Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL C HAMPIONSHIP SERIES Round 11: Eldora Speedway (Left and below) SCott Parker (1) and Ricky Graham (3) were two 01 the loneliest riders on the track as they cru ised to slxthand seventhplace f in ishes, respectively, several lengths adrift of one another and everyone else. Later in the evening, Varnes learned that he had set th e fastest time in th e heat races and wo uld sit on the po le. He liftcd his hand s a nd sa id , "Let it rain , bab I" ~orehead go t o ff the line fir st in SuperTra pp 's heat two, bu t the ve teran was quickly pa ssed by the flying Atherton , and Davis also slipped by a couple o f laps lat er. T he N o rth Caro li n ia n inch ed clos er to Ath erton, but he wa s not close enough to threat en for the win a nd th u s follo we d his yo u nger teammate across the line. Morehead held on for third and a d irect transfer . "'I jus t follo wed Morehead around, and figu rc d out a place to pass him." Atherton said . " I d idn't w ant to go under neath h im , be ca us e it w as too rough . It's easier to charge when you' re in seco nd. Wc'rc justgoing to try a nd make the thing go faste r for th e main and have some fun ." (Below) Davis proudly displays a whopper of a check on top of the podium. In all, the North Carolinian collected over 514,000 for his day'S work. Kopp was th e fast gater in th e Pr i n t Ex p ress h e a t, bu t Kin g had a fres h Hond a, a nd the Iowan rai led past th e Washingt onian on only the second lap, setting sail to the finish for an uncontested win . "You' ll ha ve to pass o n the bo tto m later," King sa id after wa r d . "Six in ch e s fro m the traction , it's d ry and s lick. We're not goi ng to changc anythin g too drastic for the main. We'll just make some tire cu ts." Kopp had more trouble tha n just King, as he was jumped by Morgan, Hacker and Coo lbeth. Wh en the smo ke cleared , Mo rga n and Coo lbeth wound up in th e transfer positions. KK Moto rcycle Supply marqueed the fina l hea t of the nig ht, an d Graham was the man on the mov e in it. The former three-time cha mpion got off the line second be hind archrival Scott Parker a nd trailed him for three laps before takin g th e high roa d off tum fou r to put hi s j ohnny Goad -tuned H o nda into the lead. Graham then turned up the wick and split, only to overcook it go ing int o fOIOOO~O !J.%O turn th ree and low-side on la p eight. G ra ha m go t u p a nd putt ed away, bu t not befo re AMA officials threw the red fl a g o n h is acco u n t. The ra ce was declared official, and Par ker was credited with the heat win, wit h Springsteen and Roed er netting second and third . "'Ricky was gone," Parker said . "The n it looked like he hit a little bump and lost the rear end , and down he went. There wa s nothing he could really do." Often his harsh est critic, Parke r said tha t he believes Gra ham has, non et heless, improved considera bly since making his return to the series. "He was rid ing a little harum -scaru m in the beginning (of his come back), a little too aggressive, a nd Rick y Grah am doesn't need to rid e that wa y. But now lately he' s been ridi ng a lot more sensibly an d g iving people a lot more room . Now, it' s like you run up alongside him, and it's jus t another g u y. Th at time it looked like he jus t caught his toe and sp un it aro und ." SEMIS Kopp rebounded to wi n th e Mike ' s H arle y -Da vi d s o n sem i, whic h wa s actio n-packed, thanks to a pa ir of talented yo ung riders in the form of Bigelow and Beale PeterbiH/Lynch Racing's Paul Lynch. T he two to:ens see sa w ed ba ck and forth for the second and final transfer position, wi th Bigelow finally gai ning the upper ha nd late in the eight-lapper to advance to the ma in . Butler led all eigh t circui ts of the seco nd, Ke nwo rthy's Mot ocr oss Pa rk backed se m i to get back on tra ck. Graham put the crowd on its feet by passing j.R. Schnabe l, Frontier H-D /Fred 's Speed & Spo rt-backed Dale jenneman and Stanley late in the race to salvage the evening. The Roed er' s Harley-David son-spo nsored final sem i was stopped on the first la p after Bart els ' H-D 's Shaun Russell end u red a sca ry . hig h-speed tnp into the wa ll off turn two and cartwheeled the le ng th of the ba ck st ra ig h ta w a y . Mirac ulou sl y, he wa s no t seri o u s ly injured . On the restart, Landes go t to the fron t, with Hacker easing pas t a wild ly spinning Steve Beatt ie fo r the last ticke t to "the big one." GRAND NATIONAL The song was the same as at Sedalia and O klah oma City, wi th Atherto n getting off to grea t start and attempting to run away fro m th e Ki ng /Ca mli n / Varnes tri o after the initial sorting of the field . But Davis quickly caught up to the' tai l e nd of the thi rd -p lace battle a nd soon began to es tab lis h his lo w arc in turns one and two. Parker had go tte n a poor s ta rt and was run ning so me 15 lengths back in sixth by the time se ven laps we re in the books. Coolbeth, Butler, Hacker and Graham were tied up in a four-man fight behind the champion. Davis applied steady pr essu rer and, with the low line wo rking, he picked off Varnes on lap seven for fourt h, Ca mlin on lap nine for third , and King for seco nd on lap 10. Then it became a race against time as he tried to cut th e d istan ce between himself and leader Atherton . Further back, Morgan ju mped into the mid par k ba ttl e w ith Butl er . Coolbeth, Hacker and Graham, but by th e time he d id , it wa s once again a fourrider affai r, as Gra ha m had made his way to seventh and was pulling away. With no one in his zone on the track, he wou ld finish seventh. "I wish I could have go tten off wit h th e fro nt g uys, bu t I didn't," G ra ham sa id . "I' m jus t gl a d I d id n 't ge t hurt when I cras hed earlier, and I feel like I am imp rovi ng every tim e. I'm also glad we're no t in the hunt for the cha mpionship, or I'd be irri tated . But I think I prov ed that if I hadn't slid out, I could have ru n up fro nt. I'm no t a six th- or sevent h-place ra cer. I w ouldn' t even come ou t and run if I kne w that I was g oi ng to g e t s ix t h o r seve n th every w eek. But I realize th at I ha ve to be patien t, beca use I haven't been on a bike regularl y in three o r fou r years. Ye t when I co nsider where I was last yea r, I su re am happy."' " '"

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