Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·FE l T A K '. '. Round 1: Volusia County Speedway A RC > .. Motorcycle Asphalt Racing Series , (Left) Terry Poovey eas ily won the comb ined 6OOI750cc feature at the open ing round. (Right) James Hart (61) held off a late charge from Geoff Clark to top t he 883 main event. (Below left) Rusty Rogers (57) led his heat race fr om start to fi nish, th en finished fifth In the 60onSO main. (Below ri ght) Steve Morehead led br iefly In t he 6DonSO race, but had to settle for seco nd at the fi nish Poovey lands MARS opener By Dave Hoenig Photos by A at Trak Photos BARBERVILLE, FL, MAR. 6 rry Poovey do minated the action on th e banked half-mile Volusia - Co u n ty Speedway, wh ere the Motorcycle Asphalt Racing Series kicked off in the early going of Daytona's Camel Motorcycle Week. A healthy turnou t of spec tators greeted the 33 entries in the combined 600/ 75Occ division" as well as the four teen 883-class competitors. Giving warni ng of wha t was to come, Poovey hustled his USC Cycle /Gilco Racin g /Texas H-D-s ponso red Rotax to the fast time in time trials, post in g an 18.41-second lap. He then won the fastest hea t, to sit on the pole for the 16-lap main e ve n t. Th e win d idn 't come eas il y, thou gh, as Poovey had to work his way around both Steve Morehead and Rusty Rogers. After holding Morehead off to the finish, Poovey also overcame a postrace teardown, with cc's to spare. "I just got a better drive out of tum four and was able to drive under them going into one," exp lained Poovey. "I knew the bike was legal." James Hart had an un fortunate start to the week when he shelled his Rotax on Saturd ay night. "I d on' t know for sure what's wrong, but I know we can' t fix it down here," he said. ~ ,.' ~ . ,, , Hart's day took an upturn wh en he won the 883 main. He held off a fast-closing Geoff Clark just long enough, after Clark had come from back in the pack to nip at the leader's heels. Hart sat on the pole for heat one by way of his 19.68-second lap time, but it was Clark who led the pack in to tu rn one. Road racer Richard Koehler moved arou nd both Hart and Clark , then Ha rt slipped by Clark for second soon after. Koehler and Hart pull ed we ll clear and p ut on a n exc iting show. Hart was putting a lot of pressure on Koehler, but couldn't get by. "The road racers just have such a differen t line," explained Hart. "They come in high, dive down to the bottom in the middle, then exit real high." Coming in a d istant third was Clark, with Brian Tillson in fourth. Scott Stump led Don Kruzi nsk i and Jim Sumner away in heat two, bu t road racer Shorty Wallace worked his way up to ch allenge the leader. Stump used a combination of dirt track and road racing styles, which was good eno ug h to win the heat. Wallace was a close seco nd, w ith Kru zinsk i leadi ng Sumner a n d Lance Jones home for thir d. Kru zinski go t th e holeshot in the m a in , wit h Ha r t a nd Stump r ig h t behind. Hart quickly took the lead and looked to be pulling a way. Kru zinski slip ped back into a large pack of riders battling for second . Clark worked his way free from the pack and began to close on Hart, but came up just short at the finish. Stu mp was able to hold Koehler off for th ir d , w it h Wallace lurking ju st behind in fifth. The ma in class of the day was the 6OO/75Occ combined category . Most riders opted to ride their 600cc mounts. As usual, the spectacular Rusty Rogers was aboard his 750, al ong with Canadian cham pion Steve Beattie and Geoff Clark. Heat race action was critical, as just two riders would advance from each of the four heats. After that , only the winners of the three semis and last chance qualifier wou ld move on to the main event. . Dave Heb b got the hole shot in heat one, only to ha ve Poovey rocket by . Larry Pegram also moved around, closing on Poovey, bu t he wasn't able to mount a serious challenge. H eat tw o belonged to defending MARS Champion Will Davis. The ba ttle for second appeared to be settled when An d y Tr esse r took over from Robert Le wi s a nd Geoff Clark, but Tresser stepped off in tum two . He was up and go ing qu ickly, but out of contention. Clark came on to take the last transfer over Lewis. The third hea t was all Morehead 's, as the veteran ran away from a very tight race for second between Duane Veeder, Brian Tillson and Steve Beattie. Beattie excited the crowd, smoking his XR750 into second . Veeder, T ill son and Will ie McCoy dropped off the pace. Rogers showed why he is a crowd favorite when he led heat fo ur wire to w ir e. Brett Land es kep t h im honest an d had a ringsid e sea t whe n Rogers' rear tire let go just as he received the checkered flag. Rogers slid high into tum one, but held on. Ted Taylor and Chance Darling were a distant third and fourth. The first semi was a very close race, wi th as many as seven riders goin g for that one trans fer spot. Veeder edged Darling and Greg Sims for the win. Lewis led the second semi all the way, se nding Till son 'a nd Hebb to the last chance quaIifier. Taylor once again put himself in front of the LCQ but his lead was short-lived. Ti1lson took over, and Taylor's race came to an end on lap four when he hit the pits with mechanical problems. Ti1lson held off Sims and McCoy, and was headed to the main. In the main, Morehead and Rogers led the pack into turn one, only to have Poovey blow by on the start of lap two. From that point, the race was over. Morehead was able to close a little, but never . mounted a seri ous threa t. Rogers faded from contention, but Beattie kept the attention of the Harle y fans, working his way through the pack to finish a close fourth behind Davis. ~ Volusla CountY Speedway Barberville, Rorlda Results: March 6, 1994 600-750 EX:1. Ten)' Poo vey (Rtx); 2. Steve Moreh ead (H-D); 3. Will Davis (Rtx); 4. Steve Beattie (H-D); 5. Rusty Rogers (H-D); 6. Geoff Clark (H-D); 7. Robert Lewis (Rtx); 8. Dave CamJin (Rtx); 9. Brett Lan des (Rtx); 10. Du ane Veeder (Rtx); 11. Brian Tillson (Rtx); 12. larry Pegram (Rtx). 883 MAIN: 1. James H art (H-D); 2. Geoff Clark (HD); 3. Scott Stump (H-D); 4. Rich Koehl er (H-D); 5. Shorty Walla", (H-D); 6. Don Kru zinski (H-D); 7. Joe Wins ton (H-D); 8. Lee Parker (H-D); 9. La nce Jones (H-D ); 10. . Brian Tillson (H-D). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Myrtle Beach, FL. May 21 Round 3 - Columbus, OH. June 10

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