Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA G AND NATIO AL R N CHAMPIONSHIPSER IES Round 16: Hagerstown Speedway By Dave Hoeni g Photos by Flat Trak Fotos (Left) Will Davis use d HAGERSTOWN, MD, AUG. 23 orth Ca rolina's Will Dav is ha s known howto win at Hagerstown 10 for some time. "I know how you win Hagersto wn: You get a holeshot and stay as smooth as yo u can," said the 32·y ~a r-o l d vetera n . "It's better to shut the gas off, roll into the comer, roll the gas on real easy ." It only took abou t I 4 tries for Davis to win his first Hagerstown Grand National, but th e Tota l Co n tro l Rac ing / Accel / Bunzl USA-bac ked rid er dom inated the ac tion all night, goi ng so far as to lead every lap of every race he was in all night. Davis left eve ry one else racing for second . Up to that task was Davis' chief an tagonist in the 1997 GNC points race, seventime a nd d ef end ing Gran d Na tional Champion Scott Parker . The Harley factory racer stayed close, but cou ld nev er m ount a se r io us a ttack o n th e p oints leader. " I just co ul d n' t ge t a ru n on hi m ," Pa rke r said . "I th in k he moved up to where I was running and picked it up a little bit. So 1 dropped to the bottom part of the race track. I cut off a lot of the track and had some qu ick laps towa rds the end of the race wh en I pushed it." " I knew all year tha t our mo torcycle was working so good that we' d shine at Ha gerstow n," Davi s said of his Dennis Towne- an d Rand y Brady-p repa r ed Harley. "It hooked up off the comer so good ." A hea t-race fall left USC Racing /Z Galleries-sponsored Ricky Graham with the uphill challenge of tryi ng to make the main from Hie second row of the semi. "It was a lot like Eldora, I was down so fas t," Graham said of the heat-race crash . "I was lookin g for a place to make a mo ve on Scotty and just m oved up a tiny bit. 1wasn't going for it, I wa sn't over m y head . Everyth ing wa s fine; I just lost the fron t end ." Undaunted, Graham came back with a semi win an d a charge from the last row to a third-place finish in the main. The last rid er to fall victim to Graham 's charge in the Grand Na tional feature was a disappointed Corbin Racing / Rogers Racing's Rich King. "I' m a little bi t di sappoi nted ," King said. "I thought I'd ru n better than that; but top five, 1still have to be happy." Rounding ou t the top five was anothe r rid er ha ving a so mewhat star-crossed season. Sacramento Ha rley-Davidson 's Joe Kopp has been looking for some consistency since h is first Gra nd Natiuna l win at Peoria. He found a little wi th his ru n at Hagerstown . "It felt good . 1got a pretty dece nt start and it was n't too eventful, really," Kopp said . "Ricky and Rich came up on me and they got by down in one and two . 1 just could n' t get a dri ve off two." I-800-FASTHOG/Moroney's HarIeyDavidson's Davey Camlin and his teammat e Mike Hacker wo rked their way up to sixth and seve nth. 'The bike really worked good," Camlin sai d . "We cam e fro m ninth or IOth, did some racing with some people and it felt good. The lap times we re really good . 1just wish I'd been on the front row. " a slow thro tt le hand to win his fi rst Hagersto wn Half Mile. With his sixth win of the year, the Total Co ntrol R acing~ backed rider picked up four more po in ts on series ri val SCott Parker. (Below) Former Rookie of the Year Paul Morgan III (83) got the ho lesh ot as the 18-rider field left the starting line to begin the main event. Parker (1), Davis (21) and Joe Kopp (43) go three-wide in hot pursuit, Ca m lin' s tea mma te had mu ch the same view. 'The bikes are reallv dialed in," Hack. er said . "I just go t a bad s tart . 1 thin k 1 could have been righ t up there." To ta l Control Racing / Accel/ Bun zl USA-sponsored Kevin Ath erton is still se arching for th e lat e-season magic he displayed last year. The 26-year-o ld former Ha rley-Da vid son factory rider did no better than eighth at Hagerstown. "We changed everything: gea ring, wheelbase, raised the fron t end, everything I could think of," Atherton said. "I just could n' t ge t ar ou nd . I don' t know wha t the deal is. My lap times we re the sa me all day lo ng, no matter wha t we did. It's one of those deals. I tried ~very thing I could on the race track. I just never foun d anyt hing that wo rked ." Ninth went to Coziahr Ha rley-David son's Pau l Mor gan. In a somewhat mild su rp rise, Morgan led the Na tional in to turn one, only to be passed by Davis and Parker at the end of the back straigh t. "We got a rea lly good star t a nd ran th ird for four o r five laps," the forme r Rook ie of the Year said. "Co ming ou t of the com ers, we were struggling, we were slip ping, bu t eve ryo ne else was pretty mu ch, too. I just couldn' t ge t a drive." Rounding out the top 10 was the everpo p ula r Jay Sp r ings teen, who had to "face" an unusual problem at' the end of the race. "My face shield got knocked off wit h six la ps to go," Sp ringer sa id. "A rock came up an d .blew it right off - the first time that ever ha ppened. I've had them crack before, but not just blown right off." HEATS After winning the fas test qualifying heat, it was no surprise th at Davis ran away w ith the first regular hea t. Da vis hit tum one with ].R. Schna bel an d Brett Landes ho t on his heels. Dav is quickly pulled clear of Schnabel and Atherton , who had q uickly m o ved towa rd the front. Also working su ddenly in to the mix was H a r le y- Da vid so n Centra l/ Frontie'.: Ha rley-Davi dson's Dale [cn neman. [ennernan grabbed second on lap two and also pulled away, leaving Schnabel to figh t it ou] wit h At he rton for th e la st tran sfer. "Once we got into second, I was able to keep my distance from Will the same, so we feel pretty good for the main event," ]enn eman said. Atherton slipped by at the halfway point and took off after [enneman, but the top three positions were set. 'The ma in thing is to stay cal m and kee p yo u r mom entum up th rou gh th e corne rs," wi nner Davis sa id . "You just have to go slow to go fast : You can' t do tha t unl ess the motorcycle works. I had one tonight tha t would hook up and go." Paul Morgan III jum ped out in front of heat two, w ith Scot t Park er a nd Ricky Gra ham right behind him, but by lap two, Parker and Graham had stormed by. Graham closed on Parker. Then, suddenly, on lap three, Graham wen t down in tum two . Pa rker then ran away wit h the wi n, and Mo rga n was a so lid second . Dan Stanley, Mike Varnes and Geo Roeder battled it out over the last direct transfer. It was White's Harl ey-David son / Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson 's Varnes who wen t to the main . Graham had qu ickly rem ounted an d came home a distant 10th. . "I was just down so fast, I don't know . what happened," a puzz led Gra ham said. Birth day boy Steve Morehead got the hol esho t in th e th ird heat , with Dave Camlin, Jay Springs teen and Rich King a short distance back. • King showed his Honda's power and

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