Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7: Lima Half Mile r&RCYClJ TASSOCIATION By Dave Hoenig Photos by Bert Sheperd & Flat Trak Fotos 10 LIMA, OH, JUNE 25 teve Morehead continues to celebrate his 20th expert year in grand fashion. For the second week in a row, the oldes t rider on' the AMA Grand ......_r National Championship circuit showed the way home to his challengers on his F&SHarley-Da vidson. Promoter Dave McCarthy arranged the opening ceremonies to honor Morehead's longevity . And after all the words of pra ise, the onl y thing left for Moreh ead to d o was w in h is 19th National and chalk up his third win on the pea-gravel half-mile. "1 was going to win this thing. After they dedica ted the race to me, 1had to. It was win or fall off or, or..." Morehead's voice trailed off as there was no third option. But it was no walk in the park for Morehead . A&R Racing's Will Davis pushed, and even pulled, Morehead the whole race. "1 could not have gone any faster. There was nothing left. We v:ere both so far over our heads already, but it was really clean and we never touched. He's the godfather of pea gravel," said Davis, who held the lead on lap nine and again between laps 14 through 17. "Once 1 passed him, I was afraid to stay up on the top and 1 moved down , bu t 1 just couldn't hold him off . We were riding through the holes faster and faster. I felt my best chance was to wait for the last lap and to try the low line in one," said Davis. " 1 knew he w as com ing an d I sh ut that turn-one line off. We were ·taking each o the r's lin es th e whole race. He was reall y getting throu gh turns thr ee and four better than 1was, so I just held my line and tried to be as consistent as 1 could. This is really a thrill to win right here at home in front of all my family, friend s and sponsors," said Morehead . For the thi rd National in a row, red flags interrupted the action. Dan Butler caught a rut in tum four and fell hard on lap seven. But the crafty veterans were not intimidated by the restart, and picked up their highly entertaining battle where they left off. HEATS After nine qualifying heats were run, Davis was credited as the fastest qual ifi- er. Davis' heat was almost three seconds faster than that of Chris Carr. Davis was quick to back up his qualifying effort with a wire-to-wire win in the first heat. "The A&R Racing Honda is working grea t. I'm just glad to be up front. The track is pretty rough, and this was only 10 laps. That 25-1ap Natio nal will be a lot hard er," said Davis. Finishing a comfortable second was T.C.R./ Ben Ford Jr.-spon so red Kevi n Atherton. Dave Rayburn, Scott Buchan, Georg ie Price and Dale Jenn eman kept the large crowd entertain ed as they battled over third . Buchan won out in the battle for starting positions in the semi. The sec ond he at got off to a rocky sta rt. Mark Wyskiel's Harl ey appeared to stall as he came off row one . "H is bike mu st ha ve quit or some thing . It ha ppe ned so qui ck 1 didn't ha ve an ywhere to go," explained Tom Colson, of how he gathered up Wyskiel. Th e red flag was out immediately and ' th e remaining ambulance was called . Wyskiel was transported to the hospital, which caused a slight delay wa i ti n g for th e first ambulance to return. Colson's bike was too badly damaged to continue, although he would return for the semis. Larry Pegra m led the restart into tum one, but was q uic kly passed by Geo Roed er II. Pegra m came right back to lead lap two, but Carr was closi ng in fast. Roeder recaptured the point, with Pegram and Carr all over him. On lap four, Roeder go t out of shape exiting turn four. "1 hit a wet spot. I got it with both wheels, so I just got on the gas hard and it straig htened ou t," said Roeder of his spectacular save. Pegram hesitated slightly, and Carr stormed by. Within a lap, Carr had taken over the lead . "It' s got a flutter - maybe it's the coil," sa id Roed er. Roeder was saved from Pegram's cha rge wh en Matt Wait fell in tum three on lap seven and the race was called complete. "Hell that was fun ; it's what racing is all about. The track is rough, but you can ride all over it. There's all kind s of lines," said Carr. "1 think I could have got second for sure, and maybe even won if it wasn't red-flagged," said a disappointed Pegram. After heat two was red-flagged, a road grader was brought out in an effort to improve the racing surface. Morehead took full advantage of the smoother track as he stormed away from Rodney Farris, Scott Stump and

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