DIRT TRACK
AMA GRAND NATIONAL
C
HAMPIONSH SERIES
IP
A
EJ
~
~
the re . E~~iy" i~ \he ';~~~, ~h;~'e r~a~
catching him (Parker) was down in three
and four: He was u p in the marbl es, once
it dried out, and jus t sp innin g. I d ropped
down and found some rubber down low
and a lot of traction. I was really making
up so me tim e. Down in one and tw o, I.
was just bouncin g through the holes. I
needed to get a little hig her, bu t by the
time I got into second, where I could have
moved u p a little 'h igher, the exhaust
came ou t. Then I didn't ha ve en o ugh
power to get up into the deep stuff.
"I thou ght , 'Well, maybe this isn't all
ba d ," Da vis co n tinued. "The en gin e
doesn' t lose a lot of pow er if it just breaks
a head er p ip e. I don' t d o grea t, bu t it
kind of mellows ou t. As slick as it was
down low, it wasn't going to hu rt me too
bad. By the time he (AMA starter Steve
Fa racci) gave the five-lap sign , it was
blubb eri ng in the middle of the comers,
becau se it had co me ou t of th e h ead .
When I went into the corner and ro lled
the gas off, I' m sure it was just sucking
di rt in. I'm sure the dirt ate the va lves
and probably the rings, too. By tha t time
I was just hopin g to finish the race."
Springsteen steadily worked his wa y
forward, but he w asn' t problem -free,
either.
"Two ou t of the three bolts that hold
m y righ t footpeg on -broke off right in
th e cases ," Springsteen sai d . "Whe n I
stepped on the brake, the whole footpeg
- brack et and all - would mov e until it
hit th e cas es, th en th e b rake w ould
w ork. I h ad brakes, but it was like a
d ela yed brake. I just got a real goo d
s tart , a n d I fig u re d th e g u ys up top
would use up the cushion, and it would
go away. They had polished off the bottom, so I figured the groo ve wa s go ing
to come in and get better and better as
the race wen t on. It did for a w hile, but
it sta rted to get real slippery. I'm real
happy with fourth ."
Bu ti er held o n fo r fif t h after h is
Ha rley we nt sour on lap 14. Sixth fell to
Evans, as he got by the struggling Coo lbeth on the last lap.
"Tha t' s m y seco nd sixth this yea r,"
Eva ns said . "I finished sixth at West Virginia, too. It wa s abou t the same deal coming from the back. So at the lowest
po int, I guess I was about 10th, bu t I sure
thou ght it was farther back than that. It
was jus t a t the end ther e tha t Coolbet h
and Butler an d those guys started showing up aga in . If I could just get a start
wit h them and not have to come from so
far back - maybe next week."
Carr was a ls o so mew h a t pl e a s ed
with his eighth-place finish.
"The first ha lf of the race, we jus t got
too far behi nd and cou ld n' t d o anything
with them," Carr sa id . "I th ink a t the
end , th e fas tes t guy on th e track wa s
Chris Eva ns. I chas ed him nd chased
him, but he was pulling away fro m me
a t the en d. We just move on to ne xt
week. "
N icky Hay de n m ov ed u p to 10 th
after a slow start.
"I had my helm et all sealed up so it
didn' t leak," Hayd en said . "Then, on the
warmup lap, it fogged up, so I ha d to
tear all tha t off. It leaked after tha t, and 1
had rocks and eve ry thing else up in my
helm et, and the first five laps I was just
kin d of cru isin g aro und . The last tim e
I'd been on the track was the first heat
race, when they had tw o hou rs to prepare it. The track was per fect then, but
when r we n t ou t for the National, it had
cha nged so mu ch. That hurt me a littl e
bit."
Anot he r yo u ngster, Bryan Bigelow,
finis hed right behind Hayden and was
equally disappointed.
"We had a littl e trouble seeing, bu t
(Left) Surp ris e, surpris e: Jay
Springsteen battled f rom the back
ro w and put t ogether a he ll of a r ide
to land the f ourt h spot. Despite a few
costl y breaks, Springsteen has been
en joying a so lid se ason thus fa r.
