th e second pairing, Eva ns p revailed, finally gelli ng by Beattie on
lap 23 a fte r chasing him tOr th e
previous seve n,
"Steve fou nd me," Eva ns said .
" It a lways a d ds fuel to the fi re
when we get toge ther . Up goes the
pace. But man, I've go t to take
start lessons from so mebody. I just
got terrible starts all night. I don't
kno w what my problem is. Maybe
I' ll go to M orehead for start
ad vice."
Right behind Evans wa s King ,
who finished out of the top five for
th e third s trai g h t week and who
appears to ha ve lost his way on the
path toward the championship.
'The bike was wo rking good in
the ma in, but I wasn't up to pa r," King
said. 'That restart was actually a blessing for me. We we nt from the fro nt to
the bac k last week. This week, we wen t
from the back to the fron t. That' s the
righ t di rection, anyway."
Ahead of Evans, Butler ran wh ere he
di d for mu ch of th e event: in six th. It
was a solid run by a team tha t seems to
suffer its fa ir share of hard luck, and
afterward Butler appea red pleased w ith
the finis h.
'This just go t us back on line," Butle r
said . "We 've go t o ur motors going a little better now, a nd it ' s turn ing into
something. I don 't know if it' s just that
I've been payin ' my dues, o r wha t. But
we came he re tonigh t a nd all we d id
was change a gea r a nd cut a tire. We
never jus t d o th at . Th is wa s awesome .
This is what raci ng is all about. I' m
amped after this week."
Whe n the checkered flag fell, Parker
wh eelied acr oss the line several len gths
ahead of Kopp and Will Davis to get the
first of wha t cou ld be several wins this
seaso n, if hist ory is any ind ication.
"I was getli ng g reat ho leshots all
night," Parker said . '" go t ano ther good
one and jus t started truckin'... hit overdriv e a nd let her go. I thought abo ut
falling off a coup le laps from the end . I
had a flashback to Ne braska (las t year). ,
saw some stuff down low thai I th ou ght
I'd like to ge t a hold of, and cu t it. I just
kept doing it.
(Left ) Former AMA Amateur Nationa l
Champion Bryan B igelow came of
age at Uma. In only hi s second
Grand National. Bigelow made the
ma in event. Coli problems d ropped
him to 18th.
(Bel o w) Parke r (center) en joyed his
return t o l he pOd iu m, as did Kopp
(left). Dav is is bec om ing 8 regula r
fixture there.
"This w as the ice breaker; 77, and
we're looking for 78," Pa rker said. "In
the Michigan-vs.-Ohio deal, Michigan is
."
ahea d' -0,"
Allen Co unty Fairg rounds
Li ma, Ohio
Results: June 28, 1997 (Rou nd 7 of 23)
I.'r;
I-tEAT 1 (10
13 rid t·". lop3 Ir,m ..ft'T) : 1. Davey
C a mli n (Jf - O); . Kevtn Athereon 0 -1-0) ; 3 . l ily
5prin~t~ n (H -1J); 4. Bryan Bigdow (H-O); 5. Steve
Beattle (H. O) ; b. Dale }enneman (H-D); 7, Da n Sta nley
(H-O); 8. Greg Suns (Ho n): 'I. Jeff Randolp h {H -DJ; 10.
Jo1
ffil'S MCnVl'n" (H -D); 11. Willi.J.m Brock III (H -O); 12Chance Darling (Ho n); 13. Willie McCoy (H -D) .
Time: 4 m in., .14.6% so.'c .
HEAT 2 (10 Laps; 12 n dees, lop 3 trandl'T): I. Steve
More head (H·D); 2. Ch ris Evans CH-D) 3. J()t' Kopp (li ;
D>; 4. Mike Hacker (H-O): 5. Kenny Coolbeth (H-D) ; 6.
Kevin Vemes (H-D); 7. Jdwn Flet cher (H-D); 8. Brett
L.lIld"..; (H-D ); Q. Paul Bt.-rptrom (Hun); 10. Jim Sumner
(H-D) ; 11. R.tndy Sh ..nln (H- D); 12. Scutt Stump (H -D).
T im r: 4 min ., 12.1 17 !Ot"C.
HEAT J (10 Ltp"; 12
top 3 tr",,,,fl.'1'): I. Will
Dan, (H·D); 2. GI'O Rord..,.11 (1'1-0); 3. Dnu g Da vis (BD); 4. Pat Buchanan (H- m ; 5. Johnny Murphree 01 ·0);
;
h. Paul Morgan III (H- UJ 7. Lonnie I"auley (H- O); 8.
