Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.DIRT TRACK. . ' ..AIA Grand N8IIonaI Chainpion,ship SerIes' . Round 18:.Illinois State Fairgrounds P8r1cer'(mlcldle) enjoys the spoils of _Idng his Hventh IIPPMQJ1C8 on top of the podium this _ . carr (1etI) Jooks on while CIImlin (right) IsInterYIevNd by. teIevIlIIon crew. put together some fast laps to get away from Davis and Sumner, with the two playing leapfrog as the laps wound down. Durelle was on the winning end of the game when the checkered flag fell, but there was concern that he might have shown too much too soon. "I hope not," Durelle said. "This is the same motor that we had at Indy. All we did is change the oil. Our tires went bad earlier, but they seemed to be okay in the heat race. We've just got to keep our fingers crossed and hope that they'll last for the full 25 laps. The strategy will be to follow for 23 laps and lead the last two." SEMIS 22 After spending the first heat race to get himself acquainted with a most unfamiliar Honda RS750, Hale piloted the American Honda-backed machine to a wire-to-wire win over Davis and Spectro/Moroney's rider Mike Hacker in the first semi. The Carrollton, Texas, rider seemed to be pleased with the progress that he was making aboard his ex-Bubba Shobert factory bike. '1t runs good," Hale said. "Each time on the bike, 1 get more comfortable with the power and how to ride it, and also with the track. We've got to conserve the tire. I'm enjoying the way things are going right now. I just want to go out and get the job done." Likewise, the second semi was all Parker, as the defending champ led the entire race, topping other transfers Jones and Jay Springsteen, the latter of whom had to stave off desperate attempts by H-D Central/Frontier Harley-Davidson's Dale Jenneman to retain the ticket to the main event. Afterward, Parker said that he was all set for the 25-miler. "We scrubbed in our tires that time," Parker said. "We're dialed." The final semi proved to be a titanic clash between four of the younger riders on the circuit - Pegram, Coolbeth, Gardner Racing/Walters Brothers H-D's Paul Morgan ill and Team Undo's Brett Landes. The race was halted when Tommy Colston low-sided in turns three and four, but the battle resumed on the restart. At the flag, Coolbeth just beat Pegram and Landes back to the wire for the win. '1 think that we'll be up there," Coolbeth said. '1 need to get a good start to stay up with them guys. We're fast enough. We're just not smart enough yet, I guess." GRAND NATIONAL Morehead got a "Findlay Flyer" of a start to lead the 17-rider field into tum one, and would remain there for the " first two .laps before Camlin took over on lap three with King in third. Hacker then went down between turns three and four, and the race was red-flagged before anyone could get comfortable. "I just fell off the groove and lowsided," Hacker said. The Virginia-based rider was uninjured, and he would make the restart, which was dominated by Camlin. Then it was Morehead's turn to go wide off tum four. Though he remained upright, he was no longe.r in the hunt for the win. Soon, Atherton began to make his presence known on the low line, and he drafted his way to the front on laps six through eight. If the youngster from Michigan was having. throttle trouble, he was showing no sign of it yet. '1 was doing the very best that I possibly could do," Atherton said. "Then I bounced off the back wall and it made me think that maybe 1 should pull off." But then Camlin came roaring right back to head the pack for four more laps while Carr, Parker, Atherton .and Pegram jockeyed for position behind him. But Atherton still wouldn't go away, and Coolbeth was coming on strong. These two would occupy the point for the next three laps. Meanwhile, Parker stayed right in the thick of the chase, waiting in the wings for the right time to charge. He briefly led the field on laps 16 and 18, while Pegram took control briefly in between. There were still some 13 riders in the lead draft at this point, but as the field ran a lap each 'under Pegram and then Camlin before re.ceiving the five-lap sign, it appeared as though Camlin, Pegram, Parker, Carr and Cool beth would be the ones to decide the finish. Coolbeth was the first to fold, slipping wide off the fourth turn on the whiteflag lap as Parker went to the front. "I hit my cases on the ground," Coolbeth said. "Someone got into rile a little, too. But it wasn't too bad." Pegram also dropped off the pace just in time for Atherton to surge to the front once more. The gritty former factory rider had somehow managed to ride his brake well enough to stay in con- tention. Using the outside line for all his pass attempts, he slipped into fourth on the white-flag lap. '1 didn't even see the five-lap sign or the white flag, because 1 was passing everybody on the outside," Atherton said. " If I tried to pass anyone one the inside I would have T-boned them because I couldn't hold on to it. 1 had too much going on in during that race." But Atherton wasn't close enough to reach the lead trio, leaving Parker, Camlin and Carr to set up their strategy for the final mile. Carr opted to lead off turn two, and it proved to be a poor gamble. "They (Parker and Camlin) drafted past me on the back straight," Carr said "I was a sitting duck out there. I dropped to thirA, and 1 haven't seen too many people win from third place here." Carr's demise would leave him third at the finish, and it would also leave Camlin and Parker to settle the score. Tucked in behind Parker as the two entered turn three for the last time, Camlin should have been in the catbird seat, needing only to stay close and pull past at the finish line for the win. But it didn't happen. '1 knew where 1 wanted to be and 1 knew where 1 had to be," Camlin said. "But he outfoxed me." Parker snookered Camlin by running into turn three as hard as he possibly could and thus opening up enough of a gap to hinder Camlin's ability to draft him. '1 ran it in there so hard that it was shakin' on both ends," Parker said. "But 1 knew 1 had to smoke it in there, s expected, Smokin Joe' Honda rider Mike Hale A made anappearuce at the SpriDgfieId Mile aboard an American Honda-bacbd RS75O. The bike, an ex-Bubba Shobert SpIingfield miler, was pulled off the museum floor and rebuilt for Hale to contest the Springfield, Sacramento and Del Mar miles. "Basically it's their bike," Hale said. "It's just me and my dad, and Ray Plumb (Smokin' Joe's Honda crew chief) is here because he knows these engines. Also, our friend Sam Line is helping us out as well. I'm looking forward to it." Hale played it cool while sha1dng the machine down in practice and then went on to contest the first heat race. Though he appeared to be plenty fast, the Texan lost the lead draft and went o!' to a fourth-place finish in the heat. After correcting an apparent wheel balance problem, Hale earned his way into the main event with a solid victory over fellow Honda rider Will Davis to become on of six RS750 riders in the 17-man field. He then went on to fiJlish an admirable 11 th in his first dirt track race this season. "I'm real happy with the way things went today," Hale said. "We learned a lot. I think that we're gonna be really good at Sacramento." Although not in an "official capacity," Hale's appearance marked the first Honda involvement in the sport since 1988. Just the same, officials inside Honda's racing department remain adamant that Hale's and/or the motorcycle's appearance does not signal any future return to the sport by the company in any way. Nonetheless, there was talk that Hale and Honda may well be at the faD Pomona Half Mile in addition to the miles in Sacramento and Del Mar. ,

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