Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ad vantage at every tum. Chandler u sually got by cleanly also, but would have to spe nd the better part of the lap taking back the lost tim e . It worked until the very end when DuHamel was jus t too much, leaving Chandler to hope for better next time. "You've got to go ou t there an d go fo r th e w in an d d o th e bes t you ca n . An d that's what we d id, we just corne up a little bit s ho rt today," Chandler said . "I thou ght I could have so me thing left at the end but it just didn't wo rk ou t tha t wa y. We go t held up by lappers jus t abo u t th e tim e I w anted to get going and it jus t didn't wo rk." As for w hether his victory wheelie w as premature, DuHam el said , "I kn ew I had a second-a nd -a-ha lf-lead abo u t. I carne around the last lap, obvi ou sly took a li ttle off. I ju st went arou nd , took it easy . 1 wa s prett y proud. I always wanted to do that. Every year I go, dam I forgot. But this year I di dn't forget. I d id a big slide, like the big boys di d, did a big slid e and came ou t of there on a wheelie . W hen I s lid, wh en I popped th e wheelie, 1 jus t tu rn ed my head just to make sure th e re w ere no sur pri s es because I don't think it would look too good. And I would have to walk back to California if I lost the race." H e sa id h is most st ressful m inute w as when he and Kipp ca rne up on a lap ped rider who see med to be havin g directiona l problems . "Actu ally, one gu y almos t did a great job of taking Torn and myself ou t," said DuHamel. "Torn w en t over the top of the hill and when we go t to the bottom of th e hill he though t the track turned right and it turned left and I was on him on the outside. I won 't menti on nobody, but it wa s number 50 (T e xan M a r k Bla ck, a cco rdin g to Dul-lam e l )," DuHamel said. Black finished 16th. Afte r d ropp ing back behind Mladin a n d Yat es , Peg ram waited p a ti ently before makin g a charge. It began on the 21st lap wit h a pass of Mladin, the Austra lia n now seei ng oi l seep ou t of his en gine, and . continued on th e 27th lap w h e n h e wen t ahea d of Ya tes, w h o cou ld n't ge t him back an d thought better of try ing . "I just said there ain't no way, there ain 't no use in it," Yates said . "I' m going th ro ugh th e co rners sliding a nd wobbling and stuff, trying to go fast. If I try to go fast he gets in my wa y in the turns and then smokes me down the straightaways. There just w asn' t an y use in it. 1 decided to back off and finish it." T h a t he wou ld do, but b e h in d Pegram, w ho pulled away easily. "I think I had the fastest bike on the tra ck, everywhe re except go ing up the hill," Pegram sa id. '1 just couldn't seem to get a drive. We had a better bike than w ha t the resul ts show. We should have done better." After Yates carne Mladin, who spent much of his time w atchi ng his engine leak. "We had a little bit of a problem that we never had befor e," Mlad in said. "A cou ple of covers crack ed and the motor was leaking oil a ll over everythi ng . It gets a bit slippery . 1 noticed it as soo n as 1 dropped back. All of a sudd en 1 went b a ckwards. I ju st had to take it as it carne, looking down all th e time." H e . also had to start looki ng back in the final few laps as Harley' s Wilson mounted a ch a rge. Wilson cl osed to within le ss tha n a second of MIad in w h en he su ffered clutch failure at the mos t ino ppo rtune time. . "I ha d no clu tch lev er . None. Zero . Fla p p ing in th e wind ," Wilso n sa id . "The best place 1 ha d to pass hi m was inside of tu rn one and 1 took a look at Traffic played a part In the National. Aaron' Yates (20) prepares to pass Raymond Bowman. (Below) The top three celebrate - Chandler, DuHamel and Kipp. said the team was hop ing to test before the next AMA Su perbike Na tio n a l at Brainerd on July 14, possibly as early as the d ay after Lou d on a t New Hampshire Intern ational Speedway. L' New Hampshire Internationa l Speed way LOUdon, New Hampshire Results: June 16, 1996 (Round 7 of 