Mike Varnes (H -Dl ; 9 . Robert Knapp (H- OJ; 10. Ia n
scgedy IH -D); I t. Kevin Olh gcs (H-D); 12. Brent
Annbruster (H-D).
Tlme: 4 min ., 17.121 sec,
HEAT.;
laps; 12 ridees , top 3 tra nsfer ): 1. Scott
Parker (H- D); 2. Da n Butl er (H-D); 3. RiCkr Graham
(Hu n); 4 , Rich King (Ho n); 5. j .R. Schn.ab.1o (H-D); 6.
Scutt Buch.tn (H- D); 7. 8n.1 Beyer (H -D); 8. Paul Lynch
(If-D); 9. Dou g O'Bo yl.· (H-D); 10. Kyl~ Long (H- D); 11.
Jaime' AguiLu (1f-D); 12. Jo-rry Suw. (T ri) .
Tim e: 4 min... 19.394 JIl"C,
SEMI 1 (8 laps; 11 nders. top 2 transft'T): 1. Mike'
Hacker (H ·D) ; 2 . Steve Beath e ( H -lJ) ; 3 . Johnny
Murphree (H·D); 4. Ja:;on Fk.-tchl..-r (H-D); 5. Greg Sims
(Hon); 6. Scott Buchan (H D); 7. Mike Varn es (H-D); 8.
-0)
Doug O' Boyle 0-1 ; 9. Willi.tm Brock m (H -D); 10. Jim
Su m ner (H-D); 11. Kevin Ottt ge (H-D).
e
T ime: 3 min ., 23.114 1«.
SEMI 2 (8 laps.; 12 rtders, top 2 tra.nsfer): 1. Bryan
Bigduw (H .D>; 2. J.R. Schnabd {H-D>; 3. Paul Morgan
In (11.0); 4. Krnn y Cc... Ib.-tll (H· D); 5. Dan Stanley (H0); 6. Paul Lyn ch ; 6. Dan
Butler (H-D); 7. Chris Evans (H-D); 8. Rich King (Hon);
9 . Stev e Beattie (H-D); 10 Kevin Atherton (H-D); 11.
.
Mike Ha cker (H-D); 12. Jay 5prin~teen (H-D); 13 Bret
.
Beyer (H- D); 14. Davey CJ mfin (H -D); 15. Docg Davis
(H- D); 16. J.R. Schndbd (H ·D ); 17. Steve Morehead (H ·
D); 18. BryanBigclow(H-D).
Timr. None, due to red flag .
A MA G RA N O NA TI O N AL C H A MP IONS HI P
SBUES ST ANUINGS (A tter 7 of 23 rounds); 1. Will
DaV'i n 16 / 3 wiM); 2. Smtt Parkt'T (98 /1); 3. Rich King
5
(96/ 1);·t Kevin At herton (71 /1 ); 5. Jay Spri"&,l...-n (118);
6. Da vry G1mlin «(,() ; 7. JOt" Kopp (5h ); R. Ceo ~ II
(55); Q. ITJF) 5h~'t' M.. r...Itt"...J /Mik Hacker (54 ); 11 Dan
.
ButlL'f' (51); 12 Ricky Gra ha m (SO); 13 _ Kenny Coolbeth
.
(42); 14. (TIE ) Kevin Vam...s/WiJlie McCoy (35); 16.
Terry Peevey (33/1); 17. l .R. Sc hna be l (30); 18. Dan
Stanley (28); 19. Stll'V(' !X'aui(' (26); 20. Brett Land.. 5 (24).
"
Upco ming Rounds:
Round 8 - Lake Odes sa. Michigan, Ju ly 5
Round g - Du Quoin . Illinois, Ju ly 13
do it. A lot of it is a head game." , Davis' plans to attend several moreaelected Gra nd Nationals in
199 7; indudi~g Du Quoin, Eldora, Indy, and the Sprin9fiel~ do uble'header ,
.
Ro se Racing's Willie M cCoy and DeMay ' Racing' 5 Scott S t u m p w ere invoi~ed in a terrible cra sh
in betw een turn s three and four during the seven thscratch qualifying heat . Stump had the lead, whe n '
M cC oy appeared to take a run underneath him, on ly to inadvertently ram into' Stump' s rear wheel .
Both riders were sent ove'r the high 'side in violent feslucn ..and lay mot ionless on ' the track for several minutes whne being ettended to by trackside medical. personnel. Bo th were tran sported to Urria
M emorial Ho spital in Ume. where McCoy was diagnosed wit" broken ribs and a bruised lung , He was
placed in the intensive Care unit for .obseniation overnight but was released on Sunday, June 29 .
