Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

you've got to be on the fro nt row and get a good start," Athe rton sa id. "We got a good start, went a ro und a lot of guys, then we go t sp rayed down pret ty bad , and I ripped off all my tea r-offs on the first lap . It's a desperatio n deal - you can onl y wi pe so many times and it's lights out, the fence is coming up and you 've got to grab them (tear-offs), We had to work hard to get up to where we we re. I know my team and my motorcycle d ese rve bell er th an fou rth . Everythin g was really wor kin g on th e race track; it's just one of those deals." After ru nn ing well early in the race, Atherton's teammate and Parker's main cha llenge r in the poi nts race, Will Davis, slipped to a d isappo inting eighth-place finish . " I cou ld n' t see a t all - that's not an excuse," a disappointed Davis said . "But wh en I can' t see, I just can' t ride - I slow down. The first five laps I could sec, and I worked my way up to where I was battling wit h Rich for second . I got sprayed down, hit a couple of holes, and it just went b a ckw ards from there . I g o t sprayed again, and a t the halfway mark I was in about fourth, and it was lights ou t. The fog s tarte d co mi ng in, an d more power to those guys, they' re better than I am in that stuff. That's all there is to it. I cannot ride in it. I never hav e, and I do n't want to. If I can' t see where I'm going, I' m not in terested . I take my hat off to those guys - they can ride it." The fifth-p laced rider, Harley-Davidso n of Sacramen to's Joe Kopp, is known as a rough-track rider, and he got off to a quick start. "We got a real good start , but I just had more p roblem s seei ng tha n a nything," the 1997 Peoria IT winner said. "I really thou ght I cou ld hold third , but 1 had a hard time seeing. I d on't know if it wa s on the inside or outside of the shield, but it was fogging over. It would come and go. I really d idn 't have a problem with dirt, bu t the moisture tha t was coming up made it tou gh. I like ro ugh tracks, but that' s pushing it." (Right) Ricky Graha m once agai n rod e the wheels of his USC RaclnglZ Galleries entry. The e ver-im proving three-time Gra nd National Champion finish ed thi rd. (Below) Spr inge r Is sti ll tough. The former factory Harley-Davidson rider and three- time champion battled his way from 12th place to a sixth-place finish in the ma in event, wh ich was shortened t o just 15 laps. Davidson -backed Ca ml in quickly disposed of Darling and King. Cam lin then set off after the d isappearing Roeder, King slipped back, to be challenged by Darling, Bryan Bigelow and Kevin Varnes . King was able to separate himself once again and moun t a short challenge to Ca rnlin's second-place position. On th e last two la p s, Ca m li n p ulled away a nd caug ht Roed er. Carnlin mad e a last-lap , last-turn pass to win the heat . King was a solid third . Bigelow, Varnes and Darling followed . SEMIS Mor gan wasted no time taking control of the first semi, w ith Dar ling and Landes dueling over th e last tran sfer . As Morga n ran away, Darling and La ndes were joined by Dan Butler, who had come from row two. Butler we n t hig h on the last lap a nd blasted into second and a sea t in the Grand National. USC Ra cin g / La n ca ster H arl e yDavidson' s Ke vin Va rnes held off a midrace cha llenge from Paul Lynch to take semi two . Lonny Kopp and Lonnie Pauley were left out as they finished third an d fourth . Kevi n Athe rton left no d oubt as to Crowd favorite and three-tim e Grand Na tional Cha mp ion Jay Springsteen had little trouble wi th the ova l and was looking for more lap s afte r mov ing up to sixth place on his Bartels' Harl ey-Davidson-bac ked Harley. "Eve ry thi ng worked gre a t all da y lon g," Springer sai d . " I wi sh th e race would hav e been 25. 