Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.DIRT TRACK : . A 600cc ~ationa l C MA hampionship Series Round 1: Daytona Municipal Stadium sneak past as well. Davis held on for fourth. . So, with one-fourth of the 1995 AMA 600cc National Championship Series in the books, Carr holds the series point lead with a perfect 20 points. Poovey, Jones and Davis follow with 16, 13 and 11, respectively. Defendi ng 600cc National Cha mpion Mickey Fay was impressive in h is heat race, bu t struggled a bit in the main an d HEATS After a jam-packed schedule of 16 scratch heats and nine scratch semis , the first of six 10-lap heat races got underway at 9:30 p.m. - over an hour behind schedule. Muddy track conditions delayed practice earlier in the afternoon, and the 25-lap National wo uld even tua lly leave the line at 11:00 p.m. Jones controlled the first heat ra ce with his usual low-line ap proach aboa rd his Parra O'Siochain-tuned Rotax. TCR Racin g' s Kevin Atherton was se cond, ove r a straigh taway behind . "The best line is to stay do wn low," said Jones. "I always stick to that. Some guys like Steve Aseltine have wo n here up in the cushion, but.that d oesn 't work for me ." Carr gave a previ ew of thin gs to come in the second heat. He raced home ove r a fu ll s t ra ig h ta way a hea d of Audiovox' s Bre tt La n des . Th ree-ti me Grand Nati onal Cha mp ion Jay Sp ring s teen was a di st ant th ir d, but wo u ld return in a semi. Spri nger completed the last fou r la ps of the hea t w ithou t the back section of his exhaust pipe. "The track is a little greasier tonight than it has been in the past," said Carr. "A good start is gonna be importan t." Most of the firs t two rows jumped the gun in heat three, leavin g only Larry Pegram and Tommy Colson on the front row. "I was cracking up," said Pegram. "I had a stacked heat, but then they all jumped and left me ou t front." Poovey, Rod ne y Farris a nd Steve Morehea d we re amo ngst the riders to be se n t to th e penalty line. Peg ram took control of the race on the first lap, but it still wasn't a cakewalk for the LA RaeBy Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones DA¥rONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 10 or a brief m oment, the open~ ing round of the AMA 600cc • Nat io n al Ch a mpio nship Series looked like it might be exci t ing. Ga rvis Honda's Ric h King h ad g rabbe d the h ol esh o t an d led Ronnie Jones, Will Davis, Brett Landes and Mickey Fay through tu rn' one, while Team Harley-Davidson's Chris Carr was stuck b a ck in sixth place. Afte r wa tching Carr destroy the competition at 90 percent of the professional dirt track races at Municipal Stadi um in the past few years, many were anxious to see another rider enjoy the sweet taste of victory on the tight, greasy short track. Even Carr admitted that his work was cut out for him . "I was as far down as sixth on the first lap," said Carr. "Looking at who was in fro nt of me, 1 figured that [ was screwed." But then it happened. After qualifying for the first National of his ca reer, Kris Armentrout lasted less than one lap befo re hittin g the dirt and bringing ou t the red flag. The crash was a nightmare for not only Armentrout, but for the five riders that led Carr at the time, as well. For Carr, it was a second chan ce. O n th e rest ar t, C arr t imed the starter's light perfectly and put on yet anothe r one of his trad emark Dayt on a Short Track runaw ays. Together, Carr and h is Kenny To lbe r t-tu ne d HarleyDavid son XR600 mad e the rest look like foo ls as th ey rac ed on to the ir th ird straight 600cc Nation al win at the facility. "I was give n a second chan ce, and I w asn 't go nna bot ch it up," sai d Carr. "You h ad to t iptoe around th e trac k tonigh t, but 1 felt pretty good on it. 1was (Above) The main . was red-flagged when Kris . Arrnentrount crashed on the first lap. That was Chr is , Carr's second chance alter botch ing his start and ru nni ng si xth. Chris Carr (4), Larry Pegram (72), Will Davis (21) and Georg ie Price IV (71) batt le in the main . Carr got the holeshot on the restart and tha t was all she wr ote. (Right) Terry Poovey (18) loo ks fo r a way by Will Davis (21). Alter start ing on the second row , Poovey wor ked methodically th rough the pack to finish second. two-wheeling into tu rn s on e and two. When 1 can two-wheel around this track, there's not many who can keep up with me." Second went to veteran Terry Poovey, who wo rked through the pack after st arting on the second row . The qu iet Texan w as arguably the fastest rid er on the tr ack as he me thodica lly slithered past h is com petitors, nabbing h is umpteenth second -p lace finish a t Municipal Stad ium . Poovey's last victim was Ronnie Jones. The Oklahoman controlled thir d throughou t most of the race - Will Davis managed to fend off Jones' each and every charge until Poovey arrived and zapped them both. Poovey's low -lin e pass caused Davis to slip off the narrow groove, allowing Jon es to raced home a distant ninth. Still, it was nice to see a rider other than Carr carrying the number-one plate. ' A large field of 130 riders showed up to do battle - ind icating the popularity of the common 600cc dirt track machines. "There's not a d irt tracker in America who does n' t h a v e a Ro tax in h is ga rage," sa id one rider, w ho asked 'to ' rema in anony mo us . "There's probably no t 130 Ha rley-Dav idso n 883 dirt trackers in existence." Spectator tu rnou t was sparse a t the Friday nig ht event, somewhere around the 6000- mark. The ch ill ing te m peratures that swept thro ugh Day tona Beach during Bike Week may have been the cause. ing pilot. Poovey charged through th e pack with a vengeance, arid managed to take the lead for a brief moment on the last lap. "I got a rea l good drive out of fou r and passed Larry, bu t th en 1 cou ldn' t slow it down for turn one:' said Poovey. Pegram was the w in ner, inc hes a hea d of Poovey. Mo rehead ' s n ig h t ca me to an early end wh en his motor, "blew up big time ." The fourth heat provided one of the ra rest Sights in di rt track racing . Grand Na tion a l Champio n Sco t t Pa rk er holesho t the race on hi s number-onepl ate bearin g Harley-Davidson XR600, but was p assed in the firs t co rner by number-one-plate bea ring 600cc Na tional Champion Mickey Fay. Kevin Varnes,

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