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/127667
;"•. AMA Grand National Championship:" series " Round 3: Pomona Fairplex DIRrTRACK:::./"": , : " ": <,~ (Above) Kevin Atherton (23) finished a lonely sixth. Rodney Farris (92) and Aaron Hill (17) both DNFed. (Left) A rejuvenated Jay Springsteen (9) sat on the pole at the start of the National. Here, he battles with eventual runnerup Chris Carr (4). (Below) Winner Scott Stump (77) , Jay Sprinsgteen (9), Matt Wait (95) and Steve Aseltine (36) start the 15-lap 883 main. "My bike gives up a little on the top end," said Stump. " But it ha s a lot of power when you come ou t of the turns." et. ~ NATIONAL As the riders lined up for the 25-lap National, fast heat-race winner Springsteen received m any cheers from the crowd; he was given first pick on the front row . "Someone asked me, 'Hey Jay, when was the last time you were on the pole at a National?' and 1 told him , 'A hundred years! '" said Springsteen. "Let's just see if 1can hold on for 25 laps now." Springsteen chose to set his Bartels' Harley-Davidson on the outside pole, a nd had Parker, Carr, Roeder, Morehea d and Rogers lined up to his left. At the flash of the gree n light, Parker blasted off the line and nab bed the ho leshot ahead of Morehead, Springsteen, Carr, Roeder and Davis. A collective sigh rose form the crowd, as many expected Parker to simply run away. And for the first few laps, it looked as if he would do just that. By lap four, Parker had established a comfortable 20bike length lead over Morehead, Roede r and Carr. Morehead, however, suddenly came to life and was visib ly the fastest rider on the track as he began to close the gap on Parker. "Things were ju st re ally flowing ," said Morehead. "I was on cruise control, bu t 1 was getting closer and closer to Parker. He was making a lot of mistakes, and 1 cou ld see h im looking , back." -, , "I was str uggling a bit , and 1 could tell that Morehead was catching me," said Parker. "I was getting a little bored, but then all of a sudden Steve caught up and made it interesting." Moreh ead closed to Parker's rear fender on lap seven; and as they raced into tum one to begin lap eight, the wily "ve te r a n dove to the low line and swo oped into the lead . With the crowd behind him, Morehead continued to twist his throttle to the stops and immedia tely opened up a 10-bike length lead. Then things soured for Morehead on lap 10, as sparks began to shower out of the rear end of his machine. "I saw Steve's bike sparking and 1 thought, 'Poor gu y:" said Parker. " I knew there was something really wrong - maybe his brakes or something:' Bu t it wasn't Morehead's brakes. A snapped swingarm sent Morehead drifting off the groove in turn one and he "barely managed to gain control of his machine be fore hitting the hay bales tha t lined the outside of the track. Morehead parked his machine, and spen t the remainder of the race with the best seat in the house. With Morehead's demise, Parker was glad to assume the lead once more and led the way ahe ad of Carr and Roeder. After starting fourth, Carr had slipped off the groove and momen tarily lost his mom entum. H e recovered quickl y, though, and had zipped back into fourth behind Roed er. Both riders slipped off the groove together on the fifth lap, and it wasn't until lap eight that Carr finally mad e his way past; "Both Ge org e a n d 1 flew o ff th e g r o ov e o n lap fi ve a n d we r eall y allowed Parker and Morehead to pull away," said Carr. "I was having a toug h time find ing the good line at first. What 1 end ed up d oing wa s going in hi gh right on the edge of the groo ve - before dropping low in the middle and dri fting "high in the exit. The problem with that was it was really easy to slip off in the entrance." Wh en th e hal fw ay flags came out, Parker enjoyed a two-second lead over Carr; while Roed er followed a few bike length s be h in d . Even further bac k, Davis, Fletcher, H ill, Atherton, Springsteen an d Landes battled for position. Springsteen had an obvious problem; his machine shook violen tly as he raced down the straights. "Man, something was wrong with it," said Springsteen. "It was shaking so bad that 1wore through my callouses!" "I was following Springer and he was shaking really bad," said Landes. "Bu t he would keep gassing it, so 1 figu red , 'Well, if he's not scared of it, neither am I,' but then he'd get scared and shu t off and I'd be struggling to keep from hitting him." Sp ringstee n man aged to hold onto h is mach in e for an even tual sev enth, while Landes op ted to play it safe and settl ed for eigh th, a few bike lengths behind. As the race wore down, Fletcher and Davis beg an to slow ly, but surely, reel in third-placed Roeder. "I was starting to fade a little," said Roeder, who competed with a broken right foot . "I messed up my foot in a crash last week and 1 was having trouble getting to the brake pedal. 1 didn't want to push it too much, but 1 kept slipping off the good line because 1couldn't slow down." Roeder fell victim to Fletcher and Davis on the 22nd lap, bu t managed to hold on to a solid fifth. Meanwhile, up front, Carr had closed the gap on Parker, but would only get as close as 15 bike lengths. "Scott started looking back, so I knew that he must have been struggling as much as 1 was" said Carr. "I think that ha d 1 not slipped off the groove earlier in the race and dropped back, 1 might have made things a little closer:' "After Steve dropped out, things got a little boring again," said Parker. "I was just waiting and waiting to see that white flag. The bike was a little softer than 1 would have liked it, and it was