Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK ANA Grand National Cham~ip Series Round 20: Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds Both Murphree and Russell agreed. 'Td like to have been on the top of the box, but I'm happy with the way I firushed," Murphree sajd. "It helped Eric get the points lead, and it was my best finish of the year on an 883. Everybody at Bartels' djd a great job. I can't tharik them and all the sponsors that go wjth them enough." "Me and Eric had a strategy to break away from the rest of the field," the softspoken 17-year-old Russell said. "I thought we broke the draft, but before I knew it there was Hacker and Johnny. But it was great to see the Bartels' b;kes runrung one, two, three, four." 600Cc EXPERT Corbin Racing's Lonnie Pauley made another case for rus bid to become the unofficial king' of the 600cc support there was to it. Everybody's had their problems Ws year, and 1 don't want to make excuses, but that rillddle of the year deal djd not help us. We're out of the championsrup, but we really want to win Del Mar. It's always ruce to win·that last one. It looks like everyWng is going to be the same or better for next year. We're real happy about next year." As the race 'progressed, Camlin always seem to lead into tum one, but Parker was fastest on the back straight. Atherton was always somewhere in between, but all three stayed tight and traded the lead time and again. Parker finally stepped it up a little at the fivelap sign, and that spelled the end of Landes' hopes, as the Northern California rider had hung tough for that long only to find that his rear tire was shot. He would lose one position to the cagey veteran Morehead and finjsh fifth. Atherton was now hot on Parker's tail as the pair set up for the final four laps, but the young Michigander's chances for victory almost came to an abrupt end when his motorcycle went into a death wobble for half the length of the front str~ght on lap 22 and nearly pitched rum off. "We had a problem wjth it wobbling all day," Atherton said. "We'd adjust the shock, and it would get better every time, but as the race went on, it just got worse. I even tried standing on the pegs once to help it. It wasn't anything that caused us too much trouble. 1just had to ride the wheels off the Wng." It wasn't enough. Parker continued to up the pace and lead the remaining three laps. Atherton had a chance for the win, but Camlin spoiled it by diving under Atherton in tum two and three and forcing him to pass two riders at once for the win. He would only get CamJin, and Parker had win number 76 in hand with a seventh championship now on his fingertips. "When I led it off the last turn, it was like, 'Well, 1 made it to the penalty line... I made it to the second row ... Yes!" Parker said. "But 76 is just a number, really." Among the throng to congratulate Parker afterward was rus former factory Harley-Davidson dirt track teammate and 1995 Sacramento Mile winner Chris Carr. "Hey man, that looked easy," Carr told Parker after seeing the close finish. "What makes you Wok it was easy?" Parker replied. ranks at the Agajanian Presents Grand ational events. When the 26-year-old California kid hops astride his Billy Fagundes-tuned Wood-Rotax and everything is right, Pauley is not only hot, he can sometimes pull off the nearly impossible, as his Sacramento Mile performance indicated. Pauley faced stiff competition in the form of Steve Beattie, who was aboard one of Ron Wood's "factory" WoodRotaxes (see Briefly... ), as well as from Kenny Coolbeth and BBRP/Budweiser's Dan Stanley. The quartet left the line with Mark Corsetti and Husabergmounted Johnny Murphree (see Briefly...) in tow, but the race quickly began to look as though it would be a Beattie runaway as the Canadian National Champion started to put distance on Coolbeth and Stanley while (Above) Chance Darling Impressed the Sacramento crowd by grabbing the holeshot In the main event and leading the race in a convincing manner for the first seven laps. (Right) Eric Bostrom (far left) grabbed the holeshot and then led Bartels' teammates Johnny Murphree (third from right) and Shaun Russell (second from left) all the way to the wire in the 883cc National main event. "I wasn't in it," Carr said with a smile. 