Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRTTRACK AMA Grand National Championship Series: Round 17 ~ (Left to right) Third-placed Kevin Atherton, winner Ricky Graham and runner-up Will Davis were all smiles in winner's circle. It was Graham's 10th win of th e series. Scott Parker and his tuner Bill Werner were somber after the ra ce, as Parker was mathematically eliminated fromthe Grand National Championship poi nt chase. 18~ ~------------ --------:- Fletcher, Bea ttie and Jones rounded out the top 10. A t the crossed flags m a rk in g th e halfway poi n t of th e 25- lap ra ce , Graham was s tarting to pull away fro m Atherton and they were well ahead of the field . Carr held down third over Da vis, Park e r , Far ris , ' Mo rehead, Jone s , Fletcher, Beattie, Hale, Roeder, Hill , Landes, McCoy and Resso, Poovey had dropped out on lap nine. This was the hig h poin t for Carr as he soon s tarted to fade. "The low li ne went a w ay a n d I couldn't make a ny thi ng work . It wa s really rough, I cou ld n' t get any consi ste ncy o nce I started d ropping back," Carr said. Davis too k over th ird on lap 14. " I kept looking for a line tha t would w or k. After I took thi rd I was ge tting tired an d I saw Kevin wa y up there ahea d of m e. I d eci d ed to ju st try to hol d m y position ," Dav is sa id . Parker was next to move u p, tak in g ove r fourth on lap 17. " I f was a sea rch all night for a place to ride. I'm just glad it's over," Parker said . Farris go t by Carr on lap 21 to move in to fifth, bu t wa s well behind Parker. "After I let them get away early, it w as really ha rd to m ak e up the time. Bu t we finally finished a race her e," Farris sai d. Gra ha m and Atherton s tarted moving th rough la pped tra ffic as ea rly as la p 17, le a vi n g rid ers scat te red a ll aro und the track. "Once we go t in to lapping, I just p u t i t on cru ise co n trol, " A ther to n said . "T he n w hen I sa w th e five la p to g o sign, I loo ked bac k and Will was rig ht on m y rear wheel. I tried to pick th e pace back up , but I mad e a co uple more mistakes. That was it. I ju st screwed up." . "I could n' t believe it whe n I realized I was gai ning on Kevin. I sa id to myself, 'We can d o this.' Then I just really got a good d rive ou t of four the last lap," said Dav is of his last-lap move th at ga ined him second by a whee l wid th . "W e ma d e some ch anges a fter th e he a t but the track w as n asty. At least we put on a sho w for the fans that s tuck th is o u t, " s a i d Jon e s after h e h a d worked his way up to seve n th . Fletcher ra n nin th most of the way bu t passed Morehead on the last lap for eighth . Beattie cruised home 10th ahead .of Ha le who was s tru gg ling along with a broken rear shock. "The shock broke around lap five. It al mos t beat me to death," said Hale. "As bad as th e tr a ck w a s, I d on' t think anyo ne fe ll a ll n ig h t , u nless Roeder fell in the National. Th a t tell s you how m u ch e v eryon e re sp e cte d what a trac k like this could d o to you," sa id Carr. ln fac t Roede r h ad fa lle n, uninjured, in turn two on lap 17. Of his dwind ling chances of rep eating as Grand Nation al Ch ampion, Carr said, "All [ can do now is win. Scotty is eliminated now and [have to win if I'm to have any ch an ce. Ev en th en Rick y wo uld probably ha ve to ha ve problems for me to catch him now ." With four rounds remaining in the se ries, Graham ha s 284 points, 51 more th an Ca r r 's 233 . P ark er has ind eed been elimin ated. H e's 95 points behind G ra h am and a maximum of 80 points is ava ila b le (fir st place e arns 20 p oints). 