Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

'1 had him (Morehead)," Davis said. "Then I hit that deal and did about 15 tank-slappers and ate some dirt with my bottom teeth." "Oll, yeah, he did," said Varnes, who took full advantage of the situation to go into third. '1 went off the groove too, but not like that. I probably had enough to get past Morehead too, but when I looked back, Will was still right there." Morehead held off Varnes for second, but it was Parker's night, for the 72nd time in a record-shattering career that almost· belies the competitive nature of Grand National dirt track racing. "Bill just had th.e bike working awesome," Parker said. "1 was still able to attack the hell out of the race track. It's ' still way too early about the points, bu t we made about $9000 today. Gas money." second semi as both riders got in the big show. "Finally," Beattie said. "It's about time. I couldn't hit my ass with a two-bysix all night, but we're getting there. Hopefully in 25 laps I'll have it all figured. out." S&B Racing/Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson's Bret Beier barely beat an apparently rejuvenated Ceo Roeder II in the final semi to earn one more ride while the rest of the field was sent packing. "1 got the better of him in one and two," Beier said. "1 was on the pole, and he was running a little higher. I got him in the apex." GRAND NATIONAL Morehead was hooked up the best when the green light flashed as he led Atherton, Varnes, Parker, Davis and King off the line. The gap between the first six riders and the rest of the pack grew considerably in the early stages of the race; Springsteen led the second pack until lap nine before being forced to pull off with mechanical problems. "1 had a real bad wobble in one and two," Springer said. "Then it went away in three and four, so 1 kept going. Then it did it again, and 1 looked down and saw that the chollars (fork stops) were bent all the way back. The front end was loose. 1 thought, 'This could hurt: so 1 shut her down." With Springsteen's demise, Kopp and Jones took up the race for seventh place, one that the veteran from Oklahoma Gty would claim over the up-and-coming Washingtonian. "He (Kopp) actually passed me early," Jones said. "But the Loral Lake Racing Honda was working good." '1 went by Ronnie, but he got me back - the dirty dog." Kopp said. "1 couldn't run high down in turns three and four because they had watered it, and it was slick. 1 was going okay in one and two." Camlin eventually ran down a steadyriding Jason Fletcher for ninth. Fletcher ran a solid 10th aboard his Spectro/ Moroney's Harley-Davidson. Parker quickly picked his way through what little traffic he needed to at the front of the pack and settled onto Morehead's rear wheel by lap five. Parker took his first shots at the "Findlay Flyer" in turns one and two, but Morehead appeared to have a much-betterhandling motorcycle, which allowed him to dive lower and hold a tighter line on the groove. It just wasn't enough as Parker was able to utilize the superior tractability of "The Locomotive" to his advantage and drive past Morehead in turns three and four. The pair kicked and elbowed their way up the front straight before Parker finally had the room he needed to take the lead. "1 had him beat in the first comer, but I went a little high in three and he got back by:' Parker said. "He just got out on me for a few laps, while I was feeling it out." Atherton was running third, but he was struggling. The 25-year-old "veteran" of the TCR camp appeared to be just slightly off as he negotiated the groove. It wasn't long before Davis came calling on lap nine and dropped him to fourth. "I thought that the race track would come to me," Atherton said. "In the past years they always watered it right before the main event, and it would be greasy for the first five laps and then work in. I was planning for that, but it stayed greasy th.e whole time. These race tracks aren't my cup of tea, but you have to learn to ride them all to win the championship." Varnes also shot by Atherton rather 883 NATIONAL Georgie Price IV had a big smile on his face after the very first 883 practice session. The burly Sicklerville, New Jersey, rider had just gone out 'and thrown (Opposite page) Steve Morehead (42) led eventual winner Scott Parker (1) and the rest of the 18-rlder field at the start of the Sedalia Half "'lie. (Above) Parker caught Morehead fairly early in the event, making an outside pass In turns three and four to draw even with the Ohioan and then locking up the lead in turns one and two. Morehead S1111 finished second. (Righ1) Kevin Varnes (89) raced behind Will Davis (21) for most of the event before pulling off a pass for third place late in the feature when Davis hit a hole and nearly crashed. Davis stayed upright and finished fourth. easily. The Pennsylvanian had admittedly played it cagey after his near crash on the warmup lap, but he had found the zone and was moving t01'Vard the front with Davi . "1 didn't want to go backwards," Varnes said. "1 was ~efinjtely faster than those guys in one and two. But 1 was losin' time in three and four where Morehead started pushing." King lipped by Atherton on lap 17 to establish permanent residence in fifth place. "My line went away," King said. "1 felt like I was fast in three and four, but I was slackin' in turns one and two until the end." Parker had shaken himself lose from the determined Morehead, and with about five Laps to go, the champion appeared to dig a little deeper yet. "After I passed him, I just kept looking around to see where he was," Parker said. "1 just kept checking him out, and once I saw that I had put a little distance on him, I went on cruise." Davis, meanwhile, closed the gap on Morehead with Varnes doing the same, and almost inunediately there was a laterace, three-rider charge for second place. The three riders ran nose-to-taiI for the remaining five circuits, and when Davis final!y took his chance in turn three, it almost proved to be his undoing. Rules are rules T here was more controversy over the use of the RM250 number-plate I fork-guard combination that was first approved and later rendered illegal for dirt track by the AMA. Steve Beattie and mechanic Brian Olsen showed up in Sedalia with the unit on one of Beattie's Deeley-backed XR's and were promptly told to remove it despite the fact that Olsen had fitted a standard ]O-by.12-inch dirt track number plate over the unit to make it conform to AMA specifications. "We never even heard they were illegal from anyone until today," Olsen said. "They said they sent out a bulletin, so I asked them for a copy of it, and they said they didn't have one because their computer was down." When asked if he had received a copy, HarleyDavidson factory mechanic Bill Werner - one of the other mechanics who had purchased some of the units after being assured by the AMA that they were legal replied, "A copy of what? The phone call?" Riders Ronnie Jones and Kevin Atherton claimed to have seen a bulletin, but that it stated the number plates were illegal only because of their improper size. Beattie's number plate measured ]0 by ]2 and thus should have been legal according to the bulletin. But AMA National Technical Inspector Rob King said that was not the case. "It's very simple," King said. "There was a bulletin that says the] 996 Suzuki RM250 fork/number-plate combo is not allowed in dirt track racing. The bulletin does not cite any reasons, but there are two: The size of the number plate is not proper for dirt track, and the fork protector could be considered as stream1ining." King also said that the AMA had not tested the unit to determine if it indeed provides any aerodynamic benefit but llid say that he had received feedback to that effect. King also said the bulletin regarding the rule change was sent out on "Thursday or Friday" (one or two days prior to the Sedalia event) but that there was no mandate that required the AMA not to enforce the rule until the bulletin was fully disseminated.

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