Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

exhaust system and Kenny Tolber t quickly made repairs to the fa cto ry Harley so th at Carr could compete in the first semi. Also se mi-bound were Will Davis, Brett Landes an d Mike Hale. Morehead, the ri der wi th th e hot hand on the National tra il, jum ped in to the lead of heat two with Parker in tow. The tw o were pulling away when the red flag came out just before the ha lfway point.· Kevin Varnes ha d fallen in tu rn three, but was able to make the resta rt . On the restart, Morehead quickly put his Harley back up fron t. Parker was not quite as fort una te. "I tried to stay with Steve on the first lap and just cou ldn't get slowed down. I went high an d let O35On) Fletcher 'un der me, and after that I jus t co uldn't ge t it back.T t was my . com plet ely restarted when Jay Sp ringsteen and Harold Dorsey tan gled on lap two . Nei ther made the restart , but bo th riders returned i n th e semis. Early leader Geo Roeder II came up wi th the sho rt end of the stick as Ronnie Jon es rocketed in to the lead and fellow Honda pilot Scott Stu mp took second over Roed er, Steve Beattie and Tom Colson. Jones kep t his Loral Lake Racing ride on a tight groove and pu lled out a narrow win. "He d idn 't take an y chances on taking m e ou t. He pl ayed it safe," said Jon es of Stu mp's ride; both were National-bound. error, th at's all," said Parker, who also was semi-bound. The third heat was a pr eview of the ma in, wi th Pe gr a m working his way around Hill and pulling out to a convincing w in . "I wa s ch eck ing Aaron's line early, but he was going into the turns a lot slower th an I was and I almost hit him, so I thought I'd better get around him," said Pegram , after he rode to the fastest-heat win. Pegram's straightaway speeds were clocked at 96 mph. . Also noteworthy in h ea t three was the fine rid e of Andy Tresser on his Duca ti. Tresser held off th e charging Rodney Farris for third, but, along with Billy Hernd on and Dav ey Ca rnlin, all were headed into the semis . The las t hea t was red- flag ged and began lap two. Landes held on to secon d over Georgie Pric e, Beattie and Tresser. The man on the move, however, was Carr, beginning to make up for his second-row start. Camlin pulled well clear of the pack. " I couldn't hook up early, but Skip ,changed some things and the man is a magician," said Camlin. Carr close d to Landes' rear wheel , but had to settle for a third-row starting position in the main. Semi two fo und Davis, Farris, Ian Seg ed y, Dave Rayb u rn, Craig Est elle and Jeff Eklund all on the pen alty line. . Kris Kiser took full advan tage of his front-row starting position an d led lap one. Kiser sp un the rear wheel coming ou t of turn two and opened a hole big enough to let Mike Varnes, Farris and SEMIS Landes led se mi one into turn one, but it was Camlin out front as the field (Above) Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (32U) finished an impressive third In the National. Kevin Atherto n (23) started the race on row one, but a slip sen t him reeling to the back of the pack. (Right) Steve Morehead (42), Scott Parker (2) and Brett Landes (41 ) battled In the middle of the pack. slippery half-mile closely resembled the site at which his first-eve r win came the Hagerstown Ha lf Mile. While the res t of the field struggled to find traction, Pegram sho wed grea t restrain t and putted his way to a commanding w in ", "I reall y need ed that , I mean , really bad ," said Pegram. "It was the old 'go slow to go fast routine: I knew when I got ou t front , nobody was going to beat me unless I screwed up : ' The Team Undo / Audio Vox /Frontier Ford /Lillie R&D/Motion Prof Arai/Fox/Sunoco /D.I.D /Dirt Track # Plates/SuperTrapp /Lindeman Engineering/Zoom/KK/Power Tek /Quaker State-sponsored Pegram notched his third National win and first on the Johnny Goad-tuned Honda. Pursuing Pegram home were Aaron Hill and rookie Expert Kenny Coolbeth [r .. "This matches the second I got last yea r at Castle Rock, but it's my best 750 fi nish ," sa id the Sacra m en to HarleyDavidson-spo nso red Hill. . Co olb eth continued his fo rward pr ogress, r id in g h is W alters Brothers/Gardner Racing mount to the bes t finish of his yo ung caree r. "Awesome, " was all Coolbeth could say as he sported an ear-to-ear grin. As happy as the youngsters were with their finishe s, the veterans who are sitting atop the points standings were dis satisfied. "It's the worst trac k I' ve ever seen for a Grand National," said pointsleader Chris Carr after practice. A fall in his heat, a third-place finish in his semi, then a ninth-place finish in the Na tional didn't improve his opinion of things. "It's dry, it's slick and it's rough," concurred second- and third-placed riders in the series poin t