Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

PREVIEW' _-'---_-'-------'.1 1996 Daytona 200 I Da o Short Track Preview na Rollin' dice D ependi n~ on which rider you talk to, the Daytona Short Track means nothing. or everything. True, the AMA Grand National Championship Series opener is hardly indicative of the outcome of the season championship - save 1992when Chris Carr became the only rider to win the race and then go on to claim the series crown. Maybe it's six-time champion Scott Parker who best sums up the importance of the the first race of the year. "If Daytona was so important, then the guy who won the race would go on to win the championship every year." says Parker, who has not won the event in the six ye,lrs that it has headed up the series schedule and yet still claimed more than his fair share of championships. But if its importance within the context of the championship poinls chase is subject to argument, then so be it . For the Daytona Short Track has always been an animal unto itself, Not unlike the days when the series used to kick off in the Houston Astrodome, Daytona seems to attract practically every (.()(J.. riding Expert in the country - many of them short track specialists who are never seen or heard from for the rest of the year - to contest it. The narrowgrooved quarter mile creates a rather level-playing field for the 80-100 riders who attempt to qualify for the 60 spots in the program, making a good start of paramount importance. Getting that all-important scratch off the line could mean all the difference between winning and running last. Even so, it has been the Grand National regulars who have held a lock on the top spot of the Day- (Above) Could happen: Rich King (80) has expressed a stronger-t han -usua l urge to win the race this year. A victory cou ld go a long way toward boost ing the mora le of his new race team. (Below) Team Undo 's Brett Landes will be alter his second straight Dayton a Short Track victo ry at Municipal Stadium. tona Short Track podium. and this year's crop appears set to once again defend the honor of the touring pros over the one-hit wonders looki ng to strike go ld. Even with former two-time winner Carr electing to stay off the Municipal Stadium dirt this year, there may still be three riders with a betterthan-average shot at taking top honors. At least a couple of them will be shooting for victory number two. Oklahoman Ronnie Jones, .the Loral Lake Racing-backed veteran who claimed retirement at the end of the 1995 season, will be one of them. Jones has been a threat for the win on several occasions since winning the event in 1991, including a third-place finish just last year. He will be tough. And there's no reaso n to count ou t 1995 surprise win ner Brett Landes of Team Undo either. The young Californian scored the first and only Grand National win of his career at Daytona and then went on only to be plagued with injury for much of the rest of the season. Landes ",;11 be healthy again at Daytona and looking to be the first rider in Daytona Short Track history to notch back-to-back wins. The veteran core may produce a winner as well. Bartels' H-D's Jay Springsteen, TCR rider Will D.vL" USCRacing's short track veteran Terry Poovey and Parker all have realistic chances at the win. But the rider to watch may be Rich King. who will be making his first appearance for Team Sadd leme n. The hard-w orking Iow an deserves the nod for one reason and one reason on ly. King has gone against the nonchalant attitude that most of the other Grand National competitors harbor for the raceand has made no secret of his strong desire to win it. "I really want to win Daytona," says King. who finished second for the Garvis Honda team at Municipal Stadium in 1995. "I always seem to go good there, but something dumb always happens, and we just miss it. But it would be a really great to get off to a good start for my new team." Like the rest of the contenders, King certainly has the talent to get the job done. Whether or not he will have the necessary luck is quite another thing. Maybe this will be the year that Rich King rolls a seven. Scott Rousseau mer factory H arley-David so n dirt tracker Chris Carr is back and hoping for his first top-10 fi n is h aboard the mu ch malign ed VRl000, which begins its third year of competition in the AMA Su pe rbike Series. Unfortunately, qu estions still remain as to whether or not the Ameri ca n- m a de m achine h as th e power and sta mina to go th e d ista n ce, let a lo ne reca ptu re th e m ag ic o f Da y tonas lo n g ago. If it d oes, then Ca rr, the se ries' 1995 Rookie o f the Year certainly h as the abili- 10 with a road racing cha mpionship already to his credit, having won the AMA Harley-David so n SuperTwins title in 1994. His familiarity with the V-twinstyle of power certainly can't hurt him as he climbs aboard the blazing-fast Ducati. The Fast by Ferracci team will mount Michelins to its pair of 916s. Team Yamaha will be coming to Daytona with three very capable factory riders. Texan Colin Edwards II will attempt to better his fourth -place finish of one year ago while aga in representing the Yamaha Wo rld Su perbike team, a team w hic h gai ned so me notoriety d uring the '95 Daytona 200 for its remarkably fas t pit stops. If they can repeat their effo rts, Edwards m ay be right there fighting for the victory again. The U.s.-based Vance & H in es Yamaha team will once again sen d re ignin g AMA 750cc Su p e rsport (Above) Troy Corser has come close in the past, maybe this will be his yea r. (Right) Colin Edwards II leads th e Yama ha team to Florida. Champion Tom Kipp and 1989 AMA Superbike Champion Jamie James into the fray. Kipp finis hed sixth in the 200 in 1995 while James crashed ou t near the halfway point after running second to Ru sse ll. Th ose th ree wil be joined by Japan's Wataru Yoshikawa. All four will be looking to give the Yamaha brand its first w in since fo rmer World 500cc Cham p io n Eddie Lawson's victory in 1993, and all four will be trying to do so on Dunlop tires. Las t but certainly not least is th e H a r le y -D a v id s o n factory superbike effo rt, once again a two-rider effort. For- ty to p ut the machi ne in Victory Lane. He will be joined on the team this year b y Th om a s W il s on, for merly o f the Kinko ' s Ka w a sa k i 750cc Su pers port team. Th e Harley team w ill use Dunlop ru bber. So the re yo u h ave it. Th e big s how w ith talent ed stars backed by a su p po rting cas t o f thousands. Just like last ye ar, and the year befo re it, the 1996 Daytona 200 h as all the m akings of a blockbuster th riller. l~

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