Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·2~~!ndTJl~~~~~hiPSQs· Round 18: Benson Ford/F&S Harley-Davidson Eldora HaW Mile (Left) Kevin Atherton had 10,001 reasons to smile after picking up his fourth win of the year at the Eldora Ha" Mila. The young Michigander earned the $10,000 flrstplace money and also pulled to within seven points of the series points lead. (Below) Atherton (23) rode the very edge of the race track to keep his &treak of successive podium finishes alive. It now stands at eight In a row. . , By Scott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos ROSSllURG, OH, SEPT. 14 t as the tightest Grand National Qhampionship points race in history eight riders battling for AMA Pro Racing's most historic title. But one race track, one serious crash and one grave error has now realistically whittled it down to three. That fast. And fast was exactly what was on the minds of the 11,000 fans who filed into Earl Baltes' personal shrine of speed, Eldora Speedway, as they witnessed Total Control Racing's Kevin Atherton continue his assault on the championship by shocking the troops in claiming his fourth win and eighth straight podium finish of· the season at the heinously high-banked and scaryfast half mile. The 25-year-old Michigan mobster started fast and finished faster as he marched forward from a third-place start to overtake both R&R/Team Saddlemen's Rich King and Harley-Davidson of Sacramento's Joe Kopp to grab the point on lap 20. Five laps later, Ath~rton also had the lion's share of the points as well as a cool $10,000 in purse money alone at the Steve Moreheadpromoted event which paid a total of $50,000, the richest purse in AMA Grand National Championship history. "We're grinnin' now," said Atherton, who took a huge chunk out of rival and mentor Scott Parker's points advantage with the win and now trails the champion, 244-237. Atherton's TCR teammate Will Davis, seventh at Eldora, now sits third with 225. "Now I just wish we hadn't had all those DNFs'earlier in the year," Atherton continued. "And I'm still pissed off about Indy. We're looking for the championship, and every race counts. Guys who say that they're not looking at it I 12 "I'm just glad to walk away," the champion said afterward. "If we never come back here again, it wouldn't bother me a bit. This was a dangerous race track. If somebody screws up, there's nothing you can do. If one of the top guys falls in front of you, you're smoked." Up in smoke might be the best way to describe King's championship aspirations. For after riding hard all season long while all the while getting dialed in to a new race team, and after fighting both an illness and stuck throttle cables in the main event at Eldora, King put in another consistent main-event performance, crossing the line third ahead of Parker and Gardner Racing's Dan Butler. But a post-race .inspection revealed that King had been running an illegal rear tire, and he was disqualified. Instead of gaining a point on Parker, King. now finds himself 34 points out of first place with three races left, pending an appeal. King refused to discuss the . situation after he found he'd been disqualified. Parker's concerns about Eldora were not without merit. For while Lady Luck smiled on the event in 1995, she more than turned a blind eye toward the show in 1996. The night's events, while no less spectacular than at the inaugural race one year ago, were marred by the constant threat of rain and an ultra-fast, slick race track that forced the riders to negotiate the uppermost edge of the surface, literally inches from the hay bales. Several riders, many of them from the younger crowd, simply refused to take the chance. But many more did, and by the time the evening was over, a high price had been paid as no less than three riders left the event with severe, seasonending injuries as the result of a horrible five-rider melee in the first tum on the restart of the Grand National. Title contender Kevin Varnes was one of them. HEATS that way... well, I just can't believe that. I used to look at it like that, like I've got to have a top-five finish at every race. But to win a championship we've got to win these races." In winning the race, Atherton once again robbed a hard-working Kopp of another potential victory. It could be argued that the steady-riding 26-yearold Washingtonian should be stripped of his "TI specialist" status. Kopp has been fast everywhere this season. He has proven himself on the miles and the half miles. Kopp drove that point home by getting a second-place jump off the line in the main event and then blowing by King after four laps to lead the next 16 and thus earn himself $225 in lap money on top of $5010 for his runner-up . finish. Kopp somehow has managed to keep smiling, even though he has now been saddled with the role of bridesmaid often enough this season that he could not be blamed for throwing rocks instead of rice at the next wedding he attends. "Kevin's a spoiler:' Kopp said in mock disgust. "But we finished in front of Parker and Morehead. I'd sure like to make it a five-rider fight for the championship. I knew I needed a start. I'm real happy. We're staying consistent." Finishing third and earning $3610, though not appearing on the box, was points leader and defending champion Parker. The 34-year-old Swartz Creek, Michigander was in'the hunt for milestone win number 75 all evening, but it failed to materialize. He came from the second row, survived both first-lap restarts - the first of which he caused by careening up the high bank and blowing through several hay bales before riding his way out of trouble and leaving a mess in his wake - and then went on to mase down King only to come up short at the finish line. Parker placed fourth or so he thought - and was very critical of the racing conditions afterward. As he has been for the past three Grand National events, Atherton was the leadoff hit man in the first of the evening's four heat ~aces. In actuality, the Accel heat played host to the Ke.vin and Kevin show as Varnes grabbed the holeshot on his Johnny Goad-prepared USC Racing .~onda and attempted to get away from newly crowned AMA 600cc National Champion Brett Landes and his Audiovox / Quaker State Honda. Atherton got off turn one in third place after hitting a hole and nearly getting pitched over the bars, but he quickly ~ecovered and skipped away from Joe Bisha/TCR-backed Brent Armbruster to set off after the lead pair. Atherton shot around the outside of Landes down the front straight on lap three and then pulled alongside a low-lining Varnes down the back chute on lap six. Atherton took the lead from Varnes off tum four, and that was all she wrote. "1 haven't figured out what happened (at the start) yet," Atherton said. "1 was afraid I was going to take Gason) Fletcher out. Kevin was going good. I just made better choices than he did going around the race track. I paced myself on those last few laps." Varnes wound up second ahead of Landes and concurred with Atherton's assessment of his performance. "I was stupid," Varnes said. "It was greasy for the first couple of laps. I almost busted my ass a couple times. I should have been where Kevin was running right off the bat. We put a new cut in the tire for the main. That should help me with traction." "No semis!" Landes said. "1 think we can go faster. We didn't have a good tire

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