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• .DrRT TRACK, , AMA Grand National Champion,ship Series' By Scott Rousseau Pho.tos by Flat Trak Fotos . DEL MAR, CAJ OCT. 15 hey say that all good things must end, and for six-time champion Scott Parker and the rest of his competitors, the time had come to draw the curtains on the 1995 AMA Grand National Championship Series. But although Parker had already wrapped up the series championship well before the tour came to California for the final three events of the year, he didn't pass up the opportunity to take one more bow ·at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Despite having a lock on the title, the 34-year-old Michigander was still plenty motivated, and it showed as he stormed to career victory number 70 before the 19,106 fans that jammed stands at the scenic horse-racing facility which borders the PaCific Ocean. In doing so, Parker finished the season by tying Ricky Graham's record of 10 wins in a single season and giving tuner Bill Werner an unfathomable 106th victory as a Grand National Championship. T lI) 0\ 0\ ..... lI)' C'l l-< OJ .g ....... u o 10 Final round: 'Del Mar Fairgr~unds mechanic. The Harley-Davidson teamster also finished out the year with an incredible 320-point tally in the series standings, some 94 ahead of his nearest rival. But as staggering as those numbers are, for a winning machine like the Parker/Werner combination, the numbers are just that· numbers. The motivation for winning Del Mar, Parker says, was much simpler than that. "This was bitchin'," Parker said. "When people ask you about your sea.son, it's always great to be able to tell them that you won the last race of the year. That just kind, of sums up your season. Besides, I can sit on this win for four months. Pomona only lasted a week" But motivated as he was, it appeared from the onset of the 17-rider, 25-lap main as though Parker would have a fight on his hands if he wanted to claim a second straight victory on the sandy, heavy horse track. TCR Racing/Ben Ford / Supertrapp / Yetrs Kevin Atherton battled hammer-and-tongs with the champ for the first 14 laps. The two riders drafted each other' down the straightaways and attempted to out- . drive each other. in the turns while pulling clear of Parker's Harley-Davidson teammate Chris Carr, Donahue Racing/Donally Logging's Joe Kopp and R&R Racing/Team Saddlemen's Will Davis and Garvis Honda's Rich King. But .the roof caved in on Atherton's hopes for his second mile ~ctory of the year when the Indy Mile winner tumbled into the turn one hay bales on lap 14 and had to be transported to the hospital. After that, Parker was clearly in the driver's seat. He was simply too much for Carr to deal with as he pulled to a lead of over 20 lengths as he stormed under AMA starter Scott Zimmerman's checkered flag. Ironically, Carr's second-place finish at Del Mar would have been enough to net him a second Grand National Championship in 1994, but the blonde Californian still had plenty to smile about as he impr'oved upon last year's disa ppointing fifth-place run en route to wrapping up his eighth straight topthree series finish in a year where he mi~sed several races due to road racing commitments. Carr started the main event right behind Parker but was quickly displaced by Atherton. After the two Michigan Mafia members pulled away, Carr outdistanced Kopp, Davis and USC Racing's Terry Poovey, and was left to run alone in third until Atherton's crash brought out the red flag, On the restart, Carr did a fair job of staying even with Parker, choosing to ride the high line while Parker stayed glued to the bottom of the race track. Carr then attempted to follow Parker on the low line to no avail before returning to the top and cruising home behind his factory teammate. "I tried," Carr said. "Before the red flag I was actually losing time on him (Parker) lap after lap after lap. He goes good on these type of race tracks. Kevin was on the gas too. It's a shame.he went down." Eaken Racing/Wiebler H-D's Davey Camlin pulled off a heroic ride to finish third after coming from dead last on the restart. The two-time Du Quoin Mile winner was mired in eighth place prior to the red flag and was showing no visible sign of improvement when the race was halted. But disaster struck when Camlin's Harley-Davidson XR750 threw a chain just as he was preparing to take