Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

• DIRT TRACK AMA Grand National Championship Se~ . Round 16: Indiana State Fairgrounds danger of being overtaken by Parker and Carr, who had apparently teamed up in attempt to make forward progress. But Carr would wind up falling back as well. "The last half of the race, I had no brakes," Carr said. "I caught Scott and drafted him into one, and I felt them start to fade. He passed me back, and I ran it in on him again, and then there was nothing there. I had a choice of either T-borung him or running wide and losing all my ground. After that, I just practiced riding it without brakes." Carr would finish seventh. Parker then moved up on Springsteen but the two riders were pretty much stonewalled from making any forward progress. Durelle made one last valiant attempt to drop Atherton by putting some 20 (Left) Defending event chemplon Chrla Carr (4) ran out of brakes and finished seventh. Steve Beattie (26) waa 11 tho (Below) Atherton (middle) celebrated hla first mile wtn and his first Grand National victory alnce 1993. Kopp then came out on top of the second semi after racing with with Pegram and Beyer the whole way. The trio pressured each other especially hard in the middle stages of the eight-lap race, running three-wide into turn three several times. In the late laps, Winchester HarleyDavidson/Eddie Adkins Racing's Kenny Coolbeth Jr. sneaked up behind Bey.er and was able to blitz by him in turns three and four on the final loop to rob the Wisconsinite of the transfer. "I finally got it straight," Coolbeth said. "We're trying a LawwilJ frame, and I've never ridden one before, but I like it here. We're going to try it on a half mile too and see if I like it there:' The final semi was red-flagged when George Roeder II and Dale Jenneman tangled in the middle of the back straight and both riders went down. They were up quickly, and Roeder made the restart; Jenneman was all set to go as well, but AMA officials deemed his motorcycle unsafe due to the damage it had sustained in the shunt. Carr got back on track with a win over USC Racing's Terry Poovey and Beattie. "I felt good," Carr said. "The track's getting fast. It's starting to shape up. I was able to run a couple of laps by myself and get away, so that was good." GRAND NATIONAL . Morehead got a jet-propelled start from his position on the outside of the front row to lead the first lap after the 17-rider main event took the green light, but Ronnie Jones low-sided and smacked the ground in between turns three and four, bringing out a red flag. Jones was unhurt and made the restart. Morehead again got a jump on the field, though apparently not as good as the first, because Durelle, King and Atherton were already crowding the 39-yearold Ohioan off turn one. Meanwhile, Parker had blown the start and was forced into catch-up mode. "I should've just stayed in the middle of the track and fallen into line rather than try to go around the outside of everyone," Parker said. "If I had done that, I would have been about fifth." Instead, Parke.r was ninth as the pack completed the opening lap. DureJle instantly jumped into the lead on the back stretch to lead the first lap with Morehead, Atherton and King in tight formation behind him. Atherton lengths on him, but while Durelle tried to escape, Atherton saw that the leader was beginning to get loose off turn four. But Atherton said that he also knew that he could not pass DureUe there. "I didn't want to pass him in three and four because the groove was too narrow down there," Atherton said. "But 1 knew if 1 did go under him in one and two, there was enough room on tbe groove for both of us. That's what I did." Atherton slowly and methodically pulled to Durelle's rear wheel and made the pass when the white flag came out. Durelle tried to make a counterattack, but his energy, and his rear tire, were used up. "I got tired, but it was a matter of the rear tire wearing out too," Durelle said. '1 got up a little high and it would just get loose, and I also wasn't getting through three and four as gOOd as I was earlier." The win was Atherton's, with the young Michigander actually pulling out a couple of lengths on Durelle just to make it look easy. Morehead beat King back to the stripe four seconds later. Then came Springsteen, inexplicably several lengths ahead of Parker. A close call with a fallen Pegram in turns three and four would tum out to be the reason. Steve Morehead had a brand-new engine in his F&S Harley-Davidson XR750 for Indy and he put it to good use. turning lap hines in the 37.7-second range during early practice while all the other teams hovered in the low 385. "Ifa nothing special," Morehead said. 'It's'got a set of Phil Darcy heads, and Gary (Morehead'!! mechanic Gary Stolzenburg) massaged the rest of it." In ~ght of his last two Grand National parlormatlC9s - a second at Denver and a third at Indy. Steve ~ couldn't help lamenting "the ones that got away" wl)ile he was injured. 