Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

repeatedly until he used the draft to take over on lap seven. Carr settled in close behind. "I wanted to see his line's," said Carr. It worked, as the Harley-Davidson Inc./HOG/ Arai/ Hap Jones/Sunoco/ White Bros./Supe rT ra pp-sponsored Carr drafted by at the fin ish line in a race so close that it had to be decided by the finish line video camera. The race for first overshadowed two fine races further back in the pack. Bret Beye r nipped Da ve Camlin for th ird while Scott Stump topped Steve Beattie for fifth. The third heat belonged to Durelle as the Dona hue H-D / H-D Inc./Bieffe/ AI Mu th H- D/ Stor z / Ts ubaki/Maxima/ General Engineering-sp onsored rider pulled to a comfortable lead over a great race for secon d . George Roeder II, Kevin Ath erton, Ronni e Jones and Mike Ha le were bunched in a tight race with each takin g a turn in second . Wh en Steve Faraci's checkered flag dr opped , it was Ha le m ov in g up from fo urth to ed ge Atherton for second and a starting slo t in the Na tiona l o n the las t lap. Jo nes led Roe d er in to the semis in fourth. Parker led Larry Pegram into turn one a t the start of the las t heat , but by the end of lap one Lance Jones had taken ove r ahead of Pegram, Terry Poovey and Parker. At the s tart of the third lap, Parker drove high into tum one and went from fourth to first in one swoop. Pegram dropped from first to third behind Poove y, while Jones lurked in fourth . Parker pulled away as Poo vey settled into second . Jones caught fire at the halfway point, moving into third while Pegram fell off the pace. Jones rode on Poovey's rear fender until lap eight, when he shot by and held second by a comfortable margin. Durelle's heat was the fastest, but the difference between the first and fourthfastes t heats was only 1.178 seconds. Parker's heat was second-fastest ahead of Graham's and Carr's. Semis Texas Harley-Davidson teamma tes Atherton a nd Pegram easily took control of the first two transfer positions in semi one, but the thi rd and final advancement spot went dow n to the wire. At the flag it was Greg Sims who qualified for his first Grand National of the yea r by edging Scott St ump and Randy Texter for third. Chance Darling led the second semi into turn one but was displaced by Poovey down the back straight. By lap two Ronnie Jones had ta ken over with Poovey, Dave Camlin and Rodney Farris right behind. Farris had wo rked his way to the fron t from row tw o after sitting out his heat with a broken throttle cable. Jones, Farris, Camlin and Poovey had pulled away from the rest of the field when the red flag carne ou t on lap six. Team Undo's Brett Landes had cras hed uninjured in tum one. On the single-file restart, Poovey carne from fourth to first with Jones and _ Farris in tow. Camlin's charge to the front was cut short. "1 broke the shift lever on the restart and it fell d own in fron t of my brake. I was trying to ho ld it up with my foot an d that did n' t wo rk. 1almost took us all ou t in tum thr ee, so I decided to back off," said Camlin. Poo vey held o n for the w in over Jon es a nd Farris, all advanci ng to the main, while fourth place finis her Ted Taylo r and the remainder of the field we re sen t packing. The last semi was really snake-bitten. Aaron Hill cha rged to the lead over Bret Beyer, bu t three- tim e Grand National Cha mpion Jay Springsteen had the Mike Hale (32) led Rodney Farris , Ronnie Jones and Kevin Athe rton in the battle for fifth. Hale prevailed. cro wd cheering as he blasted into the lea d . Bey er le d la p o ne over Springsteen, Hill, Steve Beattie and BiIIy Herndon, but on lap two Herndon fell hard in turn three and brought ou t the red flag. Herndon was unhurt but could not make the complete restart. On the restart, Springsteen and Beyer hooked handlebars with Springs teen getting the worst of it and going down on the front straight. "1 got a good start, bu t then I missed a gear and he hit me from behind," said Springsteen. Hill got a great start on the third try but unfortunately he found a neutral before tum one and d ropped to the rear before he was able to jam his bike back into gear. Roeder led the opening lap one over Beattie, Willie McCoy, Beyer and Springsteen. Beattie felI on lap three, but the race continued . Springsteen took over on tha t same lap and led Roed er