Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Rounds 1/3: Volusia County Speedway FLAT TRACK· MotorcycleAsphalt RacingSeriesJFlorida Rat TrackSeries (Left) Defending MARS Champion Will Davis (1) prepares to duck under Steve Morehead (42) during the 750cc main event at the open ing round of the series in Barberville, Florida. Davis wen t on to victory; keeping his Florida Flat Track Series win streak alive. (Below) Terry Poovey happ ily accepts the . MARS trophy for his win in th e 600cc main event. "He (Beattie) got into three too hot, and I didn't have an y where to go," said Mo rehead, w ho dropped to fourth behind Chance Darling . Morehead wasn ' t d one, how ever, as he flew around Darling and set out after Beattie. Morehead found him on the last lap an d duplicated the move tha t go t him in trouble earli er . Thi s tim e Morehead stormed by and into the main. Ke vi n Varn e s a n d Wil li e M cCoy topped the semis. In the m a in, Mo re hea d le d Hart a n d D a v is int o turn o ne, bu t Da vi s m ad e an inside move exit ing tum tw o a nd mov ed in to th e lead. At th e en d of lap on e, Davis, Hacker , Rogers and Mo reh ea d ran in th e to p fou r. Da vi s wa s quickly runnin g awa y with the • a aiD! aVIs By Dave Hoenig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos BARBERVILLE, FL, MAR. 5 " I've been listening to motivational tapes this winter. Tapes on positi ve th in king, if you th ink you can win you can," sa id Will Davi s after positively trouncing the 750cc field on his Mother Fl etchers I Bell I Max Lea th ers-sp on sored HarleyDavidson d u r ing th e Mo torcycle Asp halt Racin g Series ha lf mile at Volusia County Speedway. The eve nt marked round three of the Florida Flat Track Series. It was also the first race of the MARS series of which Da vis is the defending Cha mpion. "It's been a long win ter and we ca me down here with the goal of winning all seven (Florida Flat Track Serie s races). I know it's going to get tou gher as the week goes on but at least it's still a goal ," said Davis. Rusty Roger s was a solid second on h is Bob Norfleet Racing- backed Ha rley. "Will's bike was built special for the asp halt se ries an d it d oes what it was made fo r," said Roge rs. "We ju st fin ishe d m ybike on Mon d ay . It all went pretty good ." Terry Poovey was relegated to one clas s afte r he broke hi s USC Racingsponso re d H onda in practice. H e d id make th e most o f it by capturing the 600cc win over a distant Davis. "I' m really sorry I cou ldn' t run with those boys today on the 750, but at least the 600 was w ork ing," sa id Poovey. " I just want to ge t th ose win s on Frid ay and Saturday." "That bike of Ter ry's is a rocket, and he rid es the wheel s off it," said Davis. "I'm just tickled to get second . We. we re not pl anin g o n running in th e 60 0 (class), but after I was out here and practiced it, I just wanted to race." The 883 Harley- Davi dson main fell to New En gl ande r Geoff Cl ark a fter h e took over from early leader James Hart. "I look ed back after I took the lea d " and I knew I had to kee p my pace up," . said the Lajoie's Inc. H-DI American H- D /Bell /D .Clark /Pam /Sk y Cycl e Sal vage-spo nsored G ark. A talented field of rid ers cam e out, as 63 en tries fille d ou t th e three cla sses. Three rid ers tried for a trifecta, entering all thr ee classes; Dave Hebb, Geoff Clark and Jam es Hart a ll mad e the attempt, but only Hart was success ful in making all three 16-lap mains. The 833 heat wins went to Hart and Clark, which set th e lineu p for the 11man ma in. Hart led Hebb and Clark into turn o ne of the m a in, but by lap tw o Clark had the lead and com mand of the race . "I though t I was gaining, but he was pulling me out of tu rn two," said th e busy Hart. Hebb held down third un til lap fou r when he slid down in tum two . Hebb wa s up quickl y, but watched th e remainder of the event fro m tu m two. Al Eadie took ov er third and th e top three spots we re set. Jason Lorge, Scott Stump , Gary Rogers and Rob Miller were locked in a battle for third until Lorge d ropped out jus t pas t the halfway