Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL C HAMPIONSHIP SERIES Dave Camlin (27) couldn't hold off eventual th irdplace f inisher Varnes (89) . Camlin fi ni sh fifth. the four heat races, bu t the 39-yea r-<>ld Ca li fornian said tha t he was not s ur- prised . "I was jus t looking for a totally d ifferen t li ne out the re, " G ra ha m sa id, "a nd ' being as it w a s so d iffe r en t, I di d n't want to go int o the turns hot and make a mistake. It' s a re all y low line, a nd I'm going to u se it i n the m ain event. Th ere' s m ois ture th ere, but it could cha nge. Th e moistu re cou ld come out up top , and you can bet tha t Kevin (A ther ton) w ill be the firs t one to try tha t." Ca m lin land ed the hol eshot in th e fina l heat and sped away fro m a tough field th a t i ncl u ded Davis, Morehead and Pa rker, the d efending series champion mot oring to second as they came aro und to start lap two. Dav is moved o u t to thi rd a hea d o f Morehead an d q u ickly latched o n to Pa rk er, w h o a p pea re d to b e gi v i ng up a lot nf ground in tu rn one , a nd th is allo wed Davis to set him up fo r a pass. Da vis fin a ll y mo ved a lo n gsi d e o f Pa rker down the fron t chute on the white-flag la p and too k the seco nd spot, only to see Par ker r etake i t d own th e ba ck st ra igh t and i n to tu rn th ree . Bu t th e No rth Ca rolinia n wasn't thr ough yet, as he d ucked undernea th Parker to la nd the second spot. Bu t there was no catching Camlin, w ho had mo ved ou t to a five-length lead by then. "Kevin (Atherto n) is go ing fast , and I'd like to make some ch a nges, but we're just fas t enough now that we can contend for the win," Camlin said . "I don't think tha t we' should try to se t the bike up to catch him, because he's on ly o ne gu y, and there are 16 more that we have to beat. Besides, I have n' t made the ma in e ven t here in fiv e vears, so yo u know what? I'm happy." • ..... rJ:J ;:l CO ;:l -c 12 SEMIS Butler and Brent Armbruster got off the line togeth er in the firs t sem i, with th e Joe Bish a Racing-back ed Armbruster ina dverten tly pushin g his fellow Michigander w id e. The situati on worked we ll for Butler , who got off the groove and found tracti on up high to move into the lead . Armbruster then fell behind ROeder, who ca ug h t Butle r and dipped undernea th him in tu rns thr ee and fou r to grab the lea d o n the white-flag lap and go on to take the win ahead of Butler, who also advanced. Coo lbeth wok e up and spanked the field in the seco nd se mi, pulling out to a lea d th at was never challenged . Beyer a nd Beattie di ced it up fo r th e fi na l transfer spot, with Marine Transport's Bryan Bigelow making a bid as well. In the end, Beattie go t by Beyer off turn tw o on lap seven and stayed there d ur ing the fina l circu it to secure a spot in the feature. Morehead led every lap of the final semi to slid e int o the main ev en t, with the fina l transfer spo t of the nig ht being vicious ly co n tes ted b etween Mo rg a n and Kopp. Th e 1997 Peoria IT winner tried eve ry thi ng he coul d to stay with Morgan, but th ere w a s no cha nce of ca tching th e 1995 Rookie of th e Yea r. Kopp was forced in to th e truck, while Morga n landed a th ir d -row s ta rti ng spo t for the mai n. GRAND NATIONAL There was a bit of con tro versy right off th e bat as th e 18-rid er fie ld s taged fo r the m ai n even t . T he g re~ n lig ht failed to co me o n, as it appea re d th at some riders had jumped the start. AMA officia ls ordered Gra ham - who severa l riders o n the fro nt row later testif ied re mai ne d s ta tio nary - to the penalty line, while a llo w ing Davis - w ho had clea rly moved from his spot agains t the wall o n row two - to slay put. "I go t put back for no reason," a di sappointed G ra ha m said after the ma in event. "I did no t move . When the lig ht turned red, I popped maybe an inch or two after it tu rn ed red. I didn't cause it to turn . T hat wa s the mos t a bs u rd pen a lt y th a t I've eve r exp erienced in my caree r." "I moved ," Davis a d m itted . " Bu t nobod y even ca me up to me a nd said anything, and I wa sn't abo u t to give up my spo t unl ess the y did." The race finally go t un der way with Kin g taking th e p oin t, followed b y Atherton and then a tight pack that contained Ca m li n, Pa r k er, Varnes a n d Davis. Parker and Da vis elected to run bel ow the groove, while Varnes went up top. King alread y appeared set to fly a wa y w hen Morehead low-si ded and then got spit off in turn one on the third lap, necessitating a red flag . " I was go n na hit Sch na bel," More-. head said. "We ra n it in there, and I d idn't thin k tha t he was goi ng to ru n it in with me. I was o n the inside of him, and it hi t th e ru bber and straig htened me up . I d idn't want to take him out, so I low -sided it, but it caug ht and flip ped me up in th e air. I kn ow my bu tt was four or five feet off the ground, cause I thou ght, 'When in the hell am I go ing to come d own?'" Mo reh ead w ou ld make the restart a nd cha rge fro m 18t h to a very solid eighth . "We're jus t finally starting to get