600 Support Aft er th e Grand National winner's ci rcl e ce leb r a ti on was over, around 2:30 a .rn ., the 38 entries of the 600 Su pport class were given their practice time. . Divided in to three heats w ith the top five moving on to the main, wi ns we nt to Kev in Varne s, And y Tresser and Mi ke Dillon . The th ird h ea t had the unus ua l sight o f a tw o-st ro ke moving into the main as John Faulkner fin ished fifth on his Yamaha YZ490. The firs t a tt em p t to start the main was red -fla gged when Larry Schaidt tried to climb t he w all on th e back stra ig ht. He wa lked ba ck to the p its and the race restarted wi thou t hi m. Kenny Cool bet h rocke ted to the front with Kris Kiser, Mike Ha cke r, Tresser a n d Varne s in hot p urs uit. Th e red came ou t again when Dillo n fell and his bike gathered up Robert Lewis. Nei ther made the seco nd res tart. Hacker led lap one, but was qUickly ' re p la ced by Coo lbeth. Tr esse r h e ld third over James Ha rt and Kiser. By the halfw ay mark Hart h ad mov ed to third and Tresser and Kiser w ere locked in a ba tile over fourth. M oro n ey ' s H - D / Bell /Sp e c tro / Mo tio n Pro / Pa rents-sp onsored Coolb eth m ad e it look v e ry easy as th e you ng Exp ert led fellow rook ie Hacker h o m e o ve r a s tron g field of ve teran Expe r ts. T ress er topp ed a four-rid er battle fo r four th beh in d Ha rt . Kiser, Varnes and Chad Barth followed . l'N Results H EAT 1: 1. Ric ky Gra ha m (H a n ); 2. Will Davi s (H a n); 3. Ronn ie Jones (I-Ion); 4. Ch ance Darling (H-D) ; 5. Mike Varnes (H- D); 6. Ha rold Dorsey , J r. (Hon) ; 7. Bret Beye r (H ·D) ; 8. Geoff Clark (H· D); 9. Craig Este lla (H· O); 10. Keith Jacobse n (Ho n); 11. Dave Ca mlln (HD). Time: 4 m in., 14.80 sec . HE AT:z, 1. Chri s Ca rr (H-D); 2. Mi ke Hale (H -D); 3. Jason Fletcher (H-D) ; 4. Georgie Price (f-I-D); 5. Brett Land es ( Ho n) ; 6 . W ill ie McCoy (1-1-0); 7. lily Springs tee n (H -D); 8. Sco tt Buch an (H- D); 9. David Lloy d (Hon); 10. Brian Kro m roy (H pD); 11. Ted Tay lor (H- D). T im e: 4:] 5.22 H EAT 3: 1. Rod ney Farris (H- D); 2. Scott Pa rker (H- D); 3. Steve Beatti e (H- D); 4. Terry Poo vey (Hon ); 5. Jim Su mne r (H-D) ; 6. Be n Bost ro m (H-D); 7. Steve Ma rt h (H- D); 8. Fran k Kaise r (H-D); 9. Les Was hbo n (Il-D); 10. De vo n Pritchard (H ·D); 11. Bud Haas (H-D). T im e: 4:14.60 H EAT 4: 1. Kev in A th e r to n (l-f- D); 2. Steve Morehead (H-D); 3. Aar on Hill (H-D ); 4. George Roede r II (H-D); 5 . Larry Pegram (H·D); 6. Joh n Res so III (fl· 0 ); 7. Da nn y Koetsch (H-D); 8. G reg Sims (H- D) 9. Randy Text er (H- D); 12. Rob Oe tte (H-D ). T im e: 4:14.78 _ SEM I 1: 1. Beattie; 2. La ndes; 3. Roeder; 4. Koelsch; S. Da rling; 6. Texter; 7. Bucha n; 8. Ca m lin; 9. Ge tte; 10. Beyer; 11. Bostro w: 12. Wash bon ; 13.Taylor. Time: 3:29.24 SE M I 2: 1. Po ove y; 2. Resso: 3, H ill; 4. Price; S. Spri ngs teen ; 6. M. Vam es; 7. Seged y: 8. Estella; 9. Clark; 10. Ma rth; 11. Krom re y; 12. Haas. Time: 3:30.23 S EMI 3: 1. Fletch er; 2: McCoy; 3. Jones; 4. Pegra m; 5. Dorsey; 6. Sims ; 7. Stump; 8. Sum ne r; 9. Lloyd : 10. Kaiser; 11. Jacobsen; 12. Pritcha rd . Tim e : 3:29.53 25-L A P NATIONAL: 1. Ricky Gra ha m (Ha n); 2. Wi ll Davis (Hon); 3. Kevi n A the r to n (H·O); 4. Scott Par ker (1-1 -0); 5. Rodney Farris (H-O ); 6. C hris Ca rr (H0); 7. Ronnie Jone s (Ha n); 8. jason Fletcher (H-D); 9. Stev e More head (H- O); 10. Ste ve Dea ttie (H-D ); 11. Mike Hale (1-1·0) 12. Brett Landes (Han); 13. Aaron ; H ;II (II ·D) ; 14. Willie. McC oy (H-

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