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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127593
on for second, while Springsteen and the rest would return in a semi. Carr ha d the quickest re act ions in heat tw o, but had Bartels ' HarleyDa vidson ri d er Mik e Hale breathin g down his neck. The tw o riders quickly out-dista nced th e rest of th e fiel d in their battl e over the point, leaving Terry Poovey and Fletcher to do battle ov er th ird. Hale and Carr traded the lead rep eat edl y, w ith Carr owning th e allimp ortant front straightaway. Hal e was fast down the back stretch, but Carr was far s u p erior through turns th ree and four . At the checkered flag, it was Carr with a comfortable ma rgin over Ha le. Poovey led Fletcher across the finish line some 20 bike lengths further back. Durelle and Hall's H-D rider Ted Taylor had a small-guys-only affair out front in the early laps of heat race three, but "bi g guy" Morehead crashed thei r party and began to argue with th em over the two transfer positions. A few small mistakes cost Taylor in a big way, as Durelle and Morehead got away from him and would finish in that order. Taylor and the rest would race again. Davis grabbed the holeshot in the fourth and final heat race and controlled ' the first seven lap s. Graham sh adowed Davis fr o m the g e t-go, an d seemed un able to ma ke a pass; Until lap eight, that is. With relative ease, Graham blasted t h ro ugh turn th ree and s tole the point po sition, bu t Davis retaliate d with an ide ntical pass on the white flag lap . No worries for Graham , thou gh, he simply tucked in beh ind Da v is and p rep ared himself for the ex pec te d d r aft pass at the finish. But rather than pull to the inside of the track as they raced ou t of tu rn fou r, Gra ham we n t to the ou tside and thrilled the crowd with a pass only inches away from the wa ll. A startled Davis was seco nd, while Brenny's Cycles-backed Davey Camlin finished a very dis tan t third. Semis Brett La n des g r ab bed a hu ge holeshot at the start of the first semi and set hi s sigh ts on one of the three final transfer pos itions, but a slip in turns one and two sen t the rookie reeling back into the pack. Poov ey was happy to take over and once out fr ont, w as never headed. Gardner Racing 's Lance Jones was a solid second, while Hud Racing's Bill y Herndon came o ut on top of a wild, four-mart battle for third between himself, Bret Beyer, Charli e Orr and Aaron Hill. Poovey, Jones and Herndon would race in the National, th e rest would watch . Harold Dorsey crashed unhurt in turn one at the start of the second semi, but his Honda RS750 burst into flam es as it tumbled across the track. The bike sat burning as the red flag came out, and it seemed lik e an et ernity before track workers extinguished the flames. Everyone except Dorsey lined up for a complete restart, but a 30-minute delay was needed to clean up the mess left in turn one. When the race was restarted, Taylor grabbed the holeshot and led Keith Day, Jeff Eklund and Fletcher into turn one. Taylor got away in the early going, but after passing Eklund, Day reeled in the . leader and began to challenge for the point. Day got past Taylor momentarily, but the Kevlar suit-clad rider retaliated quickly. At the finish it was Taylor, Day and Fletcher. Farris bolted into the lead in the third semi with Ronnie Jones, Camlin, George Roeder II and Canadian National Champion Steve Beattie shadowing his every move. The five riders proceeded to put on a thrilling show, riding three and four wide through the corners. Camlin controlled the lead as the pack Chris Carr (1) leads Ricky Graham (3), Scott Parker (hidden), Will Davis (21) and Ronnie Jones (16) early in the National. Chris Carr, Scott Parker, Ricky Graham and Steve Morehead fly in formation in a battle that went to the finish. , raced past the white flag, bu t a wild last lap saw h is drop to fourth and ou t of luck. Jones stormed hom e the w inner over Farris and Beattie. Camel Challenge Fast quali fier Parker chose to start the five-lap Camel Challenge on the ou tside pole, smack-d ab in the mid d le of th e groove. Carr, Dure ll e, Gra h a m, Morehead and Davis lined up to his left. At the flash of the green light, Morehead powered off the line wi th the holesh ot ahead of Parker, Graham, Davis, Ca rr and Durelle. Graham wasted little time and smoked into the lead, but as they . raced down the back straight for the second time it was Parker who led the field . Graham took over as they raced past the start finish line to sta rt lap three, and again, Parker took ov er on the back straight. The two riders con tinued on in that pattern until the last la p, when Parker dove deep into turn one and ran leader Graham off the groove. While Graham struggled to recover up in the marbles, Carr found his way past and into second. "If I had stayed there, Scotty would have knocked me off," said Graham. . "Hey, I just went in hard and low, just like Ricky has been doing all year, " Parker said in his defense. Graham regained control as he raced out of turn two and both he and Carr drafted past Parker on the back straight. Graham dove to the inside of turns three and four and passed Carr for the lead, and as the three riders made the dash for the checkers, Graham came down to the middle of the track. This thwarted Ca rr's cha rge and Parker was ab le to slip past him and into second, but at the finish it was Gra ham over Parker and Carr. Durelle, Davis and Morehead followed at a di stance, in that order. Parker th rust his fist in to th e air as he rac ed past the che ckered .flag, and left many wo nd ering wh y. . While Graham took his victory lap, Parker stepped up on to the podium and angrily ann ounced, "Ricky was weaving all ove r and cu tting us off! He came d own on us on th e front straig h t and blocked us." The crowd began to boo loudly, partiall y at Pa rker, partially at Graham. After a few seconds, Parker sm iled and said, "Bu t, hey, he has us beat anyway. He d idn't have to do that." The crowd booed more. "I jus t came o u t o f turn four and turned left, th at 's all ," said Graham. "It's illegal to drift up when you're coming ou t of a turn, but not to drift down like I did. I don't know what those guys are whining about. " 883 National Graham led the way at the start of the IS-lap National, but Fletcher parted company with his 883 in the first turn and the red flag came out. Roeder also crashed in the confusion, but unlike Fletcher, was able to make the restart. Graham again grabbed the holeshot and proceeded to run away with the lead while Bostrom, Sumner and Springsteen battled ov er seco n d . Coolbeth started poorly, but worked through t he field with relative ease and began to challenge for second. Springsteen's motor qu it on lap four and he coa s ted to a s top on th e back stretch. "She jus t started to tie up," said Springsteen . Coolbeth had just passed Sumner and Bostrom for second w hen Tommy Colson and Jam es Hart tan gled in turn tw o and crashe d, bringing out the red flag. On the single-file restart, Grah am led Bostrom, Sumner and Coolbeth. To no one 's s u rp rise , Grah am again wav ed goodbye and went on to an uncontested win a bo a rd hi s Dou glas Fay- tu ned, CMT Marketing/T. Ro om /H ES Pe rfo rm anc e / Du nl op / Ru th van Engineerin g /Motion Pro /Pro Plates / Tsubaki /N ol een/ EBC /Sports-sponsored 883, while Coolbeth set to work on Sumner and Bostrom. Try as they might, Bostrom and Sumner couldn't fend off Coolbeth and he raced home second. Bostrom held on to third . In winning, Gr aham cl inched the Harley-Davidson 883 National Championship Series title with six wins and 164 points. With one round remaining, Fletcher lead s Springsteen for second, 132-112. "This wasn't one of my big goals this year, but it still feel s good," said Graham. National As fast heat winner Carr was given first choice 0!1 the line and parked his Harley on the outside groove. Durelle, Graham, Parker, Hale and Morehead filed in to his left. Just as he had done in the Came l Ch allenge, Morehead timed th e start perfectly and led the Rolling Thunder Show into turn one . Davis took 11