Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Dirt Track 1999 AMA Grand National Championship Series 2. Rider: Chris Carr National #: 4 Team: Harley-Davidson of Sacramento Brand: Harley-Davidson Age: 31 Residence: Fleetwood, Pennsylvania Career best result: AMA Grand National Champion (1992) 1998 best finish: First (Peoria IT, Rapid City Half Mile, Springfield Mile) 1998 results: Second Let's face th'e facts: There are a lot of riders who have had the poten tial to. take Parker's number-one plate away for years. Only two of them have, and this guy is one of them. When you consider tha t Carr had to scrap his priva teer road race plans, readjust to life as a dirt track privateer, and then be patient enough and consistent enough to wait for that huge win at the Peoria TT, and then be left standing as the only man who could take the championship from Parker going into the last round, then 1998 may well have been one of his most successful and productive years in dirt track racing. Time will tell if it was just a harbinger of things to come. One thing is certain (and Carr would probably tell you this himself): It will take more than three wins to get the job done. Look for him to get more, as he has been boosted by a better-financed program and a full commitment to only dirt track racing. Tuner Kenny Tolbert is as sharp as ever, and if Carr comes out smokin' at Daytona, the season will be as interesting a one as ever there was. I've already been chastised by the boss for not tabbing Carr for the championship. Well, Chris, you once said that you didn't have anything left to prove in this sport. Prove me wrong. 3. 1. Rider: Scott Parker National #: 1 Team: Team Harley-Davidson 'Brand: Harley-Davidson Age: 37 Residence: Swartz Creek, Michigan Career best result: AMA Grand National Champion (1988-91, '94-98) 1998 best finish: First (Daytona Short Track, Harrington Half Mile, Springfield Mile, Du Quoin Mile, East Moline Half Mile, Sacramento Mile, Del Mar Mile) 1998 result: AMA Grand National Champion Maybe years from ~ ~ as :0 15 If 30 now, sports historians will treat motorcycle racing and dirt track motorcycle racing - with more respect than they do now. Maybe only then will all sports figures come t 0 appreciate the dominance that Scott Parker has enjoyed during a career that pro- duced two incredible strings of championships. In 1998, Parker's seven victories allowed him to once again put fresh ink in the record books, as he became the first rider in Grand National history to win five consecutive titles, putting him head and shoulders above Carroll Resweber, a man whose dominance in the late '50s and early '60s probably made him seem superhuman to dirt track .followers in those days. What Parker has done will likely never be done again, giving him the deserved status of a motorcycle racing icon. And yet, through it all - the 91 career victo- . ries that he has amassed thus far, and more importantly the hundreds of times that he didn't win - he has remained the same guy who blew 'em all away at the Du Quoin Mile in 1979. He has come from behind, clinched early. Heck, last year he even started' with the series points lead, lost it, and roared back to score a deciding last-round victory at Del Mar to win his ninth crown. Parker claims that 1999 will be his last, and maybe that's good. Because like it or not, as long as he and Bill Werner keep pulling into the pits with that orangeand-black factory bike in the back of their unlettered white box van, then this is their game - win, lose or draw. Rider: Will Davis National #: 21 Team: Eaken Racing Brand: Harley-Davidson Age: 34 Residence: Goldsboro, North Carolina Career best result: Second (1997) 1998 best finish: First (Mineralwells Half Mile, Eldora Half Mile, Hagerstown Half Mile, Sedalia Half Mile) 1998 result: Fourth When Davis is good, he's really good. Follr race wins in 1998 were proof enough of that. But when he's bad... boy .. Missed opportunites and bad breaks robbed him of the consistency needed to ea rn his firs t Grand National Championship, but that's all over now. Look for the 'winkin' one' to have plenty of game in '99. Of course, he'll be doing it on someone else's horses, as he has departed the Tom Cummings Racing team and joined up with championship-winning wrench Skip Eaken. The machinery will be im~aculate, but two questions remain: 1) Can he and Eaken hook up, develop the dialogue and be competitive right out of the box? Probably - they've partnered up on a temporary basis before and found success. 2) Can Davis and Eaken hook up, develop the dialogue and win mile races right out of the box? I still believe that's the key, even though we disagree on the matter. Davis says that if he wins everything else, the miles won't matter. I say that he has won just about everything else and still not come away with the big one. If he can dominate the half miles and win a mile in '99, then this team will be interesting to watch. 4. Rider: Rich King National #: 80 Team: Team Corbin Brand: Harley-Davidson Age: 35 Residence: Waterloo, Iowa Career best result: Second (1995) 1998 best finish:..First (Oklahoma City Half Mile, Route 66 Half Mile) 1998 result: Third There's a lot of things that King is when he's on the race track: strong, consistent, businesslike. Shoot, you already knew tha t if you read last year's version of this piece. And if you did, then you also know that there are a few things that King isn't, such as a consistent winner, and strong on the miles - or at least enough to stand on top of the box at one. It's not that he can't, it's just that he hasn't, and the reason that I keep harping on this with both King and Davis is because I firmly believe that once either of them does win a mile, then they will probably win another, and that will open the door to more than just a chance at the championship. King is back with Corbin Racing in 1999, but he has reluctantly left both his beloved Hondas and team owner Craig Rogers behind to contest the series on Harley-Davidsons. It's his all own deal this time, and despite his great faith in tuner Sam Wessely, being the boss might just be enough to prevent him from climbing further up the ladder - at least in '99."Hope not. 5. Rider: Kevin Varnes National #: 89 Team: Saddlemen Racing/Lancaster Ho /Dodge Brothers Brand: Harley-Davidson Age: 24 Residence: Pottstown, Pennsylvania Career best result: Sixth (1998) . 1998 best finish: Second (Sedalia Half Mile) 1998 result: Sixth I was happy to be wrong about the 1998 fortunes of my favorite young riders in the .series. Last year, I picked Varnes to finish seventh, much to the snickering of several of his competitors and his peers in light of the fact that he had departed the Johnny Goad camp and joined up with the Rose Racing team. I don't mind telling you that one of them - Goad him-

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