Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·D TTRACK IR . . AMA 600cc National Championship Series Round 2: Peoria M Clubgrounds .C. J 8J bert-tuned Harley-Davidson. After running a close third for most of the race, Hill dropped off the pace late . "When we got into lapped traffic they got away a little and I just couldn't get any rhythm back:' Hill said. "I just ran out of gas. I was just trying to hang on ." Rich King struggled horne fourth after sticking his foot in one of the numerous ruts on the track. "After I stuck my foot, it was jus t a matter of putting around:' King said, "I kept thinking someone would sure ly catch me, but Kevin (Atherton) was the only one to get by . Then he stuck his foot i n the same hole and drop ped back." Bu t the 11 points for fourth place gave the Garvis Honda/Missile/MC Stuff /Hickman Racing/Shoei/Sidibacked Iowan a two-point lead over Parker and Chris Carr in the 600cc National Championship standings. Defending Champion Mickey Fay was a distant fifth. By Dave Hoenig Pho tos by Flat Trak Fotos PEORIA, II.,JUNE 11 e arn Harley-Davidson 's Scott Parker is on a roll. The Bell/HOG /YETI / AFAMbacked five-time Grand National Champion left no doubt about it as he continued his hot streak by sweeping round two of the AMA's 600cc National Championship on his Bill Werner-prepped PTJ; XR600. 40 Parker had two missions in mind when he came to the Peoria Motorcycle C lub's Race Park. Win the race, of course, but also ge t set up for round 14 of the Grand National Cham pionship, the Peoria TT scheduled fo r August. Unfortunately, Mother ature wreaked havoc on the famous TT track, turning the no rmally rugged facility from a Tourist Trophy to Torture Track. '1 was just happy to survive. It was really scary out there," Parker said. "The track was so rough I really had to pace myself. It didn't help much for the GNC, but at least [ got a lot of seat time on the track." Keeping Parker honest was Washington's Joe Kopp, who stayed glued to Parker the whole race, but just couldn't get by. "I just needed another lap or two and for him to bobble again," said the Denny Lapp/Dave Manko/Arai/Thor/Motion ProfAlpi ne Home Products/Plunkett's MC Supp ly /Top Gunn backed Kopp. Th e track w as re ally taking its toll . I kept thinkin g, 'Ma n he's older than me, he 's got to be ge tti ng tir ed : but [ just could n't get a good run at him." The tw o riders dominated the field, and onl y the first six riders finished on the lead lap. Aaron Hill continued his mid-season return aboard Chris Carr's, Kenny Tol - "It took so long to get through all that traffic, there was no way to catch the leaders: ' said the Paul Peiroli Racing/Pro Sports /Vince Holt /Maxima / Joe McCoy/Hinshaw's Honda /Downtown H-D-sponsored Fay, who finished lap one in 11th place. "I just tried to ride a steady pace." The only other rider on the lead lap was the Grayboy Kawasaki /Shoei/Redline Oil/DRS/White Bros /Works / K&N/Motion Pro-backed Ty Howard, who qualified for his first National with a stunning heat-race win.. "I had oil all over my tire and rear brake:' said the young Texan. "I was just using my front brake, but then it got real spo ngy . I wasn't sure I'd even finish ." HEATS Normally the qualifying hea ts do little but establish lineups for the- regular heats, but the first qualifier was an electrifying race as th ree riders d ueled for the four laps. Rich King, Andy Tresser and Da n Stanley exchanged the lead rep eatedly with Stanley coming fro m third on the last lap for the w in. Parker turned the fastest time in the fifth heat. In the first heat, Parker led Rodney Farris and Kevin Atherton into tu m one, then checked out. "I just wanted to get away, but the bike still doesn't feel right:' said Parker as Werner exchanged front ends 0\\ the (Above) Reigning Grand Nat iona l Champion Scott Park er continued his reign of terror in the 600cc ranks by winning the Peoria 600cc Nation al n . (Right) Parker (1) grabs the lead at the start of the National with second-place fi ni sher Joe Kopp (43), Rich King (80) and Aaron Hill (17) falling Into line. (Below) Hill celebrated his recen t comeback to dirt .t rack rac ing with a solid th ird-place finish aboard Chr is Carr 's Harley-Davidson Harleys. "My backup feels better, bu t I'm faster on this one." An dy Tresser moved into a solid second over Farris. A misfire dropped Atherton well off the pace, but just past the halfway mark he started a comeback. "It must be electrical, after a while it cured itself:' Atherton said . "Then it really ran well." The second heat saw Kopp take a narrow lead over Tom Troudt and Trapper McDaniel. By the second lap, Kopp had pulled to a comfortable lead, but Troudt was under attack from. King . At the midpoint, King took second in tum four but was greeted by the red flag the next time around. Steve Liberty had high-sided in tum one and wo uld eve ntually be transported to the hospi tal. On the restart, Troud t go t a poo r start and was trying to make up for it in tum tw o when he caug ht a rut an d fe ll s pec tac u la r ly . H e wa s unable to make the res tart. "I guess it ca ug h t a rut just as I got on the gas: ' Troudt. "T he fra me is all bent up, n ow we just h a v e to ge t in through the semi." King repeated his aggressive move to . the front on th e restart, but Kopp was

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