Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. ·DIRTTRACK·· .." ... 'AMAGrand 'Nation~ ;Championship Series. By SCott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, JULY 27 epending upon whom you ask, the 1996 AMA Grand National Championship Series will definitely be one to remember, or one to forget. After suffering along in a racing series which has experienced an almost unbelievable number of rainouts, cancellations and other misfortunes, the riders and teams that make up the tour headed south to the Oklahoma City State Fair Speedway in the hope that the Ronnie Jones-promoted Oklahoma City Half Mile would be different. And it was in so many ways, especially laps nine and 2l. The record will show that R&R Racing/Team Saddlemen's Rich King scored his second career Gnmd National victory and became only the third different winner in the 1996 c.ampaign on a rough, rutted race track which was a stark contrast to the pool-table smooth "mini mile" of one year ago. But Mr. Consistency was his usual self, and he led when it counted most, even though. he never took the checkered flag. King claimed the victory on lap 21 in a crash- and curfew-shortened event which may be regarded as one of the true turning points in the 1996 champi- [Q) Round 8: State Fair Speedway onship campaign as two of its primary combatants were involved in a shunt that later yielded a horrific-looking crash. For it was on lap nine that reigning series champion Scott Parker, and current series points leader - Total Control Racing's Will Davis, collided off turn two while racing side by side for the lead with the resulting blow breaking Davis' left fibula. Both riders somehow remained upright, Davis knowing full well that he had been seriously injured by the hit with Parker. Then things got worse. Unable to put his foot down, the North Carolinian slid off the groove between turns three and four and fell down two laps later. Davis got to his feet just as a pack of riders came around, and he inadvertently stepped into the path of USC Racing's Ricky Graham. With nowhere to go, Graham ran over Davis, sending both riders tumbling to the ground. Graham received a broken left shoulder in the incident while Davis miraculously emerged with only a seriously sprained right ankle to match his already damaged left leg. The injuries may, however, bring about a premature end to Davis' championship hopes in a year where he was mounting a strong challenge for the title. But back to King. After running in the hunt for a podium spot throughout the feature, the tough and steady Iowan found himself in the right place at the right time on lap 15 after a second restart for a fallen-but-uninjured Georgie Price IV and held off none other than Parker and a blazing-fast Kevin Varnes after trading the lead with both to score a desperately needed win. King was, of course, pleased to card the victory. "I think this is great," King said. "I loved every minute of it. I remember a race like thi,s here when I was running for Garvis where he had red flag after red flag. I was running third and ended up sixth, so this is the reverse of that. They were battling back and forth up there, and they just kinda gave it to me." Second place went to a rather somber Parker, who managed few smiles on the podium this time as he recoun ted the incident with Davis that may have changed the complexion of the series. "Th~ only way you could pass was to be right on the guy," Parker said. '1 had a little wheel in there, and Will just did a little hiccup, and I ran over his foot. I feel terrible about it, because I don't race that way. I think it took his boot right off. It wasn't deliberate." . Prior to their contact, Parker and Davis were involved in a tooth and nail battle representative of their battle for the championship thus far. Afterward, Parker and his factory Harley-Davidson were left alone to stave off the challenges of three Hondas with King, Varnes and LoraI Lake Racing's Jones aboard them. Varnes made the first pass on Parker, zipping by the champ on the outside and then setting sail for what appeared to be a convincing win. But the 21-year-old Pennsylvanian was vic- . timized by the Price restart, and after sliding around on a rapidly deteriorating rear tire, was stuck with a rather disappointing third-place result when the red flag signified the end of the race. "In three words, all capital letters," the unhappy Varnes said, "I got screwed. The red flags beat us. I think that I could have pulled a good lead where I wouldn't have used the tire as much. All this stopping and starting hurt us." Fourth place wound up in the hands of promoter Jones, who may have even bigger problems to deal with in the COal~. ing days. Oklahoma City ordinances required that the final race be under way by 10:30 due to noise, but program delays throughout the evening meant that the Grand National main event did not get under way until 11 :15. Fairgrounds officials became increasingly irate as the event dragged on due to the red flags and ultimately put the pressure on to have it stopped four laps short of completion. Thus Jones' fine

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