Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.~. DIRT TRACK A~ GrandNatioilaJ Championship SerieS . Round 5: Parkersburg Half Mile Parker, Parker! By Dave Hoeni g Photo s by Bert Sheperd & Flat Trak Fotos MINERALWELLS, WV,jUNE4 o r m a li ty has returned to the AMA Grand National Championship Series , as Scott Pa rk er added yet another notch to his win list by conquering the slick and rough West Virginia Motor Speedway half-mile oval and further extending his all-time win record to 55 . Pa rker's w in wasn 't as smooth as usual, though, as the fourtime Grand National Champion stru ggled w ith stuck throttle cables in th e early parts of the race before a crashind uced red flag brought the race to a halt a nd a ll o wed h is mechanic, Bill Wern er, to remedy the situa tion. Park er was all bu siness wh en the race resumed , and powered his way to his third win of the seaso n. Pa r ke r le d h is H a rley- Davidso n team mate Chris Carr and the sud denlyconsistent Rodney Farris home after 25 laps of hair-raising race action . After his win , the eve r-ent hus iastic Parker said:" wa nt to th an k everyone w ho he lped tonight, and all of my sponsors: Ha rleyDa vid son Mot or Co mpa ny , Bell, Yeti, HOG, D's Leathers and RC Cola. I want to tha nk all the fans for coming out and being pa tien t as we struggled with this track and the red flags. l owe so much to Bill Werner, my mechanic, for making N 10 th e repairs during th e red -flag stop. I never thought we would have time." "Take a breath Scotty," joked Carr, as the trio celebrated on the podium. For the first time in recent history, the formerly bullet-fast half mile was not under the threat of rain. Unfortunately, a dilapidated watering system and a water truck that would not water created a whole new set of problems for AMA Race Director Bruce Bober. The built-in watering system had deposited large amounts of water on the course, but it was not uniform, leaving the track wet-dry-wet-dry all around. Not helping the situation was the water 'truck, as its pump was broken and had no way of delivering its payload. Necessity being the mother of all invention, the local fire truck was called tlp0n. First attempts to water the track with the fire hose we re im p r oved upon and th e fire tru ck remained on duty, as there were no local fires . Jason Fle tcher top ped the HarleyDavidson 883 Na tio nal for the seco nd wee k in a row and once again qualified for the Grand National as well, in which he fi nis he d seven th aboard his Mor oney' s H-D /Gary Ed monds/Spectra / Bell /Works Performance / Motion Pro /Power Mist / Fog City / Am erican Iron Magaz ine-sponsored Ha rleys. " I really worked my ass off, especia lly in the 750 class. But I'm feeling bett er all the time; I know I'm improving," said a tired Fletcher, as he loaded for his trip home to Connecticut. HEATS In winning the Parkersburg Half Mile, fourt ime Grand National Champion Scott Parker extended hi s ail-time win record to 55. Chris Carr was second, Rodney Farris was third. Des pite objection from the riders, scratch qualifying heats were once again used to determine the heat-race lineups. The thi rd scratch heat was by far the fastest, but then again, all seven riders in the heat were capable of 'ma king the main. Steve Morehead topped the starstud ded heat to claim the and pole pos ition in heat one and nab the $100 prize for qualifying fastest. David Lloyd led the charge into tum in the first heat, but it was Ronnie Jones who led as the they thundered past the start / finish line at the end of lap one. It turned in to a two- rid er battle as Carr tried to make up for a poo r start. At the half wa y point, Moreh ead came out of nowhere and swoo ped into the lead , but Carr was close behind. Tw o lap s later, disaster s truck as Jones mad e a bid to reta ke the lead as the riders entered tum one . He dove low , but h it one of th e bumps, bottomed out, and ripped off his oil tan k. Jon es th en ran ove r his ow n tank, standi ng him on his front w hee l. While Jone s tried to stee r, his momentum carried him into Morehead , driving them both into the wall. Kev in Varn es, who wa s rid in g a high line, was left with nowhere to go and laid his mount down in a vain effort to miss the fallen Jones and Morehead. With the turn-one yellow flag flying, Steve Aseltine headed for the safety of the bottom, only to hit Jones' oil. Aseltine was down immediately, sliding into the pile of riders and machines. The race was red-flagged and called complete. "I was lucky . I saw Ronnie going low so I stayed high, then when all hell broke loose I was able to drive under. I just caught the ed ge of the oil ," sai d Carr, who was d eclared th e winner. David Lloyd a ls o moved on to the National aboard hi s Yankee Electri c Honda. Heat two was anti-climatic, as Parker holesh ot and pulled out a comfortable lead. Th e real battle wa s for the last direct transfer. Tommy Colson took second ea rly from Dan Butler , then lost it again just past the halfwa y point. Butler, who was ridin g on a provisional license, made the Na ti onal on hi s first tr y. "We're jus t tr ying to ke ep it g o in g around and to keep it up ," said Butler. As is usually th e case w here Rusty Rogers is concerned, heat three was

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