Though he wa s reportedly groggy from the crash, Stump wa s trea ted and released With no seriou s
injuries and relea sed on Saturday even ing.
Promoter Dave McCarthy ~Y have enioyed his most succe ssful prornoti onin his 14 year s of
presenting the Lima Half Mi le . M cCarthy recruited the. help of the local 93 X radio station, as well as
Pabst Blue Ribbon beer , Pepsi, and Ci rcle Bell Indus tries - but h is best help come from the rain,
which for once left a G rand Nat ional race track for the better . -We dumped 60 .000 gallons o f water
on the race track yes terday, but we had a really nice rain on Wednesday and into Thursday afternoon.· M cCarthy smd. • That helped us ou t. • The conchtions that greeted the racers and 9900 fans
of the famed pea-gravel half m~e were perhaps the bes t eve r experienced . Though the A M A and the
trac k prep crew again had to nurse jt
evening to keep it in shape . the surfac e offered multiple lines
from the start of practice to the checkered flag in the main eve nt for those rider'S gutsy enough to
.face the roos t of the machines in front of them.
an
After qualifying well , a disappoi nted Kevin V a rnes elected to swi tc h rides and forfeit his pole starting POSit ion In heat two . " This bike won 't run." Va rnes said of his J oh nny Go ad -tuned U SC
Racingllancast er Harley -Davidson twi ngle. The move haunted the 22-year-old Pennsylvanian as he
finished fourth in heat two and then slipped to third in the final semi , thus missing out on a G rand
National spot.
G rand National fans of the '80 s may remember the name Do ug Davis. The 33 -year-ol d Union.
Ohio. resident who is perhaps mos t famous for walking away from one of the most brutal -looking
crashes ever captured on film at the D u Q uoin M ile, showed up at Uma in only his second race bac k
and put his P h il Wickersham--owned, ESAB Weldin g Harley-Davidson into the main event.
- I"got thi s deal through Larry Zumb rum and Carl Patri ck ," DQviS said. " I' m happy. I knew I co uld still
For mer AM A 25CX;c Nation al Motoc rossChampion Tony DiStefano was seen roa ming the pits: at
the lima Half M ile. "We had our onn'uBI school in Troy (O hio) the last two day s, so we th ought we 'd
come dow n and watch ," DiS tefano said. " Dave M cCart hy does the Loren a Lynn 's A mateur Nation~ '""
als too." What did the M X champ think ,of the racing? " It's exci tin g: DiStefano said. " j haven't been
to one since the late '70s or early '80 s, at Ascot. I u sed to watch guys like Corky Keener, Springstee n and Scott, Kenny Roberts . l actually started out doing thi s in '6 5 - there was no motocros s
back then . To the untrained eye, it doesn't look like much has changed . I see they went to a single
shoc k (rear suspen sion) . But I enjoy it . The racing 's close and tight ."
Steve Morehead once again held his annual hog roast on the Sundnging to the factory Harley -David son team , the Total Control Bee. '
ing team, and the 1-800 -FAS1H OG/Moroney's Hariey -Devidscn camp. The tires that the Haney factory and TCR had in their possession we re. an ent irely new Du nlop K 180. meas uring 120/90-18 .
" Tbe knobs are 70 thousandths taller than the Goodyears: TCR Team Manager Tom Cumming s
said . ' Tbe durometer reading on a Goodyear CD8 is between 60 and 62 . On a CD S, it's about 55 .
This new Dunlop is about 55, so it's like a soft Goodyear. The width is six and a haff inches - the
same as I) front Goodyear and about a half.inch narrower than a rear .: Because of its "not readily
available· status . the AMA elec ted to not Bilow TCA or the factory to te st it at Uma . The tire that the
M oroney 's team had. however, wa s a much mo re readily available Dunlop Trallmax 120/90-18. and
team rider Davey Camlln did take to the track with it ,in practice . His report? "This is a cush i9n . so
it' s hard to tell: C amlin sa id. " But the th ing Is inco nsiste nt . It w ould push the front end because it
was getting a lot of bite, and then wh en it brok e 'oo~e it was like there was no thing there . But-there 's
a lot of potential there . and it's abou t tim e somebody tried something else .· The introduction of the
new rubber by Dunlop and the teams is apparen tly the first step tow erd the move to the DOT -only
rubber that W Ill be mandat ed In the futu re.
17
