Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 15: Illin isState Fairgrounds o AMA GRAND NATIONAL DIRT TRACK SERIES King sai d that he had see n how the other winners reacted on top of the victory podiu m at Springfield , and it was on the box that he took the time to pay tribute to on e of them . "It' s too bad that one o f m y good friend s, Davey Cam lin , was n' t here to race with me," King sa id . "Bu t I kn ow _ tha t he saw this happen. He meant a lot to me, an d Don Camlin (Davey's father) and the whole Camlin famil y mean a lot to me. Davey was ano ther grea t miler, and hope full y I' ll b e up there racing wit h him sometime ." Ca rr, w ho just one day ea rlier too k home the biggest cash pri ze in d irt track his tor y during the Dirt Tr a ck Ha ll of Fame ra ce, led tw ice as many laps as Kin g - six in total - du rin g the typica l s h uffl ing that ta kes pla ce a t w ha t is regarded in the spor t as the finest of all mile tracks. And just like the da y before, the ' 92 n umber-on e p la te wi nne r and current series points leader was poised to ad d another Spri ngfield Mile win to his resu me fr om the g et-g o . Running third on the opening lap, the 32-yea r-old Pen nsy lva n ia n nev er d ro pped be low fifth place in the pack while abo ard his Kenny Tolber t-built Harley-Davidson of Sa cra me n to / Phoe ni x Ra cing XR. H e was tough all the way, scra mbling to the By Sco tt Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos on ": ~ t3 g. en 18 SPRINGFIELD, IL,SEPT. 5 h e Lab or Da y runn in g of th e Springfi eld Mil e w as reminiscent of th a t Lit e Beer television commercial. You kn ow , the one w here tan skinned actor George Hamilton and albino mu sician Edga r Winter di sagree on the virtu es of the product to the point that a s hocked and di sb eli evin g Ha milton blurts out the classic line: Who are you? After the final dash to the wire in a vi n tage Sp ri ngfield ra ce, Rich Kin g ' s competition may have been asking that sa me qu esti on. For it was he, who, after 15 yea rs in professional d irt track, finally took his career to a ne w level by breaking throu gh and claiming his firstever Gra nd Na tional mile victory before a packed house on a glorious weekend, one which the spo rt has so desperately needed in the face of a tragic 1999 AMA di rt tr a ck ca mpaign . In a batt le that came down to the wire, the Co rbin Raeing/H-D Cycle Cen te r of Wat erl oo / SuperTrapp-backed privateer beat out two forme r Harley-Davi dson facto ry te a m me m be rs to land th e w in, his fou rth of the seaso n, and the 10th in a Gra nd National career that seems to be ge tting bet ter wi th age. And there was no qu esti on tha t King and tuner Sam Wessely had earned it, after the two struggled all wee kend with part s breakages and mishaps. It's a wo nd er that he finished a t all, but finish he did, and a new winner's name was written in to the Springfi eld reco rd books . Fu rthermore, it allowed him to tie series po ints leader Chris Carr for w ins on the year, and it edged him closer to Carr in the title race. King no w trails Carr 213260, wit h four races left. Aft e r runn in g fif th in th e ti g h tl y bu nched pack on the openin g lap, the 36 -yea r-o ld King stayed i n the le a d draft, whic h for me d u p w it h 10 riders and was u ltimate ly w hitt led a way to four. He ba ttled most of the way with contenders Ca rr, Jay Sp ringsteen, Will Davis, Steve Morehead and surprise star performe r Dan Stan ley. Then, late in the race, he bega n an inte rest ing inside-outside move in turns t hree a nd fo u r , whereby he nearly hacked off his left handlebar a t the a pex of th e in n e r guard ra il be for e dri fting across tu rn four at 130 mph an d practically bumping the 8-inch-high dirt ber m that lines the concrete barricade on the outer edge of the track. He then squared it off and headed down the fro nt straig htaway. It was a clea n, indefe ns ib le m o ve th a t allowed him to lead off the tu rn and sti ll be lead ing at AMA-sta rter Steve Faraci 's checkered flag. That rarely happens at Sp ring field , es pecia lly w hen for me r Grand Nationa l cha mpions Carr a nd Springsteen are chewing on you r but t. It wa s sim ply King's day to be... king. (Top) Rich King (80) held off Chris Carr (4) to claim the first Grand National Mile victo ry of his career at the Labo r Day Weekend running of the Springfield Mile. King has won three of the last four Grand National event s. (Above) Carr (4), Dan Stanley (1 0), event ual third-place finis her Jay Springsteen (9), King (80) and Will Davis (21) dice it up. " I' ve been so close at these thi ngs, arid either Chris or Jay or Steve More' head or Scott have always go tte n me at the line," a clearly overjoyed King said. "I tried tha t same thing last yea r in the Ha ll of Fame race. This year I d id it a little better, I guess... I do~' t know. I made it to the line this time. I cou ldn't believe it w hen I saw m y w hee l hit th e stripe first. It was like, Yeah baby! I had tried drafting about five d ifferen t guys off turn fou r d uring the race, and I cou ld n't get a ny of them, so I fig ured tha t the only chance I had was to lead tha t thing . I got in to the lea d off tu rn three, cu t down low and then I headed her for the wa ll, and I mad e it. It's unbelievab le. I jus t didn' t know w hat I had todo to win one of these things." fron t on laps six , 14 a nd 17, and then laps 22 to 24. In the end, a ll the horsepower th at he had was no t eno ug h to bring him p a st King wi th w ha t was essen tia lly no d raft. T ha t he a lmost bu mped into Springsteen was no h elp ei ther, a lt hough Ca rr was the first to ad mit tha t the inciden t rea lly had no effect on the outcome of the race. "I d on 't think that that rea lly made m uch o f a di ffer en ce, I just think that Rich King just whipped ou r ass es off the last corner p rett y much," Ca rr said. "He ran a different line than anyone else was running atthe exit of turn four, and he mad e it tou gh for anyo ne to even ge t in his dra ft, let al on e d raft him off tu rn four. I give him a lot of cred it. It was a good move, and it worked for him. He

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