Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 12: P CRace Park M Dirt Track AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES mad e up of King, Hlebo, Hacker, Schnabel, Varnes and Orr . The last row consis te d of McCoy, Bige low, Da v is, Pegra m, Russell and Fisher. Whe n the green lig ht flashed, Ca rr won the drag race, gra bbing the lead in th e firs t tu rn . Stanley and Jorgensen we re close in the first tum , but Hayden was flying . Two laps into the race, Hayden was second and the on ly ride r running close to Carr's pace . "Jus t go for the win what ever it took ," was Havden's theory , but the hard rid ing would exact a toll. "Every time I'd go back thr ough the right h and er it (the brake pedal) would ge t cau ght under the bike ," Hayden said. "It's so frustrating . Every time it just seems like we can't catch a break. Some times I wonder if we shou ld even be here. We were gaining a little bit on hi m, according to our wa tches abou t a tent h a lap." After Ha yd en ' s problems d ropped him from conten tion, Jorgensen prett y well had second in hand . "Toward -the end I started getting ou t of shape, and with abo ut five laps to go, my dad gave me a signal that I had a lead, so I kind of slowed down," Jorgensen said . "I didn't want to make a mistake because I knew I was in second." King met hod ica lly worked his way to the podium. " A ll in a ll it worked out pretty real good as usual, but my mom and dad got me out here this time. I couldn't be here without their help." HIebo was the last rider on the lead lap . in :::l g> < 14 HEATS Sta nley go t the holeshot in the first heat over fast qualifier Kop p and Dan Bu tler, but th e race was red -flag ged when Bob Knapp and Gary Maloney fell in turn one. Maloney would make the res ta rt, bu t Kna p p would ha ve to be tr anspo rt ed to th e h ospit a l. Stan ley rep e at ed h is s ta r t th e second tim e a rou nd as well. C harl ie Orr ha d hi s Adams Ra cin g Ro tax in se co nd, b ut Kop p soo n d ro ppe d him to third. Or r was b eing h ara ss ed , fir st by Bu tl e r, wh ose engi ne started to go so ur, then by Sha un Russell. At the halfway point , Kopp took first and ,Russell took thi rd . Russell slipped clear of a battl e between Orr and Terry Poovey. On the last lap, Russell' s bike slowed, and O rr was in the National. Da vis led the second h eat for tw o laps, un til he caught a rut and stalled his eng ine. Hayd en took the poin t, but was soo n passed by Jorgensen. On e lap later Hay den retook the lead and pulled to a narrow advantage. Willie McCoy was holding the third a nd last transfer spot Over Hl eb o and Bryan Bigelow , until Hlebo go t by over the jump on lap eight. Hlebo held on for the tra nsfe r over McCoy, whi le Bigelow faded. Heat three saw Hacker jump into the lead, only to ha ve J.R. Schnabel scoot to the fron t. By the second lap , Landes had mov ed to second . Hacker was starting to ge t pressure from Donnie Stewa rd , when Steward' s ATK roll ed to a sto p. With on e lap to go, Landes took Schn abel by surprise and won the heat. Schnabel was a solid second , while Hacker dropped into a war for third wit h Lonn y Kop p , Jo s e Aguilar a nd Rob Mill er. Hacker was able to hold on tothe last direct transfer. King, Kevin Varnes, Ca rr and Tom Troudt ran up fron t in the las t heat. Carr finally grabbed the lead on lap three and pulled away fro m King and Varnes . A tight battle wa s being wa ged o v e r fourth between Pegram , Troudt a n d (Above) Fres h off his win at the Rapid City Half Mile, Rich King came from behind to pass se veral riders for hard-earned thirdplace finish. (Right) Teammates for a day: Larry Pegra m (72) rode the backup bike of Will Davis (21) and had a great day at Peoria, finis hing se venth, w!lile Davis finished s ixth. a Ken ny Coolbeth. On the seven th lap , Coo lbeth caught a ru t in tum fou r and high-sid ed. The ra ce was red -flagged and called com plete. Unfortunately for Coo lbeth, he too had to be .transported to the hospital. Th e win we nt to Ca rr, with Kingan d Saddl em en / La n ca ster Ha rl ey -D a v id son / Dod ge Brothers' Va rnes ea rni ng seco nd a nd th ird , respectively. SEMIS Onl y the toptwo rid ers from eac h of th e three se mis wou ld adva nce to th e main eve nt. The first semi saw Rex Fisher jump int o the lead ov er McCoy and Brian Sh irl e y . Hart Ra cin g / C el ori e Brothers -backe d Fisher and Harl eyDavid son of Dallas Eagle Security / Dl'C's McCoy pu lled to the qua lifying sp ots a head of a close r ace for third between Aguilar, Shir ley and Poovey. Jeff An nen led the second semi ov er , Bigelow and Russell . Th e tw o yo u ngsters forged past Annen on e lap lat er, wi t h Ru s s ell pu shing hi s Bart e l ' s . H arley-Da v id son /M ill er Elec t ric Rotax to the fro n t on lap three. Russell p roc eed ed to run away fro m USC Racing / Lan ca st er Ha rley- Davidso n 's Bigelow . Da le Jenn eman a nd Miller closed o n Bige low , but time ran ou t befo r e t hey coul d mou nt a serio us cha llenge. The last semi saw Ma rc Gifford leading Jason Tyer and Lonny Kopp, but it was the Eaken racing duo of Davis and Pegra m tha t w as on th e mo ve. Da vis grabbed the lea d on lap thre e. Peg ra m took second fr om Gifford 011 la p five and still wasn't done, as he used the bo ttom line to take th e lead from Da vi s, who held on.for seco nd, w hile Gifford edged Tyer. GRAND NATIONAL The I S-rid er, 25-lap Grand Nat ion al w as ca lled to the line, an d led by the s u rp rising ly quick Ha yden . Wit h h is fir st ch oice of sta rting sp ots, Hayden too k th e th ir d spot from th e bottom. Landes and Jorgensen wou ld line up to his left. Kopp, Carr and Stanl ey were to his right. Row two from the outside was good," King said. "Third place isn' t bad , but Chris won ano the r one. He' s really tou gh th is yea r . We need to beat him, that's where we need to be. This was the rough est I've seen this track since it was oiled . It was a lo t of fu n, a little more demandin g than usual, but yo u cou ld pass on it. If I had been wh ere I was and the track was a groove, like it has been in th e p ast, I' d never have go tten to third. The track was awfully rough , wit h a lot of di fferent lines." Fourth fell to Kopp, who aIso had to work his way to the fron t. '1 got a terrible start, about eighth or ninth," Kopp said. "The last six laps or so, I just cou ldn't ge t rolli ng like 1 need ed to, plus w e go t a really bad s tart. Chris go t the ho leshot, and that rui ned my day right ther e." Landes was fifth in his first race back fro m his v io le n t a ccid e nt a t the DuQuoin Mile in July. "I'm really sore," Land es said . "I feel thaI' s a pretty strong run, after DuQuoin. "I feel good. We just need to do something to get Chris off the box. 1had a cou-

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