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/127672
Harley- Davidson, R&1 Man ufac tu ring , Glen 's Auto Body, Sp ectre, Hou se of Powder, Bell and Wilcox as sponsors. "I'm used to clay tracks. That's what I grew up on . 1 actually thought I'd d o crappy tonight. It was grea t racing with Rodney. He's good. I learned a lot racing with him." SEMIS Riders who d idn' t m ake the cu t in their heat race had a second chance in on e of th ree eigh t-lap sem is - each of which offered three final transfer positions. Hern don thrilled the Texan crowd by acing the firs t se mis ahead of Custom Floor Cove rings-sponsored Ricky Smith and Atherto n, who mad e a spe ctacular comeba ck after flyi ng off the track in tum two early in the race. Morehead gave a preview of things to come by smoking the field in the second semi. Wickersham Racing's Rusty Rogers twitched and wobbled his wa y into second, w hile Spectre-sponso red Tommy Colson nabbed the third transfer. Hill grabbed a huge holeshot in the fin al semi and ro mpe d away with an easy win over Jason Fletcher and Davey Ca rnlin , who finished in close o rder afte r battling throughout the.race. 883 NATIONAL Moroney's Harley-Dav idson's Jaso n Fletcher absolutely trounced the competitio n in the IS-lap Harley-Davidson 883 National an d six -lap Texas HarleyDavi dson Dealers' Association 883 Cha llen ge, but was later d isqu alified for having illega lly cu t valves in his Sportster. Jam es Ha r t, third -p laced in th e Na tiona l, was also dis qualified, but for different reasons . According to Referee Bruce Bober, H a rt' s Sp ortster h ad a four-speed engine head mounted on a five-speed engine. Runner-up Scot t Stump wa s te n tatively awarde d firs t-place points, bu t both Fletcher and Hart have ap pealed their d isqualifications, and a verdict will be reached at a later date. . In the six-lap dash for cash, Fletcher topp ed Ja y Springs teen and St u mp . (Above) Scott Parker (2) led Kevin Varnes (89), Brett Landes (41), Will Davis (21), ยท Chris Carr (4), Aaron Hili (17), Kenny Coolbeth (32U). Steve More head (42), Rodney Farris (92)TerryPoovey (18), Kevin Atherton (23), Rusty Rogers (57), Billy Herndon (19), Jason Fletcher (65) Davey Camlin (27) and To mmy Col so n (82) at the start of the 25-lap Nati on al. (Right) Davis and Parker help Morehead celebrate his 18th caree r vi ctory. Tha nks to Fle tcher's disqualification , Springsteen was awarded the $2000 winner's prize. NATIONAL Parker got the jump on th e field as th ey raced into tu rn one, but La ndes kept his th rottl e pinned and emerged the leader as they raced down the back straight. Land es looked as if he we re on rails, and qu ickly began to establish a lead over Parker, whom he left to contend with Davis, Farri s, Carr, Morehead and Farris . As the pack began lap two, Davis and Ca rr flew off the co urse in turn two. Davis recovered in 11th, but Carr wasn' t as fortunate and rejoined the race in last. . Meanwhile, Landes continued to pull away, an d a t the start of lap three en joyed a 10-bike-length lead . Parker continued to hold down second, ahead of Farris, Rogers and Morehead. After starting eighth, Coolbeth was up to sixth and charging har d. All hell broke loose on the fourth lap . Rogers cha rged into tum one a little too ho t an d high-sided violently as he slid through tum two. Rogers was on his feet quickly, waving his arms frantically so tha t no ride rs would hit him. Rogers was unscathed , b u t neit he r his bik e, nor Coolbeth, were as lucky . With nowhere to go, Co olbe th pl o wed into Rogers' machine and crashed . Rogers was able to make the restart , but Coolbeth's machine was too bad ly d amag ed to contin ue . 'The whole fro nt end got ripped off," said a disappointed Coolbeth. Landes sa t at the front of the pack on the single-file restart, with Farris, More- head and Parker beh ind him. Davis sat se venth in lin e, while Carr w as 11th o Wh en th e starte r's board turned sideways, Landes ripped off the line and led most of th e field into turn one. A few ride rs, including Camlin an d Rogers, sat on the sta rt str aight as th e rest of the field rolled through the first tum . Eventually, eve ryone made their way around th e track. As the field app roached the start/fin is h line, many r id er s were appalled to se e th e green flag, ra ther than the red . A full three laps were completed before Camlin fina lly pulled off the cou rse and began arguing with the AMA officials. The red flag flew, and a heated argument between the riders and officials ens ued. "The light never flashed, " screamed Camlin."The gree n light starts the race, . and it never wen t off. This is B.S. What kind of sh ow are we running in here?" "1 can't wait for the ligh t to flash when everyone behind me is ant icipa ting it," said Landes. "I wen t when the boa rd w e n t sideways a n d w hen I th ou ght it wou ld flash . I d id n 't even ha mmer it until I came around and got the gree n flag." Morehead, who started the race second in line, said, "1 wasn' t even watching the gree n light. I was watching Brett . As far as I'm concerned, the lead ride r starts the race." " W e didn 't r ea li ze that the li gh t didn't flash," said AMA Referee Bober. The racers wer e again lined up singl e file, and resta rted with three lap s down and 22 to go. Land es held his lead on the second restart, but Morehead was latched on to his rear fender like glue. The veteran pressured La nd es for only two laps before sneaking past on lap seven. "1 figured I could ge t him, " said Morehead . "I 'rn not taking anything 0\ away fro m Brett; he 's a fast kid . But I r l kn ew tha t as a relative .rookie, I could fool him. I showed him a wheel down low in three and four one lap, and that .mad e him give up his line to guard the bottom on the next lap . Then I just blasted around him on the outs ide. Honestly, . though, I d on't know if I would ha ve -g. 5