Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

seven, but as the duo entered turn three, Jones hooked a slick spot and fell hard. "I lost the back end," Jones said. "Then when 1 tried to correct, I lost the front, then the back, then it slammed me." The race was red-flagged and called complete with Springsteen and Hill headed to the Grand National. Carr was first into turn one of heat two over Kevin Varnes, Steve Beattie and Rich King, who then thrilled the crowd as he pushed his Honda to the front. Total Control Racing's Dan Butler mad~ it a four-rider pack chasing King. At the halfway point Carr and Butler swept by King. Butler led briefly, but after he moved up just off the' groove, Carr took the point and rode to a con- , vincing win with Butler finishing a solid second, "I thought that we would have to run the bottom, but Danny went by and 1 thought there's more race track to be discovered," Carr said. "The last five laps felt real good." Team Undo's Brett Landes led the third heat 'off over Kevin Atherton and Georgie Price IV, but by the end of lap one it was Total Control Racing's Atherton out front. Landes held second for one lap before James Hart blasted by. But like Jones, Hart's race came to an abrupt halt on lap four when he fell in turn three. "I just hit a slick spot, Hart said. "Just off the groove is the fast line, but not enough people have been running up there yet. Most of it is perfect but there are some wet spots." Hart failed to make the restart, and Atherton picked up where he left off, with Landes pulling into second. Davis wasted no time taking control of the last 10-lap heat. "I didn't look back," Davis said. "The track is really fast, and you can run really run it hard up top." Parker was a lonely second over a tight race'between Dave Camlin and Mike Hacker, who were semi bound. (Above) The stert of the National looked to be a Team Harley-Davidson benefit as Scott Parker (1) and Chris Carr (4) battled for control In the first tum. Kevin Varnes (89) got a good stert and would finish fourth. (Right) With Davis out front, Parker (1) and Carr (4) battled each other, teldng second and third, respectively. SEMIS Varnes put early leader Marc Gifford away quickly and ran away with the first semi while Camlin moved to a solid second. The race for the last transfer was a highly contested affair with Jones getting by Kenny Coolbeth Jr. on lap six of the eight-lap race to earn a ticket to the main event. Garvis Honda/Shoei/Missile Eng.backed King was equally dominant in the second semi, leading every lap. A three-rider war broke out behind King as Hacker, Chris Evans and Terry Poovey were shooting for the two available spots in the main. Hacker held his Harley solidly in second while Poovey made a last-ditch effort and dislodged Evans on the white flag lap only to have Evans slip back by at the finish. Canadian National Champion Steve Beattie ran away with the last semi on his Deeley H-D/Shoei/Tsubaki-sponsored Harley. Price worked through the field on his new Honda to take second. The last spot in the 17-rider National field went to Mike Varnes, who narrowly kept his White's H-D-sponsored mount in front of Bret Beyer. 883 NATIONAL Jay Springsteen and Mike Hacker won the two heats that pared the 24 883 entries down to a 17-rider main. Fat Boy Racing's Recil Hart led the 12-lap National into turn one, but was set back quickly by points leader Springsteen. Lap two found Wimer's eyde's Jess Roeder on top, but by lap four, Springsteen had charged back around, bringing Price with him. Springsteen slowly pulled, taking his Bartels' Harley-Davidson-sponsored Sportster to his seventh win out of nine races run in 1995. "All we did was pour gas in it all night," a proud Springer said. "Joe Bisha does a lot of work on my bikes, but 1built this one myself this week." Five riders disputed second place. At the halfway point, Price held down second over Hacker, Roeder, James Hart and Fletcher. Two laps from the end, Hacker roared into second. "I just held it wide open," Hacker said. Roeder's yellow Sportster broke up the blue and black of the Moroney's Harleys of Hacker, Price and Fletcher, with a fourth place finish over Fletcher.. James Hart brought his Dale's H-Dbacked mount in a close sixth. GRAND NATIONAL Carr had the quickest trigger finger off the line as the Grand National field took the green light. Despite starting on. the second row Varnes held down second at the end of lap one. "I got a good start. I couldn't believe it, from the second row," Varnes said. '1t was a hell of a launch. They all kind of went up a little bit and I went'Ah man just go for it: and I went down low and ended up on the groove." Parker was lurking just behind and exploded into the lead on lap three. "The track had some traction this year:' Parker said. "Last year you just pole-putted around. That's why you had good racing tonight. You could run high line, low line wherever you wanted." "Early in the main event we were going OK, and those guys came by me and just settled in:' Carr said. "I found some good lines, and I felt like I might have been able to give Will a run there towards the end. It seemed like running down low, I was losing a lot of time in three and four. I went up high and was losing time there too. "Finally I figured out how to ride there:' Carr said. "Just kind of go in and cruise through the corners instead of getting all throttle-happy, and it seemed to hook up better that way. It wasn't a cushion, but it had moisture in it. It wasn't as slick as the rubber on the bottom, so it allowed you to roll through the corner better. If you have equally slick surfaces, your going to keep your wheels in line on a larger radius than a tighter radius." Parker and Varnes put on an exciting show, with Carr, Springsteen and Davis holding front row seats. "I think Parker and I slowed each other up for a while and let those other guys catch up, " Varnes said. "Towards the end of the race, Parker started· running low because that's where 1 was passing him. Will (Davis) and Carr were going up high and making it work up there. 1 think the race track went away from me. 1 was still running as fast 1 was, but I was spinning the tire more towards the end of the race. The track started grooving up so much on the outside where the fast line was." By lap seven, Davis was starting to make his move and learning that having to come from behind has its good points. "You can make the race shorter, too. You get out front right off the start and twenty-five laps is a long time:' Davis said. "The way it was, you just keep charging and charging and charging. There's not so much time to think." Davis took over on lap 14 and never looked back, but Carr was not done with Parker as he was on his way to a third-place finish. '1t feels good:' Carr said. "It's been a long time since I've been on the box Springfield - but I haven't been able to hit my butt since then. 1 felt I was really getting through one and two good. That seemed to be the ticket. After I got behind Will and Scott 1 couldn't get in (there). It was kind of like the line would get blocked. I could get a good run on the guys going in, but I couldn't keep that momentum going. I got by

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