Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.. this weekend'(Carr will miss the Denver round while he follows the AMA Superbike Series to East St. Louis, Missouri}. I'll be right back where I started." Spectro/Moroney's Harley-Davidson/J&M/VansQn/Motion Pro /Works Performance-packed Hacker finished the _Grand National in fourth after appearing to struggle all night right up to the main event. There, the 19-year-old from Prince George, Virginia, got an excellent start and bulled his. way to the front of the field, duking it out with Parker and Davis before yielding to both riders as well as Carr. Hacker, perhaps the most promising young rider in the series without a National victory to his credit, was once again satisfied with the top finish, but he admitted that he was left wanting more. "All these seconds, thirds and fourths are just making me hungrier and hungrier," Hacker said. "Every week that I race makes me want to win even more." Johnny and Sarah Goad/USC Racing/KK/Penn State Cycles/Shoei/Rose and !larry Krill-backed Kevin Varnes shook off the apparent injury to his right ankle earlier in the week to finish fifth in the main event, the Pennsylvanian appeared to be in contention for the win all evening, and he got a good start in the main event. But Varnes simply got jumped by a hard-charging Carr while battling with Kopp on the fifth lap, and from there the youngest rider on the USC Racing Team could not put anything together that would get him to the front of the pack. "I didn't know what to expect when I came here," Varnes said. "I didn't know if my ankle would hurt me not. I went too slow too soon. It felt like I was spinning mor!! toward the end there." 0, HEATS Rookie GNC Expert Paul Morgan III holeshot the field aboard the Gardner Racing-backed entry normally ridden by Aaron Hill (see briefly) and looked poised to steal one of the two transfer positions in the opening 10-lap heat race, but he soon had unwanted company in the form of Deeley Harley-Davidson's Steve Beattie, USC Racing's Terry . Poovey and Suburban Harley-David'son-sponsored Bret Beyer. Beattie pulled clear and took the win while Beyer took the transfer spot awy from Poovey. "That was a little better than OK City," Beattie said. "I ~hink it's gonna be a neat race because you can run it in deep in one and two, but you have to P91e-putt through three and four. A holeshot in the main will definitely be a . bonus. Varnes then stepped up and won the second heat race, which saw him battle for the lead with Ronnie Jones, Larry Pegram and Jay Springsteen. Jones led the first four laps before Varnes threaded his way through the fray to grab the point position off turn two on lap five. He and Pegram then rode away from Springsteen and Jones to finish 1-2 at the flag. "I was kind of watching those guys to see where they would run," Varnes said. "The groove was working best for me. I was squaring it up and getting a good drive off turns two and four. It wasdose." Returning veteran superstar Steve Morehead diced with Parker early in heat three before the reigning champion settled in and refused to be bumped from the lead. In the meantime, Washington rider Joe Kopp moved his Lopkabacked XR750 into contention. As Parker pulled away, Kopp sized up Morehead and then dove underneath 1I (Above) Mike Hacker (67), Chris Carr (4) and Will Davis argued over second place. Carr got the position, Davis was third and Hacker was fourth. (Right) Joe Kopp smoked past 1Othplaced Steve Morehead en route to sixth In the National. him in turns one and two to steal a berth to the main. "That was the main, wasn't it?" the quiet TT specialist Kopp cracked. "I followed Morehead for a lot of the race, then the next thing I knew, I got by him, and I was.in the main event. I've been trying to get myself to be like Mike (Hacker) and Kevin (Varnes) and Kenny (Coolbeth Jr.). It's nice to be recognized as one of the up-and-coming gUys. Now I just have to start beating them." Although Davis took a comfortable win, the fourth heat was closer yet as it featured an intense war between former teammates and friendly rivals Hacker and Bob Norfleet Racing's Georgie Price IV (see briefly). The two wailed away on each other for almost the entire 10 laps, with their battle carrying them past Davis on more than one occasion. In the end, Price's ability to get under Hacker in turns one and two proved to be the difference, and the burly rider from New Jersey snatched the se.cond transfer. "This Bob Norfleet Harley-Davidson is the fastest XR750 that I've ever ridden," Price said. '1t's a pretty machine. Hopefully Bob and I can make some money together." SEMIS The first semi proved to be interesting as it provided another returning veteran and former three-time Grand National Champion, Ricky Graham (see box), with his final opportunity to make his first main event in just over a year. Graham hung on to the last transfer spot behind Morehead and Springsteen for several laps, but then Kevin Atherton and Morgan came up to cllallenge, and Graham's night came to an end when he went down between turns three and four. "I was just trying to find a faster way through there," Graham said. "I was trying to go in real hard and then let it drift. But then I hit a tacky spot and then it (the rear wheel) lit up. It just washed out." Morehead, Springsteen and Morgan went to the main. Poovey and Winchester HarleyDavidson-~ponsoredKen Coolbeth Jr. waged a battle for the top spot in the second semi, with Poovey just edging Coolbeth, at -the line for the win. Coolbeth still went through to the final as did Carr, who finished third after uncharacteristically failing to transfer out of his heat. "I'm starting to feel like myoid self again," Poovey said. 'Tm just now starting to get comfortable on the bike. It sure would be nice to win one of these things again." Hacker, Garvis Honda's Rich King and Jones - all of whom have been getting to the main event through the heat races - got back on track by taking the last three spots to the main event. GRAND NAnONAL Davis was away at the first sign of the green light as the 17 riders in the main event sprang off the line, but the starter halted the race and ordered a complete restart, sending Poovey back to the penalty line for jumping the' gun. Davis was visibly angered as he pounded his handlebar with his fist while crossing under the red flag. Davis got the same good start on the second go, however, and he headed for the very bottom of the race track with the lead. . "I found a line down there in the heat race," Davis said. '1t worked pretty good, so I used it in the Crane Challenge and it Anewbeginning'----_ I n light of the Du Quoin Mile accident that claimed the life of his rider, Rodney Farris, tuner Eddie Adkins made the difficult decision to return to the Grand National Championship trail, beginning at Rapid Oly with a new rider - Ken C001beth Jr. "It's just a test to see if I really wBllt to do it," Adkins said. "After all these years, I've only had four or five riders. Rodney was with me a coupl~ different times, so getting another rider is something that I'm not used to." Adkins said that the decision to CQme back was made easier by all of the support that he has recieved since Farris' passing. "My wife coerced me into it along with a lot of friends who called and said, 'Don't stop:" Adkins said. "And one of them was Norman Farris (Rodney's father). I'll tell you, I knew that this (dirt track) was a big family, but I never knew how big. I must have gotten over 500 phone calls. But I needed to do something. I was in a stagnant situation and I didn't have any enthusiasm. The Coo1beths called me, and we talked and decided to try it for a few weeks. We'll talk again at Indy." Adkins also had a response to those who would draw comparisons be'tween Coolbeth and Farris and thus be unkind to the youngster from Connecticut. "Kenny even thought that way," Adkins said. "But I told him that all changed when I took the number 92 (Farris' number) off that motorcycle and put on the number 31 (Coolbeth's nunber). Kenny's'!KIt riding Rodney Farris' motorcycle, he's riding Kenny Coo1beth's motorcycle. It's a different deal altogether. Taking that number 92 off the motorcycle was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life, but it's just time to get going." Coo1beth debuted the Eddie Adkins Racing XR by putting it in the show with a second-place finish in the:seconctsemi. From there, Coo1beth struggled. in the Grand National final, finishing 16th.

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