(Ri ght) No c rown yet: Ric h King
finished a d isappointing n inth p lace
at Mo line, thus losing the p oints lead.
B ut th e co nsistent-running Iowan is
hard ly out of t h e runn in g, as several
more ha lf m il es and m iles re ma in on
the schedule.
(Bel ow) Th e fi ve-m an podium, a
Sidewa ys Circ us Pro moti o n s
exclu s ive : (Left to r ight) Sp rin gst een,
Kopp, Parker, Davis and Butler
enjoyed the p ost-race celebration .
the line tha t worked for me in my heat
just wasn't there in the main ," Bigelow
said . "The first lap, som ebod y fell down
in turn four. I thought they were going
to red-flag it and every body got on.the
brakes a little. Th e line th at I th ou ght
wo uld wo rk d idn't, so I jus t struggled
all main 'e vent. If we keep on ge tting in
there, hop efully so me thing w ill happen.
I'm happy, but whe n you get second in
your heat, you expec t to do better."
Finding their wa y in beh ind Bigelow
were Morgan, Hacker, Varnes and Russe ll. Moreh ead a n d Sente ll b oth
d ropped ou t on lap 16. Moreh ead ha d
been in the to p five early in the race but
had fad ed to 13th before d ropping out.
Roeder was credited with last place after
Di
his first-lap crash.
Quad City Downs
East Moline, Illinois
Results: August 15, 1998 (Round 13 of 19)
HEAT 1 no laps; 10 rid ers, top 3 transfer): 1. Dan
Bu tle r (H· D); 2. Kenn y Coo Ibe t h (H - D); 3 . N icky
Ha yde n (H-o); 4. Ch ris Boone (H- D); 5. Bret Beyer O-I~
D); 6. Wade Caml in (H-D); 7. Ian Scgcdy (H-D ); 8. Brett
Landes (H-D); 9. Ken Yode r (H-D); 10. Kyle Long (H-D>.
T ime : 5 min s .• 7.918 sees .
HEAT 2 (10 laps; 10 riders, top 3 tra nsfer): 1. Gt.'()
Roeder II (I i ~ D); 2. Scott Par ker (H-D); 3. Mike Hacker
(H· D>;4. Sha u n Russell (H· O); 5. Da n Sta nley (H-D); 6.
Briefl
J.R. Sch nabel (H -D); 7. Danny Koe lsch (H-D); 8. Jason
Sentell .
Ti me: 5 rnins ., 3.255 sees .
H EAT 3 (10 taps; 10 riders, top 3 tnnsfrr): 1. Will
Davis (H-D), 2. Chris Evans (H-D ); 3. Chris CUT (H-D);
4. Jay Sp rings tee n (H-D); 5. Steve Mor eh ead (H·D); 6.
Paul Mo rga n 1lI (H-D); 7. Gary Rogers (H-D) ; 8. Billy
Mart in (H -D); .9 . Pa u l Bergst ro m (H ·D); 10. Ke vin
omS"" (H·D).
T ime: 5 mins ., 7.718 ~"CS.
H EAT 4 no la ps ; 10 riders, top 3 tr.ans fer): 1. Joe
Kopp (H · D); 2. Bryan Bige lo w U t-D); 3. Rich Ki ng
(Han); 4. Johnny Murphree (H· D); 5. Ierry Vanderkoo i
(H-D); 6. Joh n Nickens 111 (H· D); 7. Jaime Agu ilar (H-D);
8. Nic k Dan iel s (H-D); 9. Steve G ill (H-O); 10. Kev in
Varnes (H-D>.
Ti me: 5 min s., 11.834 sees .
SEM I 1 1 laps; 9 ri ders, to p 2 transfer) : 1. Ste ve
8
Mo re he ad (H- D); 2. Sha u n Ru s se ll (H -D ); 3. Jo h n
s
Nic kens III (H-D); 4. Bret Beyer (H-D); 5. Brett Land e
(H·D) ,6. Billy Martin (H· D); 7. Brian Kromroy (H· D), 8.
