Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eDIRT TRACK AM! Grand National Championship_Se ri_es:_Ro und_17 _ __ _ ~ Kevin Atherton (23)led eventual winner Ricky Graham (3),Will Davis (21), Rodney Farris (92)and Chris Carr (1) at the start of the National. Graham took over for good on lap eight By Dave Hoenig Photos by Bert Shepard MINERAL WELLS, WV, AUG. 28 icky Graham's quest for hi s th ird AMA Grand Nation al Championshi p took an other gia n t leap forward as h e overca me adver se condition s to run aw ay with a record tieing 10th w in of th e ser ies. Th e northern Californian rode his Johnny Goadtuned Team Undo Honda to a convincin g win on th e rough but ta cky half mil e oval at We st Virginia Motor Spe edway to tie Scott Parker 's single seaso n win total. "This is ju st unreal. fanta stic. I've tied Scotty's record. Now we head for my favorite track, the Springfield Mile," said Graham after he tied th e record Parker set in 1989. A few hou rs earlier th in gs hadn't appear ed nearly as bright for the points lead er. Extreme heat and high humidity continued to follow the AMA dirt track stars around the count ry. Temperatures in the high 90s with humidity to match left th e high-banked half mil e bumpy and dusty for the first practice session, which started around 5:30 p .m. Practice was stopped shortly before 6 p.m. to app ly so me much-need ed wa te r . Unfortunately, Mother Nature supplied heavy ra in at the same time. The track was pelted for over a half hour and left a quagmire. Forced to wait until 8:30 p.m. to even start wheel packing, it was apparent it was going to be a long night. R 16 After 11 p .m . the first riders were sent aut to try the track. It was greeted with mixed revues. "I think it's rideable. It's even starting to d ry out in a few places," said last year's winner Will Davis. "I don 't like it," said a pensive Graham after practice. "I jus t want to get through this. It's slick and the moisture is still coming up ." Time Trials Due to the la te h ou r, AMA Dirt Tra ck Manager/Referee Bruc e Bob er implemented plan "B." "This is something I wo rke d ou t a couple of week s ago, just in case we ran into something like this. We seede d the top 24 riders by their Nation al points. That gives them front row starts in the fou r heats," said Bober. Th e remainder of the 45 rid er field gridded for the heats by their draw for time trial slots at sign-up. Heats Pole position s w e n t to Gra h a m, d efend ing Gr and National Champion Chris Carr, Parker a nd th e winne r o f th e National held her e in June, Kevin Atherton. In wha t is fast b ecomin g a Parkersburg tradition th at ev eryone would rather not practice, the first heat was called to the line shortly after midnigh t and Graham chose the outside starting spot. It didn't work as Chance Darling got a great drive from the ins ide and led Will Davis into tum one. Darling's lead was short-lived, however, as Davis pushed his A&R Honda into the lead down the backstraight. At the end of lap one Graham and Ronnie Jones had also gotten by Darling. Davis was flying on the low line as he took a "d iamond " line through the turns, but Graham was clipping ha y bales and fast closing on Davis. At the halfway p oint, Graham drove under Da vis at the start/finish line and took over for good. "It felt real good, but then Ricky just rod e by and was gone," said Davis. Graham pulled out a couple second le ad, w h ile Davis held .a five-second lead over Jones . Jones was a solid third over Darling and Mike Varnes, but all were semi bound as only the top two finishers in each heat advanced straight to the final. Chris Carr put his Harley-Davidson factory-spo nsored XR750 on the inside for th e start of heat two, a mo ve that was duplicated the rest of the night. At the flash of the starting light, Carr led Bartels' H-D teammates Mike Hale and Ja y Sp ring s teen in to turn one. Ca rr quickly pulled away from Hale and Springsteen fell victim to two young chargers, Jason Fletcher and Georgie Price. Fletcher had his sights set on Hale and that las t qualifying position and both riders jockeyed for track positions . At the halfway mark Carr held an uncatchable five-second advantage. Fletcher continued to nip at Hale's heels only to fade during the last two laps and finish third, leading Price, Brett Landes and Willie McCoy to the semis while Carr and Hale ad vanced to the final. Parker got the crowd , a large one that not only weathered the storm but fought off sleep, excited as he led heat three into turn one. But it wa s Ed Adkins/Winchester H-D/Witt's H-D/ Mary & Mac/Larry Gordon/Zoom/ Fox/Bell/Lynch Trucking/Myerssponsored Rodney Farris who went low in turn two and blasted into the lead. Farris worked his way to a big lead out front as Parker, who was running a distant second, opened a large gap over Steve Beattie and Terry Poovey. The top four positions were set with all four riding well clear of anyone, but the spots that counted went to Marylander Farris and Michiganite Parker. Heat four was also quickly decided I as Texas H-D/ Sponseller/KK/Arai/ Pro Plates-spo~sored Kevin Atherton

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