and McCoy. By lap six it had tu rned into a three-rider race as McCoy slipped back out of the fro ntrunning group. Beyer led the last two laps as Roed er moved by Springsteen for second . HiII was really flying and he passed McCoy for fourth on lap seven, bu t time ran out and he would spend the res t of the evening on the sideli nes. National The field wheeled to the line with Durelle, winner of the fastest heat, given first choice of starting position. Durelle picked the second spot from the far outside with Parker just to his right. Graham, Lance Jo nes, Hale and Carr were to his left. Row two was made up of Morehead, Atherton, Beyer, Poovey, Pegram and Davis, while Roeder, Ronnie Jones, Sims, Springsteen and Farris sa t on row three. Si ms' race was the shortest as his Harley broke on the warm-up lap and he was forced to the pits. When the ligh t flashed green, Parker go t the best start and led into turn one, while Graham was having trouble. " Lance Jones go t sideways off the line and ran into me. After that I had to jus t stay cool and look for room," said Graha m. Morehead used a high line into turn one a nd came fro m row two to third, while Carr took over the lead. Parker, Morehead, Durelle and Graham sat in Carr's back pocket. A three-rider d raft battle for the lead involving Ca rr , Pa r ke r and Graham developed by lap fo ur and the th ree, joined by Durelle, would carry the fight right d own to the finish. Carr held the Graham led onl y th ree laps in the 25-lap Nationa l, but they were the ones that counted. lead most of the time, but it varied all around the track. On lap seven, Durelle upset the balance by moving in to the fray. The rider from Minnesota reall y shook up the mix by grabbing the lead on lap 10 and holding it through lap 12. Carr was back in front for two laps on lap 13, then DureIle took over again for two laps before he suddenly dropped back. "1 felt I was losing my tire, so 1 slowed down. Then it cooled down and started hooking up again," said Durelle of a trip that saw him d rop as low as sixth in the middle of the race and then dramatically return to the lea d in the late stages of the 25-lap go. While Morehead cruised alo ne in fifth, a nine-rider battle raged ove r sixth. Atherton, Farris, Ron nie Jones, Lan ce Jones, Hale, Poovey, Davis, Pegram and Beyer were fighting for the pos ition. "Hale moved by me and signaled me to get in line," Ronnie Jones said. "1 d id, and I also signaled Atherton to do the same. When he did, 1 think we sta rted to ga in on the leaders. Then Farris came blasti ng b y a nd took us a ll off the groove and Hale got aw ay." Ha le, then left to do it alone, started closing on Mo rehead . Ha le eve nt ua lly made the pass, bu t could advance no furt her."! used up my ti r e. I r ea ll y thought I could win this, but having to come from so far back by myself - I just reached a level then couldn't gain anymore," Hale said. "I just couldn't put it toge ther tonight," Morehead said. "I ran up front fora while, but I kept messing up. I'd have three or four good laps then make a mis ta ke. Finally, when Mike ca ugh t me I held h im off for aw hile, b ut he eventua lly got by." In the mean time, the lead pack constantly shuffled positions, running th ree and fou r wide across the line. "A four-rider draft is really hard. It's ha rd to position yo urself where you need to be," Carr said. "It was crowded. You could ru n three wide into the turns, but then yo u had to funnel down to a single line through the turns." Back in the pack, Atherton , Ronnie Jones and Farris were still at it. "That was really just fun. I couldn't get up to the front, so I just enjoyed myself," said Athe rton after finish ing eigh th. No t enjoyi ng himself was Farris. "I was moving up, but then Ronnie drove under me and moved me o ut. I was never able to recover from that ," said Farris, who slipped to an eventual nin th. Durelle roa red back into the lead on lap 23, but slipped off the groo ve in turn one at the star t of the followi ng lap. "I got into tu rn one too h a rd and just cou ldn't hold it down," said Durelle of the move that turned the lead over to Gra ha m at the white flag . Parker held second over Du relle arid Carr wi th one lap remaining. For Dur elle, the mistakes were not over. "I tried to get around Scott going 7

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