Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL C HAMPIONSHIP It anyone is going to run Parker down and claim the title, then it is going to be one of these three guys. (l eft to right) Davis, Carr and King pose in Victory Circle. carr ied them well a wa v from Bartels' Harley-David so n's Sha~1l1 Russell a nd safelyin to the big show when the checker flag fell. Hacker jus t beat Coo lbet h at the line for second . ose Racin g' s Kev in Varnes na iled the start at the onset of the four th heat race and remai ned at the po int for abou t three laps be fo re Davis cha rged u nd er- . neatl Varnes com ing off turn four and took the to p s pot a w a y . But Va rnes ref u sed to ro ll over an d di e, a n d h e cha sed Davi s for th e re m a in ing seven circui ts, fini sh ing o nly a len gth or tw o behind at the finish . Team Undo / Donah ue Harley-David so n' s Brett Landes wou nd u p third a fter early thi rd-place runner Steve More head b obbled a nd d ropped back. " ' rn having trou ble rolling i ~ into the tu rn s," Davis 'said . "It' s lik e I ha ve to wa it, wait, wait to ge t back o n it. But there is m oisture there if you ride th e righ t line." SEMIS H- D Central /Frontier Harl ey-Da vidson's Dale [enn ema n ha the early lead in th first of the three semis, the Nebraskan . bei n g ho u n d ed b TC R r id ers Pau l Bergstrom an d Nick ' Hayden. The tea mmates we re runnin close on the fourth la w hen they to uched and Ber gstrom went down aga ins t th e ou tsid e wall on th . straightaway off turn four . He was up quic kly and would make the restart, but his chances for a Gra n Na tiona l berth took' a turn for the worse. On the restart, Dan Butler took his USC Racing /Lancaster H-D/ Dodge Brot hers ride up high off tum four and into th lead . Hayden followed Butler to the finish, and both were in ie main event. Th e second sem i pi tted the old man ag ain s t t he kid , as Morehea d led Bigelo w for the first six taps before the youngster from Michigan came calli ng . Bigelow almost ra n int o Moreh ead off turn two on lap six, and then go t a ru n on the veteran dow n the back stre tch on th e white-flag lap. Bigeow smo ked it in undernea th Morehead a t the entrance.to turn th ree, and th e wi n was his. In semi number three, Bartels' HarlevDa vid s on /RC Tr ucking's j ay Sprin gsteen finally go t it together after fighting to get co m fortable on his ma chine a ll ni ght. Sp rin ger di spatc hed early race leader Bret Beyer with an outs ide move o n the th ird lap and led th e rest of th e race . Springst ee n ' s 19-year-o ld teammate, Shaun Russell, mad e up for his failure to make the Peoria IT by makin g the Rapid City mai n, as he passed Beyer on lap th ree and then held off Corbin Racing's Ga ry Rogers at the finish . GRAND NATIONAL Carr won th e d rag race with Ko pp, the two coming from the ou tside of row one, w he n the 18 fastes t d irt tracker s in the black hills thu nder ed off the line and foug ht for a pa tch of rea l estat e on the turn -on e groove. Davis wa s th ird and had a prime viewing spot for Kopp's little faux pas in tu rn thr ee. "Ma n, I th ou gh t he wa s go nna ge t pitched right int o the ha y bales, " Davis said. "He backed it in ther e so hard , and the rear end started coming aro und , and I swear he looked right a t me." The n Davis was by and into seco nd, wh ere he attempt e d to fi nd a w a y around Carr as th~ first five laps