'Those were three- half miies that we could have done good at," Morehead said. If you look at our other finishes this year, w~'ve got a first, two seconds. and soma thirds. But i guess I'd been pretty lucky not gellling hurt during the rest of my career before that." then drafted by Durelle on lap four, but Durelle fought back and still led it at the line. King made a bid for the lead as well, but the Iowan quickly found out that he didn't have enoug)l juice to run with DureJle, and he fell back with Morehead. "I had to look at my tank and make sure the Honda stickers weren't blown off when Davey went by," King said. Morehead and King were then left to battle for the third spot. But Atherton was somehow able to run with Durelle, and the two riders settled in to decide the race between themselves with 19 miles to go. '1 tried to give him (Durelle) enough distance but still keep in his draft," Atherton said. "He was running a great race, and I was just fortunate enough to have him pull me around." Springsteen and Camlin also ran together, drafting each other and trading fifth and sixth place. But unbeknownst to the friendly IlIini and Du Quoin Mile winner, trouble was brewing as his brake rotor began to heat up. Behind them, Parker and Carr were also in a separate pair, running in seventh and eighth. Durelle continued to try to flee from Atherton, putting as much as eight lengths on him by the 10th lap, but Atherton refused to get excited. Instead he carefully narrowed the gap enough to take an experimental poke at Durelle on lap 14 just to see how the Minnesotan would react. Durelle held his ground. By lap 15, Camlin had fallen away from Springsteen for good, and he was in .Reigning AMA 883 National Champion SCott Stump was' in attendance and looking quite well, thank yOll, comepared to hIS appear· aMe at the Lima Half Miie, his first after a crash 'in the 883 final at the· Springfield Mile. . Kevin Atherton collected $5400 fmm the' Stump's broken neck has healed, and he is purse and $.30775 'n posted 'contingencies out of· his halo. but he is still nursing his leg. from Harley"Davidson. Arai Helmets and which was 'badly broken in the crash. "The Dayco Products for an impressive $9.175 pay- only' thing 't~at's holding !'Ie up is my ~g,". day after his Indy Mile win. On top of that Stump said. "The neck's fine, but my leg is money, Atherton's sponsor John Kolenda of .abput 20 percent. Stump had predicted that Kolenda Tool & Die presented him with a he would retum to racing in lime for the 1996 51000 bonus check for taking the win. Daytona Sh.ort Track, but said that he may nOW retum at the fall running of the Pomona Despite the fact that he posted an excelleni Half Mile. 'I know I'll be riding fWery day by runner-up finish on the Indy Mile, don1 expecf then," Stump said. 'Things are going real to see Due Durelle contesting the rest of well." the series. He will remain a part-timer. "I'm just sticking to the midwest races and to the Two National number-nines collaborated for miles," Durelle said. "I'll be at Springfield." .fifth-place finish at Indy as current number nine Jay Sprlngateen rode his Bartels' Loral Lake Reclng fielded two riders in the Harley-Davidson to the placing after receiving Grand National program at Indianapolis, a bit of help from TCR Racing team assistant perennial competitor Ronnie Jonea and .and .former National number·nine. Gary Paul Bergstrom, - the son of team owner AI Nixon. "He was the one who filed the rings in Bergstrom. who made his 750 debut my motor," Springer said. 'He said he filed aboard Jones' backup Honda RS750. them to nine.thousandths. He must've done a Bergstrom h.ad been campaigning the pretty good job." Harley-Davidson 883 National Series for Loral Lake prior to Indy. "I'm going to give it Kevin Varnes committed a faux-pas which a shot," Bergstrom said before the race. cost him several positions during the Giand 'This is my first time on a 750 other than rid- Nalional final when he accidently pttlled all ing one up and down the street" Bergstrom his tearoffs at once. "I couldn't see out there," gave the bike a smooth ride all evening, but Vames said. "And the dust was so fine that it his bid ended with an 11th-place finish in the clime inside my helmet and got in my eyes." second semi. . Varnes finished 14th. A few other riders rep0r!.ed problems seeing in the 'heavy: conCanadian Steve Beattie was back on the ditions, including Terry Poovey and Ken Grand National traii after missing the Denver Coolbeth Jr. Ha~ Mile to contest the Canadian National at the Trois-Rivieres Dirt Track in Trois-Rlvieres, Davey Camlin was extremely disappointed Quebec, Canada Beattie won both the 600 atler his crash in the first tum on the final lap and 750Cc classes at the event and has the left him with 17th ·place. 'I'm ·just gled to ~ points lead in both with one round to go. alive," Camlil) said. a

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