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/127953
DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES By Dave Hoen ig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, JULY 18 ... o rbi n Racing's Rich King ended a season of frustra tion as he took his Honda to a convincing win on the slic k Oklahoma Stat e Fairgrounds half mil e, making "Mr. Consistency' s" first trip to the podium in 1998 a trip to the top rung . H e had previously parlayed three fo u r th s, two fifths a nd a six thplace fin ish into second place in the AMA' s Grand Na tio na l Ch ampionship Series stand ings. " We ' v e b een s o close at e v ery Natio nal," King said . "The thing is, my team wor ks really hard . Crai g Rogers and Sam Wesley are working their butts off.' Mike Corbin , back in Californi a, d oes eve ry th ing he can fo r u s. Not to give good, quality guys like that a win every no w and then is no good. Th is rea lly took a lo ad off m y shou lders . We've bee n fas t all yea r, but the re was always something th at ke pt us off the top ." The Co rbi n /SuperTrapp /Spectrobacked King had stalked the battling duo of Steve Morehead and Will Davis . ~ .. t- a ~ 24 Round 8: State Fair Speedway for 14 laps before he found jus t enough room to squeeze by w hile exit ing turn two . "I was hoping that they would slow each othe r down eno ugh that I cou ld get th em both with o ne move," King sa id. "Su re eno ug h, they go t each ot her u p in the w all on the bac k chu te an d gave me a n o pen ing . It o pe ne d up a co u p le of times, but I ju st w asn 't close eno ugh . Then they go t together jus t eno ug h that I wa s abl e to catch them down the back. M o rehead kn ew he had W ill t o t h e right, and then I came up o n the left. His head sna pped back, he look ed righ t a t me and it w as like, 'Oh, no - I've got one on both sid es." After tak ing the lea d, King was able ge t a little breathing room as Moreh ead and Davi s con tin ue d fo fight over position . Surp rising ly, Chris Carr also swept by both. lt was a surprise because Carr had failed to gain a di rec t tra nsfe r fro m h is heat and ea rned h is way into the Natio nal by wi nning the second semi. This left Carr s ta r ting from the thi rd TO\V. " It's kind of good I go t fou rth in the heat - we could make another stab a t getting the setup right," Carr said. "The bad th ing is, yo u ' re st uck on th e third row for th e National, but yo u know that t he cha nges yo u m ad e a re go ing to wo rk. We were able to go o u t in th e semi and ve rify that the changes would work. I had confidence that it was going to wo rk. I just had to keep cha rgi ng; we jus t came up a little sho rt again." Th e H arley-Davidson of Sacr amento /Phoenix Raci ng-b acked Carr closed ra pidl y on King after taking second on lap 19. Davi s se ttled into third, marking jus t his second podium finish of the seaso n for the TCR /Michigan Harl ey-Davidson Deal ers Associa tion-spons ored rider. " O nce I pa ss ed St ev e, I th ou ght :I cou ld ge t away, but I w as gea red just a little bit lon g," Dav is sa id . " I could n' t ge t off the co rners w it h him . I had to stay hig h and try to build my mom entu m u p . If I d ro p ped d own o n the bo ttom, I cou ld n' t pull off the comers with him. I kept ha vin g to pass Steve o n the outside , and he kept taking me up closer and closer to the fen ce. I knew he wasn: going to put me into the fence, but he kept pu tting me in to the marb les. lt was getting closer every time; then I saw a blur of Rich down o n the bottom, and I knew he w as go ing to run up in fro nt 0 us. I thought, 'Oh, w e're bo th goin throu gh the fence now .' I just had to ;01 ou t of it a little bit." l Moreh ead wa s almos t as happy WI fourth as he was wi th last week's podi urn finish. ' "My motorcycle was so good toni ght it wa s just the rid er that held me ba ck: sai d the F&S Harley-Davidson /KK Sup pl y /Dragoo-b acked Moreh ead . "I ~a sticking wher e I wa s at and just ridin around . Davis kept tryin g to su ck m into going up high with him, but I coul ho ld my o w n with him, riding arOlind on the bottom. I w as trying to give ~im enou gh ro om co m in g off tw o soh 1 (Above) Rich King (80) beat Chris Carr (4) to the stripe for the victory at the Oklahoma City Half Mlle. The win was King's first of the year , and marked the 1 second lime that he had won at Oklahoma City. (Below) Steve Morehead (42) battles with Dan Stanley (10) for ho leshot supremacy in the main even t. Morehead shot to the , lead, and Stanley Ultimately fell by the wayside with a nuked clutch.