Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES By Dave Hoenig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos MIl\'ERALW ELLS, WV, JUNE 20 cott Parker ' s w in s treak ha s been s na p ped . T om Cu m mi ngs Ra cing / Mic h iga n H arl ey -D a v id son Dea le rs Associ a tio n-s p o ns o red Will Dav is did the deed . "Man, we need ed this , I'll tell yo u," Davis said . "We' ve been fast evervwhere all year. It was always something crazy hap peni ng . It starts to wear on you r mind all week long, especially with all these big layoffs . You've got a month to sit back and think . I know I'm riding, training, and I' ve got my mind right, but vou still have that doubt. What are we d oing wrong? We ain 't done a nyth ing wrong . It's just that these guys are fast and they are ha rd to beat . We're go ing to be all right - we just had to break the ice. The re's not much d ow nt ime the res t of the way, and that's good ; it'll keep you r mind where it has to be. We'll just keep hammering aw ay at it." O ther than finishin g second to Rich Kin g in their qualifying heat , Da vis ' n ight w as nearly p erfect. He w on his heat with the fastest time of the night, the n pr oceed ed to lead eve ry lap of the 25-la p Gr and ational fea tu re . Da vis' main competition cam e fro m Rose Raeing /Schaeffer's Harley-Dav idson /B&B Tradi ng's Kevin Varnes, w ho also ran strong all night after posting the fastest qualifying heat; he ran a very close second to Davis in hea t one, then duplicated the finish in the National. "I' m really happy," Varnes said . "We were abou t eve n - he'd mess up and I'd gai n on him, then I'd mess up and he'd pull away a littl e. I was gai ning a little bit o n him in th ree a nd fo u r, bu t he would gain it back in one and two." With his mu ch-talked-abou t winn ing strea k stopped , Parker was philosophi- S 26 Round 4: West Virginia Motor Speedway cal, an d he mad e no apologies for his fine third-p lace finish aboard his HarleyDavid son Motor Co.z Fick Excavatingsponso red factory XR750. " I just got beat to nigh t," the eig httime and defend in g AMA Gra nd Na tional Ch am pion sai d . "The str ing 's ou t; now we jus t have to start ano ther one. If I d on ' t w in, peopl e think I d id some thing wrong... That's the nat ure of the beas t, I guess ." The closin g st ag es o f th e race saw Parker under attack from his Michigan neighbor, Jay Springsteen . The Bartel s' Harley-Davidson /RC Truc king- bac ked Springsteen ba cked u p his thi rd -place finish at Springfield wi th a solid fourth tonight. "The bike's been running good, and I' m feelin g good - that hel ps a bunch," the former three-tim e Grand National Champion said . Corbin Racing's Rich King ended up a lon ely fifth on his Honda RS750 after run nin g as high as seco nd early in the main . "We think th e ti re glazed over," a somewhat disappointed King said afterward . " I just co ul d n't get a ho ld of it after a cou ple of laps . It go t wo rse and wo rse ; the n the last five laps or so it st arted wo rking again . It wasn't a bad run , but it jus t wa s n 't w ha t we were hoping for . Every race we ra n all nigh t the bike was really hoo ked u p, un til the main . I neve r changed a thin g. I ran the same edge all night. I don 't know wh at happened ." Former Canadian Nat ional Champion Ch ris Eva ns wor ked his TLC Raci ng / A me rica n H arl e y-Da v id son -b a ck ed Ha rley to the fron t despite the ,grooved track condi tions. Evans moved past Chris Carr, Ceo Roed er II and finallv Dan Stanley to cap tu re a sixth-place finish. " I ' m getti ng better at these groove tracks," Evans said . "I 'm getting the bike figured o ut. I ow if I can get a s ta rt, ma ybe I ca n run with these g uys . It looked like Geo (Roeder 1I) was having th e same p rob lem (Ch ris) Ca rr was. I do n' t know if their tires we re going away or wha t. Ther e wa s smoke coming off them . and they we re spin ning like crazy , and mine was just gl ued to the track. Typica lly, it sho uld have been Ca rr ou t there on the bike I was riding (and ) me out there all sidewavs, I' ll be damned if I know. I'm not going to argue." Ga rd ner Racin g /Walters Brothers Har ley-Da vidson' s Dan Stanley continued to s ho w a newfound consistencv and came awav with his best 750 finish yet, ru nning seventh. . "We finall y go t the bike working in the main ; man, was it workin g good ," a deligh ted Stanl ey said . " I d on 't kn ow where I was in the first turn, but I pas sed so me se rious guys, and it ha s boosted my confide nce leve l way up. I got as far up as sixth; then Evans got me back with a cou ple of laps to go. I got by him , then he got me back; he saw my line and took it awa v from me." A -no t- s o- d e li ght ed Chri s Ca rr brought his Harley-Davidson of Sacramento /Phoenix Racin g-ba cked Harl ey home in eighth. "We ju st st ruggled all n ight," Ca rr said . " It didn 't matter what we did to the bike, it still didn' t work . We tried evervthing we could - I even tried to alter ~y rid ing style. It just wasn't our night. That's the way it goes . The guys up front were go ing good . I jus t could n' t mat ch their pace. I got a decent start from the second row , but I couldn't do any thing wi th it." Roeder II continued his strong per forma nces of late on his KK/Mike & Edd ie Adkin s Ra cin g / Win ch e s te r Ha rleyDavidson mount. Roeder had a good effort going until a couple of close calls took the steam out of his cha rge. O ne slip in turn two was particular ly unnerving. "I thought I was go ne that ti me ," Roe d e r said . "I was looki ng at th e ground , (bu t) I just go t on the gas and she came out of it. That kind of broke my concentra tion. After that I cou ldn' t get my rhythm go ing." Round in g out the top 10 was USC Racing /Lancas ter Ha rley-Davidson / Dod ge Bro thers' rising you ng star , Bryan Bigelow . "We 're getting bett er ev er y week' that prett y mu ch sums it up," Bigelow said. "Johnny (Goad ) and I watched the track all night long. This is the one time I ca n sa y ri di n g the se mi ac tua lly helped . I fou nd a go od line that 1 was able to use later ." HEATS The first of the four 1a-lap heats was a clear preview of the Grand Nati on al finale to come. Davis got a trem endou s holes ho t a nd pulled w ay a hea d o f Varne s and Bigelow . Varnes recovered and closed drastically on Davi s, while Bigelow was being pressured by Evans. Just before the halfwa y point, Evans got by and gained a small amo unt of breathing room. The three transfer spo ts were sealed wh ile Illinois riders Paul Morgan III and Davey Ca mli n battled over fifth, well off the pace. It was the fastest heat of the nigh t. Harl ev-Da vid son of Missouri /Da ve Burks Mot orsports' Joe Kopp go t th e holeshot and pulled to a com fortable lead in the second heat. King led Stanley, Tim Eades and Carr ear ly before pu lling away to give Kopp a race for the wi n. Kin g grabbed the lead on lap nin e and sq ueaked out th e win. Ca rr took third away fro m Stanley, and the race for fron t-row sta rting spots in the se mi was bet w een Stanley, Paul Lynch a n d Gary Rogers. Ly n ch led Rogers, St anl ey a nd Ea des across th e fin ish lin e.

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