Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

nin g pair entered tum three on lap 23, and opinions about what happened vary widely. "He took me do wn. It's that sim. ple, he couldn't get around and he just ran into me," sai d Atherton, who was uninjured in the spill. "He hit a hole in tum three. When it s tood h im up it ga ve m e room to go . under him . H e came d own on me, I didn't do anything." said Graham. The end result was a third-place finish for Graham, and 15th for Atherton. But what about Team Harley-Davidson's Chris Carr and Scott Parker? Carr stru ggled on the slippery course and finished a distant seventh, while Parker suffered a flat tire while battling for fourth. (Abo ve) Ronnie Jones (16), Steve Morehead (42), Scott Parker (2) and Kevin Atherton (23) led the start of the National. (left) Jones had only Inches to spare over Morehead (42) at the finish. (Below) Ricky Graham filled out the top' HEATS As winner of the fastest qualifying heat, Rodney Farris sat on the pole for the first of four lO-lap heats. Terry Poovey was first off the line and held the lead until Farris took over on lap fou r. Poovey slipped to third as Graham settled into the last direct transfer spo t. Farr is had his Eddie Adkins Harley on cruise control as Atherton was flying from deep in the pack, passing ride rs on the outside using a line few others were willing to try until Atherton roared by. Atherton took over third on lap seven, towi ng Pegram w ith him, as bot h had slipped up to a higher line. On lap nine, Lad y Lu ck once aga in kicked Fa r ri s be tween the eyes, as he s na p ped his drive chain exiting tu m two. As Farris coasted d own the back chu te, Dale Jennema n fell exiting tu m two . At the same time, Atherton tooled around Graham and led the parade to the red flag. The race was called complete with the scoring reverting back to lap eight, bu t since Farris didn't get the red flag he was dro pped to the rear. Graham was awa rded the win with out actually leading a lap, bu t it was Atherton that captured the la rge crowd's hearts. "There 's a lo t of moisture out there righ t now, bu t it may be used up before th e Na tional," said Atherton. Hea t tw o s ta rt ed off as a yaw ner. Parker quickly pu t his factory-sponsored Har ley clear of the fiel d . Geo Roeder made a couple of runs a t Pa rker, but came up short. Then on the last lap, Jason Fletcher blasted around Roeder and took second at the line. Unable to control his speed, Fletcher ended up in the tum two hay bales with his Moron ey' s Harley XR, but on his way to the National. Morehead powered his way around early leader Aaron Hill and rode off with the win in heat three. "It's just a slick, tight groove," said Morehead. "I don't think there's anything they could do to make it better unless they had one of those street sweeper brooms." Sacramento Harley-Davidson's Hill withstood the late-race challenge from pole-sitter Scott Stump and held on for second. three finlshenl. Rich King led the last heat into tum one, but it was Jones on top from there on . Carr then also dropped King back. Just past the halfway mark, Will Davis captured third and went after Carr. With two laps left, Da vis got by Carr and the A&R Racing pilot sen t Carr to the semi. SEMIS Jay Springsteen led the first eigh t-lap semi into tum one over James Hart, Carr and Kris Kiser. Star ting lap three, Ha rt sq ueezed h is F&S Harley by Sp ringer into tum one, and soon it was a five-rider freight train with everyone attempting to protect their position. Hart led Springer, Ca rr; Kiser and Billy Herndon. On lap seven, Carr sho t his factory Harley from third to first as Springsteen slipped back all the way to fifth and out of a transfer. Kiser kept his Kiser Honda on the groove for the las t transfer over Herndon and Springsteen. In th e se con d semi, Rich King led Terry Poovey and Scott Stump into tum one, but back in the pack, Bret Beyer and Kevin Varnes tangled. Both recovered through tum one, bu t Varnes eventually fell in tum two. The red flag halted the race, but Varnes was un able to restart. King repeated his hol eshot, putting the Garvis Honda up front. Stump ha d his M&M Honda in second as Poovey brought hi s Gilcc .Hond a to the front ' also. Stump mad e an unsuccessful run at King during the last two laps, and it was a Honda sweep of semi two: Tommy Colson and Rodney Far ris battled, just off the pace, for fourth. Pegram led the last semi into tum one over Geo Roeder and Jim Sumner, but the race was abo rted as Matt Wait had the fire go out of his Harley just before the light flashed green. Wait was unable to make the restart, which Pegram once agai n led. Pegram es tablished a solid lead on his Erion Racing/Mike Sponse Iler Honda. Davey Camlin and Geo Roeder held down second and third . CamIin settled his Wiebler's H-D/Brenny's Cycle-backed Harley into second, but Team Undo's Brett Landes was on the move and took third from Roeder on lap three and then harassed Camlin until the end. HARLEY-DAVIDSON 883 NATIONAL The 883 National provided a lot of fireworks. Georgie Price and James Hart led into tum one, but at the end of lap on e, points leader Jason Fletcher wa s chaIlenging his Moroney's H-D teammate Price. Then, entering tum three, ~ . Fletcher and Price tangled, putting 0\ Fletcher down. 0\ ,.-l "I just got into. tum three too hot. I needed to take my time but I was worried about Stump coming up from behind," said a shaken, but unhurt Fletcher. . Fletcher d idn't make the re start, which only lasted into tum one as Tim Johnson fell and gathered up Bob Buffington. Buffington was able to make the

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