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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127791
.orRTTRACK Round 5: Allen County Fairgrounds AlA Grand NatIonal Championship Series (Left) Joe Kopp (43) and Rich King (80) had a good early battle going. King wanton to flniah fourth while Kopptook fifth. (Below) Dan ButJer put on the charge of doom from the last row and went on to flniah a creditable eighth. ahead of Eddie Adkins Racing/Winchester H-D rider Kenny Coolbeth and stayed there to earn third place and a direct transfer to the main event, while Coolbeth would have to earn his ticket through the semi. Parker refused to follow suit with Davis, electing to ride much higher on the cushion as he closed out the qualifying heats by slapping a good 15 lengths on Roeder, who held about the same advantage over USC Racing's Kevin Varnes at the checkered flag. Surprisingly, Parker's time was a 4:20.67, not quite four seconds faster than Davis' heat. "Just got a holeshot and rode," Parker said. "I moved around a little bit, and as I look at my lap times I can see that the bottom of the race track ain't real fast for me. I need to stay right where I was. I just wanted to make sure I was clear so I could get ready for the main event. We'll probably change a couple things and go at it." . SEMIS Michigan madman Dan Butler strapped a holeshot on the field - twice in the first semi, leading both the start and the restart (due to a malfunctioning light) and then stretching the cables on the Gardner Racing/Walters Brothers Harley-Davidson to lead Deeley HarleyDavidson's Steve Beattie into the main event. "The bike was bad in the heat race," Butler said. "But we kicked it out, lowered it, changed the gear and told the dummy behind the bars to tum on the throttle. I'm starting from the back row, so I've got my work cut out for me." Sixteen-year-old J.R. Schnabel both came of age and made more than his fair share of fans in Ohio as he mimicked Butler's performance in semi number two en route to making his first Grand NationaI main event. Schnabel, the win- Morehead tried to retaliate going into turn one, but Parker got two strong runs off tum two on successive laps to pull even further ahead. "J told Morehead on the line, 'Hey, let's do a repeat of last week,'" Parker said. "He just laughed and said, 'Right.''' "Scotty just turned it in and came underneath me," Morehead said. "That was that." Further back, Butler was putting on an amazing charge through the field after starting in 12th place from the back row. The former TCR rider aggressively battled with Varnes, Poovey and Beyer, passing Poovey on lap seven and then Beyer one lap later. Butler then overtook Varnes for ninth place in the closing stages of the race, and he was handed the gift of one extra spot when Camlin's motor began to tie up approximately five laps from the finish. Butler was happy with his eighth-place result ahead of the Poovey and Beyer, riding the team's twin-shock, Knight-framed XR750. "I didn't even want to ride the twinshocker," Butler said. "But everyone is having so much trouble with the singleshocks breaking. We're a little leery of them. I just wish the race was 50 laps, because I have so much energy left. My team is working together now, and this proves it. They're giving me 110 percent. They're making it so easy for me." A rather lonely seventh place went to Koelsch, who once again showed that he ningest rider in AMA Amateur National history, appeared flawless on his Suburban Motors H-D entry, leading all eight laps to take the win ahead of TLC Racing's Ian Segedy. "Finally," Schnabel said. "I knew that if I got a good start that I couId run up front. We're in there now. HopefuIly fll get the right line for the main event." Coolbeth came through with a win in the final semi, leading Corbin Racing Honda rider Chance Darling, who looked strong as he put away the likes of Jay Springsteen to earn the last spot in the big one. "I got locked up on the inside at the start," Coolbeth said. "But I just held her on and did a little pushing. After that, I didn't look back once the whole time. I have to get the best start that I can in the main event and then pick 'em off. It's gonna be hard to see, but I'll do the best I can." GRAND NATIONAL Davis was quickest of the line from his perch in the middle of row one when the IS-rider field scratched and clawed its way off the starting line to begin the main event, though Morehead and Parker were running much higher than the North Carolinian and were able to use momentum to their advantage. Morehead had a fu.II head of steam going into tum three, and as the field powered off turn four to start the second lap, the Ohioan was in the lead. It did not Iast long, however, as Atherton snapped a swingarm-pivot bolt going into .turn three and was forced to step off th.e back of his motorcycle to avoid taking a ride through the fence. Though the resulting crash looked serious, the 25-year-old Michigander was up in a matter of minutes with no major injuries. "The swingarm broke and the back wheel fell off," Atherton said. "I thought, 'Oh God, this is gonna hurt,' but I ghost-rid that sucker into the bales. I'm fine. I just ran it in there and ran out of talent." The .running order was essentially the same on the complete restart as Morehead grabbed the lead down the back straight. Parker appeared to be a bit more composed this time, ho)"ever, and he quickly worked his way p'ast Davis off tum two before running down Morehead. The two seesawed back and forth briefly to the delight of the crowd, but the race belonged to Parker after he knifed under Morehead on the third lap. is more than capable of running With the big boys. The 26-year-old Michiganb.ased rider started eighth and found a rhythm that allowed him to dice with a still good-running Camlin. The two ran nose-to-taH before Koelsch puIled the trigger and slid under the Corbin rider to claim seventh. From there his position on the race track was never in jeopardy, nor wouId he advance further. . "We were fired up," Koelsch said. "We got a good jump off the line and we caught Camlin, but I got a little tired about the 20th lap because I have been away so much. I just got to thank God for this. He made it happen, and it's also