10) him once. An d every time I'd go in there I'd really step it sideways because of all the engine braking and trying to carry speed. So 1 thought this is my onl y hope. If he really gets in he re lame, I'll get him next time. If not, I'm not going to d o something stu pid on the last lap to take both of us out ov er sixth plac e. At one time 1 was gaining over a seco nd a lap and 1 started to pick it up as much as 1 could . Once I got ri gh t there to him, something in the clutch was going bad and that's why it broke and that's w hy 1 ended up coasti ng across the line." That he go t to the line at all carne as somethi ng of a surprise after the exci ting opening laps. "What really hurt me is th at 1 go t a reall y d ecent start and 1 almost hi ghsided the bike up the hill. And the next la p Mike Smith did . When th a t ha p pen ed to me a bu nch of guys go t past me, 1 passed a few guys back, and th e next la p Mik e Smi th d id that, " Wilson sai d . " But 1 had to corn e to a lmost a com plete stop to avo id Mike. The guys I'd just passed got past me again and th en 1 ha d to work m y way back past the m and 1al mos t d id them again on the next lap." Higbee h a d settled into a spot behind Wilson ea rl y in the ra ce and never really progressed. His teammate Gramigni d idn't fare th a t well either, a fter ma ki ng a bad choice on sus pen sion. "I can go better. 1 must listen to Eraldo," Gramigni said in heavily accented English. " I want to try so methi ng and it's no good. After two, three laps, 1 say it' s too hard to stay wi th them . The setting on the rear is not good and I can ' t open the gas. Two times 1 risk crashing. Also, the trac k is very dangero us and I used my head to finish." That he w as not in v o lv ed in th e cham p io ns hi p also blunt ed h is d rive, tha t and a loss of morning practic e tim e afte r a second sm all elec tr ical fire on Sunday morning. Gramigni had left Picott e behind on th e 25th la p as Pico tte continued h is march backwards. 'We tried a diffe re nt link, a different rear spring, a hard tire ," Picotte said . "Every body ha d a soft an d I felt mor e co mfortable with the hard. It was not the way to go. 1 had really bad cramps in both hands. That's never happened before. They started right away." Picotte o Q UALIFYING: 1. Tom Kipp (1:13.473) ; 2. Miguel DuHame l (1013.788); 3. Larry Pegram (1 :14.234); 4 . Thomas Wilson (1:14.310); S. Doug Chandler (1:14.460); 6. Mike Smith 0 :14.657); 7. Ma t Mladin 0 :14.873); 8. C h ris Ca rr 0 :15.0(4); 9. Aa ron Yates 0:15.0(4); 10 . Pasca ) Picotte 0 :15.144); 11. Mic hael Rutter 0 :15556); 12. Dave Estok (I :1S.605); 13. Shawn Higbee (1:16.129); 14. Alessandro Gramigni 0 :16.656); 15. AJ Salaverria (1:16.755); 16. Sea n Sweeney (1:16.913); 17. Tri pp Nobles (1:17.041); 18. Eric Moe (1:17.186); 19. Richa rd Alexa nder J r. 0 :17 .22 7 ); 20 . Jim Les li e 0 :17.34 1) ; 2 1. Ja me s Rand olp h (1:17.342); 22. Charles S....,II Jr. (1:17.746); 23. Road Greaves (l :17.961); 24. Mar k Miller 0 :17.979); 25. Brett Metzge r 0 :18.404); 26. Frank Wilson 0 :18.823); 27. Steve Patterson 0 :18.951); 28. Ma rk Black 0 :18.958); 29. Bria n Ken t (1:19.075) ; 30. Cha r les Mill.". (1:19.091); 31. Da niel Bailey (1:19.249); 32. Seth Hahn 0 :19.248); 33. Raymond Bowman (1:19.447); 34. Mark Jun ge 0 :19.734); 35. Da vid Felt (1:19.809); 36. Noel Brown (1:19.859); 37. Da le Kie ffe r 0 :19.8 84 ); 38. M ichae l Fit z pat ric k 0 :19.892 ); 39 . Steve Coo ke 0 :20.0 63) ; 40 . A nd rew Dea thera ge 0:20 .132 ); 41. Kyle Zazzi 0 :20.141); 42. Dean Mizdal (1:20.169); 43. Ku rt Dillm an 0:20.189); 44. Jeff Heino (l :20.469). SU PE R BIK E NA T IONAL: 1. Mi gu el Du Ha mel (Han); 2. Doug Cha ndl er (Ka w ); 3. Tom Ki pp (Yam); 4. Larry Pegr am (Due): 5. Aaro n Ya tes (Suz) ; 6. Mat Ml ad in (Suz); 7. Thoma s Wilson (H- D); 8. Sha w n Higbee (Due); 9. Alessandro Gra m igni (Due); 10. Pascal Picotte (Suz ); 11. James Ra nd ol p h (Su z); 12. Richard Alexa nde r Jr. (Suz); 13. Sean Sweeney (Due) ; 14. Mark Mill.". (So2) ; IS. Eric Moe (!

• Cover