Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7: Indiana State Fairgrounds AMA GRAND NATIONAL DIRT TRACK SERIES by Scott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos L1\IDlANAPOUS, h'l,JULY 3 hris Carr is on a roll. A ft er h a vi ng la n ded on th e pod ium a t every round of th e season thus far, the 32-year-old forme r Grand N ati on al Champi on fi n a lly stood atop the bo x at last week's Lima Ha lf Mile by mi xing skill wi th a lot of luck. At the Fast Track Racing-p rom oted N ew Indy Mile, however, it was more the o the r wa y around, as Carr p il ot ed hi s Kenn y Tolbert-tun e d , Harl e y-D a vid son o f Sacram ento / Phoenix Racin g-backed XR750 to car eer G rand Nati on al win number 39 (see "Briefly...")' thus tyin g the la te Rick y Graham for th ird on the all-time Grand Na tio na l winners lis t. It wa s a lso his thir d Ind y wi n . Carr had to work for this one, as he forged his way into second in the early stages of the 25-lap main event, setti ng off a fte r early-ra ce lead er Will Davis, wh o had hi s Ea ke n Racing Har le yDa vidson wo u nd up fu ll-so ng. Davis had th e sparse cro wd at th e even t believing that he might actually score a ~ br eakaway a nd record his fir st career .., mile victory, but Carr kept his cool and 16 slowly but surely reeled in th e North @ Ca rolinian, maki ng a bid for the lead on lap 16. After that, w hile the two played cat-a nd- mo use, nin e-time and defending se ries cha m pio n Scott Parker came from third place to join the game abo ard h is Bill We rner-built fa ctory Ha rleyDavidson. The th ree rid e rs wou ld sett le the chase a mo ng th em s elv es, w ith Carr setting u p p er fectly off the last corner to run in second, beh ind Da vis, wit h Parke r ru nni ng thi rd. Carr pulled out a nd dra fted p ast Davis ea rly on the run up the front straight, with Pa rker a tte mpting to d o th e same to Ca rr in a m o v e th at fell s ho r t b v less tha n a wheel len gth. Ca rr's wi~ also ma rked the firs t in Grand Na tio nal co m petiti on fo r th e Contin ental ti re, a nd h e cre di ted it fo r so me of hi s success a t Ind y. "We pu t a Conti on the rear because we di dn 't get a good-e no ugh test on it in the heat races, but it wo rked ," Ca rr said. "I still had reservation s about it because nobod y had eve r run one for 25 laps in a ma in event. This is the first win for Continental. For '99, it's a viable option." And wh at of Carr's part in the w in? "Will (Davis ) go t hook ed up early, and I was just following him," Ca rr sai d . "For 12 laps, we were d ead-nuts eve n; then I was finally able to ge t a whiff of hi m. The n Scott (Pa rke r) took the lea d goi ng in to tu rn one (on the last lap ). I got by him goi ng into three, and I just protected seco nd . I didn't want to take the lead yet." ot taking the lead just yet ultimately ' enabled Ca rr to extend his lead - in the se ries point s s ta nd ings, th a t is. After seven of 21 rounds, Ca rr now leads Parker, 132-106, wit h Kevin Atherton - fourth today - sitting third, with 95 points. T he p oin ts race not w it h s tanding, Parker's second st raight defeat at th e han d s of the man he believes will once again be his main challenger at the en d of the seaso n may just serve as one more so urce of motivation to capture that 10th champions hi p befor e ret irin g. There' s no qu estion tha t Parker was moti vated at Ind y on his Harley-Da vid son /HOG / Fick Excavating XR750. The 37-year-old Michig and er got off to a d ecent start but then lost tou ch with Davis and Ca rr as the lead pack stru ng out for mu ch of the di stance on the slick fairgr ounds mil e. But o nce Ca rr ca ug h t Davis, Parker picked up the pa ce and sna ked back int o co n tentio n by tu rn three on lap 21. In the chess game that followed, Parker' s move for the win came up jus t short, but even so, he could be content with the Chris Carr (4) outran Scott Parker (1) and Davis (21) to the checkered flag to claim the Indy Mile. Carr now has 39 ca ree r Grand National victories , tying him with the late Ricky Graham for third on the . all-lime win list. Will fact tha t - in his eyes - thi s w as a fa ir fight. "They had better lines than I did for the first part of the race," Parker said. "I tried to mock w ha t they were d oin g , and I cou ld n' t ru n that way. But whe n the y gave us the five-lap sig n, I knew I had to dig d eeper to get it d one." Wi th b oth Parker and Ca rr d igging deepe r, Davis was left as th e od d man out in the run to the checkered flag, but o nl y a fte r ha vi n g ridd en a ma sterful race for 24 of the 25 laps. After getting the lead early and then breaking away, it a p peared as th ou gh th e hard-riding veteran, w ho score d h is fi rst career Grand N ati on al win jus t ove r 10 years ago, would finally be able to lay claim to hi s fir st mil e-r ace vic to ry . Eve n wh en Carr and Parker ca ug h t him, Da v is remained com posed and took the lead at s everal p oints o n th e race tra ck. Unfortunatel y , h e wa s al so le a d in g when they came off th e fi na l corner,

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