Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

costly mistake in turn one while leading and dropped to third. The heat race win was the firs t-ever for Landes, and the soft-spoken Ca liforn ian was overjoyed with his performance. Little did he know that better things would follow. ' Mo desto Harley rider Mall Wait, Tresser, C lin t Vahscholtz a nd Davis topped the four semis and rounded out the National gri d. When th e light went.green at the start of the 25-lap National, Carr powered off the outsid e pol e position a nd led the field into tum one. A groan rose from the crowd, as many expected Carr to perform his third runaway win in as many tr ies. Poovey had other ideas, however, and latched on to the tailsection of Carr's Harl ey. Landes was third off the line, and led an impresive list of more-experienced riders around the track. Within four laps, Carr, Poovey and Landes had broken away from the field, but Davis had sliced through the pack after starting on the third row and was closing in fast. "I knew that Poovey would be the one to pressure me," said Carr. "From wa tching his hea t, I knew tha t he and I were the fastest guys here. I d idn't even have to look back, I knew it was him. " Poovey shadowed Carr's e very mo ve, and at on e po int ev en tr ied to p ull alongsi de the leader as they raced out of tum two . "I was getti ng a be tter d r ive than Chris coming out of two, but he wou ld have had to mak e a m is tak e for me to ing -s p o ns o red Rota x, and an ultraimp ressive Brett Landes, Graham's onetime Team Undo protege . In order to provide a w id er racing line and a better show for the sp ectators, Daytona's Jim France requested that an abundance of water be dumped on the track in the early afternoon. The result was a rac e p rogram that ran se rio usly late, and a track that managed to groove up, despite the track crew's effort to preven t such conditions. At 5:00 p.m., the time wh en practice sess ions were sche duled to s ta r t, th e track was a muddy qu agmire. After an ex te ns ive w heelp acking session, riders were finall y allow ed to take to the track after the sun had set. The show wa s further d elayed when rider after rider waved off th eir first qu alifying attemp ts during time trials, hoping that the oval wou ld d ry up and yield better lap times as the evening wore on. The trick wo rked for som e, but the fastest qualifier of the evening was Poovey, who opted to keep his first hot lap . Poovey's 19.393 time was the fastest of the night, but well off the track record of 17.891, set by Carr in 1992. Loral Lake Racings' Ronnie Jon es , Sacramento of Harley-Davdison's Aaron Hill, Carr and LA Racing rider Lanc e Jones rounded out the fastest five. Time trials ended at 9:00 p.m ., and the 9000 extremely-patient spectators on hand were delighted when opening ceremonies commenced, over one hour behind schedule. 600cc Six lO-lap, 10-rider heat races were run, each offering only two direct transfers, which filled 12 of the 16 starting spots in the main. The remaining four positions were awarded to the winners of the four eight-lap semis. Poovey got the jump on the field in the first heat and raced off with a foursecond lead - quite substantial, consider- (Above) Team Undo's Brett Landes turned In a commendable ride and finished third. Landes closed In on runner-up Poovey in the closing stages. (Right) Grand National Champion Ricky Graham failed to make the program aboard hlsSmokln' Joe's Honda. ing that lap times averaged near the 20second mark - over runner-up Rusty Rogers, who raced a trick KTM 600. Graham started the race fourth, but spun out in turn four on the fi rs t lap and dropped out of contention. The everpopular Jay Springsteen finished third aboard his Bartels' Harley, but would have to return in a semi. Like Poovey, Ronnie Jones performed a similar disappearing act in heat two, while Total Control Racing's Kevin Atherton lhrilled the crowd with a come-from-behind ride to grab the second transfer position. Hill raced to an easy win in the third heat aboard a factory Harley-Davidson XR600 that he borrowed from long-time friend Ca rr, w hile Skip Eaken Racingspo nso red Davey Camlin passed Andy Tresser for the second ticket to the main. Ca rr spanked the field in heat four, while BBRP's Dan Stanley motored home a distant second. The fifth heat race marked the arriva l of highly touted rookie expert Kenny Coolbeth. Though the Gardner Racing pilot d idn't w in, he did finish second to Garvis Honda's Rich King to earn a spot in the Nati onal Landes, and Oden & Hewitt Racing's Duan e Veeder were delighted to take over first and second place in the fina l hea t race when leader Will Davis made a ge t by," said Poovey. " I tried to get a wheel in there, but I couldn't," .) For 15 laps, Poov ey stayed glued to Carr's back tire, while Landes ran alone, some 10 bikelengths back. Davis was equally alone, several bikelengths further back. "I knew that I wouldn't have to worry aboutTerry sticking it to me," said Carr. "He and I have a mutual understanding. He knows that I would never run into him, and he'd never do that to me, either." As lapped traffic began to become more of a factor, Carr began to pull away form the once hard-charging Poovey. "Chris just got some better breaks in "

• Cover