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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127751
"But r hate doing ignorant things like that. [gue s these things just happen." King brought his Garvis Honda/Missile Engineering Honda "backup bike" home fourth to remain second in the series standings. The veteran from Waterloo, Iowa, got off to an excellent start and tried to run down Parker early, but he fell victim to an inside move by Carr in turns three and four on lap two. King then tried to keep pace with the factory duo, but fell back into Davis' clutches just past the finish line on lap seven. He would remain there, unthreatened for the rest of the race. . "For the first four or five laps, I just couldn't find a good line," King said. "Then I ettled in and I'd move up on him (Carr), then I'd drop back, and move up again and drop back "again. 'Mr. Consistency' wasn't very consistent tonight." That may be, but King dropped only one more point to Carr with just one round left in the points race, and King said that he felt confident he would retain second position at series' end. "Carr won't get me," King joked. "He can't even count to 11, let alone get 11 points." TCR/Ben Ford/Superrrapp's Kevin Atherton managed to finish fifth despite nursing a separated right shoulder suffered earlier in the week (see Briefly). The normally aggressive 24-year-old from White Pigeon, Michigan, rode a rather gingerly pace after starting the race eighth, electing to nonchalantly follow Davis through traffic before settling into fifth on lap 19. Atherton tried to up the pace at the five-lap sign, but his efforts produced little gain. "It feels good," Atherton aid of his result. "I finished better than r thought r would. I played it real conservative. Here you have to be more aggressive in the early laps, but J wa just watching what everyone else was doing and seeing where they were hilling the ru ts. I just rode a smart race." Fifth place was good enough to keep Atherton in the same position in the overall standings with 181 points. HEATS For the most part, the Pomona race track offered the riders many of the same challeng s that it did in April, but at the end of the practice sessions, many (Right) Matt Walt (95) mirrored Parker's performance with a 1lag-t0-1lag win In the 883cc National main event. (Below) Will Davis (21) had to work hla way through traffic from the rear 01 the pack Just to 11nlsh third. Davis was a serious contender 1.or the win before he Jumped the start and wa. sent to the penalty line. riders felt that careful line selection would win out over all-conquering horsepower because the track didn't seem to be as "deep" as it has been in past races. Even so, I.M. Leathers/Body Double's Chri Evans could be found up high and leading the first lO-lap heat race on ·his Harley-Davidson with rejuvenated veteran Garth Brow giving chase on his TCR-backed Dave Knapp / Randy Goss XR. Evans stayed in the deep dirt for mo t of the race while the cagey Brow dipped lower and lower on the race track until he found a hot line near the bottom and made a permanent pass for the lead off turn four on lap seven. Evans stayed on Brows pace to settle for second place and a direct transfer. "The track is getting to be where your going to have to ride low," said the former San Jose Mile winner Brow. "It started getting groovy, and r was just able to beat him down there. The bike was still shooting me a bit high, so we're going to change to a 50-tooth rear sprocket so that r can run it lower in the main event." Davis put his Dennis Town-built, R&R/Team Saddlemen Honda into the lead right from the start in heat two, and the former Pomona winner kept it there en route to a convincing victory. USC RacingIJohnny and Sarah Goad's Terry Poovey got off the line second ahead of Carr, Team Undo's Brett Landes and Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Jay Springsteen, but Carr drew alongside the veteran Texan down the back straight on the first lap and then flashed off turn four to claim seCond place. Davis, however, was uncatchable. "The track just came to us b Iter than it did for the rest of 'em," Davis said. "The fast line is way different than it was in practice, and we were able to find it. The sad part is that it will change just that quick before the main event too. Whoever finds that line first will win." Parker mirrored Davis' performance in heat three, getting out of the blocks ahead of an early battle for second between Atherton and Eaken Racing/Wiebler Harley-Davidson rider Davey Carnlin in heat three and then all but vanishing. "I had a pretty good lead when r looked back, so I tried a couple of different lines," Parker said. "That was only one portion of my job. I put in my first eight minutes, and I got 16 more to go 'to collect all the cheese: as Steve Morehead would say." While Parker checked out, Atherton broke away from Camlin and then rode as cau tiously as possible to snag the second transfer position and give his hurting shoulder a bit of a respite before the main event. Whereas the first three heats were basically runaways, the fourth heat provided a bit more action when a threerider battle shaped up among King, DonaHy Logging/Donahu H-D / Lopko Racing's Joe Kopp and Eaken Racing/LA Racing's Larry Pegram. The trio diced it out for about four laps before Pegram dropped off the pace with brake troubles at about the same time that Kopp took the lead from King off tum two. Kopp and King then ran nose-to-tail until King got an excellent drive off the finaJ bend and just beat the steadily-improving Washington IT specialist across the line for the win. "It's not like a plowed field out there, but it's almost as good," King said of the track conditions. '1 think he (Kopp) was faster in three and four and 1 was faster in one and two, but four is where he made his mistake, and that was it." SEMIS Winchester Harley-Davidson / Eddie Adkins Ra.cing's Ken Cool beth Jr. rebounded from losing his brake pedal in the heat race by taking the win in the first eight-lap semi with USC Racing/Johnny and Sarah Goad's Kevin Varnes tucking in behind his former amateur rival to earn admission into the main event as well. The race for the third and fin.al transfer spot turned out to be somewhat of a surprise as Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Ben Bostrom pulled off an inside pass on Poovey down the front straight on the whit -flag lap to make his first 750cc Grand National final of the year. American H-DIJaybrake/Spectro's Le .Washbon holeshot the second semi If) 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 ~ l-< (J) ..n o ..... u o 11