mark. Meanwhile. . Stump an d Rogers kept the large crowd entertained wi th their battle for fou rth . Rogers go t by Stump for the position on the last lap . The 32-rider 600cc field was d ivid ed into four heats. The first was a runaway for Poovey, wi th an exciting battl e ove r th e last di re ct trans fer. H ebb edged Hacker as th ey fin ishe d well ahead of the rest of the field . The se co n d h eat was an excellent race as Duane Veed er and Kevin Varnes b at tled the whole race. Rob ert Lewis joined in on th e last lap, but cou ld n' t bre ak into th e top tw o an d was se m i bound. Ve ed er took th e w in with Varnes a close seco nd . Davis ran away with heat three while Ted Taylor looked to have second sewn up. Steve Beattie and Brett Land es came up just sho rt in their bid to unseat Tay lor. The last heat was all Steve Morehead, as he easi ly po wered to the wi n. James H a rt too k a racelong battle from Ian Segedy. Rober t Lewis and Steve Beattie won the two semis. Morehead led Hebb and Davis into tu rn on e in the 600cc ma in. Hebb bob bl ed a n d wa s quick ly overta ken b y Davis, Poov e y, Veede r a n d Kevin Varnes. Poovey charged to second by lap three and wa s soon all ov er Morehead, takin g the lead for keeps with an outsid e pass on lap six. Davis got by Morehead on lap seven, a n d whil e Morehead and Varnes battled, Poovey and Davis checked out. Varnes finall y worked his way aro und on lap 14 and the final positions we re set. . Kris Kiser led the first 750cc heat in to tu m one, but w as qu ickly se t back by Davis an d Ch ris Evans . Da vis pulled to a big lead as Eva ns settle d in to second. James Hart was on the move, and after disposing of Kiser, he closed rap idl y on Evans. On the las t lap , Hart took the las t d irect transfer from Evans . "Tha t was close, bu t I d idn't want to have to rid e a semi ," said Hart. "Now I' v e go t th re e 16-l ap m a in s to get through." ·The second heat was a wa r between Mike Hacker and Dave Camlin. Ha cker rem ained in front as Kevin Varne s w orked h is way up from th e p enalty line to finish third . The las t heat was all Rusty Rogers', bu t the race for the last di rect trans fer was am azing. Steve Beat tie was kee ping More head at bay until near the halfway point. Morehead th en tried to pass on the outside, bo bbled , and headed for the ha y bales. race as Hacker and Rogers d isputed second. On lap four, Rogers took over second bu t was too far behind to catch Davis. "I was getting a little closer wh en my tire got a littl e hot and started to slip," sa id Rogers. "I backed off. I th ought maybe if I wa s ha vin g trouble he (Davis) might be t o o, but h e wa s t o o much today," said Rogers. An excellent race back in the pack s a w Hacker, Morehead , Cam lin and Evans attacking each other all around the track . Evans' race ended on lap 12. "The swingarm broke," said Evans. " I don' t k now h o w long it's been cracked. The h a nd li n g was ge t ti ng worse and worse, finall y it pitche d the chain." Morehead got aro und Hacker on lap 13, but there was no shaking Hacker. " It took too long to get my tire wo rking, " sai d Morehead. "By the time I got going it w as too lat e to ca tch Will or Rusty." 1'X Volusia County Speedway Barberville, Florida Resu lts : March 5, 1995 750 MAIN: 1. Will Davis (H -D ); 2. Rusty Rogers (HD); 3. Stev e Mo rehead (H-O) ; 4. Mike Hacker (H- D); 5. Dave Ca m lin (H -D); 6. Ja me s Hart (H-D); 7. Kevi n Varnes (Hon); B. Chance Darling (H-D); 9. Willie McCoy (H -D); 10. Kris Kiser (H on ); 11. Mike Varnes (H -D ); 12. Chris Evans (Ii-D ). 600 MAIN: 1. Terry Poov ey (Rtx); 2. WiU Davis (CA); 3. Kev in Varnes (Rtx); 4. 'Steve Moreh ead (Rtx); 5. Duane Veeder (Rtx ); 6. Robert Le w is (Rtx ); 7. Da ve H ebb (Rtx); 8. Brett Landes (Rtx ); 9. Stev e Beatti e (Rtx ); 10. Mike Hack er (Rtx ); 11. J,ames H a rt (W-R); 12. Ted Tayl o r (Rtx). 883 H -D MA IN : 1. Gt.'Off Oark; 2. jam e H art; 3. AI s Eadie; 4. Gary Rog ers; 5. Scott Stu mp; 6. Rob Miller; 7. Jim Mcn van a; 8. Eddie Dixon; 9. Lee Parker; 10. Jason Lorge; 11. Dav e Hebb .

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