Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROAD ofRACE .' Round 1:D aytonaIntern tio alSpeedway a n .B WBattle theLegends M Round 2: D aytona In tiona Speedw terna l ay Springer steals one By Scott Rousse au Photos by Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 5 hile a bit less spectacular looking than the eight-ride r ba ttle for victory that high lighted the opening round of the BMW Battle of the Legends Series at Daytona International Spe edway, round two was hallmarked by... a robbery. . Three-time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen used a lastsecond draft off Gary Nixon to slingshot by Yvon DuHamel at the stripe to swipe ' the second of the three five-Iappers . In the process, Springer sucked both Nixon and Don Emde along with him to relegate the. hapl ess French Cana dian to fourth in the batting of an eye. "They cheated," DuHamel said jokingly. " It took eight of them to bea t me. I was running alone at 135 m ph and in the draft they were doing 150 mph . There 's no way." Today' s race wa s marred, however, by an accident that injured '60s racing star Chris Draa yer , who went down in the back straight's chicane area and suffered head injuries. Draayer was unconscious while being attended to by emergency med ical staff. He was transported to Halifax Medica l Cent er an d underwen t a CAT scan to detennine the extent of his injuries. Draayer had alrea dy been upgraded to fair condition by March 6. Eddie Mulder grabbed th e holesh ot as th e 10-rider field left th e gr id, bu t Gary Nixon and Jay Springst een wer e quick ly by and battling for th e lead in th e Intern ation a l H o r sesh o e on the openi ng lap. Reg Pri dmore picked up the point shortly the reafter and held it throu gh the west end banking and onto the back straight. DuH am e l a tta ched h imself to th e four-rider breakaway that incl u ded Pridm ore, Sp rin gstee n and Nixon , an d ran as high as second when they powered thr ough the tri-oval and across the finish line to,complete lap tw o. Draayer was not yet a factor in the race wh en he lost control and cras he d in the chicane du ring lap three. "Ch ris had passed me in the draft, and it looked like he was trying to go st ra igh t (t hrough the chicane)," Don Emde said. "But there were already two gu ys there . We were doing abou t 100 mp h, and his rear end just started hopping w hen he committed to tu rning in. I mu st' ve gone just by him before he went down." Mu lder again grabbed the initial lead on the restart, something he was in the hab it of doing. " Hey, talk to the starter," Mulder said with a grin. "I go, then he waves the flag." Mu lder was quickl y passed by Springsteen and Nixon before Prid more grabbed the lead once more. Eight men were in the .Iead draft through the trioval o n lap four, and then Pridmore tried to break away once more on the final lap. He was quickl y consumed by the pack on the back straightawa y, however, and the move may have cost him his shot at the win. "I lost the d raft> that's what I did ," Pridmore said. "But it' s okay, becau se we were try ing to make it a show . We're all pretty evenly matched out there." W By Scott Rousseau Photos by Henny Ray Abra ms DA¥rONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 4 o r m e r AMA Gra nd Na tio na l Champion Mark Brelsford made a triumph a nt re turn to Da ytona Intern at ion al Speedway after a 22-year absence as he claime d a narrow victory after a p ho to finish in the openi ng round of the three- race BMW Battle of the Legends series. Brelsford , the 1972 Grand National title winner, finished half a wheel ahead of old racing mate and former two-time Grand National Champion Gary Nixon, and former AMA Superbike Champion Reg Pridmore after a spectacular eigh trid er lead formati on draped the finish line at the checkered flag. "There was a real line of us coming off the banking," a happy Brelsford said. '''1 thought that I wa s going to get third, but these motorcycl es are reall y w id e and push a lot of air. There's a real difference in the draft." . Brelsford s tarte d on the ou tsi d e of row one for the first of the three five-lap d ashes, but it was 1972 Da ytona 200 winner Don Emd e who grabbed the lead as the 10-rider pack dived into the infield for the fir st time. Three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen was also making his presence felt, as was Nixon, but Southern California di rt track legend Eddie Mulder was at the head of a five-rid er lead draft when the field completed lap one. F But Mulder almost lost it as he got loose und er braking. "I just got in there too hot," Mulder said. "I got the rear wheel cha ttering and got ou t into the grass." Mulder recover ed, bu t Springsteen jumped to th e fro nt a n d le d briefl y before Pridmore headed the field on lap tw o with Brelsford and Nixon ru nn ing close together jus t beh ind him. Nixon held it on a little longer and ma de a pas s for second, th en too k th e po in t in the In terna tional Horseshoe. Yvon DuHamel also stepJ'ed into the fray ' as he began to battle Brelsford for third place. From there, the next tw o lap s were too close to call as seven riders, including Walt Ful ton an d Roge r Reiman, foug ht for the lead on ever y lap. Pridmore looked the strongest and topped laps four and five, but Nixon and Brelsford were still right there. "It was a rea l good time," Pridmore said. "It was good to run with Mark and Springer, and the rest of them ." The field s t ru n g o u t bri efl y after rece iv ing the white fla g, but then it seemed as though all 10 rid er s had a chance for victo ry as they bunched up down the back straight for the fina l lap. Only two - Mulder and Chris Draa yer wou ld lose contact with the lead draft. As they came through th e tri-oval and hit the stripe, all eight lead riders ducked out of the draft and spread out in formation. Brelsford had just enough of a lead to secure the win . But it took Former AMA Grand National Champ ion Mark Brelsford (87) scored a razor-close win over former ri val Gary Nixon (9) In the open ing race of the BMW Battle of the Legends series at Daytona International Speedway. several replays of the finish-line video to determine second throug h eighth place. Nixon was credited wit h second, Pridmore third. "That draft - you ca n be back 10 lengths and th en you ' re right there, " Nixon said. "You have to be careful th at yo u don't run into the back of someone." Abo ve all, perhaps Brelsford ' s win will help provid e Day tona fans with a better memory than that of the infamous 1973 "fireball" crash he suffered while racing for Team Harley-Davidson. Brelsford said tha t his return certainly brings back a few memories for him . "These guys are all the same," Brelsford said. "N ixon with his leg bent wa y out, and DuHamel jumping all over the sea t like a jackrabbit - I'd forgotte n all that. But I learned that I can still trust them. What I expected out of their style is the same as it was 23 years ago ." Daytona Internation al Speedway Daytona Beach , Flor ida Results: March 4, 1996 (Round 1 of 3) O/A: 1. Mark Bre lsf or d ; 2. Gary Nixon; 3. Reg Pridmore; 4. Walt Fu lt on; 5. Roge r Rei m an; 6. Jay Springsteen; 7. Yvon Du Ha mel; 8. Don Emde; 9. Ch ris Draayer; 10. Eddie Mu lder.

• Cover