Dan ny Koe lsch (H-D); 9. Steve G ill (H· D).
Ti me: 4 min s., 12.134 sees .
SEMI 2 (8 l ap ~ ; ') rid ers, top 2 tra n sf er): 1. Ja y
Sp ringsteen 0-1·0); 2. Ja so n Se n te ll (H -D) ; 3. C a ry
Roge rs ( Ii - D) ; 4 . W a d e Ca m li n ( H -D ); 5 . Je rr y
Va n der koo i (H-O) ; 6. Nic k Da niels (1-1-0); 7 , D an
Sta nley (H -D); 8. Ken Yoder (H· D); 9. Kevin Olli ges (HD).
T ime: 4 rnins., 10.479 sees .
SE M I 3 (8 la ps; 10 rid e rs, top 2 tran sfer): 1. Pa ul
•••
Inj~red nder-turned-full-tirne promote r D avey Ca m lin was working hard
all night at moving the show along. In past years. long delays to work on
the track have caused many comp laints. - I think it's better this year. but
we're still spend ing too much time on the track: Camlin said. "I didn't
want to be forced into that situation again and I sure don 't like all the dust .
we had early, but I think all in all its a better show ." The crowd. estimated at around 6500. stayed around after the winners circle to see B ubba
B l ackwell jump -his XR750 Harley over' 18 cars : His successful jump
was fo llowed by a fireworks display. and it was all over before midnigh t.
Of co urse. East M orine victor S cott P a rker pushed his all-time Grand
Nationa l recor d one win higher. and he offered his opinion on the night' s
racing. "(W in) number 89 was a long time coming . - Parker said. -My only
compla int about the track was that it was dusty · it was nasty all night
long. but I wasn 't in back. either. I think they need to raise the percentage
of calcium .in the race track and try to keep the dust down . I feel bad for
the fans. I think the track was better. Even though they did take less time
this ye ar. I think they have to cut if some more. People. come to see
motorcycle races. n ot truck races. It just needs to be a litt le bit quicker:
let us put on a show and move on."
Morgan III (H -D ); 2. Ke vin Varn es (H-D); 3. Joh nn y
Murphree (H-D ); 4. 1 Schnabe l (H· D); 5. Chris Boone
.R.
(H-D); 6. Ian Seg ed y (l j·D); 7. Paul Bergstrom (H·D), 8.
Jos h Butler (H-D); 9. Ja imt. Agui lar (H-D ); 10. Kyle Long
·
(H-D).
T ime: 4 mins., 8.980 St."CS .
CRANO NA TlONAL (25 l.i PS; 20 riders): 1. Scott
Parker (H·D>; 2. Will Davi s (H-D); 3. Joe Kopp (H-D); 4.
Jay Sp ri ngsteen (H -D) ; 5. Da n Butler (H -D); 6. Chris
Eva ns (H -O); 7. Kenny Coolbe th IH-O ); 8. Ch ris Carr
(H-D); 9. Rich King ( Hon): 10. Nic ky Hayd e n (H- D); 11.
Bry an Bigelo w (H -D) ; 12. Paul Morgan III (H ·D) ; 13.
Mike Hacker (1-1-0 ); 14. Kev in Va rnes (H· D); 15. Shaun
Russell (H · D); 16. Steve More he ad (H· D ); 17. Jaso n
Sen te ll (H-D); 18. Goo Roed er II (H-D).
Ti me: 15 mi ns ., 14.081 sees .
AMA G RAND NATIONA L C HAM P IO NS HIP
SERIES POI NT S ST ANO INGS (Afte r 13 of 19 rounds):
t. Sco tt Parker (197 /5 w in s); 2. Rich Kin g 0 95 /2); 3.
