca rne ne a r Carr ' s track rec ord of 21.756. "We 'll be ch a s in g thi s tra ck a ll n ight lon g, tr ying to fi nd, th e m oisture," sai d Da vis. Ca rr ca rne o u t late in th e sessio n bu t s till managed the seco nd-fas test of 23.007, whil e Rodney 'Farr is , Da vey Du relle and Gra ha m ro unded o u t the five-fastest qualifier s. Heats Da vis backed u p hi s fas t time b y running away wi th the win in the firs t lO-lap heat race . " I co u ld ge t a g o od driv e d own low, but I'm afraid that line won't be there all ni ght,': said Davis. Danny Koelsch held d own second until his Michigan neighbor Jay Springsteen worked hi s way past on lap six . Davis and Springst een headed directly for the ma in , while Koelsch and the rest would have to try again. Steve Morehead led th e first three laps of the second heat race until Carr blasted his way in to the lead. Once in front , Carr easily pulled away. Meanwhile, Parker thrilled the crowd with a come-from-behind ride from the penalty line. Parker raged into second on lap nine and he went on to nab the second direct transfer ahead of Morehead. "I sure didn 't want to ride a semi," sa id Parker, who jumped the gun at the s ta rt. "I can't remember the last time 1 had to come from the penalty lin e." Willie McCoy and Tommy Colson held the top two postrions in heat th ree until Farri s and Ronnie Jones came along. Farris and Jones worked pas t the two rid ers and continued the ir nose-to-tail battle at the head of the pack. Jones wa s never able to find a way past and Farris went on to the w in. Chance Darling led heat four in to turn one, but it quickly turned into a typica l G rah am r u n a w ay . Billy Her n d o n motored into second and s tay ed th ere to th e fi nis h, desp ite ,he avy challenges from Terry Poovey. Semis Koelsch and Darling jumped into . th e top two spots at the start of the firs t eight-lap semi, but Hill, Atherton a nd Land es displaced Darling quickly. Hill took over the lead on lap two, but Atherton passed him on the fifth lap. Hill held down second while Koelsch tried his best to fend off Landes. Koelsch's night came to a sorry end on the last lap when his coil broke, and Landes went on to fin ish third and transfer into the main event. Jim Sumner jumped into the lead in sem i two, but Morehead took over on lap two. Fletcher split the Morehead/ Ricky Graham led every lap of the National to post his eighth win of the year aboard his Johnny Goad-tuned Honda RS750. Chris Carr grabbed the holeshot, but couldn't hold off the hard-charging Graham. Sumner battle on lap three and moved into second. At the halfway po int the trio was joined by St ev e Beattie and Ben Bostrom, but there were no further position changes and Beattie and Bostrom were sent to th eir vans. Morehead scored the w in over Fletcher and Sumner. The last semi belonged to Durelle, as he easily outdi stanced Davey Camlin and Mike Ha le for the win. Camlin and Hale fin ished in close order and would compete in the main. 883 Hale and Graham scored the wins in the two eight-lap heat races, but it was Springsteen who g r a b b e d the holeshot at the start of the IS-lap National. Graham started second and wasted little time o v e r ta ki n g Springsteen for the lea d . Once into the point position aboard h is Ricky Graham Racing/CMT Marketing /TRoom/HES Pedor-mance /Dunlop/ Ruthvan Engineering-sponsored B83, Graham pulled out an im medi ate lead over Springsteen, who had hi s hands full with Fletcher. Sp ringst een did all he could to fend off Fletcher, but th at wa s n ' t good enough and Fletcher motored into second for good on lap five. "I got a great holeshot, but 1 ju st couldn't hold those g uys off," said Springsteen . . Graham app eared to be cruis ing out front and Fletcher gaine d a bit of time on him, but that was as close as it would get. Graham nabbed hi s fifth win of the series ahead of Fletcher and Springsteen. "I was closing on Ricky, but I think he might have let up a little, " said Moroney's Harley-Da vid son-backed Fletcher. "Close to the end of the race, he almost hit the wall down th e front straight and I really caught up, but by then it was too late: ' "I was just trying to stay smooth, then late in the race I looked back, just to s ee what was go ing. on," said Graham. "I lost my line and almost hit th e wall. That's why I never look back:' Matt Wait, Hale and James Hart had a good battle for fourth, and th e nod went to Hale. National By virtue of his fastest heat ra ce win, Davis was gi ven first choice on the front row. Davis chose to line up 11

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