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Round 16: Indiana State Fairgrounds Dave Durelle (saIled Kevin Atherton (231 for 24 of 25 Iapa before Atherton pulled off a pasa for the leed In tum one and then went on to victory at the Indy Mlle. By SCott Rousseau Photos by Bert Shepard and Flat Trak Fotos lNDIANAPOLIS,lN, AUG. 19 uring his run for the roses in the 1995 AMA Grand National Championship Series, former factory Harley-Davidson team rider Kevin Atherton has portrayed two distinct personalities on the race track. At the beginning of the season, the 24-year-old from White Pigeon, Michigan, had determined that the key to future success would be to closet his allout, aggressive, riding style in favor of a smoother, smarter approach. Atherton stuck to his new plan for several rounds early in the season but when it met with little success, "Action Man" returned and scored podium finishes at both the Springfield Mile and the Lima Half Mile. At that point, it appeared that the new and improved Kevin Atherton might well be buried under the guise of the old for good. But when the AMA Grand National Championship Series returned to the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the 40th running of the Indy Mile, the smooth, mature Kevin Atherton returned just long enough to throw.a leg over his TCR D Racing/Supertrapp/Kolenda Tool & Die Harley-Davidson XR750, develop a strategy while running in second place for 24 laps, and then execute a smooth, last-lap pass on Dave Durelle after the two had left everyone else far behind to become the 11 th different winner in the series to date, besting a tough field that included no less than .eight former winners. To those who witnessed Atherton's triumph it might certainly seem that Atherton was just stalking Durelle, lying in wait for the right time to blow by, but according to Atherton, nothing could be further from the truth. "I didn't think I was going to get Durelle," said a jubilant Atherton after visiting the top of the victory podium. "I just followed him for 23 laps. I tried and tried (to pass) and when they gave us the five-lap sign, 1 had to think of something quick." Atherton's plan of attack came just after the lead duo received the white flag from AMA starter Steve Faraci, as he edged his way inside Durelle in tum one and then pulled out just enough of a lead down the back straightaway and through turns three and four to prevent Durelle from reclaiming the top spot at the line. Atherton's win at Indy marked his first win since 1993. It was also only the third victory of his career - as well as his first mile win. He currently sits fifth in the series point standings with 122, trailing Will Davis by·16. For his part, Durelle may have had the fastest Harley-Davidson on the race track at Indy, but the race does not always go to the swift. The diminutive Minnesotan and mile specialist who no longer contests the entire Grand National trail, put his Donahue Harley-Davidson/Delano Sports Center/Boesch/Production Tool XR in front of the pack at the start of the 25-mile finale and led 24 laps, setting a torrid pace and appearing at times to be just too strong for Atherton. But Durelle showed the chinks in his armor la te in the race as his bike drifted sideways off of turn four in the late laps, allowing Atherton to draw close and then put a slide job on him. Durelle gamely tried to fight his way back into the lead on the final circuit, but his rear tire was spent, and he had nothing left for Atherton on the front straight. Afterward, Durelle said that he was still happy with his performance and the end result. "It's great to be up there (in the top three)," Durelle said. "The bike was working so well. Jerry Wilhelmy of General Engineering has always built my motors, and they're always fast. But on this type of race track, with the long straightaways, that's when it really shines." Steve Morehead completed the second privateer sweep of the podium in as many rounds - and made his second appearance on the box in as many rounds - wi th a third-place result after a race-long battle with Denver Half Mile winner Rich King. Morehead grabbed the lead off the first turn before being displaced by Atherton and Durelle. Morehead and King then hooked up and attempted to run down the leaders, but when that plan failed, tbey played the typical game of cat and mouse for the entire distance, with the Findlay Flyer topping a Harley versus Honda battle by drafting his Gary Stolzenburgtuned F&S Harley-Davidson XR750 past King's Garvis Honda RS750 on the front straight in the last few hundred yards before the checkered flag. "We picked it up at the end," Morehead said. "But Kevin and Davey were just going fast. I thought that they might burn their tires up and let us catch up, but they were too much for us. My motorcycle was running perfectly." King was third after the first lap, and his eventual fourth place aboard his backup machine after the team's number-one bike faltered in practice left the reserved Iowan in a satisfactory position. Though he did not show the same flair that he did in winning at Denver, King's top-five finish at Indy fits in nicely with the team's ~ame plan for the season. "For me, (to finish fourth) on a mile, I'm happy," King said. "I thought I had Morehead figured out, but he was able to draft by me pretty easy at the line. [ outfoxed him last week, but he outfoxed me this week. But we're setting good. We're right on track for that top-five (series) finish." Former three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen piloted his Bartels' Harley-Davidson to a rather lonely fifth place after linking up with current champion Scott Parker during the late laps in an effort to get to the front. But like Morehead and King, once tbe two former factory teammates were unable to gain ground on the two pairs in front of them, they turned their attention toward' each other. Springer was then able to pull away from Parker on tbe final lap of the main event to record yet another top-five finish. He now sits seventh in the points standings with 110 after having skipped out on the Denver round. Still, Springsteen said he faced his share of problems during the main event. "Something bappened in the first couple of laps," Springsteen said. "I got dirt in my front wheel or something, and it got off balance. It just started vibrating. It didn't vibrate down the front straight, but on the back straight I couldn't take one hand off the bandlebars. Other than that, everything went great." Finishing just out of the top five were factory Harley-Davidson teamsters, reigning Grand National champion Scott Parker and defending event champion Chris Carr. Both appeared to be a bit out of sync during the main event, finishing in sixth and seventh, respectively. Though he gave up some ground in the points race, Parker still leads King, 191155. Carr sits third with 139, one point ahead of Davis.