DIRT TRACK
AMA NAOONAL GRAND NATION.
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
els Dum
By Scott Rousseau
, Photos by Kinney Jones
and Flat Trak Fotos
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR, 8
hen longtime privateer Terry
Poovey stood atop the victory
, podium after winning the
Louisville Half-Mile on June 2, 1985, it
may have been impossible for him or
anyone else in attendance to fathom that
it would be nearly 12 years before he
would enjoy the view from up there
again. But finally, at Daytona Municipal
Stadium, aU those years of frustration
and waiting were instantly made worthwhile when the soft-spoken Texan
earned the one thing that had kept him
coming back; his 10th career AMA
Grand National win,
Poovey, 38, dazzled the 8000 fans by
winning the main event to end the
longest dry spell in AMA Grand
National Championship history, eclipsing the legendary Jay Springsteen's
winless streak of nearly 10 years
between 1985 and 1995. And he did so
in sirililar fashion to Springer - by sheer
domination. The KK Racing/ Salpaka/Dodge Brothers-backed Poovey
grabbed the holeshot after a complete
restart of the 25-lap main event and
then stormed along unchaUenged on
the tricky, semi~banked quarter~mile
also known as Larry Kelly Field, post'ing the win by several bike lengths over
runner-up Brett Landes on the Undo
W
(Above) Terry
Poovey
claimed his
first Grand
National main
event win
since June 2,
1985, when he
led wire to wire
and took the
checkered flag
first at the
seasonopening
Daytona Short
Track.
(Right) A
winner again:
Poovey
(center) is
flanked by
runner-up
Brett Landes
(right) and
third-placed
Jay
Springsteen
(left).
Racing/ Quaker State/Audiovox Rotax,
It came,20 years after his first Grand
National win - ironicaUy it was on a
short'track at Talladega, Alabama, on
June 5,1976 - and it may have been long
overdue, but it was hardly surprising as
Poovey merely repeated his effort of one
night earlier when he dominated the
second round of the AMA National Hot
Shoe Series to score his first win at the
stadium since his AMA Regional victory
there in 1988, Even so, Poovey admitted
ever win
that. he 'wasn't sure if he would ,
agam.
"I was beginning to wonder," the
jubilant Poovey said on the podium.
"But when I saw 01' Markel-man (former three-time Grand National Champion Bart Markel), he told me that I was
going to win on Friday and Saturday.
I'm so happy. I want to thank Jim
