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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127853
seventh on lap nine. King got the worst
of it, as the 34-year-old Iowan dropped
to eig hth, and ultimately ninth, which
didn't sit well with him at all.
"I got ninth because a bunch of people jumped the re start," King sa id . " I
went from fourth to eigh th befo re th e
first tum, and the referee told me th at
nobody jumped. I think he's full of it."
Morehead managed to move up from
10th to eig hth, but wa s also upset over
the way th at the ra ce track had been
"over-ma naged ."
"T h ey took a perfectly good ra ce
track and' screwed up," Morehead said.
'They dug and dug until they couldn't
d ig no more, instead of jus t scrapi ng it
like they did all night before the main . It
w as to where yo u co uld n' t even ri d e
do wn the straight and keep your feet on
the pegs. Bruce (AM A di rt track ma nager Bober) never even wanted to listen to
u s" to n ig h t. W he n we go to th e ca r
t racks, h e a lways a s ks u s w hat h e
s hou ld do, bu t when w e get her e, the
bolt snaps . It's rid iculo us ."
Parker, too , was ma king it lo o k
. ridiculous, as he spl it on the field , leaving Kopp to contend with Graham, who
powered by Kopp u p the front straig htaway to take second at the start of lap
12. By the halfway point, Graham was
movi ng toward Parker, whi le Kopp held
a safe distance o ver Camlin, who was
now being hounded by Atherton. Th e
TCR rider got inside th e FASTHOG to
take fourth on lap 13, and th e top five
was set.
Behind them, however, Springs tee n,
Davis, Atherton and M orehead were
battling for the sixth spo t. Springsteen
was the first rid er to pull up.
"I cou ld n' t see, man," Sp ringsteen
said . "If the y would have left the tra ck
alo ne before the main event, I thi nk it
would have been a b ette r ra ce , I ran
around there and used up all my ripoffs:
then I cou ld n' t see, so I put it on cruise."
Ahea d of Springsteen and Morehead,
Davi s was having th e sa me experience
with Va r nes . Da vi s wo u ld w ind up
sixth.
"We got bl ast ed, couldn't see, a nd
the party wa s over," Dav is sa id. "I got
outgated at the start and got bla sted by
four or five guys. I was blind , and from
then on, it w as a nightmare . I pulled
eigh t tearoffs off, an d that was all before
the second la p . I th oug ht to m yse lf,
'Why am I her e and no t in th e sta nds,
watching this?' I like cus hio ns, bu t only
if I'm ou t front. "
Pa rke r appeared to settl e in fo r the
last five la ps, w hile G raham continued
to charge, an d th e eigh t lengths that
Parke r ha d acc rued over th e seco ndp la ced th ree -ti me cha m pion q uick ly
evapora ted .
"I was changing my lines , looking for
better ways," G ra ham said. "I was try ing not to be m y oId self, looking for
anything. I wanted to be smooth and
co ns istent. I didn't reall y d o anything
unlilthe last lap , because I found myself
doing what Scott was d oing. But he was
goi ng s o fast ton ight. What he was
d oing couldn't hav e been too bad .
We've done it before and we can d o it
again. We'll get th ere."
Parker got there first tonight, however, as Graham pulled up to his rear end
in turns one and two o n the last lap,
o nly to lose his cha nce for the win when
Parker go t a beller drive off the tum an d
co n ti nued th at m o m entum down th e
back s t re t ch a nd t hroug h th e fi na l
bends .
"That's 79, " Parker said . "Who' d
ha ve thunk it? I can' t remember som e of
them. I could n' t even tell you what races
I won last yea r. I lo ve it. It was great,
A tlve-man podium makes for
almost twice the riders. which
means almost tw ice the
cham pag ne••, which means
more than twice the f un.
because I reall y like Rick y .
We had some bad words earlier, bu t we all want so se e
him do well ."
Parker and tuner Bill
Werner a lso left th e ra ce
track with a lot of confidence,
knowing that si x wins last
year beat fi ve wins fo r the
cham pions hip . And they' ve
already got three.
"We fo u nd so m e thi ngs
wrong with the bikes that we
r ea li z e
before .
d id n 't
To nigh t, we neve r even
cha nged a ny thin g except a
tire a ll n igh t. T he fat lady
ain' t singin' yet."
t~
C OT ERS
NO
FAN
Quad City Down s
East Moli ne , illinois
Results: August 9, 1997
(Ro und 14 of 23)
H EAT 1 (10 !.lIPS; 13 ri ders, top 3
tr an d er): 1. Rich K ln ~ (Hen): 2. Will
Da vis (H· D); 3. Kevin Varnes (H -O); 4.
