Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Dirt Track Round6: AllenCounty Fairgrounds AMA GRAND NATlONAL DIRTTRACK SERIES By Scott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos " \If!j '" '" '" i-: -5 ~ .., 16 LIMA, OH,JUNE 26 ith just over one lap to go, it looked for a ll th e wo rld as though nine-time and defend in g AMA G ra n d N ati ona l Cha mpion Scott Park er was goi ng to be able to walk away from the Allen County Fairg ro unds with his fourth straight Ohi o National Championship title. Five lap s later, Parker' s string of victories on th e gritty p ea -gravel half m ile a t th e Lima track was over, just like that. Instead , another former Lima winne r, Ha rley-Da v idson of Sa cram ent a l Phoe nix Racing's Chris Carr, earned the victory in the fiv e-la p d a sh that wa s mandat ed by the AMA after TLC Racing's Chris Evans cras hed in tum three just before Parker, w ho was clearl y the fast est ma n a t Lima o n this d ay, was ge tting set to receive the white flag from AMA starter Steve Faraci. After getting the rep rieve, Carr and tuner Kenny Tolbert sim ply d id wha t they' re sup posed to do: They made the best tuning d ecisio ns for th e run to th e finis h on th e qu ickly reg roo med track. Tolbert shed Carr's Continental tire in favor of a new Maxxis, and that ma y hav e been just the edge that the 32-year-old Carr needed as he go t an excellent jump from behind Parker in the sing le-file lineup, an excel- lent drive on the champ w hen they exited tu m thr ee on the first of the five laps a n d p o w ered b y him o n t h e fron t straig ht. Parker never gave up, but it wa s clear that Ca rr and To lbert ha d found w ha t th ey need ed d u r ing th a t crucial work brea k to unseat Parker. Carr continue d to pull away, takin g the checkered flag for his first victory of the season in the Bud weiser Half Mile by Dra g Specialties and bringing Parker' s incredibl e Lima streak to an end . Afterward, the con troversy and the historica l imp lications that came wi th it were not lost on Carr. "C h ris Ca rr h ad so m e good lu ck . tonight," Carr said while facing a small chorus of boos from the crowd. "I d id n't have an yt hing for Scott to night, but I think" that he'd be willin g to ad mit tha t he has had ple nty of good luck during his caree r. It was my tum to hav e so me of that. I don't feel bad about it. This is my first w in of the season, so it's nice, especially after we go t off to such a slow start ." The win, and the fact that he beat the guy tha t he must beat if he wa nts to earn a second Gran d Nati ona l title, gave Ca rr an even sturdier series points lead . Consistency in the six cha mpion sh ip rounds thus far have all owed him to qu ickly smash thro ugh the 100-p oin t ba rri er, and Carr now lead s Parker , 109-87, in the title chase. Parker was d e ject ed , p erhap s deservedl y so, to finish second to his old n em esis, especia lly af te r he had once aga in put on a cushion clinic aboa rd his Bill Werner-bu ilt factory Harley-David son/ H OG / Fick Excava ti ng XR. Th e seven-time Lima w inner d id abo ut all that he could do from the get-go in the sched uled 25-lap main event. He go t an excellent start from his position on th e ou ts id e p ole, ne ver backed off as h e fou ght for a good line in the first com er a nd then se t sail w it h Sch ae ff er' s H arl e y - D a vid s on /KK /L a s Vega s Harl ey-David son's Geo Roed er II right on his tail. Perfect. Th e all-conque ring cha m p io n a n d the local-boy cush io n specia list were going to give the crowd a show. Roed er hung righ t wi th Pa rker as the two found happiness in abo ut the middl e of the race track in both sets of corners, neith er rid er making any mistakes, bu t Parke r was able to inch away as th e la ps wo r e o n wh ile Roed er ap pea red to d rop a little low er in th e hop e of findi ng enough drive to "shortcu t" hi s wa y pa st Pa rke r. Th at gave Carr, wh o was running higher than anyone exce p t maybe the ha y-bal e-stringcut ting Kevi n Varnes, an oppo rtu nity to catch Roed er, and he d id on lap 10. By th en , Parke r was long gon e. It would hav e taken a miracle to catch him. Evans prov ided it. In th e "fi ve -la p Na tional" tha t fol- Chr is Carr scored his 35th career Grand National win at t he Lima Half Mile, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat by getting out front in the five-lap dash that dec ided the restarted mai n event and defeating Scott Parker,,Who had led the previous 23 laps . low ed , Parke r chose th e sa me lines, expecting to ru n the same race, and go t burned for it. Afterward, the leader of the Michigan Mafia that so dominates a place like Lima could not hid e his disappointment no matter how hard he tried . "No consistency," Park er said . "O ne week the AMA does it one way, the next wee k they do it another way. If me and Chris wo uld ha ve been goi n' a fter it, then I cou ld see wh ere they wo uld wa nt to restart it. If it was a mile, and there were four guys going for the lead, the n yo u w ould wa n t a restart. But th e (Eva ns) b ik e was d own , a nd h e w as clear, so it wasn't an issue of him bein g hur t. He ll , every bo dy p assed it. I'd already been by it once. I think we go t stroked . I'm p issed , and I ain't the only one who got scre wed by it." Next to Par ker, Roed er probably had the most to lose. He, too, had run abo ut as hard a race as ever aboard his Chico Bednar-w rench ed entry, the telltale sig n co m in g from th e red-ho t brake d isc rot or on his rear w heel. After cha sing Parker on a lower line tha n he normally

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