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/127951
DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL C HAMPIONSHIP By Dave Hoe nig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos LAKE ODESSA, MI,JULY4 t's been mu ch anticipa ted and a long tim e co m ing, but Geo Roed er II is finall y a Gra n d Nat io na l w in ner . Repea ting the feat his father had accomplish ed eig h t tim es in his ca ree r, Geo overcame a red flag to lea d the restart from wire to wire at the ew 96 Speed - Round 6: New 96 Speedway (Abo ve) Geo Roeder II (66) leads Will Davis (21), Scott Park er (1), Nicky Hayden (69) and th e rest of the pack in the New 96 Speedway Half Mile fi nal. (Right) Geo Roeder II won the fi rst AMA Grand National of his career, lead ing both portio ns of the red-flag-int errupted race at New 96 Speedway. wav, 22 ;' 1 don't know w ha t to say - I feel good ," Roeder said . "It' ll take a da y or two. Every bod y always says that, and I think it will ." Roed er 's first win cam e on the rough half mil e of the N ew 96 Speedway - a stock-car tra ck - a nd not on a cushio n track as 0I would imagine his first win 1e coming on. "Did you see who w on ?" said a very happy Steve Morehead , even though he was the victim of a flat tire on lap 19. "Ceo pu t it to them' in their back yard . That' s grea t for an Ohioan to come up here and win his first ational. I'm so happy for them ." It was a feeli ng that was sha red by almost everyone. A biza rre turn of events early in the National almos t turned the race aro und co m p letely . Will Da vis he ld the lea d th ro u gh th e fir st four la ps, then ga ve way to defendin g AMA Grand National Cha m pio n Sco tt Parker . Parker started to pull away, and it looked to be another Pa rke r ro u t - th en th er e was a pu ff of s mo k e a n d s pa r ks fl e w fro m und er Park er' s seat. Park er' s rear shock was sho t, and he slowed drasticall y . Roed er, w ho was charging from the seco nd row , had just par;-~~~~I-;;,~;~z;%:~::::;:;:- er' s troubles started. moved into second whthat shock and he "1 saw Scot ty break en was smoking; I thou ght , 'Man, that was easy:" said Roeder, who is spo nsored by KK Motorcycle Su p pl y, Mik e a nd Eddie Adki ns and Win chest er HarlevDavidson. "When I was running second beh ind him, I knew it was goi ng to be hard to ge t around him. So that was easier than I thou ght it was going to be." It wouldn't end up bein g tha t easy, how ever. As Parker faded back, disaster . struc k. J.R. Schnabel wa s charging high ou t of turn tw o w hen he encou n tered the slow ing Park er. " I figu red there was not hi ng I cou ld do: ' Pa rker sa id . " I wa s just cru ising around , tryin g to mak e so me poin ts. I wasn't goi ng to pu ll off until it wouldn ' t go an ymore. I was trying to stay ou t of eve rybo dy ' s w a y , an d I was way up high w hen Schnabel hit m y bike . I w a s like, ' H o w co u ld so meo ne hit me ?' I was on the outsid e. I do n' t kn ow if he hit a ho le or what." Schnabe l crashed hard a nd the red flag wa s thrown on lap nine. Schnabel would eventually wa lk back to the pit s un der his own power, but he was d one for the night. The hai r-raising situa tion eve ntua lly pu t the Ha rley-Davidson Motor Company / AGV / HOG/ Fick-sponsored Parker back in the hunt. "When I saw the red flag, I stop ped as quick as I could in th e repair box: ' Parker said , "so they wo uld have plent y of tim e to put it all together . The bike had been excellen t be fore th e shock ~:_~~~~;I' b roke - we we r e ju s t cruising." Ro ed er h ad a lrea dy m o ve d in to cru ise control as he rod e the high line to p er fecti on . Davis had ass u med a solid second , whil e Rich King slipped around Parker for third. The red flag, as u sua l, wo u ld completely cha nge the outcom e. Roed er has been bitten by this snake before. As he returned for the restart, he planned his stra tegy . "1 looked back and saw Scotty there," Roed er said. "1 knew he would be coming. I was just going to go rig ht back to w ha t I was d oi ng w hen th e race was stop ped."