Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

fast er than Jones'. Parker was the only other rider in the 35s. Carr led Scott Stump and Steve Morehead into tum one of the first heat, and around la p one. But as the pack thundered into tum one on lap two, Jess Roed er suffered a horrifying fall. "It started to slide out, then all of a sudden it hooked up," Roede r said. "I thought I was going to save it, but I got my legs u p under the handlebars and then it slammed me." Slammed indeed, as both Roed er and his bike hi t the ground then flipped high into the air. When the XR750 hit the ground the first time , pieces flew in all directions. When the dust settled, Roeder's machine had sev ered the front end and w as a wadded bundle. Fortunately, Roed er apparently only suffered a cu t lip. The other half of the Roeder Racin g s table, Ceo, led the restart into tum one over Chance Darling and Carr, but Morehea d cam e from the second row to take second as the pack exited tum two. Carr do ve insi de of Morehead in tum two at the start of la p three. Then, on the nex t lap, Carr moved inside of Roeder lIre-entering tum one. Morehead also followed. Carr steadily pulled away as Stump pulled his M&M Racing Honda up from deep in the pack to challenge fellow Ohioan, Morehea d. Stump took the last direct transfer on lap eight while Morehead, Roed er II and Allon McBee headed to the semis. Ronnie Jones took immediate control of the seco nd hea t o n his Loral Lake Racing / Midnight Star /Motion Prof Arai / Fox/Pro Plates/X-I R/Arrow Die Cast-spo nsored Honda. "Even though I won the qualifier and no w my heat, I'm not really happy with our setup," said Jones. W h il e the veteran Jones was on cruise control far ahead, two of the young Turks, Kenny Coolbeth and Mike Hacker, were waging a spirited battle . over second after getting by Mike Hale. Hacker, back on the Team Undo Ho nda, slipped into second on lap three only to have Coolbeth drive bac k around in tum two. Almost unnoticed, Brett Landes was cha rging from way back. "I had to come from the second row ," said Landes. "But I was able to get goo d drives off the comers. It just took time." Coolbeth and Hacker led Hale, Joe Kopp and Rex Fisher into the semis as Landes closed on Jones. The third heat was all Parker's . The Harl ey-Davidson Inc/Bell/YETI/HOG/ D's Leathers/RC Cola-sponsored fou rtime Grand National Champion left behind a fine race for second. Davis held Kevin Varnes off early, but King had his Garv is Honda on the move and worked his way around Varnes before slowly chipping away at Davis . King finally caught Davis on the white-flag lap, then got a great drive off tum four to earn a ticket to the National. Farris ran away with the last heat on h is Edd ie Adkins/Winchester H-D / Witt's H- D/ Zoo m/M.Lynch/ Motion Pro/Mary & Mac/Larry Gordo n/Myers Trucking/ D&P Transport / Stor z/Bell I' Torco/Alpinestars-sponsored XR750. "I do n' t like this track. Everytime we com e here it looks goo d when we get here, but each year it gets worse. I don't care ho w well I do tonight I still won't like it," said Farris after his dominating performance. Larry Pegram held down seco nd ear ly, but, much to the crowds delight, Jay Springsteen put his Bartels ' Harley into second, then held off Aaron Hill and Pegram. Springsteen finally pulled clear on lap eight and the top three positions were set. (Above) Aaron Hili (17), Will Davis (21 ) and Rich King (80) battled In the main. Davis was fourth, King sixth and Hilieighth. (Right) Jess Roeder's Harley-Davidson XR750 was dest royed in a horrendous neat-race crash. SEMIS The thr ee eight-lap semis would set the last nine positions for the National. Mor ehead led the first semi into tum on e, but it was the Bartels' Harley of Mike Hale up front at the end of the first lap. Morehead held second over fellow F&S Harley pilot James Hart until Hart s tuck h is foo t in tu rn one and was forced to pull off when the miscue aggravated an already injured knee. Hale and Morehead battl ed back and forth un til Mo reh ead fina lly p ulled clear. Kevin Varnes, on his Babe DeMay Racing Harley, held off Davey Camlin for the last transfer. Davis made a break on top of semi two and was never head ed. Kris Kiser used a rocket holeshot to put his Kiser Honda -sponsored RS750 in to a solid second. A big battle developed over the last advancement position. Roeder II was able to muscle his Mike' s H-D mount by Mike Hacker, then stave off Hacker's repeated challenges for a spot in the main. The last semi had to be red-flagged when Darling got tangled up ex iting tum two on the first lap. Darling got turned to the outside where someone took his front wheel out from under him, sending him high into the air and crashing down heavily. Hill cap tured the lead over Coolbeth and Kopp on the restart, but Coolbeth had his Gardner-Walter's Bros. Racing Harley out front at the end of lap one . But Hill and Kevin Atherton were all over the rookie . Hill had his Sacramento Harley in the lead en tering tum one on laps three and four, but contact between Hill and Atherton in tu m three let Coolbeth get away. Hill held on for second , but Atherton dropped behind Peg ram for a cou ple of laps. Atherton rega ined the fi n al tra n sfer on lap sev e n, bu t the Erion / Sp onsell er Racing-backed Pegram got it back on the last lap . HARLEY-DAVIDSON 883 NATIONAL The Sportsters got off to a rough start when Eric Bostrom and Donald Paul fell in tum one of the first heat. Both riders were unhurt, but their bikes were too severely damaged to continue. Scott Stump and Georgie Price passed early leader Steve Aseltine, wi th Stump taking his Wimer's Cycle Harley to the first-hea t win. Matt Wa it, Rich King and James Hart battled over the second heat, with the win going to the Mitch ell's Modesto H -D-sponsored Wait. In the ma in, King led Aseltine and Wait into tum one, but it was Aseltine pushing his Donahue's H-D mount to the front at the end of lap one, while Price held second over Wait and Stump. Price then shoved his Moroney's HD/ T-Shirts Etc.!Arai-supported Sportster into the lead on lap four about the same time that Stump's race ended with a broken chain in tum two. Once in front, Price pulled well clear of the field. "My grandpa and I had a figh t just before the race," said Price. "It made me mad. That's why I rod e so hard. " When asked if tha t would have to be a regu la r happening, the multi-time Am ateur National Ch ampion re plied, "Maybe only before Nation als." Lap five saw Aseltine 's hand in the ai r, as James Ha rt flew by. Aseltin e would finish ninth. "It felt like something broke or I had a flat ti re," said Aseltine. "I looked back and couldn't see an ything wrong, so I kept going. Whatever the problem was, I could hardly ride it. It has a flat front tire now, but I don ' t th ink that was it. Man, I think we had it won. I don't know what happ en ed," sa id Aseltine. Price pulled well ahead of the Dale's H-D sponsored Hart, but it was the Bartels' H-D of Jay Springsteen that caught the crowd's attention when Springsteen worked his way up from se venth to challenge Hart on lap nine. Springsteen shadowed Ha rt until the pair entered tum one at the start of lap 14, then dove to the inside and took over for one lap. But Ha rt was able to drive back by for second on the last lap. "I could pull him in the heat and I wa s su re I cou ld do it agai n in the National," said Hart . "Man, that bike of mine is so slow," said Springsteen. "I rode the wheels off that thin g to catch him, but I knew if he did n' t make a mistake I could never hold him off." NATIONAL. By way of his fast heat victory, Chris Carr had first cho ice of starting positions. Carr took the third from the out -

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