C h r is C a r r 0 87 / 2); 4. Will Davi s (179 /2) ; 5. Jay
'
Springst een (115); 6. JOt Kopp (111); 7. Stev e Morehead
(l00); 8. Bryan Bigelow (92); 9, Mike Hacke r (87); 10.
Ke vi n Va rnes (86); 11. Ceo Roed er II (84 / 1); 12. Da n
Butle r (66); 13. Dan Stanley (62); 14. Nicky Hayd en (61);
IS. Dav e Camlin (57); 16. Brett La ndes (52); 17. Ch ris
Evans (49); 18. (TIE) Paul Morga n III/ Kt.n Cllo lbeth Jr.
'
(45); 20. (TIE) Stew Beattie /Terry Poo vey (36).
Upcoming Round s;
Rou nd 14 - Hagerstown , Maryland, August 22
Roun d 15 - Sedalia, Missouri, Augu st 29
Davey Carnhn's older brot her W ade Camli n . himself a former National
number holder who has been in and out of retirement the last couple of
yea rs . took Davey 's ride on t he Skip Eaken -prepp ed , Team Excelleratlo n/ Eaken Raci ng/M oron ey' s Harl ey -Davidson-bac ked Harl ey . Camlin
was impressive 'in his qualifying heat. finishing second to Geo Roeder and
topping Will Davis. John Nickens.. D anny Koelsch . Bret Beye r and Paul
Mo rgan. He followed that wi th a sixth in his regular heat; and a fourth in
his semi ended his night.
.
W ill D avi s was very pleased with .his second -place finish ' at least until
he had time to reflecton it. " I'm not complaining. but now I'm starting to
think that maybe if I'd been on the front row: I honestly think I could have
wo n it: Davis said. " But who knows? You never know how a race plays
out. Maybe if I'd been on the front row . I wo uld have crashed or something crazy. I never saw him (Roeder). That' s what scares you . The first
comer" everybody was sideways - they were bumping. crossi ng people's
lines. I thought I was way back , I figured I was in 10 th or 12th. I m ust have
go t a ' better start than I hgured. I felt like I was way back . right from the
beginning; I must have passed a' Iot of people. I hgured the lead pack had
just split, not having to contend with the spray . -
D a n B utler was still happy 'w ith 'his fift h after r unning second for so
long. - W e're just looking for that one break. just one. - Butler said. - Rid· .
ing broken up is really tough. Ii w as hurting my foo t : but it's incentive to
ride hard when you 'r e on top . I felt really com fortable. M e and J ohnny
Scott Parker's win also pushes him ~c k into the points lead .
there
(Gmid) .and Kenny ct l ohlerl have been getting everything dialed in. and
v
we 're getting my riding style changed ove r a bit, and it's helping me out a
are still two more half miles before the series moves to the miles: Th ~ee
out of the last.four races w ill be held on Parker 's stronqestvenues, King
w hole bunch. W e're co ming on. slowly but surely. Hop efully the season
is just tw o points' back. with' Carr hanging 'J0 marks 'behind Parker; Davis
w on' t run out on us; As good .as we' re .running now . maybe we' ll see a '
.. .
lost four points to Parker , but clo sed on everyone else and is now eight .. win before the seaso n js out. - . '.
back of .Carr. They are realist ically the only riders in contention for the
title . Sp ringst een is fifth . 82 points down' to Parker."
.
Gardner RacinglWalters Brothers Hariey-Davtdson' s Dan .Stanley suffered the heartbreak of blow ing up his Harley on the warmup lap of his
Rich King held his own view of the rugged half ·mile. ' " I do think Davey
semi. When the sec ond semi came out. riders were given 0r:'e lap to
Cam lin did a' goo d job o f trying to make the track as good as pos sible this
wami up. and 'Stanley's engine began to make expensive."sounds while
time, - King said. - I think the show went relatively smooth. but if we never
going into tum one. tie coaste d to a'stop i·n .tum .three and was d one for
com e bac k here. it ",:ouldn't bot her me a bit. .
the n ight .
but
