Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4:Illin Sta airg u ds ois teF ro n (Left) Jay Spr ingsteen (9) outsmarted Mike Hacker (67) for the Harley-Davidson B83 Nationa l win , Springsteen is currently In both the Grand National Championship and 883 series. n ob ody else un til la p 21. Meanwh i le , Pegram and A therton battled in an effort to set u p for the late laps. Bu t on lap 20, Atherton i n ad v er ten tl y provided both h imself and Pegram with a ra ther h arrowing m oment. "I rear-e nded Larry so hard ," A ther ton said. "Because th ere was such a head wind yvu had to get righ t u p behi nd th e gu y to pa ss. I went to pu ll arou nd him motor ," D avis said. "We kind of tiptoed , all d ay . We tuned it ri ght to the edge." With just over five laps down, eig h t rider s were still in the lead d raft. D av is w as still looking sharp up fro nt, interrupted briefl y by Camlin. Parker seem ed content to wait and see in third pla ce, but he fi nally took th e po int on lap eight. Carr wa s hanging around in third, while A therton was playing the same game i n si xth place. Pegram had yet to really emerge. "It takes a lot of patience," Carr said, "because a track th at' s as fast as this one is hard on tires. But its instinct is to w ant to pu sh h ard . 1 thou ght w e w ere o n abou t the 20th lap when th ey gave us the halfway flags ." M orehead was th e first rid er to exit with mechanical problems, going ou t on the eighth lap, and Pegram moved up to establish himself in the fra y . Parker was next to go, the normally stone-reliable Bill Werner-built XR giving up th e gh ost on lap 12. " I was just cruis in' along because 1 knew it was going to be a long race," . (Right - Left to right) Pegram, Carrand Atherton uncork the bubbly. Roger Reiman, the 1964 Grand Nation al Champion (between Pegram and Carr) pres ented the trophies and was In th e wr ong place at the wrong time. Parker sai d . "I knew th e la p before it w ent that i t w as feeli n ' bad . Yo u go tta tak e the good with the bad . 1 hate i t, but 1 gotta let it go." Once Parker w as o u t, C arr too k charge, drafting by Da vis an d p icking up the lead on the back straight during lap 13. Carr and Davis then battled back and forth up front, sharing the point with and 1 ran into his rear tire and his pipes. It slowed m e d own, but it helped him mak e a pass. All 1 th ought was, 'O h no, I'm going to crash both of my bikes at the same time." " It kind o f pissed m e off," Pegram jok ed. " I m ean, I'm going as fast as 1 can go, and this guy rear-ends me . N ow, is that friendly ? 1don't think so." Hacke r had lost a few lengths to the l ead chase, and Ca m lin stepped up to lead lap 21. It did n' t last, as Cam lin's bike spu ttered to a halt on th e back stra ig ht. "A coil broke," said a frustrated Camlin. "Tha t's som ethi ng beyond our control. Skip (Eaken) had th at th ing hummin' too. We'll get 'em next ti m e." W ith Cam li n gone, D avis ap peared to have the fi nal fo ur laps well u nder control, but lady luck dese rted h im as the whi te flag wa s about to come ou t w hen his Honda ate a pisto n. Davis was d on e. "This is go nna be a har d one to swa llow," said the North Carolinan. "When I was ge tting ready to l eav e the m otorho me and go ou t on th e track , m y wife sai d, 'You're going to win this.' 1 said , 'Th at' s highly possible, but we need that little bi t of luck.' We didn' t get it." Th e race was down to three riders . Ca r r led A the r ton going d own th e back stretch and i n to turn three for th e final time, and i t ap pear ed as thou gh the pieces w er e in p lace for an A t he r ton slingshot. A ther ton swung to th e outside, b ut th e d r aft n ev er m at er i alized , an d A t herton came u p short b y a w heel. Fin ally , the Springfi eld Mile bel on ged to Carr. " It was a sha me to see Will Davis break and Scotty b reak," Carr said ." But that' s racing. In order to fi nish first, you must fi rst finish." A fterward it w as d iscovered th at Carr had su ffer ed a few problems of his own. " My shock was leaking, and I oiled those gu ys d own a little," Carr sai d. " But it didn't smoke, so they didn't black fla g me." Springsteen scored a virtually unnoti ceable sixth place behind the lead trio, Farris and Hacker, and h e actuall y . picked up ei gh t points on the secondplaced Parker. Springsteen now leads Parker by 10 points, 48-38. " Par k er broke, and then Morehead broke," Springsteen said . "And 1 thought ., : Briefl' here. If those guys had needed something and ' Eaken's team too: 'llike' working with 'Skip, he's ' . Sternp is also scheduled to be' filled with a halo '. we cou ldhave helped ttiem . then we would 'real knowledgeable and he gives .rne