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/127717
Rodney Farris' #92 • Age: 32 Hometown: Winchester, Virginia Ranked filth in '94GNC Series Kevin Atherton' #23 • Age: 24 Hometown: WhnePigeon, Michigan Two National wins, ranked eighth in '94 GNCSeries Will Davis' #21 • Age: 29 Hometown: Goldsboro, North Carolina Six National wins, ranked fourth in '94 GNC . Series Ronnie Jones ' #16• Age: 34 Hometown: Oklahoma Ctty, Oklahoma 10National wins, rankedsixth in '94GNC Series Uke Morehead, "Winkin'· Will Davis has to be loving the 16 half mile races scheduled for '95. When he's on a roll, Davis is one of the series' deadlie half mile racers. Unfortust nately, Da visalsohas hisshare of off nights. This season, the A&R Racing team of Craig Rogers, Louie Aruta and tuner Dennis Town will have two complete Honda RS750s for Davis to race, and we feel that the added machinery might bejust what Davis needs to break into the top three. Davis has a good chance of dethroning Chris Carr at the season-opening Daytona Short Track, and is likely to bea front-runner at theLaSalle Short Track aswell. Should Davis gain greater consistency in '95, he may very well give Moreead a"run forsecond. ...... "Hot Rod" Rodney Farris has matured a great deal in the past few seasons and gainedthe one thing that hadeluded him earlier in his career: consistency. With the exception of three mechanical failures and one crash, Farris finished well inside of the top 10 at almost every National in '94. Perhaps the biggest heartbreak of the Farris' season was at the Hagerstown Half Mile, where he qualified fastest, won the fastest heat race and sat on the pole inthe Na tional; a fried clutch left him on the sidelines shortly affer the green light ftashed. Farris' strength is on half 'miles, but he has had some of the best finishes of hiscareer onmiletracks. Farris' tuner, Eddie Adkins, has vowed to have the team's Harley-Davidsons in prime condition throughout the year, and if he delivers. so should Farris. Look for Fa s to earn his rri first-ever win in '95, and improve upon his fifth.place '94 ranking. ride: Larry Pegram'#72 • Age: 22 Hometown: Baltimore, Ohio Three National wins, ranked 12th in '94GNC Series RichKing' #80• Age: 30 Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa Ranked 11th in '94GNC Se ries 'Though Larry Pegram will contest the AMA 600CC Supersport and Su perTeams road race series full time as a member of the Erion Ho nda team, the outspoken rider will remain true to his roots. Pegram will contest 20 Nationals aboard a Skip Eaken-tuned Harley-Davidson XR750, and should have lillie trouble staying in the series'top 10. When questioned about possible racing burnout, Pegram replied, "Between the road races and dirt tracks, I'll be racing just about every weekend, but I'm dying for n to start. I've been riding every single day i'1 preparation for the start of the new season.' As long as Pegram remains off the injured list, heshould add to his list of Na tional wins. At this time last year, Ronnie Jones announced that '94 would be hislast season on motorcycles, as hewould make the switch to the NASCAR SuperTruck Series. But two things happened: One, sponsorship deals failed to materialize for Jones' truck racing effort, and two. Jones scored the 10lh Grand National win of his career and found himself in the hunt at several races. "Rather than quit racing and start looking for a truck ride, I might as well stay with bikes - where I'm sliD competitive - until I do find a truck said Jones. This year, Para O'Siochain - a noted tuner who is perhaps best known for his work with theRobertsll.awwill race team - will spin the wrenches onJones' Honda RS750s. This oould be the edge Jones needs to finallY win his first mile National - a definite goal forboth he and the Loral Lake Racing team. Is this Jones' last year on the GNC circuit? Only time wiD tell. Ronnie willfinish around filth. Rich King is one of the sport's hardest-working athletes, and of our three Wild Cards, is the mo likely to break st into the series top 10. This year, King will finally have a full-timesponsor throughout the entire season. Many times in the past. King has secured rides for a couple races here, and a couple races there, but has never really been able to spend an entire season aboard the same machinery. George Garvis of Garvis Honda Town has proven that he can build a winningmotorcycle, and the combination of he, King and the Garvis Honda RS750s can pro to be a deadly oombinave tion. Rick Graham' #3 • Age: 36 y Hometown: Salinas, California Three-timeGrand Na tional Champion, 39 National wins, ranked 20th in '94GNC Series What Ricky Graham will do in '95 remains a mystery, though tuner Johnny Goad reports that if Graham wants to race, there will be a bike waiting for him. There's no doubting the tremendous amount of natural talent that Graham possesses anyone who saw him race in '93 will agree. Should the 39-time National winner decide to take to the track in '95, hewill definftely throw a wrench in our predictions. We hope that he does. It is often said that every new riderltuner team needs time to get a feel for each other, and such was thecase for Kevin Atherton and the Total Control Racing team. Most of Atherton's '94 finishes hovered around 10th place. but as the season wore on, he gained mor and more confidence both on and e off the track. Anyone who witnessed his come-from-behind ride for second at the season-ending Del Mar Mile knows that Atherton is still amongst the mosttalented racers around, and a demnethreat forthe win when he's having a good day. "Cupcake" has two half mile National wins under his bett, and oome October, we're sure he'll have at least one more. Athertonwill finish at least sixth - nolower. Chris Carr. #4 • Age: 27 Hometown: Valley Springs, California '92 GrandNational Champion, 3t National wins, ranked2nd In '94 GNC Series Chris Carr will spend the majority of his season aboard the Harley-Davidson VRlooo road racer, but will continue to race at selected dirt track events. Carr's contract with the H-D factory allows him to pick and choose which raoes hewill attend, enminating the need forhim to, "race at the piece of junk tracks tha I hate.' Carr will most likely show t up at the "premier" ev ents likeDaytona, Peoria, Springfield, Indy and DuQuoin, and will definftely beamongst the topfinishers. Carr's strong finis at the races he does choose hes to attend may very we keep him inside the ll top to in thefi.nal series point standings.