Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127595
GDIRT TRACK ~ ~ Aaron Hill (17) and Ch ris Carr (1) got the jump on Dan Stanley (60), Ben Bostrom (6Y) an d Rex Fisher (12) at th e start of th e 25-lap National. Carr gra bbed the lead and ran away. arr JJ SC 00 S'em" at ast e OC By Donn Maeda Photos by Dave Hoenig and Maeda CASTLE R OCK, WA,SEPT. 18 he course? IT Ridin g 101. The classro om ? Th e Ca stle Rock Fairgro unds . Th e instructo r? Pro fesso r Chris Ca rr. Team Harley-Davidson 's Carr ma y have los t his right to carry the number one p late next season, but one thing is sti ll the same - Carr re mains the un d isp uted ki ng of IT raci ng in th e G ra nd Nationa l Cha mp ionship Series. In wha t looked more like a 25-lap riding seminar than a race, Carr won the Cas tle Rock T 4 IT wi th rel ative ease , tur ni ng in a s tartto- fini sh ro mp in th e Gr a nd N at ional Champion ship Series' first sto p at Cas tle Rock since 1979. "It 's not really mu ch of a cons olati on , I'd s till ra the r ha ve been able to re tain my title," said Carr, who saw his cha mp ion ship hop es en d tw o w eeks earlie r wh en Ricky G raha m clinch ed the title w ith a win at the Sp ringfie ld Mile. "But even so, an y win s till feels good . I just go t out front and set a pace that no one could match. " Chas ing Carr home in a di stan t second and post ing his bes t-ever Nati on al fi nis h was Harley- Da v idson o f Sacra men to-bac ked Aaron Hill, while ho me-stat e ride r, roo kie Exp er t Da n ' Stanley, thr illed his fans with a s trong third- place finish. Carr earned $4000 of t he $28,000 pur se, while Hill and Stanley we re awarded $2750 and $2000, respectively. Bu t wha t a bou t recen tly-crowned G ra n d Na tio na l C ha mp io n Gra ham ? Along with many of the series' other top riders, Graham wa tched the main eve n t fro m the sidelines after failing to qualify (see sid ebar). As a ma tter of fact, Carr a nd seven th-p laced Ronnie Jones were' the only top-10 series riders who qua lified for th e ma in event. As expected, Castle Rock IT regul ars gave the series vetera ns fits and thrilled the capaci ty crow d tha t was esti mated at over 7500. "We're really excited to finally have ano ther Grand Na tional here," said Paul Si mo nse n, presi dent o f the Mt . St. Hele ns M.e. , the hosts of th e e ve n t. "The gra nds tands h old 7500 spectato rs, b u t it w as s tan di ng room only in the turns." The Cas tle Rock TT was a regular round o f th e G ra nd N at ion al circ u it between 1965 and 1979, but when nearby Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, the track was cove red w ith ov er 16 feet of as hes. It took fou r yea rs for the Mt. St. Helens M.e. to wor k the track back into raci ng co n d ition, a nd it wa s ano the r fou r years befor e the facility hos ted its firs t-e ve r 600cc Nat iona l in 1988. Th e 600cc series has visited the track eve ry yea r s ince, but thi s y ear' s G ra nd Na tiona l marke d th e fi rs t time in 14 yea rs tha t the "b ig" tour has visited at the kidney bean-shaped co u rse . Since _ the track's reopening, Car r has been the domina nt rider; win nin g five of the six 600cc Nationals held there. Time tr ials Washin gt oni ans domina ted the time trial sess ions, and the fastest of them all wa s rooki e Ben Bostro m of Brisbane. Bostrom s to pped the clo cks a t 21.404 seconds , eclips ing the track record of 21.810, previous ly held by Carr. "I haven 't raced her e much, but I ride a lot of motocross and I like the tighter, twisty race tr a ck s," said Ventura Harley- Davi d so n/ Fres no H-D / Azt ec Racing /Storz/Yoko-backed Bostrom. "I wa ved off my first try and th roughout my second lap I was th inkin g, 'D on 't crash, don 't cras h: Fast time at a G rand Nat iona l? I'm jacked!" Joe Kop p of Mic a and Bell ingham resident St anley foll owed on ly a few h und red ths o f a sec ond slo wer, while n o r th ern Ca lifo rnia ns Carr and Hill ro unded ou t the five fastest qualifier s. "The trac k is faster than I' ve ever seen it," sa id Carr. "The start will be rea lly important toni ght. " Heats The Ca s t le Rock track features a un iq ue starting chute that stages the riders inside and below the tra ck . Wh en the starting light goes green the race is for the groov e, not the first turn. Warren, Oregon 's Rex Fisher had the best reactions in the first Ifl-lap heat race and led G ra h a m, Bostrom and Matt Wait on to the track and th rough turn one . Graha m p ressured Fish er for th e first four laps befor e slippi n g wi de in tu rn tw o a n d allowi ng Bo strom to sq ueeze past befor e the following righthander. G ra ha m m a d e th e sa me m ista k e th ree laps la te r and all owed Wait to close in, an d in an attempt to hold h im off grabbed a handful of throttle as he powered out of th e right-ha nd er' and over the jump. The result proved disastrous for Graham, as he spun out in the air over the jump and was sent barreling across the middle of the track. "I went over the jump with the throttle wide open and I jus t sp un out," said Graha m, w ho was unh urt and managed to restart his ma ch ine and rejoin the race a lap down. "I was trying to s teer the bike with the th rottle like we di d here back in the 70's, but all that's change d now. " Up front, Fisher kept h is cool and pulled out to a comfortable lead at the fin ish over Bostrom and Wa it. Fishe r and Bostrom w ould head for the main , while the rest would try aga in in a semi. "I expected Ricky to give me more of a cha lle n ge at fir st," sa id Dirt Tr ack Num be r Plates /Hart Racing /Heath Specialt ies/Engla n d Sign Co ./Mob ile Window Tin t/Gi ova n ni' s Pizza/ Belli Motion Pro /Mom & Dad-sponsored Fisher. "I'm pretty comfortable on this track; I only live 45 minutes aw ay." J.P. Simonsen led the way a t the start of what would be a crash-filled second heat , and enjoyed the spo tlight for only a Jap befo re Kop p took ove r on the outside of turns one an d two. Shane Liberty and Ga ry Strod e tangled on the four th lap and brought out the re d flag, but both riders were able to make the singlefile restart. Kopp assumed his sp ot at the front on the restart w ith Jeff Eklund and Randy Roose in hot pursu it. Within three laps, Kopp had es tab lished a 10bike len gth lead ove r Eklund and Roose.