good ' to immobilize his neck and back onMay 31: feedback from the different guys he helps ." ' have." : Camlin the racer looked .strong' all day but ' Two other recently injured riders showed up to Ch'rls Carr ,'bagged nice chunk change .. With all.of the m~hanicaJ attritio~ taking place came up one position short ota transfer in the' , . Springfield: though not to (ace . James ,Hart first semi. . . ' reported that he ,was feeling fine and is ready after winning the Springfield Mile. Carr earned on the brutal. mile, Chn s Carr s rnecnanlc . to go alter sufferingli serious concussion'in an $6000 from the purse, '$3200 from , Harley- . Kenny T olbert ~ad to be especialy,proud that . incident' with Dan Butler and Las Washbo n at Davidson, $500 from Arai Helmets and a $300 , hiS rider's machine never faltered. ,I was never Rod ney Farr is had a hand in the TNN cover'pertormance incentive award from the 'AMA to : . worned.:knew we had It won"on about the sec- age of the.Spnngfield ~ile as theWinchesler . the Harrington Half Mile . .Hart says that tie ' H-D/Adkins-backed Virginian was aske d to 'excects to be cleared to race by doctors short: haul away a 'cool"$10,O for his efforts. " OO . ondlap, Tolbert laughed. Senously, I was .. , really worned. I sawall that stuff happening to strap on the helmet cam that tiad previously' ,' Iy. The appearance of Randy Texter .was ,noth:, , , , been wom by Ronn ie Jones. "Ronnie said that ing short of amazing. Texter had been run over Coming into Spnngfield Kevin Atherton was . those g~ys, an~.it ·could just as .easily have , tiighly critical of his C&J single-shock Chassis, been us, It ~ertalnly has.'n the p~st. Recall that it would pull his head when he looked back," .. by Mall ,Waitin an 883 qualiflerand suffered .tne same currently ,tieing tested by several,of . a cracked 0 1 tank at Spnngfleld In .1990 wound . Farris said. ~So we're gonna .try it and maybe. several broken bones in his face as well as a 1 'the topteamsen the Grand National circuit,' but .' up costing Carr and Tolbert 1heNational Cham- work a deal to see if we can use it for all the .' massive tear through' his right cheek: But the ' races. It wouldn 't be 'bad to see all the rnisLancaster Harley-Davidson-backed Texter was after his excellent second-place run in the , plonshlp by one point In the final ~tandl ngs', takes that I' ve been makin'." Farris reported no 'walking through the pits with only a small; faint ' 'National: the TCR ' RaCing teamster ?efinitely ' Speakmqot exp~~siv~ da;~, timer Skip Eaken wind-resistance problems with the helmet cam ' scar as testament to the injury. Texter, does, .changed hls tune..':That frame that.' ve been could have been a likely candidate' for lntra-' after finishing fourth in the National. however,' have some seven 'plates holding his b1tChl~g .about hnally w orked great, '.Atherton venous Maalox after the one his team had at " face together from the inside, but' he Can still said. . I like, to slide,.and these chaSSIS tend to .. Springfield. Between riders Dave Camlln and Will Davis was among several of ttie dirt track- 'smile. "The surgeon did a hell of a job, and he ":,,ork best when you ke7P the .wheels In line Larry Pegram the team lost all three rnotorcy- ers whonave been logging a fair amount of Said that when he's done' -you won't beable to like .a roadracer. This IS the first track that .. cles to mechanical failure and had io borrow laps at asphalt races lateIY",,"We won the -teutnat (crashed at all.".Texter said.:"My carwe'~e had enough traction for it to work for two.more just to keep going.·To make matters MARS race in Myrtle Beach: Florida, last week ' bon-fiber helmet actua lly did its job . I have me. worse , huge gust of Wind late in the day and we were in Rint, Michigan, the night before Jack Jarboe and Ball to thank tor that:' . . . destroyed bO,th of the team's $600-apiece EZ- ' tast," Davis said. "Those places are so clean, . .. . ' L~rry' Pegram played musical bikesihrough- Up canopies. . . , , . , and IthinK that they're bringing in'new spsctaChance Darling was sporting some 'new paint ' out the day witti great success: Alier blowi ng " tors like the stock-car people, who come and on his' Motorcycle Specialties- backed XR for ' up his LA RaCing/Eaken-sponsored HarteyEven though' the' Mid:o'hio Superbike National see that the motorcycle races are just as excit· . the firsttime in three years: Gorie was the tra, Davidson in the fimil pract ice sessio n; and . is taki ng place ' on the same 'weekend as the ing as theirs." Davis-also said that he wouldn't' ditional purple and flame, and in lts place was ' watching helplessly as teammate Dave Camlln laSalle Nation

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