1 mean , after the 15 I w asn't even tired, I was still charging. Early in the race , it w as hard to see where yo u were goi ng , and I tried to sa ve my rip -off s as long as I co uld . I s ta rte d u s ing them , and I coul d see wh ere th e holes were. I sta rted go ing around them and was goi ng faster and faste r as the race went o n." Cozia h r H arley -D a vid son 's Pa u l Morgan III had his best mile finish ever with a seventh, and it was also his best finish of 1997, as the former Rooki e of th e Yea r co nti nue d to put together a ' solid year. "That's our best so far," Morgan said. "When I was on my own I could see all right , but the first five or six laps was a pain. You coul dn't see any thing . It all turned out th e w a y w e wa n ted it to. We're movin g up in the points; now we have to go forward in the races." Another rider having his best race of th e yea r w as S&B Racing /Suburban i Motors' Bret Beyer, who f. nished eighth. "Two times in the first two laps I had to chop the throttle off in the middle of the corner, pull a tear-off an d take off aga in," Beyer sa id . "Tw o la ps the fog would be there, then two laps it would be go ne. That mad e it interes ting ." Rounding ou t the top 10 was 1-800- w ho had the power in th e las t semi. Atherton came from row two to lead the FASTHOG / Moruney's Ha rley-Da vid son's Mike Hacker. Not happy w ith his 10th, Hacker still felt that was the best he had toni ght. "It was all right, but I didn't wan t to push it and do so mething dumb," Hacker said. "I didn't feel comfortable." HEATS With th e scr a tch qu alifying heat s eli minated from the program, the regu - lar heats were seed ed thr ough the current p oint sta ndings a nd th e riders' draw at tech . Kopp, Morgan a nd Pa rker hi t tu rn one together in the first one, wit h Parker rocketin g into the lead at the end of the first lap. Kopp set tled int o a solid second as Morg an came und er fire from F&S Harley-Davidson ' s Ste ve Morehead . The vet eran Moreh ead w as able to take over third, but was under constant pressure from Morgan and another young charger, Johnny Murphree. Both Morgan and Murphree were headed to the semis. The second heat saw Dan Stanley jum p ou t to a big lead , only to have his Gardner Ra cing /Walters Brothe r's Harley-Davidson tie u p o n lap four, allowing Da v is a n d Springsteen to sweep by on each side ente ring turn one. Sp ring s teen an d Davi s continue d their battle to the end, with Davis coming away with the w in. Third went to Dee ley H arl ey- Dav id son of Ca nad a's Steve Beattie, who go t around Nebraska ' s Da le [ e n n e ma n on the last la p , se n d in g him to th e semi s . Stanley' s Ga rd ne r Racing teammat e Da n Butler bro ke a chai n on the last lap and wou ld also have to ride one more time to ge t in to the Grand National. At her ton took immediate control of the third heat, only to blow his engine spectac u larly en tering turn o ne at the end of the first lap. "It' s got a hole in the crank case - a rod broke," Atherton sai d . "Tha t' s th e bike I bro ke a t Springfield. Everyt hing was brand-new. lt was a default in the rod. It was running good. I wanted to turn so me good laps and get fast heat 1 w anted to put so me pressu re on Scott Parker." Graham then took over, moved to the high line by the hay bales and ran away with the win . Hacker and Beyer cruised hom e in second and thi rd . Paul Lynch got by Brett Landes and rode alone in fourth. Chance Darling and King led the last heat into turn one, only to have Mike & Eddie Adkins Racing 's Roeder blast by and pull out to a good lead . King pulled into second as Darling settled into a battle w ith Davey Camlin over third . The 1800-FAST H OG / Moroney' s H arle y- third semi dow n the back straigh t on the first lap. J.R , Sc hnabel, Jen n em a n, Bigelow a nd Kenn y Coo lbe th were all battling over second. Jenneman moved up to second and look ed to have the last tran sfer locked up. Then disaster stru ck [ennernan as he fell in turn three in the mo st vicious ge t-o ff of th e night. Th e red flag wa s ou t a t the halfwa y poin t. Jen neman retired to the pits with very sore ankles and feet. Atherton picked up where he left off on the restart, but it was Marine Trans- port /Saddlemen 's Bigelow wh o mad e it . to seco nd ove r Coolbeth. Sc h na be l mis sed a gea r on the rest art and fad ed back. Bigel ow wi ths tood Coolbeths a ttac k a nd mo ved o n to the fo ur th Grand Na tional main event of his young career. 883 NATIO NAL Heat wins had fallen to points leader Da vey Carnlin , Jess Roeder and Mike Ha cker, with Hacker pos ting the fastest tim e. What was pro jected to be a close race turned in to a Jess Roeder runaway. The Las Vegas Harley-Davidson/American Asphalt /Saddlemen-sponsored Roeder ran away and hid from the 1-800FASTHOG /Moroney' s Harley -David son /Saddlemen-backed team of Hacker and Cam lin. The two exchanged second several times before Cam lin settled into the spot. r-, 0\ 0\ ,..... ~ ... QJ .D E QJ ..... 0.. QJ CJ) 11

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