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/127955
DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Round 10: PMC Race Park (Above) Chris Carr (4) led the way at the st art of the 50th Peor ia n , followed by Scott Parke r (part ially hidden), Jo e Kopp (43) and the rest. The race was quickly red-flagged when seve ral riders cra shed approaching the ju mp . (Left) On the seco nd start, Mickey Fay was the su rprise leader and hung on to the point for a lap. Carr (4) was on the mov e and quickly into the lead he would neve r relinquish. Parke r, Kopp, John Hlebc III and rest give chase . --------------" B a ~ .~ 00 0\ 0\ \""-< C',J ' \""-< ..... sr: ;:l . 00 ;:l -< 24 By Scott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Photos PEORIA, IL, AUG. 2 s t h e field s lowed down and pulled off the track after the cooloff la p a t th e Peoria G ran d National TT, Chris Carr had - in one fell swoop - pr oved tha t he sti ll has w hat it takes , that he is w or th y of th e title "Prince of Peoria," that yo u can come ho me again. And th e th ing of it was that Carr didn't need to prove these things to anyone. After all, he di dn't get that royal monik er by mere ly fi ni s hing w ell a t PMC Race Pa rk . He ea rned it, having won th er e nine times before. Bu t this A was the 50th-anniversary ed ition of the AMA Grand National clas sic, a specia l race indeed - a classic. The Harley-Davidson of Sacramento /Phoenix Racing-backed Carr wa s up to it, putting in one of his own classic, d om ina ting pe rfo rman ces en rou te to h is 35 th career Grand N a tio na I win . Carr took the lead early on his Kenny Tolb ert-tu ned Wood-ATK, with a banz a i, on- t he-gas p a s s of early leader Mickey Fay a nd se cond -placed Sco tt Parker, and then began to click off his patented rh ythmic la ps as he outdistan ced Parker to claim his first win of the year where e veryone figured h e would . In fact, d etractors migh t say 50th-anniversary histrionics asid e - what shou ld make this win different than anv of the oth er nin e? Well , consider th is: The Peoria Mo torcycle Club has been putting on the Gran d National TT for 50 years - so metimes tw ice a yea r - for a total of 70 events . In th a t time, Ch ris Carr has wo n exact ly one-seventh of all those races. "That so u nds coo l," Ca rr sa id after the histor ic victory. "I try to win every race, and Peor ia's bee n really good for tha t for me. These people in the pits are the same o nes t h a t I g rew u p w ith . They' re li ke m y exte nded fami ly . It' s good to be able to come home agai n." And of co u rse, ho me wouldn' t be home, and th is w ou ldn ' t have bee n a classic Peoria TT, if Ca rr hadn' t finis hed ahead of his friend and longtime archrival Scott Parker, but that's just what '; happened . Like Carr, Parker did as he ' always does at Peoria - albeit wi th a much better sta rt. Aft er the battle got under way, Parker ra n his Bill Wernertuned XR600 wide op en in an effort to catch the flee in g Carr. It met with the same res ult, as he trailed Carr to the fin."; ish line by almost a half-s traightaway. • No t to be ou tdone, however, Parker exhi bited a lit tle flash and dash of his own, as his mot or cycle engi ne turned to sh ra pnel jus t as he was crossing under tlie checke red flag . Pa rk er p romptly ' ski d ded th e .d ead mach in e d own in to J turn one, un ceremonious ly dumped it on th e gro u nd an d the n proceed ed to 1 d o a s t r ip tease, r e m o v in g a ll of h is upper ga rme nts and inci ting the crowd')j as he tossed his goggles, helm et. chest protector, jer s ey and g loves in to the crowd . "I ha d to d o so methi ng, " Pa rker said. "I co u ld n' t wi n the th in g . I just have to make sure and tell Bill Werner that he buil ds the perfect racing motor- ) cycle . She runs for exactly 25 laps and 'L c