Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP By Dave Hoenig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos SEDALIA, MO, AUG. 29 lthOUgh the AMA' s Grand Nation, al Dirt Track Series traveled so me 960 miles to the west, it d id little to cha nge the results from a week ago. For the se co nd s uccess ive ra ce, Will Davis, Kev in Varnes and Steve Mor eh ead claim ed th e p odium p os iti on s. Unlik e las t wee k, ho w e v er , whe n Varnes and Davis w al ked away from the field, this wee k's race was a constant shu ffle from thebott om to the top. As the night wore on, the Missouri State Fairgrounds ha lf mile track d eveloped sever al lines , which resulted in an a c tio n -packe d 25-1a p race . To m m y Cu mmin gs Racin g / Mich iga n Ha rleyDavi dson Dea lers /Lor al La ke Racingbacked Davis took the lead away from Moreh ead on lap five, then relinqui shed it again ar ou nd lap 16 - on ly to cha rge back to the front agai n. "Steve (More he ad) was really afte r m e, b u t w hen I pa ss ed him th e fir s t time , I thought I'd g et away, " sa id Davi s, w ho also wo n the Seda lia National las t year. "H e was riding th e sa me line as I was and I thou ght I was faster." But it wasn ' t goi ng to be that easy , as Mor eh e ad lo ck e d o n to Da vis ' rear wh eel. Co mplica ti ng th in g s we re the sev en other riders w ho wer e solidly in th e hunt. Joe Kopp (who had led th e first lap), Rich King, Scott Parker, Chris Carr and Kevin Varnes were all in position to take a shot at Davis. All night , the gro ove had developed o n t h e b ott om of th e t r a ck, but th e s moo th lin e just a bove th e g r o ove looked very temptin gas the moisture sta r ted to ri se as Na tio na l tim e ca me around . "Wh en I got in front , I cou ld hear som eo n e , bu t I didn ' t k now who i t wa s," Davis said . "Then he (Morehead ) passed me coming out of four on the ou tside, and tha t surprised me. I kept & 20 Round 14: State Fair Speedway hear ing them coming, but I didn' t think the y were abo ve me. I thou ght they had moved down on the groove and caug h t me , because I was tryin g to work the top and it kind of went away for me. I figu re d th ey w ere o n the bo t tom , so I m o v ed to th e b ott om and th en he p assed me on th e top. I sa w what he , was doing an d two laps later he left me a ho le ge tting in; I we nt und er and was able to snea k by." The lap s wor e down and the d ra ma intensified . There were battl es ragin g all th rou gh the field at the midpoin t of the ra ce, bu t it was Davis, Mor ehead and Kop p hol d in g a sm a ll ad van tage ov er Kin g, Varnes , Par ker and Ca rr. Like an accordion, the pa ck would continua lly stretch ou t a nd th e n close back up. T h e F&S Harl ey Davidson / KK MotorcvSuppl y -b ack ed c1e Mo re h ead lo o ked po ised to w in his 23rd N a tiona l as he s ta lk ed Dav is, but the ve teran wa sn 't a lon e . Varn e s had ch ar ged u p fr om s e v e n t h p lace on th e fi rs t la p to h oo k on to the back of Mor ehead ' s Harl ey. On the last lap , M oreh ea d m ad e hi s move. "I d idn' t want to settl e for seco nd , and it (Above) Will Davis won his second successive AMA Grand National Dirt Trac k when the series moved to Sedalia. In the process, Davis took ove r the lead in t he Grand Nat ional Championship . (Right) Steve Morehead (42) and Kev in Varnes (89) battle over second place in the National. cost me," Morehead said . "I jus t hauled it in there, trying to roll around the ou tsi de of Will (Davis). He w as ge ttin g sideways in the middle of one and two and han gi ng the re. I thought if 1 cou ld run it in there, I'd roll on arou nd him in a last-d itch effor t. I knew Kevin (Varnes) was there, but I wa nted to go for it - it was close eno ugh to make a race out of it. If I cou ld ha ve go t a run on Will , I co u ld h a v e b ea t h im o ff th e co rn e r becau se I was ge tting off bett er than he wa s." When the d us t se ttle d , it w as Rose Racing / Schaeffer ' s Ha rle y-Davidson / B&B Tradi ng's Varnes in the runner-u p spot. "Steve just messe d up," Varn es said. " H e go t in to tu rn one too hard a nd wen t off the groove a .little bit. It was just a present for me, I guess. I wish I wo uld have gotten a good start - I know I could hav e done be tter vet." Morehead settled for third over Kopp -o n hi s C a rl Pa trick-built, Mi sso uri Harley-Davidson /Dave Burks Racing Ha rley . Kopp had led the first lap and was running stro ng. "I think th a t w as about th e be st chance I' ve had of win ning a 750 Grand Na tiona l," sa id Kop p. "The firs t 15 laps , I just cou ldn 't get in front of them . I was tr ying to s e t up Steve down in turn three, but couldn't make it stick, as he'd get a good drive off fou r. I cou ld have been ugly and went up high an d pushed him out, but I didn't want to do that. " Carr pull ed away from a racelong b a ttle w it h Park er a nd s li p ped h is H arley-Da vi ds on of Sa cr ament o / Ph oeni x Ra cin g / RC Dig i ta l en tr y a ro u nd Kin g's Co rbin Racing ZSu p erTrapp Honda by on thelast lap to take fifth place. "I was somewha t su rprised that the top side of the track came in, an d I was sticking to my gu ns and running down low," Ca rr sai d . " It wa sn' t that the top was tha t m u ch fas ter, but I co u ld n ' t move on guys mu ch. Scotty (Parker) set me up on the outs ide and go t by me. So I moved up and got back by him aga in. It felt like I was goi ng really goo d and w as ca tc h in g th e le a d pack . Eve n tho ug h we we re ridi ng hig h, it was still toug h to pass - it see me d like it was one line right on the ed ge of the groove. I was able to in ch up and put some pressure on King and there towar ds the end I think he go t a little conservative going in to turn thr ee an d I was able to squeeze by and beat him to the line." King' s p rob lem s w ere a little more than being conse rv ative. "I caught up to the lead ers, but my tire chu nked up," King explained . "1felt rea l comfortab le, then all of a sudden it sta rte d getting squirrelly going into the corners. The n it wo u ld n' t come off the corne r, eit her. I was se tting right there and was just bidi ng my time. I was jus t re a lly hopi ng to score big on some of the se half miles - i t ju st hasn 't happened ." Tha t left Park er the last of the lead g ro u p . Park er ha d kept h is Ha rley"

• Cover