Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

did the same thing last year, but he did it better this time. I think 1 broke both wheels loose on the front straightaway trying to get in to that draft. I' m disappointed for not winning, but I'm really happy for him. He's been going at this a long time, and he's never won on a mile . Everybody always says that you haven't done anything in your ca ree r until you 'v e won on a mil e. He ' s had a full career today ." Sp eaki ng of full career s , a ce rta in Bartel s Harley-Davidson /Real McCoy's, Japan /SuperTrapp-ba ck ed three-time . just sm ile, shake his head and wait for another da y wh en he might be " King." "I took the lead on the white-flag lap, an d I took it in the wrong corner, plain as da y," Davis said . "I did n' t want to ta ke the lead in turn o ne, bu t I got a draft and didn't know who was beh ind m e anywa y . We end ed u p in the lead co mi ng off of turn two . I didn 't w ant th at to happen . Th en all three o f 'em drafted back by me go ing into thr ee and we we re o u t of position com ing off of turn four. I don't know wh at else .to d o. I we n t d own th e insi de o f th e b a ck (Above) Sco tt Parker coasts to a stop after blowing an eng in e for th e second day in a row. The ch ampion fin ished 17th. (Left) Will Davis (21) and Steve Morehead (42) were the early leade rs . Davis fin ished fourth, Morehead fifth. (Below) Stanley (10) appea red to be in the hunt for a win until his cha in dera iled on lap 20. Grand National Cha m p io n proved , as he has so many time s, that there's still a ' lot of fight left in this 01 do g, as Springsteen wa s also in the hunt from the start, and stay ed ther e to th e end . He came off row tw o to run ninth on the first circu it, and then promptly dropped all the way to 12th . But the 42-year- old Michigander had ' a ll of his Jim Kelly hor sepower in tune with th e well-prepped Spring field. tra ck , and he ran d own th e fron t-runners in a matter of three laps, thus mak in g the 10-rider cu t between th e lead draft a n d the ta il -en d er s , wh ich occurred on lap 10. In the late-race fiverider shu ffle, Springer wa s as s to u t as an yone, admittedly cru ising and biding his tim e for the finish right up until he nearly banged bars with Ca rr off of four. That was what it took to drop him to third at the line; it is po ssible 'that nothing else cou ld hav e. "G o in g in to three, I kind o f w ent around Ch ris o n th e ou ts ide," Springsteen said . " 1 had the line, 1 thought, but righ t at the apex he just gassed it up a little bit. We were ge tting ready to start nud gin g, so 1 just dropped back and let him go. I told him , 'Hey, I would' ve d id the sam e thing to you if 1 was in tha t spo t.' Mayb e 1 cou ld've won , but 1 did hav e a high er line off turn fou r - I was driftin g around , and th ese g uys were com ing off low . I know that now, so I'll w rite it dow n an d use it for next vear." It was the secon d d ay in a row that Spri nger had stood atop the Springfield box. "I know it," Springe r said . "1 just told the trophy gi rl, 'Hey, 1 saw you up here yes terday.:" Ju st o ff th e bo x for th e seco nd straig ht day - and it sure as hell wasn' t fo r la ck o f t ry ing - was Eaken Racing /Rod Lake/Racing for Kid s' Will Davis. Ever so hungr y for th at elusive fir s t G ra nd Na tio na l mile wi n, Dav is se em ing ly never d rop ped farthe r back than a bike leng th from th e lead for the first 20 lap s aboard his Skip Eake n-prepa red 750, and he led acro ss th e s tripe the most, including a p ractical cam po ut a t the point from laps seven through 12. He was there right up to the last corner as well, bu t unfortunat el y, things did not g o h is way again , a n d th e fa n favorite from North Carolina wa s left to straightaw ay to stop 'e m from dra fting me, but that didn't help . O ff the last corner , th ey just sca tte re d , so I ended up with no place to tu ck in. It cou ld hav e been worse." It was o ne po si tion worse for Stev e Morehead, but you 'd probably never ge t d ir t track 's g rand old master to admit th at he had a bad d a y . Th e " Find la y Flyer" wa s clearl y a threa t on his Gary Sto Ize nbu rg -bu iIt, F:&S Harley-Da vid so n / KK Motorcycle Su p p ly / Shep herd & Dragoo-ba cked entry, but he los t the draft around lap 18, and he was quickly o ff th e lead pace, tho ugh it w as clea r that he would w ra p up fifth place if his motorcycle held out. It did. " We led it fo r a long tim e," Morehead sa id . "T hen we go t a