Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

,D T-TR C IR A K , AMA GrandNatlomil ChampionshipSeries ' R d5: L S IIeS d aun a a pee way While all the heat times were close, the fifth was the fastest. Davis' lOlaps were 15 hundredths of a second faster than Coo lbeth's heat as the North Carolinan blasted to the line first. The retired - unretired - retired - =retired Aaron Hill proved that he can still get his trademark holeshot as he rocketed to the front of the last heat on his Chris Carr/ Arai-sponsored Rotax . But by lap four, Parker showed hi s muscle as he powered his way around the outsid e and ran away with the win. CRANE CAM CHALLENGE New for 1995, Crane Cam Motorcycle Products has introduced a five-lap dash for the fastest qualifiers, in this case the six heat winners, with a $1()()() check going to the winner. Davis took all the suspense out of the Challenge as he shot from his middle-ofthe-track starting spot to a convincing win over Carr, w ho ha d to work his way around Sta nley. Coolbeth, Parker and King rounded ou t the field. '1 knew I needed a good start and consistent laps," Davis said . "I think staying consistent is the key." "(For) these short races you need a goo d start, and I ha d to work my way through some traffic," Carr said . "There was no way I could catch Will." SEMIS By Dave Hoenig Photos by Bert Shepard and Aat Trak Fotos 'W 18 LASALLE, IL, JUNE 3 ho the hell says I can't ride a 600," grinned Scott Parker after notching his 62nd Grand National victory in the Starved Rock Grand National at LaSalle Speedway. Parker, determined to prove his much maligned small-bike abilities, took the Bill Werner-tuned, Harley-Davidson factorybacked XR600 to a wire-to-wire win . 'This is my second short track win, but the last one was a few yea rs ago," said Parker. How time flies. Parker scored his las t short track wi n - the third Grand National win of his illustrious career - at Sante Fe Park, Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 1, 1980. Giving chase all the way was Craig Rogers/Mother Fletcher's backed Ca nAm of Will Davis. '1 just couldn't do anything with Scotty," said a somewhat somber Davis. "I thought I was going to make a run late, but then with about five laps left I almost busted my butt in tum three. I knocked my skid shoe half off and spent a couple of laps trying to get it back on. I decided that I wasn't going to get it, so I just did the best I could." Davis however was successful in winning the first-ever Crane Cam Challenge over Chris Carr and Dan Stanley. Parker's Harley-Davidson facto ry teammate, Carr was a distan t third. '1 do n't think Scotty showed us everything in the Crane Cam Challenge," Carr said before heading off to the LaSalle airp ort , w here a p lane was waiting to get him back to Mid-Ohio for Sunday's AMA Superbike roa d race. "It took me a while to work through traffic. By then Will and Scotty were too far gone." Johnny & Sarah Goad /USC Racingbacked Kevin Varnes picked up fourth on his Rotax . "Fourth place , this is my best Grand National ever . I felt real good all night," said the promising Pennsylvanian. '1 was hung up behind Stanley and Coolbeth for a while, and by the time I got by, Carr was way ahead . Then I heard a noise and Morehead went around on the outside. I decided to move up to his line and I think we were closing on Carr. I was going to make a run on Steve late in the race when all of a sudden he just got totally sideways. I thought sure I was going to hit him. I guess he had a flat tire." Also benefiting from Morehead's misfortune was Loral Lake Racing's Ronnie Jones. '1 had a long way to go, starting on the last row," Jones said . "It was hard to find a good place to be consistent. Everyone wo uld go into the tu rns together, then someone would hit a rut and people were goi ng in all directions. I really feel that w hen the race tracks are rough 'a nd the ra cing is close, I have an adva ntage because I feel I'm in real good conditio n. I think th at I pa ssed fou r or five guys tonight because they were tired." Five-time Grand Natio nal Champ ion, Parker became 1995's first multiple winner and also took over the points lead for the first time this year. Parker's win coupled w ith the fact tha t p revi ous poin t leader Jay Springsteen failed to make the National has given Parker a lo-point lead, 58-48, over Springsteen, who slipped into a tie wit h Davis for seco nd pla ce in the standings. Carr is an other tw o p oin ts behin d in fourth place, with 46 points. Scott Parker shattered the myth that he was uncompetltiv e on a 600cc dirt tra cker by winni ng the Starv ed Rock Nati onal at laSalle Speedway. Inset photo: Runnerup Will Davis (left) and Chris Carr (ri ght) joi ned Parker on t he vIct ory pod ium.. HEATS Weeks of heavy, record-breaking rains had left the laSalle track saturated and made for a rough race track that helped supply the large crowd with a lot of action at the Mike Farley/Magic Racing Group's first Grand National. The heat races took on the added importance of establishing the field for the Crane Cam Challenge as the heat winners would make up the field fur the five-lap dash Rich King broke his Garvis Honda on top of the first race only to see the red flag come ou t on lap three. Steve Kasten, Dave CamIin and Paul Iwanaga were in a tigh t race for the last direct transfer when Kaste n fell h a rd in tu rntwo af ter a ru t grabbed his front wheel. The restart saw King out front again and taking the win. Terry Poovey, Doug O'Boyie and Carr waged a ferven t battle for the win in the second heat. Carr powered his way into the lead at the halfway flag and was never headed. The third heat was all Ken Coolbe th [r's, The 1994 Rookie of the Year used his R & I Mfg.-sponsored Rotax to stave off the early challenges of veteran Charlie Orr on the Adams Racing Rotax before taking the checkered flag. In heat four, Washington's Dan Stanley jumped into a big lead on his BBRP/ Budweiser-sponsored Rota x and scored the win . The four semis would fill the last four spots in the National grid as only the win ners would keep racing. The other 11 riders would load up and go home . The first semi turned into a rout for Donahue H-D 's Davey Durelle after he pulled away from Teague, who wa s aboard Lee McAnally's Wood-Rolax. . The second semi was a real bam bumer as seven rid ers were still fighting for the one transfer at the halfway mark. Brei Beyer, Georgie Price IV, early leader Winsett, Atherton, CamIin, O'Boyle and Dale [enneman all had-a shot, but Price put his Spectro-Moroney's Harley-Davidsonbacked Rotax into thelead for good on lap five. The third semi marked the undoing of points leader, Bartels' Ha rley-Davidsonbacked Springsteen. Ronnie Jones bounced into the lead off the start over Steve Mayfield . Springsteen quickly grabbed secon d but couldn' t reel in the disa ppearing Jones. Morehead got the holeshot from the ou tside in the las t semi on his F&S HD/Taylor White-sponsored Rot ax and scooted into the main. "There was a little shelf where it was flat and dry right next to the wall where yo u co uld get rea l good traction," explained Morehead. 883 NATIONAL A relatively large field of 25 HarleyDavidson Sportsters signed in and were divided into three heats. As has been the case all year Springsteen and his Bartel's Harley were the favorite with both the crowd and the "exp erts" to w in the National after he pos ted the fastest heat win. Springer edged Jason Fletcher, on a Moroney's Harley, with both well ahead of Bret Beyer and Bill Hofmeister. The second heat was an outstanding rac e be tw een two yo u ngste rs a s Moroney' s H-D's Mike Ha cker du eled with 16-year-old Pro-Am N ate "Gator" Wait, who slipped his Mitchell's Modestosponsored Harley around Hacker on the last lap for the win. Moroney's put yet another bike in the main as Keith Jacobsen led Team Saddlemen 's Lance Jones home in third. The last heat was a three-way photo finis h. A Moroney's-su ppo rt ed Harley-

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