883cc NAnONAL Spectro/Moroney's Mike Hacker came to Sacramento confident that he could make up the points deficit that stood between rum and a second consecutive AMA 883 National title, but when the smoke cleared in the 12-lap final, the reigrung 'champ found himself in a similar position to Kevin Atherton as a mechanical failure in the late going dropped the Virgiruan to sixth while Eric Bostrom led a Bartels' HarleyDavidson sweep across the finjsh line in the 12-lap feature and picked up the points lead. Bostrom now leads the points standings wjth 126 points and three wjns heading into Del Mar. Hacker is in third place behindthe~uredbms@~mngGro~e Price IV and is eight points down. Bostrom led every lap of the main event, drafting around the Cal-Expo rillle with Hacker, who was surrounded by Bostrom teammates Johnny Murphree and Shaun Russell. Jay Springsteen ran fifth but continually moved forward to threaten for a podium spot late in the race. Once Hacker pulled up lame, the four Bartels' teammates drafted each other in an attempt to gain the upper hand - and shop bragging rights. At the flag it was the experienced Bostrom who held off Murphree, Russell and Springsteen in that order. "I really wanted to break away," Bostrom said. "My b;ke was real fast, and 1 thought that 1 could, but those guys were runrung real good. I just really rode it hard the last two laps, and it worked. And to see all those Bartels' guys in second, third and fourth and to pick up the points lead, it couldn't have gone any better." Coolbeth, Adkins call it uits W inchester Harley-Davidson racing team owner Eddie Adkins and 1993 Rookie of the Year Kenny Coolbeth parted company just before 750cc practice began at the Sacramento Mile. There had been friction building in the camp throughout 1996 as the team struggled to build upon its late '95 season success after Coolbeth came in to replace the late Rodney Farris, and their split at Sacramento took place under less than amicable terms. "I didn't know if I was going to come to California after Lincol", Nebraska, because I didn't. have enough money," Adkins said. "But Kenny's dad (Ken Coolbeth Sr.) gave me a bunch of trouble, saying that I needed to come out to California to keep the kid in the top 20. So I borrowed money and came out Then when I get here I find out that he has plans to ride someone else's T:>Q at San Jose. So I asked him about il. I said, 'You mean to teli me that I came all the way out here for you and now you're going to ride for someone else's motorcycle at the big money race? Can you get it for tonight? Because this deal is done!' Then his dad came over and was gonna get in my face, and I wasn't even gonna listen to thaI." According to Adkins, much of the conflict with the 18-year-old Coolbeth throughout the year has been because of his father. "I told Kenny that he can ride for me any time, but his father is not welcome in my pit," Adkins said. '1f I could have Kenny Jr. without Kenny Sr. then I'd be more than delighted. But the way it has been just puts too much pressure on the situation. I think Kenny can really be one of the great riders in this sport, but he's going to have to start making his own decisions. I will say this, I will never again deal with anybody but the rider. This has been a real learning experience for me." Coolbeth, who promptly walked down to Dave Burks and climbed aboard Burks' HarleyDavidson of Missouri/ Burks Construction XR750, had a different version of the way the discussion went down. "At Springfield Eddie sat me down and said, 'We haven't progressed any: and he said he couldn't go to California because I was doing so poorly," Coolbeth said. "Then he was all right for a month. But when he got here, that's when it really hit the fan. From Springfield on I'd been hearing that two difkrent people were going to ride his bike at San Jose. And he did ask people to ride for him at San Jose - I know that for a fact. So I started looking for a ride myself. When I first got here I asked him who was going to ride his bikes at San Jose. He said, 'I thought you were: Then he just started throwing stuff and said 'If it's gonna be this way then we'll just load up right now: He covered his bikes and walked off. I had my helmet on and was just getting ready for practice. I was stunned. I'd like to go talk to him but... It was both of our faults. He should have told me that someone was going to ride for him at San Jose, and J should have asked if I should look for another ride. Now I'm going to ride Del Mar and San Jose for Dave, and we'll try to gather something up in the off-season. Nothing is really free. It (the Adkins ride) was a done deal at Springfield anyway. lie told me politely that after Del Mar we'd call it." Though he wasn't completely sure of his plans, Adkins said that it was unlikely that he would find another rider to compete for him at the GNC season finale Del Mar Mile and the San Jose Mile Regional. 11Ie Virginia tuner said that he would probably just head for home.

• Cover