unfolded, Fu r t he r b ack , Kin g was runn in g ah ead o f Roe d er, Park e r a n d Kop p , while Varnes ran ah ead of Hacker and Murphree. Coolbeth ran in 11th, behi nd Butler. Roed er wou ld even tu ally drop out with a fla t tire, and Varnes with a possibl e b roken ca ms ha ft. Murphree , too, d ropped back in th e pa ck earl y. Brieflv..: - .. Parker seemed to be reall y fighting his machine, and d espite ru nning fift h earl y, he was clearly on th e ropes, as he u ltim a te ly dro p ped to eig h th. Wh en a sked where he felt he s truggle d th e most, Parker's reply revealed h is frustrat ion wit h the way the night had go ne. "On the race track," Parker said. "I don't know. We just wo rked ou r way to the back ." Up fron t, Davis was still on Ca rr, but by lap seve n Carr wa s gaining grou nd, a nd then a sli p by Davis allowed the third- p lace d Kin g to d o the same. But King kn ew tha t if he wanted to ge t by Davis, a stra tegy cha nge wa s in order, and the Iowa n started hunting low er in turns one and two, lookin g for a shortcut. "Will ac tua lly showe d me that lin e about five la ps before I go t by him ," King said . "I just cou ld n' t seem to make it work a nd go fas t, but then m y bi ke wa s handling w ell in the rough st uff. We worked hard, and it paid off." The pa yoff ca me o n lap 19, when Davis jus t go t a little bit too hi g h and cou ldn't rein it back in off turn fou r. King was by, giving him jus t six laps to catch Carr, w ho was already in cru ise mode . " I knew w e had a good half-mile setup," Ca rr said . " Hell, I actually started from the front row this tim e - no t the ba ck . I didn 't ha ve to sp o t them two rows thi s week . W e ju st turn ed t h e table s on 'e m." As th e 25-la p pe r quickly drew to a close, the front fou r appea red to be set , . with the only o the r action coming from th e fift h and six th spo ts , as Coo lbe th a nd Hack er we re ha u li n g the freight after they h a d go tten by But ler and Parker. Hacker ac tua lly ha d fifth, bu t a miscue on lap 21 cost him the spot to his long time pal. "I went in to turn one, and I hit a hole and go t thrown u p into the ma rbles," Hacker said . "I almos t sp un out , an d by th e tim e I got it going ag ain , Ke n ny went by me. I couldn't pass him back after that because we were pretty muc h running even." "I got a shitty start," Coolbeth said of his race. "I was abou t 13th in th e first corn er. Then I cau ght up to Mike , and if he ha dn 't screwed up, I don't thin k that 1would have passed him . He was working good , and I wa s just followin g him ." When the five-lap sign was sh own by A MA sta rter Scot t Z im mer ma n, Ca rr had almos t a ha lf-straightaway lead on Kin g, a nd th ere was not h ing th at the Iowan cou ld do ab ou t it, even though he Powell. and the Powells didn't come here . So he 's riding it tonight. I still have to talk to (team owner) Pat Moroney and see what we're going to do for the rest of the year." For his part. J.R. Schnabel was more than pumped to have the chance to work with Eaken. "This is definitely'a good opportunity, - Schnabel said. "It's a good chance to work with Skip. to try Peoria injury update: As we previously reported, Dave Camlin underw ent surgery to have pins anden extern al fixator rod inse rt - ed in his left hand as the result of his crash at the Peoria n . Camlin was released from St. Francis Medical Center on