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>MIR National Championship'SerieS". Round 3: Pomona F' Iex D TTRACK . .A AGrand alrp By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones and Mitch Friedman POMONA, CA, MAY 14 \. ood times are here again. \ Well, at least for Scott Parker . - they are . Fresh off a muchneeded win at the Sacramento Mile, the four-time Grand National Champion pulled out his bag of tricks and once again worked the magic that has made him the winningest rider in AMA Grand National Championship history. Parker's record-extending 54th National win came at the oddshaped half-mile course at the Pomona Fairplex and, for the second race in a row, he led his factory Harley-Davidson teammate Chris Carr past the black and white. "That was a long one," Parker said after the race. "At Sacramento, I was chargin', chargin' chargin', because I got a bad start, but tonight I was thinkin', 'Man, when is this gonna end?' It was getting boring out there." Boring? Maybe... but only after the demise of series ve tera n Steve Morehead. After starting the race in second and watching Parker establish an imme~ diate advantage over the rest of the 0\ field, Morehead put on his race face and 0\ ran down the leader with apparent ease . rl After stalking Parker for a few laps, the Findla y Flyer swooped past the surprised factory Harley rider and proceeded to promptly open up a IS-bike-Ien gth cushion. "Man, if there were some good photographers out there tonight, they 're gonna see me smiling under my helmet," said Morehead. "I had an ear- to- ear g rin going. I w as th in king, 'Hot damn, I'm 38 yea rs old and I'm gonna w in another one.?" But sadly, More head's luck ran out as he began the 10th lap. Sparks began to fly from the rear of his Harley-Davidson and he was forced to retire with a broken swingarm. Morehead coasted to a stop and watched the remainder of the race from the outside of tum one. Rounding out the top three - at a distance - was an impressive Jason Fletcher . Perhaps known best as an 883cc-class contender, the tall, lanky Connecticut racer plugged away from the get-go and was rewarded with the best finish of his four-year-old Expert career. "Th is is awesome," said the Moroney's HarleyDa vidson /Gary Edmonds /Spectro/ Bell/Works Perfomance-sponsored 23year-old. "I knew I was up there, but when I realized that I was in third, I really got going." For Fletcher, the night was a financially rewarding one, as he also finished second in the IS-lap 883 National. Wimer's Cycle /Slatz/KK/Hogwash / Bieffe/F&S H-D /Motion Pro/Thiel's Wh eels /Henry Black/Mary Ann Trotter s /M&M Racing-backed Scott Stump scored his second-c onsecu ti ve 883 National win after running down earl y lead er Jay Springsteen, who held on to finish a close third. Once again, the Chris Agajanian Presents-promoted race went off without a trace of Grand Na tional Ch ampion Ricky Graha m. According to Graham 's trainer, Danny Malfatti, Graham is seeking the ad vice of new doct ors and hopes to b e ba ck in action in ti m e fo r the Memorial Day DuQuoin Mile. "He real- Iy wants to ride bad," said Malfatti. "Some people m igh t jump to conclu sions and say that he' s lost his drive, but it's d efinitely still there. He'll be back, an d whe n he is - wa tch out." In Graham's absence, the season thus far has taken on the same pre-I993 look - with Harley-Davidson's Parker and Carr doing the majority of the winning. Together, Parker and Carr have won each of the three rounds already run. Leaving Pomona, Carr continues to lead the se ri es point standings with 52 points, while Parker moved into second with 40. Prior to Pomona it was Terry Poovey who sat in second, but in missi ng the race due to his abbreviated schedule, the Texan slipped into a tie for third with Will Davis, who was fourth at Pomona. Both riders have 25 points. HEATS During practice, the Steve Wood and Gene Romero-prepared course was dry and slick, and required more than one delay for water to be laid down. When the race program got underway, though, a final watering session left the track in prime condition and many racers agreed that the track was the best it has ever been. Racers were greeted with a smooth, bump-free surface, as the hole s that Pomona has become famous for never dev eloped. For the second round in a row , seven four- la p scratch heats replaced the more-fam iliar time trials sessions . "The results we re good at Sacramento," said referee Bruce Bober. "The scratch heats prod uced a wider racing line, and we're hoping to see the same results tonight. " Parker gave a preview of things to come by spanking his competition in the fi rs t 10-la p hea t race. A&R Racing ' s Davis led the way, but Parker took control before the comple tion of lap two and immed iat ely be gan to pull away, leaving Davis to fend off the charges of Rodn ey Farris. Just when it looked as if Da v is h ad firm co n trol of second, though, James Hart crashed, unhurt, in tum two and brought out the red flag. Parker wasted little time at the singlefile r es ta rt and pulled away, but this time Farris got the jump on Davis and held d own second for a number of laps. Davis would prevail, though, and in finishing second would join Parker as a direct transferer. Farris and the rest would try again. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Carr jumped into the lead in the second heat and proceeded to lead every lap en route to the win. Carr's win wasn't as easy as Parker's, however, as Wickersham Racing's Rusty Rogers stuck to the rear of Carr's fender like glue. Rogers shadowed Carr for nine laps , but a slip by Rogers allowed the former champ to pull out a comfortable lead at the finish. "I was struggling a little bit at first, but I go t things figured out near the end," said Carr. "I was basically trying some different lines . 1 knew that first or second would be good enough for a transfer, so I wasn't too worried." The third heat produced what was arguably the best racing of the evening. Morehead blasted into the lead at the start and it looked as if he would cruise to an easy win, especially since threetime Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen suffered a m iserable start and was mired m id pack. But Spring-