our stu ff together," Mo rehead said later. "I wasn 't ready to race at Daytona, and we go t behind the eight ball, and you can' t d o th at w he n so ma ny of th ese g uys have stepped up thei r program ." King took con tro l on the restart, wi th Ather ton , once aga in; setting up behind him in seco nd; b ut it was Parker w ho bene fited the mo st , as th e cha m p io n jum ped immediately to the th ird spot, a head of Ca rnlin, Varnes, Davis a nd Hacker. Graham was also on th e cha rge, and he wo uld be all over Ha cker by lap eight. Davis continued to run low, and that li ne wa s w or ki ng a s he and C a mli n both marched toward Parker, both rid ers d rop-kickin g him to fifth on lap 12. Varnes raced around Par ker a lap later to drop him to sixth. In the meantime, Graham had d isposed of Hacker a nd would be the next man to ge t by Parker, leaving him seventh at the line . "I got a good holeshot, bu t I couldn't keep the pace," Parker said. "We made some changes, an d the bike was bet ter, bu t they were just fas te r. Hell, I was ru nning third, and they just g radually su ck ed m e up from b e h in d . 1 tri ed everything I knew to try ." . By lapIS, King had established nearly a hal f straightaway lead on Atherton , who h ad an equal advan tage over Varnes, the Pennsylvanian having used his outside line to ga in the upper hand on Ca mlin and Dav is. Varnes was hav ing th e b e st ride o f his seaso n a nd wo uld finish third. "I wa s going in there as hard a s I could," Varnes said. "We made a gea r change before the resta rt tha t r eally mad e a difference. We we re n't geared to run th e low lin e. Rich proved that that was the way to go. I still th in k I cou ld 've won it." Davis and Camlin continu ed to s crap, but the current series p oi nt s lead er wa s really d ialed into the lower midd Ie o f th e g ro ove, and h e s hot under C arnlin off tum two on lap 23 to take the fourth spot for good . "I was makin ' good time go ing in, and through the middle of the turns, but I co u ld n' t ge t off the co rners," Davis sa id . " Befo re th e restart, I could rid e where Rich was run ning, and it wa s like I was on rails . But after that, every time that I tried to run it, it was like someone had laid marbles down under me." Camlin was happy wit h fifth. "I jus t made som e m is ta kes, th at' s all," Cam lln said. "I ma ke about five of them per main . It used to be 10." Up fro nt , King had be en runnin g alone for the entire race, and with just a few laps to go, the Iow an ad mitted that the surprising lack of competition sta rted to tell on his m ind . "1 wo uld hear echoes off the concrete wa ll, and I wo u ld think tha t someone had fina lly come up and caugh t m e, bu t I' d loo k ba ck , a nd nobod y wo u ld be th er e ," Ki ng said . "T he n, w he n th e white flag came out, I started 'hearing' all kinds of m echanical noises." But his trusty Honda never falte red , and it carr ied him across the line to his fourth caree r Gra nd Nati onal victory in fro nt of the "Harley crowd." It may be the last time. "The re ma y be a lot of Harley fans her e, but th ey' re race fans , too ," Kin g said . "But Honda sold us the last crank they had . Th ey're su pposed to ha ve a m ee ting to d eter mine w he ther o r not th ey' re go ing to make any more parts. We're mak ing o ne las t cry for help ." Whethe r or not that cry is answered , Kin g p ro ve d so mething to the rest of hi s co mpeti tio n: nam ely, tha t he' s not rolling over yet. Giv e a determined Rich King a fast motorcycle, and wi nning is one thin g that he will never need help wi th. .~ Black Hills Speedway Rapid City , South Dakota Resutts: August 6, 1997 (Round 13 0123) no If EAT 1 I.~ PIl; 11 rid ers, top .3 tI'aJUfcr): I. Kevin A therton IH -o); 2. Mike Ha cker IH- V I; 3. W ill ie McC o y (H· m ; 4. Dan Butler IH-DI; 5. Brett Landes (H -D); b. Mike V" m l. S(H·D); 7. Bren t A rmbrus ter (H· D ); 8. Steve " Beattie (J-t -D ); 9. Pau l Bergstrom (Honl: 10. Ken Yoder (H- D); 11. Jo h n n y M u rph ree (H-Dl. ' T im e: 3 min.• 56.847 St.C. H EAT 2 100ps; 11 riders. lop 3 lran"f c r): 1. Ke v in I Varn~ (H·D); 2. Rich KinK (Hon), 3. J.R. Sdulnny Coolbt. th (H. > D ); b. D olle [enneman (H-D) ; 7. JOt" Kopp ( H - D ); fl . Da n n y Koe lsch (H -o ); 9. Sccet Stump (H-D); to. R.tnd y Shan l ll (H.D); 11. Billy Ho fmei ...tl'l' (H-D). Tim~ 4 min., 2.603!iol"(". HEAT 4 (to la p A 11 r id e n , to p 3 tu na fer) : 1. ; Davey Ca mli n (H- m ; 2. Wi ll Davis (H -D) ; 3 . Sco tt Parker IH -D); 4. St ev e Mcm-head IH-DI; 5 . Ceo RO"dcr II (H -D); b . Bry a n Bigel ow (H-O); 1. Ch ance D,l rling (Hon); 8. r aul Lynch (H- D); 9. Lo nny Kopp (H -D ); 10. N ick Da n ie15(H -o); 11. Na te Wo1it (H -O). Ti m~ 3 m in ., 58.829 sec . SEMI 1 (8 laps; 12 riders, to p 2 transf er ): 1. Ceo Roeder 11(H -O); 2. Dan Butler (H -D); 3. Da le Jenneman (H -O>; 4. Pa ul Lynch (H-D); 5 . Brent Annbrw-tPl' (H.D); b. Bl1Iy Martin ( H-O); 7. Scott Stump (H -D) ; 8. N;r,IeWail (H·D) ; Q. W illiam BnocJ. III 3. Kevin vernes ; (H- D); 4. Will Davi s (H-Dl; 5. Dav ey Camlin (H-Dl; b.

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