C hri !> Evans (H· D); 5. Ch ance Oar lin l;
(11.0); 6 . J.R. Sch nabe l (H-O); 7. Pa u l
Bergstrom (Hon); R. Shau n R U~'o('lI ( H.
m ; 9 . Ji m S u mn e r (H- O); 10 . N ick
Dan iels (H -o); 11. Kevin O lligC5 {H- D);
12 Pat Bccnaaan (H -O); 13. Steven Gill
(H ·D).
Timl!': 4 min ., 54.367 sec,
HEAT 2 00 laps; 13 riders, top 3
transfer): 1. R lc G r,lham (Ho n); 2. Ceo
kv
Roeder II (H-D);' 3. Steve More hea d (H·
D); 4_ Kev in A the rt o n (H -O}; S. Te rry
Poovey (H-D>; 6. Ian ~t"dy (H-D>; 7.
Johnny \t urp h,""," (H -D); 11. Bmt Land es
(H· D ); 9. Ken Yod er (H- O>; 10 . Ra nd y
Sha n k U (H -Dl; 11. Lon nie Paul'-")' O1~ D) .
12. Wilha m Breck III {H-Dl; 13 . Billy
Martin (H -D).
Tune 4 min., 56.811 sec.
H EAT 3 (10 b ps; 12 ri den, to p 3
tn .nlfer): I. Sco tt Park er (H- D); 2. Joe
Kopp (H -O ); 3. Dan Butler (H -D ); 4.
Ste ve Bea me (H-D); 5. Paul \tof'Jl;an m (H-D) ; 6. Bryan
Bigelo w (H -D); 7. Mikt' Varnes (H-o); 8. Robert Knapp
(H- O); 9. Dannv KO
It,I<.ch (H-D); 10. Tom Troudt (lion)·
11. Ja!\Oll Stontell (J 1. 0); 12. Bl?tl t Anllbru~tt'T 01-0).
'
Tim~ 4 min ., 53.683 sec.
HEAT 4 0 0 loIps; 12 riden , top 3 transf er); 1. Jay
Springsteen (H -D); 2. Davey Ca m li n (H- D); 3 . Dan
Stanley (H-D); 4. Mike Hacker (H ·D ); 5. Dou g Davis (HD); 6. Ken ny Coolbeth (H-O); 7. Jeff Randolph (H-D); 8.
Willie McCoy (H·D ); 9. Bret Beye r (H -D ); 10. Sco tt
Stump (H· D); 11. Paul lynch (H-D); 12. Dale [enneman
(H-D).
Tim t>: 5 min ., 031:18 !*'C.
SEMI 1 (8 I ~ ~ 13 riders, top 2 tunsfer}; 1. Chance
Darling (H.D); 2. ~f"nny Coolbeth (H -D); 3. Lo nn ie
Pau ley (H -D); 4. Mike Va mes (I-f-D) ; 5. Terry Poo vey
(H-D); 6. Bret Beyer (H-D); 7. Da le [enn erna n (H.-D); A
.
Sha un Russe ll (H -D>; 9. Tom Tro ud t (Hon); 10. Kev in
C
Olligcs (H -O); 11. Stl'V" Beatti e (H-D); 12. Brett: Land es
(H -O); 13. Steven Gill (H -D).
Ti me: 4 min., 9.115 sec.
SEMI 2 (8 bps; 13 ri ders, to p 2 tn nsf er) : 1. r aul
Morgan III (H -D); 2. Do ug Da vis (H-D) ; 3. Ch ris Evans
(H-D); 4. Willie McCo y (H· D); 5. Paul Lynch (H-D); 6.
Pa ul Bergstrom (Hen): 7. Ian Segedy (H-D) ; 8. Nic k.
Danipl" (H·O); q. [ason Sentell (H-D>; 10. Kim Yoder (HD); 11. Billy Martin (H-D); 12. Rubt'rt Kna pp (H. D); 13.
William Brock III (H- D>.
T im l::: 4 min " b.l79!III'C.
SEMI 3 (8 I ~ ps; 12 rid ers. to p :2 tra nder): 1. J.R.
Sc h na be l (H -D) ; 2. Kevi n Atherton (H -D) ; 3. Bry an
Bigt..>Iow (H-D ); 4. Scott Stu m p (H-D); 5. leff Randolph
(H. D); 6. Oann y Koelsch (H-o); 7. Randy Sha nk. 11 (H0); 8. Jo hnn y Murph ree (H-D); 9, Jim Su mner (H-O); 10.
Mike HAclet' (H.D); 11. Brent Annbrusle!" (H.D); 12. Pat
Buchanan (H- D>.
Tim ~ 4 min ., 5. 403 ~.
GRAND NATIONAL (25 b p'" 18 rid ent: 1. Scott
Parkrr (H~D); 2. Ricky Graha m (Hon) ; 3. Joe Kopp (HOI; 4_ Kevin Atherton