Tuesday: August ·4. and is expected to be out for the season . Also likely to be out for the rest of the year is Steve BeaUie . The something different. and to work with some diff erent chassis tha n I normally ride." Schnabel wound up 17th in the main event. Cana dian racer wh o was Involved in that first -heat. multiride r pile- - The other kind of one of those days, S c aU Pa rke r had his day up has sustained fractures to his T·S and T·6 vertebrae. The fra care stable: and thus present no danger of paralysis. but Beattie will be fitted with a s pecial back brace before being released from St. FranCIS M edica l Ce nter. . start to go bad righ t from practice, whe n the cham pion cras hed in turn three. forcing Bill Werner and company to thrash to get Park- tin es ,. er 's mot or cycl e repaired before the main eve nt. I just go t the rear wheel up into the loose stuff and spun it around. .said Parker , w ho wa s uninjured in the cras h. " I th o uqht it was g ~ ng to M M o. man aged to sho rte n it some . But jus t as on the previ ou s Sund a y , th is o ne belon ged to Ca rr, wh o pumped his fist in the air after cross ing the finish line. "To look back wh er e we were afte r Du Qu oin , we wer e 42 points ou t of the lead ," Carr said . "N ow we ' re six . We'll tak e it. I've b een foc used o n Sco tty be cause he is th e o ne with th e points lead . If th at were Rich , then m v focus wo u ld change. But Scott's been ' ha ving so me real ba d lu ck la tel v - it's someth in g th at we've a ll had - a nd we've gai ne d a lot of ground on him . This is defi nitely a four-rider p oints race. Man, I love it when days go like this ." For Chris Ca rr , it tru ly w as one of n those da ys . Black Hills Speedway . Rapid City, South Dakota Result s: August 5, 1998 (Round 11 of 19) HEAT 1 no laps; 8 riders, top 2 transfer]: 1. Chris Carr (H· D); 2. Sco tt Park er (H·D ); 3. John ny Mu rphree (H-D); -I, Brya n Bigclo w (H-D) ; 5. Paul Mor ga n III (HO I; 6. Brent Arm bru ste r (H-D); i . Mile Varnes 0'1-0 ); K j ai m e A guila r (H- D). Ti me: 3 rm a ., 50.017 -ec . . HEAT 2 00 la ps ; 8 ri ders. lop 2 tran sf er): 1. [orKopp (H- D); 2. Gl'O Roed er II (H · D); 3. j. R. Schna be l (H 0); 4. N icky Hayd en (H ·D); 5 . Dan Sta nley (I-I-D) ; 6. Jel Y Spri ngsteen (H- D); 7. Pa ul Bergstrom (1-1-0); H. 5 1 1;'\'1;' Liberty (H-D>. Tim e:"3 min., 49.513 !'t~C. H EAT 3 (10 laps; 8 rid ers, lop 2 tra nsferk 1. Rich King tHon]: 2. Mike Ha cker (H· D); 3. Kenn y Coolbeth {l-i- D) : 4. Shaun Russe ll (H- D ); 5. Dale Ienneman (H- D); 6. Ken Yoder (H- D); 7. Lonn y Kopp (H- D); 8. Dan Butler (H-D>. Time: 3 min ., 5 1.654 Sl'C. HEAT 4 (10 la ps; 8 riders, top 2 transfer): 1. Will 2. 'S Davis Uf· 0);_ Kevin V.1mt. (l-i-D): 3. Brett Landes HiD); 4. Ca ry Rogers (H-D> S. Steve Morehead (H- D); 6. ; Danny Koelsch (f'i-Dl ; 7. Brei Beyer (H- D); 8. Billy Mart in (H-O>. Time: 3 min ., 51.682 sec. SEM I 1 (S la ps; 7 ride rs, top 2 tran sfer): 1. Dan Butle r (H- D); 2. N icky Hayden (H -D); 3. Paul Morgan III (H-O); 4. Dalp [en ncma n (HooD ); 5. Dannv Koelsc h (H0); 6. Pau l Bergs tro m (I-I-D); 7. ja ime Ag uila r (H-D). Ti me : No time, due to rest art . SEM I 2 (8 la ps ; 7 ri ders, top 2 transfer): 1. Bryan Bigelow (H- o); 2. Stev e Morehead (HooD); 3. D.m Stanley (H- D); 4. Ken Yod er (H -O); 5. Mike Va r nes (H-D); 6. Stew Liberty (H·D ); 7. Bill y Mar tin (H-D). Ti me : :; min., 05.55 1 Sl'C . S EMI 3 (S taps : ,; rid e rs, top 2 tra ns fe r): 1. j.,y Sp ri ngs teen ( H ~ D ); 2. S ha u n R u!