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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127831
DIRT TRACK AltA NAnONAL HOT SHOE SERIES semi-banked quarter-mile to notch the win by several bike lengths. "I just kept my concentration," Poovey said. "I wanted it." So did everyone else, and reigning AMA 600cc National Champion Brett Landes came the closest. The 1995 Daytona Short Track winner was one of the few riders who remained faithful to the low line for the entire distance in the 25lap main event, and it paid off as the 26year-old Californian knifed under several riders at the start to move into second place. He lost the position briefly to Parker but got it back when he took the champ low in turns one and two on the 20th lap to secure the runner-up spot for good. Landes, who was riding with an injured left hand as the result of a playriding accident, said that he was pleased with his performance. "And I want to start tomorrow where I left off tonight," Landes said. 'Tm just more happy now with my whole team. My mechanic Rick (Canode) and I are really working well together. We're clicking. I really feel like he believes in me now." Third place went to - surprise of surprises - Team Harley-Davidson's Parker. The 36-year-old, seven-time AMA Grand National Champion was enjoying an abbreviated Bike Week as he had elected to remain in Michigan to be with his wife and newborn son, Austin Scott, but when he finally did sung a leg over' his Bill Werner-tuned Harley-Davidson XR600, Parker was loaded for bear. He discarded the groove in favor of chasing the cushion, and it worked well as he rode high, wide open and handsome, moving from sixth to fourth with a tworider pass on lap three to settle in behind Landes. Parker stayed on the cushion and actually managed to lead a few laps before slipping back to third at the checkered flag. "I started to fade away, and 1 .was just getting tired," Parker said. "I haven't done any training lately, and I stayed out too late last night, so we'll just come back tomorrow." By Scott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos DAYTONA BEACH,FL,MAR. 7 fter the bitter disappointment that he experienced during the 1996 AMA Grand National Championship season, Euless, Texas, dirt-track veteran Terry Poovey could have called it quits. The heartbreak that he suffered as his motorcycle faltered while he was leading during last year's rendition of the Daytona Short Track was only the beginning. Poovey would not get so close to victory ·again for the.rest of the year, and he would suffer even greater losses as friend and mechanic Lou McCory perished along with all of Poovey's racing equipment in a fiery Michigan .traffic accident. He could have hung it up. There would have been no shame. But quitters never win and winners never quit, and it was a motivated Poovey who showed up to round two of the AMA National Hot Shoe Series at Daytona Municipal Stadium with new sponsors, a new attitude, and the same old short track prowess as the 38-yearold Poovey picked up his first National win since his AMA Grand National victory at the Louisville Half Mile on June 1, 1985. It was his first at the stadium since his Regional win in 1988. 'Til tell ya, I worked real hard to win this thing - it's all'I've thought about for the last six months," an overjoyed Poovey said. "Last year my mechanic A (Above) Terry Poovey scored his first Daytona Municipal Stadium victory since 1988 when he won round two of the AMA National Hot Shoe Series on the night before the Daytona Short Track.· (Right) Poovey (18) worked the low line on the start while teammate Willie McCoy (59) tackled the cushion. The . two number-ones, Brett Landes (right) and Scott Parker (partially hidden behind Landes) soon stepped up to battle Poovey for the lead. was killed, and I lost everything that I oWned. This Was for Lou, and for Roger (Reiman)." . Poovey earned the victory, taking advantage of a false start by half of the front row to grab the holeshot and lead the first seven laps before succumbing to a rim-riding pass by an equally motivated Scott Parker on the se.venth lap. Instead of fading, Poovey buckled down and joined Parker on the high dirt line for six more laps before grabbing the lead away once again with a smooth . inside move on the reigning Grand National Champion way up high in the middle of turns one and two. From there the Texan ste;dily pulled away and was nfilver again challenge;l. as he gracefully arched his KK Racing/Salpaka/Dodge Brothers Rotax around the HEATS Over 90 riders showed up to contest the first»f the two major short tracks at the stadium, necessitating the droning, seemingly endless rounds of qualifying that carried the program late into the night. The first regular eliminat;ion heat took place at 10:02 p.m. Landes wore his 600cc title well as he led every circuit of the first 10-lapper,