big puff of w hite smoke ou t th e exha ust. We d on 't kn ow w ha t happen ed - it s ta rted ru nning flat. But man that was a blast. Tha t was Spri ng field Mile racing like the old times, w hen Roger (Re ima n) d id th e trac k. But how abou t that Dan Sta nley? That guy rode the w heels off his mo torcycle, a nd I reall y feel for him . He was r ailin g a ro u nd eve ry body . H e was pu tting o n a show. I thou ght he was the class.of the field tod ay." More hea d's Stanley reference wa s ma de in light of the fact that the yo ung Washingt on cha rge r wa s clea rly ha ving o ne of th e bes t days of his st ill-yo u ng ca re e r on th e m ile at Springfield . Althoug h he nev er officially led a lap o n his Sprin gfield Armory / Walte rs Brother s Harley-David son , Sta nley was giving the crowd a thrill as he climbed all ove r th e lead d raft, u sin g bri lii ant move s on the outsid e edge of the g roove in bot h ben ds to sling shot past the co mpetition. A Stanl ey w in wa s a defin ite possibility right up to the time that his chai n derailed just bef ore th e five-lap sign . A n d Team H arl ey-Dav id son ' s Scott Par ker fared just as poorl y, dropping ou t early - for th e second day in a ro w - with engine wo es. Sta nley w as cre d ite d wi th 16th pla ce, and Parker 17th. O nly Rose Racing /KK Motorcycle Supply'S Geo Roed er II fared wo rse , as his motorcycle qu it pumping oil o n th e start ing line, forcing him to retire befor e the gree n light. Such are so me of the fortu nes, a nd mi s fortunes, of th e Sp ringfield Mile. In be tween the winners and lo sers were Mike Hacker, Ronnie Jon es, Steve Beattie, Will ie McCoy and Nicky Hayd en in s ix t h thro ug h 10th . Bryan Bige low, Paul Morgan III, Shaun Ru ssell, Chris Eva ns and Te rry Poovey were in 11th through 15th . HEATS A n int en se riva lry was ren ewed for the u m pteenth time w hen Parker a nd fast qu alifier Ca rr squa re d off in the first I fl-Iap heat race, and both of the m had 1110re to worry about, as ve tera ns Dav is a nd USC Ra cin g rid er Terry Poovey we re also am on g th e cont esta nts. ' Parker was fast off the s tart, and he led Carr and Davis, and then Davis and . Carr, across the stripe the firs t coup le of times. Then Dav is gassed it up a nd got in the battle, as three ride rs att empted to dis tance th emselves fro m Poo v ey , Moroney's Harley-Davidso n tem p Paul Mo rgan III, Lyn ch Racing's Paul Lyn ch and the rest. The three rid ers appea red to be pulling away as th ey each took at least one tu rn lea d in g th e ra ce in th e next seven laps, but th en Poo vey so meh o w m an a g ed to ca tc h up, a n d t h e Texan tried to take the lead in tu rns thr ee and four just befo re the white flag, only to slip off the groove and catch up aga in. In the end , Davis beat Carr back to the line w hile Parker was un cerem onious ly d u m p ed in to the semis by a cha rg ing Poo vey . Da vis was p lea sed , but played it close to t he ves t when pr ed icting the ou tcome of the main . " Hea t races don 't m ean a thin g , man," Davis said . "I've won heat races be fore, but 25-lap Na tiona ls are tot all y different. Th e h ea t race looked g re a t, a nd I'm glad th a t I won it becau se I didn 't wa n t to fini sh seco nd , but the main is go ing to be a w ho le d ifferent ba llga me . We've got w hat it ta kes. We ju st have to be in the same position in three and four that we we re in the heat race, an d not be back in fifth o r si xth and wis hi ng tha t we were in the same pos itio n." King showed the crowd tha t he wa s ready, w illi ng and ab le to wi n du rin g heat race number two , as he go t the holeshot and th en towed a long a pack tha t con tain ed St ylema ste r C usto m Mo torcycles' Steve Beattie, Sta nley, Rose Racing 's Geo Roed er II, Sad d lemen Racing 's Kevi n Varnes, and Harl ey-David son o f Dall as' Willie McCo y . Roed er was the man on the go , as he drafted his way to the front, put ting a heart- stopper of pass o n three riders to ru n th ir d in turn thr ee on lap fou r. Stanl ey was mov in g fo rwa rd , too , a n d h e ul tim ate ly ca ugh t a nd p ass ed Kin g, tra d ing th e point wit h the Iowan a nd lea di ng him bac k to th e lin e on laps se ve n through nine. But Kin g buried it deep in to th ree and four w hile lead ing the last lap, and th at was eno ug h to land the w in over Beattie - w ho finall y stepped it up - and Roed er. Stanl ey, McCoy a nd Va rnes joine d the rest o f the he at -two pack in 19

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