> ~~11 (H- D); 3. Ga ry Ro gers (H· D> 4. Bret Beyer {l-i-D): 5. Brent Arm brus ter ; (H-Dl; b. Lonn y Kopp Il-l-D). T ime : 3 min ., Oi. q~N ~"C. C RAI\'D NATI ONAL (25 laps; 18 rid en ): 1. Chris Ca rr (H-D); 2. Rich King (Ho n): 3. Will Davis (H- D); .t, Joe Kopp ( H ~ D ); S. Kenny Cou lbet h (H -D) ; 6. Mike -I-D); 8. Scott Parker (H-D); Hacker (l-i-D): 7. Dim Butler (} 9. Brya n Bigelo w (H-D>; to. Jay Spring..teen (H-o); 11. Johnn y Murph ree (H-D>; 12. Steve Morehea d (H-D); 13. Shoun Ru ~~' 11 <.H ooD); 1-1 . Nic kv Havdc n (l-i-D) : 15. Kevin -0); Ii . J.R. Schnabel Varnes (H-Dl; 16. Brett Land~ 0-1 (H-D); 18. Gt.'O Roed er II (H-Dt Ti me : 9 min ., 40A SO !>LOC. AMA G RAND NATIONA L CHAMP IONSH I P SERIES POI NTS STA~DI NCS (After 11 of 19 eve nts) : 1. Scott Par ker (166 /4 wi ns) : 2. Rich King ( 162 / I); 3. Chris Carr (160/2); 4. Will Davi s (141 /2); 5. Icc Kopp (9.5); 6. Steve Morehead (90); 7. J,ly Spring..teen (88); K GI:'l Roed er II (83/1); 9 . Mi ke Held er (8 1); 10. Brvan ) Bigel ow (78); 11. Kev in Vamc.. (66); 12. Dan Stanley (elO); 1 ~ . Davcv Ca m lin (57); 1-1 . Dan Butl er (42); 15 (39); 16. Brett Lan d es (38); tz. (TIE) Steve Nicky Hoyden " ' Dt:"al ti t. / TI,.'rrv Poo ve v (36) ; 19 . (TI E) Kennv Coolbd h /P.lul Mor ga n Iii (33). • Upcoming Rounds: Round 12 - Joliet. Il linois. August 8 Round 13 - East Moline. Illinois. August 15 pionship trail after having missed the Peoria n . "Yeah. we were up in Canada, running a National race in Quebec City." Springer said, "It was fun. We got to go up for a practice session in front of the TV cameras. Then Thursday we went fishin'. then we came back and run the race. I won the 7S0cc class and they loaned me an 883, and I won on thattt was a good time. and we got to leave with a lot of their money. except their money ain't worth much when you change it back over." Will Davis and th e T o m' Cum mings R a c i ng T e am are looking to raise money via the raffling of a ' Will Davis S iqna ture Model" Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Sport .iw hlch was put up by the North Carolina Hartey-Devidson Dealers Association. "We' ve gotte n help from both 'the North- Carolina and Mi chi gan Ha rl ey.. Dealers A sso c iation s , M D av is said . " W e 'r e In the absence of Davey Camlin , J. R. Schnabe l was aboard come after me there for a second." Parker's crew swapped the s.elling tlckets for $5' apiece , and we're limiting the raffle to Camlin' s Sk ip Ea ke n-pre pare d 'Tea m S addleme n/l ·8 00 - ·forks and straightene d the dings in plenty of time for him to 5000 tickets. All the proceeds will go to the team." Tickets for . FASTHOG Harley-Davidson for 'the Hepid City Half Mile. giving answer ttie call for his scratch heat. in which he finished second. the bike. which will be raffled off on Sept ernber -f B at the " Asheville, North .Carchna. MARS race. can be purchased at the . the .former Rookie of the Year a golden opportunity to work with to Rich King. _ TCfl team' trans porter at all remaining Grand Nat ional races t he c ha mpio nship-wi nn ing ·t une r . ..He ' s j u st. goi ng to rid e it .. . tonight.- Eaken said. ' I already bUild engines for his sponsor. Bill J a y Springsteen was back on the AMA Grand National Cham- prior to that.date.

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