st andings Scott Parker and Steve Morehead, echoing the feelings of most of the rid ers. Parker finis hed a d istant seven th, while Morehead was 11th. Though he wasn't on the winner's bo x, Parker se e me d conten t w ith h is evening. By finishing ahead of Carr , Parker gained two p reci ou s points on the series points leader and now trails him by only four, 110-106. HEATS Coolbeth set the tone for the night's activities by winning the fastes t qualifyin g heat and pocket ing $100 for hi s efforts. In the opening heat race, Coolbeth found himself in second behind Kevin Atherton, ev en though he repeatedly challenged for the lead . "I just got the ho lesh ot and tried to stay on the bottom . I never looked back, but Kenn y showe d me a little wheel late in the race and I had to tum it up a little. Getting a good start in the National is going to be the key," said Total Control Racing 's Atherton. The biggest new s of the heat came on la p two, when Carr made one of his infrequent mis takes. "I tried to go under Kenny going into tu m three. Turns thr ee and fou r are almost a double apex and he got a good d rive off three. I was too low and in too hot, and my front end turned u nd er and it put me d own. It was probably the slowest I've ever got off," said Carr. Damage was done to the 'B' ril efly~_.".I_:·.I.,;, " : _ , , ,' . _...,.,.._ _ _ _ _ -I 1 ..The last N~iional'held ~t,WiiCharles "Chub"·' . the his win, w.rry Pegram pocketed'$4500 of , liams Grove, in For ,1954, wonby Illinois rider $3(000 purse :' Runner-up 'Aa ronH itl " was - .Carey. It was an eighth-mile National,' though, . ' picked up' $2850..while Kenny CootbethJr. P~ulCrumiing of Pro Plates introduced new', · .as Nationals wereof different lengths in'the ear- ' made $2100, plus $100 for the fastest qualify, ' . glow-In-the-dark number, plates. "I really lier days of dirt track. Carey rode a Harley to . ing heat-race win. " ' . ' cameupwlth theIdea for:some of the,darker, victory,"while:the 'on ly,other rider to win a. . " , . : ....: race tracks and this one,is real bright, but the, , National at Williams Grove: Ernie Beckman - a ' -The points race draws even ctoser..Now only AMA is real excited about the possibilities and:' famed member of the ,Indian 'Wrecking ,Crew .. . . four points separate the'factory Harley-Davld- . wanted to try.them out as soon .as I could get "ca ptured' tnreewles.Thevictones in 1951, '52 ' . son teammates, Chris Carr and Scott Parker.,. , some .done.d think·you'li see the realditter- ' and '53 were Beckman's only Nati~nal wins. :: . ,The two riders remain well ahead of Steve ' : .ence at tracks ,like Indy, where it's ' hard to . . Morehead and Will Davis, butlhe ranks down ' see ; 's aid Crumling. Uttle could be ,told under "So me 'very' strong opinionsabout ttie' famed':' the field 'are tightening up. . Running just outthe b'rightWilliams Grove lights> car track circulated t hepttarea. "We've got. side the top 10, Larry Pegram, Geo Roeder II, . " . better Amateur. tracks back home - this is terri- . Terry Poovey, Kenny Coolbeth J r., Ronnie , .A couple ot pre:en't ~;ed .riders v;.~r~': ni·iSsinCg ' ble,"said 'J ay Springsteen . Most felt the track , Jones:-Rusty Rogers and Billy Herndon could from ,the lineup. LOCal rider Robbie Miller sat . was poor, at besl."We ·needto look at these all make major moves as the National series . out the night as he:is still stiff 'and sore from' : new tracks harder. . This one isshil. · '1 know' . 'visits car track hall-miles throughout.the next .his crash at last week's Uma Half Mile. . Also . they ran sprint cars heretastnlcht. If wecan't . four weeks. missing was Rusty Rogers , who recelveoa get the tracksa day early forpre-race prep, "letter from AMADlrtTrack ' Race Manage r then maybe we don't,need them: Theyhave a The .Harley-Davidson 883 National Champl,Bruce Bober,:'requestiJig that he .sit out one ':real good crowdhere and if the track was . onshlp series points are still pending.me disc week. "I'm not God, but this is my' decision. I " prepped right, we could put on a real good ., cjualificationsof 'J ason Fletcherand James . leel Rusty needs to settle down; he's tryingtoo . show here. ' This is just one-line pole-puttin'," ' .Hart at Dallas,which 'we're' appeal ed. ' As , hard. It's not based on just one' week, but the " said Scott Parker. "When I told some of my' things stand now: Fletcher holds a commando' " last several weeks. It's tor his own safeiy; as "s pilnt.ca r buddlest was going'to Wil liams' . h1g 39-point lead'over. .s con Siump, wlth 'Jay ' well forthe safety oftheothers .t.said Bober. . : . Grove, the)/ just'had this look 01 pity in their ' S pri~gsteen ~Iose beh ind. >: ' . ' . .': ' ' . .... . " . exes,~ said veteran,Steve Morehead. . 11

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