Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ DIRT TRACK Series: Final round ~ a ... N J-i Q) .g ..... u o Aaron Hill (17) got the jump on Will Davis (21), Steve Morehead (42), Rodney Farris (92) and eventual winner Ricky ~raham (3) at the start of the 25-lap National. Grand finale for Graham at Pomona Half Mile By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones POMONA, CA, OCT. 9 he Pomona Fairplex and Exposition C ente r played h ost to the fi nal ro und of the 1993 Grand Na tion al Cham pionship Series, but to the dismay of a ll but o ne of the competitors on hand, the scenery wasn't much different than it ha s been all yea r long. For the 12th tim e this season, recently-crowned Grand National Champion Rick y Graham showed his backside to the competition as he raced away with a seemingly-effortless win aboard his Team Undo Honda RS750. "This is a perfect end to a perfect year," sa id Graham, who had already wrapped up his third Grand Na tional Championship three races earlier at the Springfield Mile. "I didn't really know what to expect when 1 got here. Since I had already clinched the championship, 1 didn't know if I would ge t pumped up enough to pull off another win. There was nothing really left for me to prove." Nothing to prove, indeed. Not only had Graham earned his third title, he had set several new records along the way (see sidebar). But after snatching the lead on the first lap of the 25-lap National, instincts took over and Graham was never seriously challenged as T 6 he raced away with a lead that would stretch to the length of the straigh taway by the race's end. "Th e bike was so p erfec t ton ight ," said Graham of his Johnny Goad-tuned machi ne. " lcoul d p u t it anywhere on the track and it would jus t hook up." For his w in at the Chris Agajan ia n Presents-promoted e ve nt, G ra h a m earned $4000 of the $28,000 p urse , as well as a $6000 bonus from the AMA for w inning the Grand Na tional Championship. Chasing the 34-year-old cha m pion home at a distance was Steve Morehead, who competed aboa r d h is p e rsonal Harley-Davidson XR750. Morehead did his best to imitate Graham 's display of textbook sliding, but the series veteran was forced to concentrate mo re on thwarting the race-long attacks of thirdplaced Will Davis. But what about Team Harley-Davidson's Chris Carr and Scott Parke r? Many expected Carr to be a factor in the main after the 1992 champ trounced the competition in his heat race, but after starting poorly, Carr was never a seri ou s threat and finished a distant fourth. For Parker, the race wa s ov er b efore it began. The four-t ime Gr and National Champion crashed in turn one during his qualifying lap and was taken to the hospital with a sore low er back . Parker was la ter d ia gnosed with two compressed vertebrae, and will sp en d at least three months in a back brace. G ra ha m al so sco red the w in in the IS-lap Harley-Da vid son 883 N ational, edging Jason Fletcher and Mik e Hale. Ju st as he ha d in the Grand N ational d ivision, Graham had already wrapped up the 883 series title a t Springfield. Time trials . Tempers flared during the late-aftern o on p ractice sessions, a s the Steve . Wood-prepared track was dry and slippery. Despite the requests of numerous racers to wa ter the course, AMA officials op ted to let the track be until after the timed qualifying sess ions. " Th e track is really smooth, but there's no moisture out there. It's gonna be really slippery unless they put some water down," said Parker before his hot lap. Unfortuna tely, Parker's predictions w ere correct. Just after receiving the green flag to begin his timed lap, Parker low sid ed in tum one and slid up into the hay bales that lined the track. "Scotty jus t reamed it in there, but there wasn't enough track to hold him up," said Graham, who had been watching in tum one. "That's gotta say something to the AMA when one of the best riders in the country goes down." Shaken, Parker com plained of a soreness in his lower back and opted to take a trip to the hosp ital. Aft er seeing Parker's cras h, Graham turned in a cautious 31.409-second lap and sat in 14th at th e end of tim e trials. Throwing ca ution to the wi nd, how.. ever, was Harley-Da v id son of Sacr amento's Aaron Hill . The personable Californian turned in a lap time of 30.570 seconds and wa ited anx iously as the rest of the field took to the track. . "It actually felt slow, but I knew that the track would get slow er as the session wore on so 1 decided against wav ing off," said Hill as he waited for the qualifying session to end. "I usually never get nervous for anything, but my hands are shaking right now." To Hill's delight, his fast lap was not bettered and he was awarded a $100 check for turning in the first fast-qualiEying lap of his career. Rounding out the six-fastes t qualifiers who would compete in the $10,000 Camel Challenge were Rodney Farris, Mike Hale, Andy Tresser. Will Davis and Jason Fletcher. Heats Water was laid down immediately after the timed qualifying session came to an end, and the result was what many

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