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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127745
.DIRT TRAC.K AMA Grand NatIonal Champion.ship Series . Round 18: Illinois State Fairgrounds By Scott Rousseau Photos by' Bert Shepard and Flat Trak Fotos SPRINGFIELD, IL, SEPT. 3 hen choosing similes to describe the events that transpired at the fall running of the Springfield Mile, / Team Harley-Davidson's Scott Parker couldn't settle upon just one. Hence, the five-time AMA Grand National Champion used several. The 33-year-old Swartz Creek, Michigander likened the grueling 25-mile main event to an all-out war, and to mass confusion among other things, but perhaps his best description of the race was that it was like a dance. And you've got to hand it to Parker, he sure knew when to cut in and lead as he took the point position on the final lap to secure his seventh Grand National victory - as well as his first mile win of the season in front of a packed grandstand at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. "They were dancing high and they were dancing low," a jubilant Parker said afterward. "But I figured 1'd know when I should lead it." Parker has known when to do just that - lead the last lap at Springfield - no fewer than 10 times before, but there may have been some question as to whether or not he would be able to this time. After being forced to transfer into the main event through a semi, Parker started from the second row. As if that weren't enough to deal with, the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association-prepared track was throwing a new variable at all who came to challenge it - tire wear. Unlike the Memorial Day event, ll) ~ 0\ ..... ~ ..... l-< (l) E & ~ 20 this Springfield Mile would not go to the rider with the most horsepower. Rather, it would belong to him who was best able to conserve his tires for the closing laps of the race. Parker seemed to combat the problem by attacking the race in stages. He ran in seventh place on the opening lap and then hovered in the middle of the lead pack before stepping up the pace on the seventh lap and running second when the 13-man draft came across the stripe. From there, Parker never dropped farther back than third as he diced with his factory teammate Chris Carr, the Eaken Racing duo of Davey Camlin and Larry Pegram, TCR Racing/Ben Ford Jr./Supertrapp rider Kevin Atherton and Winchester HarleyDavidson/Eddie Adkins Racing's Kenny Cool beth Jr. late in the race. Then, when victory was on the line, Parker pulled off the winning move by electing to lead off the last comer rather than follow. Once in front, Parker left it up to his Bill Werner-tuned XR, which was more than up to the task, and he just edged Camlin at the finish line for the win. "Bill gave me the cards I needed, " Parker said of his long-time tuner. "I just had to lay them down right. When you come down to the line here you're always thinking, 'Who's comin'?' and you hope nobody gets you. It was just bitchin' to pull off the mile. It's great to win one that's that close." Camlin, the two-time Du Quoin Mile winner, had come to Springfield looking to add another Illinois mile to his collection, and the 25-year-old from Rock Island, lllinois, gave it all he had in pursuit of that goal. He gated fourth and (Above) Steve Morehead (42) blests off the line to lead the 17-rider field Into tum one as the tall running' of the Springfield Mile gets underway. (Left) Team HarleyDavidson's Scott Parker recorded his 671h career Grand National victory. It was also his first 'mile win of the season.