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/127853
DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Left) Kevin Atherton (23) on ce aga in had to work his tail off to get to the front of the field. The Mich igander came from the third row to pass Davey Cam lin (27) for fourth. camlin finished fifth. (Below) Rich King was victim ized by the restart. The Rapid City Half Mile winner fell from fourth to ninth by race's end. SEMIS With several delays in between an d d uring them, the three eig ht-lap semis took almos t as long to complete as did the four hea t races. Darling sho t by Whi te's Harlev-Davidson' s Mike Varnes to take the wi n in the fir st semi, and thu s earn a spot in the main. Coolbeth also got by Varnes around the ou tside of turn two to move into second, where he wou ld stay for the duration to take the second available ticket to the main . Morgan got things figur ed out un his Coz iahr bike just in time to take the lead of semi numb er two, but the race was th en halted for several m in ut es after Loral La ke Ra cing' s Pa u l Berg s trom crashed, because the AMA felt the track needed more grooming. Once the race was restarted, 1995 Rookie of the Year A a ~ ~ Kopp and Davis we re all lined up to his right. When AMA starter Steve Faraci flas he d the green light, Parker was dropped to th ird by Kopp and Kin g, w hil e Gra ha m had eve n bigger prob lems aft er his Ho nd a reared up like a startled horse. He lost pr eciou s time trying to cuntrul the wheelie and rounded the first tum in fourth. "I almos t looped it," Graham sai d with a laugh afterward. "It was so loose that I did n't sit up on the bike, because 1 thought it would spin, and whew! That thin g went straight up. I haven't dune that since I was 13." Kopp had a good lead as they went down the back straight, and he was out front an d blasting for the first three laps . Parker p u lled the trigger on King as they came across th e startin g lin e to complete lap three, and the champ was now ru nning second, with Graham alsu looking to get by King. Parker co nti nued to in ch u p on Kopp, taking care to avoid the Washi ngtunian's roost, an d he fin all y s tr uck from the outs ide to take the lead as they Morg an led all eight circuits to net the win ahead of Doug Davis, who remained in second from start to finish . Atherton go t the jump in the fina l semi, bu t Schnabel got off right wit h the hard-eharging Michiga nde r and hounded him fur five laps, with Bartels' Johnny M ur phre e waiting in the wings . Schnabel finally moved up and made a pass on Atherto n in tum two, before losing th e s pot agai n dow n the ba ck stretch. Schnabel then made a successful bid for the wi n in turns three and fou r before the checkered flag, leaving Atherton in second. GRAND NATIONAL With his first pick of the gate, Parker electe d tu tak e th e ve ry ins ide of the fron t row. Gra ham, Springsteen, King, raced o ff turn tw o o n lap s ix . Pa rker the n turned up th e wick and pulled aw ay to a ZQ-leng th lead . But Kopp and the rest of the field go t a brief reprieve when Roeder low-sided in turn one on lap eight, cau sing a restart. He was nearly hit by a flyin g Springsteen as he ran awa y from his motorcycle. "I just flicked it off in there too hard," Roed er said . "I Was tryi ng to run righ t around the bottom there, an d the track was sta rting to get slick, and I didn't compensa te for it." The y lin ed up for the restar t, wi th Parker a hea d of Kopp, Kin g, Va rnes, Davis, Springsteen, Camlin and Atherton. It wa s the se las t two whu gut the bes t sta rt as they bo th skip ped around Davis and Springs teen to ru n sixth and (Left) Series points leader Will Davis (21) battled with Jay Springsteen (9) and Kevin Varnes (shadowed) during the race . Dav is wound up seventh , beh ind Varnes. Springer was ninth.