Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA Grand National Champion.ship Series . Round 22: Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds Look familiar?: Chris Carr (4) prepares to overtake HarleyDavidson teammme Scali Parker (1) on the final dash to the line at the Sacramento Mlle. Carr made the pass to score his eighth victory 81 the Cal Expo Stale Fairgrounds. By SCott Rousseau Photos by Flat Traek Photos SACRAMENTO, CA, SEPT. 30 or the 16,804 fans who filled the seats and lined the fence on the floor of the main grandstand at the Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds, the Kragen Auto Parts/Valvoline Sacramento Mile was not unlike an Aerosmith concert. To wit: fans of the New Englandbased rockers pay their hard-earned money year after year to go see the same show, listen to the same songs performed for the millionth time by singer Steven Tyler, guitarist Joe Perry et al, and come away raving at how much better it was than the last time. The same could be said for the mile. Since' 1989, motorcycle fans have payed their hard-earned money to corne and see the same old high-speed boogie put on by veterans and Harley-Davidson factory teammates Chris Carr and Scott Parker, and have consistently witnessed some of the closest finishes in Grand National history - regardless of the outcome. True to audience expectations, the 41st running of the Sacramento Mile was more of the same, and this time it was Carr who took center stage as he rocked and rolled his way past Parker right at the finish line to score career Grand National victory number 34 in front of what is essentially his hometown crowd. Instead of loud music, it was the raucous, ground-pounding rumbling of high performance V-twin engines that blared on the mile as Carr and Parker hung back in third and fourth place while engaging in a four-man jam session with Johnny and Sarah Goad/USC Racing's Terry Poovey and TCR/Ben Ford/Supertrapp's Kevin Atherton for 20 of the 25 laps. Parker and Carr then upped the pace at the five-lap sign for a duet to the finish. Parker elected to play the lead on the final lap while Carr kept time behind him through the final turns and drafted past to claim victory by lit, tie more than a wheel length. The win F ~ I 1f') 0\ ~ ~ ~ !jj .g o ..... 4 was a sweet one for the road racer I dirt tracker. "Winning at horne is big for me, because I get a lot of friends who corne here that can't afford to see me at any of the other places we go," Carr said. "So it's nice to do well in front of them. Plus, I like the track at Sacramento. It suits my style because it's more of a finesse track. Besides, you never know, this may be my last race ever at Sacramento." Carr was alluding to the fact that he is currently in negotiation with HarleyDavidson to focus all of his attention on the VR1000 and the AMA Superbike National Championship in 1996. If the 29-year-old Californian has his way, seeing him cross the finish line anywhere on a Harley-Davidson XR750 could be a rare sight indeed. Though he has already clinched the championship, Parker was still looking to break his own record of 10 victories in a single season, and a win at Sacramento would have given Parker number nine of the year. The 33-year-old Michigander was on pace to do just that as he ran around behind Poovey, Atherton and Carr before making his presence known on lap 10. Parker then played the same draft game that he has played with Carr for the past five years only to be out of place - and in the lead - off turn four, coming up short at the finish line. "Those guys jumped on me the first lap," Parker said. "I was pushin', tryin' to get up with him (Carr). Then we buffaloed back and forth, and Chris just elected to follow me through three and four. Hey, it's a run to the !jne. You never know what's gonna happen." Though he tried to stay in the rhythm section with his former Harley teamsters, Atherton had to settle for third at the line. The youngster set the pace early with Poovey and appeared to remain in th.e hunt through lap 20 after having led several times. Then his tires gave way on the abrasive Sacramento clay, forcing him to fight for traction in the late going while Carr and Parker, who had conserved their rubber to that point, simply pulled away. "I can sum it up in five words: I led too many laps," Atherton said. "I've done this· before - wore my tires out before the race was over. 1told myself to wait, but we were going so fast. First it was Poovey, then Carr and Parker. I wanted to win it bad, but third is better than fourth, so I'm happy." Poovey was equally happy with fourth place aboard his personal, Teddy Poovey-tuned Honda RS750 mile special. The perennial privateer, whose last win came on the Louisville Half Mile in 1985, showed serious muscle early in the main event, leading the first three laps and then remaining in the chase for about 15 more until his tread all but burned away. Nonetheless, the soft-spoken Texan was satisfied with his first top-five finish of the year. "I haven't had a good night in a while, so this makes me feel good," Poovey said. "Everything worked good. The bike handled good all nigh t, and all the tracks should be like this one. I thought I could do it (win) again. I was excited. Midwestern mile specialist and 1995 Du Quoin Mile winner Dave Camlin turned in a lonely fifth-place finish aboard his Eaken Racing/Wiebler's Harley-Davidson XR750. After starting in seventh place, the diminutive, Illinois native gunned his way past Loral Lake Racing's Ronnie Jones and American Honda'-s Mike Hale, then spent the next 24 laps trying to run down the lead quartet. Camlin appeared to inch his way toward the front-runners, but without a drafting partner to lend a helping hand, Camlin was stuck in place to the end. ''I'm happy with fifth," Camlin said. "It was abrasive as hell out there. I passed Hale, and when I drafted by him, they (the leaders) were already 10 lengths up. I just could not gain on them. But we moved into 10th place in the points, and (Mike) Hacker didn't make it in, so we're nine points.uP on him." With Parker having a lock on this year's title chase, all eyes are on Carr, II who is now seriously threatening to take second place in the standings away from Garvis Honda's Rich King. Carr's victory combined with King's off-form 11#1 place showing at Sacramento has allowed the 1992 Grand NationaJ Champion to pull to within 16 marks of the steady-riding Iowan. Carr now trails King, 204-188, and he is not the only one with a mathematical shot at second place - R&R Racing's Will Davis sits fourth with 177, and Atherton is fifth with 171. But Carr is on his home turf now, and he's on a mission. "Second place is not out of the realm of possibility now," Carr said. "To make up half the points deficit in one race helped. J think that getting second would be a good accomplishment considering I've missed six races." HEATS Heat one played host to the same Parker I Carr battle that would close the show, only with different results. Parker blasted his works XR off the line to lead the 130-mph parade for all 10 laps, finishing some 20 lengths over Carr in the fastest qualifier oi the night. H-D Centrall Frontier Harley-Davidson's Dale Jenneman surprised more than a few of his heat-race competitors by running a solid third, but like them, he would have to make the show via the semis. "I didn't plan to run away with that one," Parker said afterward. "It just worked out that way. I got a good holeshot, and we all ran the same speed, but 1know that the main event will be a whole different race." "In the heat race you go balls-to-thewall for 10 laps to test your tires, and that dictates how you're going to run the main event," Carr said. "I got hooked up with Dale Jenneman on the first few laps. Dale was going good. Once I got by him, Scott had already pulled to a five-bike-length lead. It pretty much stayed th.e same from there." F&S Harley-Davidson/KK Supply's Steve Morehead nailed the start in heat two, but the "Findlay Flyer" was quickly overtaken by Camlin, Poovey and

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