Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128002
placing himself in the wrong p lace at the wrong time. Still, there was a gleam in th e eyes of old "W in ki n ' Will " as h e cam e aw ay with his first pod ium finish since winning the Dayton a Short Tra ck. More im po rta n tly , th ou g h , h e a lso knows that he is closer tha n eve r to bagging a mile win . "We thoug ht we ha d a sho t at it, bu t w ha tever," Davis said wi th a s mi le . "Tha t wa s fun . I've been in so me good ones at Springfield, but tha t was so methin g. I thi n k I learn ed so mething ou t there. I'm not sure when I'll get to use it again, bu t I did lea rn so met hing . Man, that was a chess match." And then, as if to emphasize his newfou nd confid ence, Davis said: "We will be back ther e aga in ... We w ill be back th ere a ga in .. . We w ill be b a ck t h er e again." Fourth place went to TCR/BF/ Michigan Harley-Davidson Dealer 's Association 's Kevi n Athert on , wh o was fast all night but, like Parker, wou nd ' up getting lost while searching for a better place to run. As the top five strung out, Atherton s im p ly maintain ed hi s p ac e , to o fa r behind Parker to get any assistance wh en th e cha m p turned up th e w ick to ge t back into contention. Atherton remained , in no ma n's land, finishing fourth. "We were all ru nni ng above the hard s tu ff," Athe rto n sa id . "I thou ght that I was goi ng to be able to make a bid , but Scotty wen t by me on the bottom , and I wen t d own ther e and ju st started skating around . The hard er I rod e, the slower I went. Fourt h is better tha n fifth, bu t it st ill sucks. Ahh, well, I guess ther e' s no disgrace in it." Ba r t el s ' H a r le y- D a v i d s o n / Re al McCoy's Jay Springsteen had another decent n ight on th e Indy Mile, as th e 42- yea r-ol d three-time Grand Nationa l C ha m pio n cruised h ome .in fifth place, a head of a w ild bat tle for six th th at fe a t u re d Geo Ro ed er II , Joe Ko pp, Dan Bu tler, Mik e Ha cker a nd Rich Kin g . Sp rings tee n, too, got left beh in d wi th o ut a drafting p ar tn e r , and that w as abou t a ll she w ro te for th e 42-tim e Gra nd N a tional win ne r. Still, Springer was proud to be ab le to say th a t he gave 'er hell on th e opening lap . "How about that first lap?" Springsteen sa id. "From the starting line all the way to turn three , I w as w id e o pen . Things have been go in g go od for u s. The bik es are running good, Joe (Bisha) and Jim (Kelly ) are doing a real good job. This is th e b ik e th at w e rod e a t Ha gerstown and at Springfield. We d id a va lve. job on it, and tha t's it. It's starting to vibra te a little now." HEATS The Co rbin Racin g / SuperTrapp /HD Cycle Cen te r of Wa te rloo-backed King grabbed the holeshot in the firs t lO-lap hea t race, on ly to be dis placed by Springsteen w hen th ey came down to meet AMA starter Steve Faraci 's green flag to s tart la p two . Then Parker kamikazied his wav int o the lead with a brillia nt outside 'move in tu rn o n e . Meanwhile, young hots hot Ken ny Coolbeth threaded his Harlev-Davidson of M isso u ri /Dave Bu rks 'Mo to rsports moun t past Sp ringer and King to ta ke second pl a ce . The fo u r rid ers moved away fro m the rest of the pack, ta king turns leading a t va rious p a rt s of th e track, although Parker always held the lead across the stripe . In the end, Coolbet h got d ro p ped ou t of th e draft and lost a shot at th e transfer . Parker took the w in in a close one , sand wiche d by King on the insi de and Sp rin gsteen on the ou tside, a t the wi re. "That was a good one:' Parker said . "My bi ke n eed ed wo rk th ere. I th ink tha t we're off a little bit. I was ru nning clo se to th e bottom ou t th ere . I th ink that we need to change our setu p." Parker (1) gra bbed the early lead in the 25lap main event , with most of the pack foll owing hi m on th e groov e, while Jay Springsteen (9) ran it in wide open up high. Other than the charge that Moroney 's Ha rlev-Davidson /1 -800-FAST HOG 's Mike Hacker put in to lead the opening lap, heat two was pretty mu ch all Davis , as he ma naged. to draft his wa y forwa rd right away and set sail - leaving Atherton, Hacker, Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Sha u n Russell a nd F&S Harley-Davidso n / KK Motor cycle Supply / Shep herd & Dr a goo' s Ste ve Mo re hea d be h ind . Da vi s proceed ed to check out, while Hacke r and Ath erton pulled far eno ug h a wa y fro m th e res t to lo ck up th e remai n in g tr ansfer spots . Mo reh ead ' s mo to rcycle wen t lame on h im a ro u nd la p si x. Th e s trea ki ng Davis too k th e win by an easy 25 lengths, whil e Hacker's d raft-pass on Atherton for second ca me up s ho rt. Reg ardl ess, a l1 th ree were through to the main. "In practice, yo u cou ld run a rou nd the to p," Davi s sa id . "In the heat race, you had to run around the bottom, and that 's jus t wh ere we were set up. I don 't know . It 'll change again. Everybo dy's 17