Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127849
d ropped th e Te xa n to second, with Steve Beattie in third. Making a big charge to the front was Kenny Coolbeth, but jus t as quickly a mechanical problem sent him to the sidelines. Dave Camlin shook off J.R. Schnabel and took thi rd. The top three spots looked secured, when sudd enly Poovey caught Atherton . Poovey took a shot on the last lap as he took the lead in tum three. Atherton drafted back to the front down the front straight. Cam lin was a lonely thi rd, while Beattie, Schnabel and Lo n nie Pau ley we re semi bound . USC Ra cing /La ncaste r HarleyDavidson's Kevi n Varnes grabbed the point in heat three over pole sitter Chris Evans an d Greg Teague. Varnes pulled to a comfo rtable lead as Joe Kopp and Scott Parker ran thir d and fourth. Parker was on the move after a second- row start and took the lead atthe halfw ay point. Not to be in timidat ed , Varnes came right back with the lead on lap se ve n as th e tw o exc ha ng ed th e. poin t several times. In the end, it w as Park er drafting to the win over Varnes. Harley-Davidson of Sacramento's Kopp just worked his way d ear of a pac k for third . Brya n Bige low, Dale Ienneman, Goo Roeder II, Evans and Teagu e were relegated to the semis. The last heat once again started out as a three-rider con tes t. Gardner Racing /Walters Brothers Harley-Davidson's Dan Butler led King and Davis for three laps before slipping off the pace to third . King and Davis then settled their argument o v e r first , with Davis up front. Butler caug ht King in the d osing stages but couldn' t get by. Jim Sumner topped Shaun Russell in a good ra ce for fifth, and both would have front-row starts in the semis. The race for the win developed Into a three-rider shootout between Parker (1), Kevin Atherton (23) and Ricky Graham (3). Atherton led the most laps, only to have Parker zap him at the finish while Graham cruised In thlr~ . SEMIS As usual, the semis were extremely dose, wit h four to five riders going at it for the final two tickets to the National in each of the three races . The first -semi saw Co rbin Racing' s Cha nce Da rling u p fr o nt early, with Schnabel, Bre t Bey er a nd Teag u e bun ched in the lead pack. (Left) Will Davis (21) battled with Rich King (80) and Davey Camlln (27) for the fourth spot. Davis cla imed th e position, King was fifth, and Camll n dropped out w nh eng ine prob lems. . Darling led eve ry lap un til the las t, when Suburb an Motors Harley-Davidson's Schnabel squeaked by. Beyer and Teag ue we re headed to the Bill Huddleston Memorial Challenge. Spri ngs teen, Roed er and Steve Beattie led the second sem i, bu t a red-a ndyellow flash from the back of the pac k had the crowd' s att en tio n as HarleyDavidson of Mi ssouri /Dave Burks Motorsports-ba cked Cool beth was on the move. Coolbeth charged from dead last to first by lap seven of .the eight-lap race. Springsteen kep t his Bartels' Harl eyDav id son in s eco nd as Beatti e and Roed er were head ed for the challenge. The third semi had five rid ers going for the lead , w ith Evans and Mertens sharing the point the most. Also in the lead group were Bigelow, Morgan and Mike Varn es. On the sixth lap, the red flag was ou t as Mert ens was down in tum three. The res tart saw Evans back in front on his American H arley -D a vidson-backed entry . Bigelow wa s se con d and took over the lead with one lap to go, but the rookie cou ld not hold on and slipped to 17