Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

the semis. Back in the pits, King had to scra mble to make rep airs to his bike. "We cracked an oil tank," King sa id. "We' re runnin g good . We jus t need to have a bike tha t won' t crack. We've go t a bor ro wed swi nga rm on ou r spa re bike becau se it cracked , but we' re run nin g the bike that we rod e yes terday . We jus t hav e to stay in the hunt. We'll be there a t the end, I thin k. Is the track sta rting to groove now? I hav en't even been able to go ou t and take a look a t it, bu t I'll ru n wh erever I have to." Like the op eni ng heat. the thi rd heat tu rn ed from what ap peared to be set as a three-rid er battle int o a four-rider battle at th e fin ish . Sp ri nger an d H-D of Missou ri/Dave Burks Mot or sports' Joe Kopp were at th e fro nt of a fiv e-ri d er lead d ra ft that included TCR Racing' s Nicky Hayd en, Team Pow ell / Sun oco' s J,R. Sch na bel a nd TLC Racin g' s C hris Eva ns. Sp ringsteen d id mos t of the leading at the line, while Hayd en fell back, bu t th en the 18-year-old d irt tracker / road rac er go t w it h th e p ro gr am a nd back into the draft. Kopp then dropped a len gth b a ck o n th e fi na l lap , and wo u nd up 'the od d man ou t. In a race th at ap p ea re d a s th o u gh it w e n t to Evans, Hayd en wa s declared the win ner of the photo finish, wi th Springe r right there in thir d . Worried about whether or not he'd 'm ake the show afte r having to utilize a provision al to make the Hall of Fame race, Hayd en wa s able to relax and get ready for the main, but he was realistic abou t his chances in it. "Actually getting to ge t up there and runni ng with those gu ys in the lead d raft was fu n, but I've still got a lot to learn abou t th is mile raci ng," Hayd en said . "Some peop le ca tch on qu ick, but I' ve stru ggled with the wh ole idea of keeping the wheels in line. You would think tha t being a road racer, I wo u ld just be able to ge t ou t there and road race it around , but I just kind of struggle bit. I'd really like to wi n it, bu t I d o n' t actually see myself wi nn ing it. If I could, I wou ld ." Morehead appeared to have to work the hardest of all the heat race winners, as he tan gled with the bra t pack in the final 10-lapper. Bar tels H arley-David son / Real McCoy's, Japan's Shau n Russell led early, with USC Racing /Marine Tr an spor t' s Bryan Bigelow and 1-800FASTHOG /M oronev' s Harl ev-Da vid so n 's Mik e H a ck e r . T o r tun at el y th e craf ty old guy was able to bide his time and let another veteran, Ronni e Jones, mix it up in the lead battle, before tu rning it up on the final thr ee circu its and hitt ing the stripe first at the checkered flag. Russell and Bigelow followed him across for the last d irect transfers, wh ile Jon es and Ha cker w ou ld ha ve to try agai n. " I kn e w I h a d a bran d - n ew edge down , so I just laid back an d let my tire heat up," Mo rehead sai d . "Then I just watched who was doi ng what, and we won it. SEMIS ..; ~ ., ~ ..c E Q. ., ., en 20 McCo y go t a few private lesso ns fro m nine-time GrandNationa l Cha mpion Parker as the two fla t ran away and hid from the res t of the field in the first semi. Thev traded the lead a few times, a nd it l o~ked like McCoy migh t hav e some thing for Park er. Then the 92-time Gra nd Na tion al feature winner showed the Texan a new trick, as he buckled it d own on the insid e of turn four and sho t up the inner edg e on the fron t straight, leaving the high -rid in g McCoy with no chance at drafting him . Bot h were in the show, and the rest were in the tru ck. Mor gan, Kopp, Jon es, Varn es a n d GNC newcom er Toby Jorg ense n ran tightly for the firs t few laps in semi tw o, (Ri ght) L eft to ri gh t : Springer, King and Carr. Kin g m ay ha v e be en the fa stest ri d er, but Carr got th e c h am pa gne holeshot. (R ight) J ess Roeder (1) ro d e the Ha r ley -Davi d son Sportster Performance ra ce , won it and then let d ad Geo Roeder cha uffer him on the victory lap. bu t th en Jorg e ns en dro ppe d o ff the pace. Varn es was the next to fall away , and then Kopp, lea vin g Mo rga n a nd Jones to bat tle for the win . Morgan got to the line first, as both rid ers moved on to the featu re. Hacker, Stanley an d Dale [ennernan we re the top runners in the final se mi. In the end , [ennernan d ropped back, an d Ha cker drafted by Stanley for the win, wit h bo th rid er s ta kin g the fina l tw o spots on the grid . GRAND NATIONAL Da v is go t t he h o le sho t whe n th e quickest 18 rid e rs o f the da y left th e s ta rting lin e fo r th e 25-l a p fin al , but Mo rehea d cha lle nged him off o f turn two and h eld th e lead each time th at they hit the strip on the first th ree laps. Carr, Beattie, King, Parker, Hacker and Hayd en followed closely, wi th Sta nley coming from wa y back on the third row to ru n in ninth early . Jones a nd Eva ns soon man aged to shuffle their way into the pack as well. Da vis flew to th e fron t on lap five, follow ed Carr on lap six, and then manag ed to be on top for th e next seve ra l circuits . In the mea nti me, a gro up had fallen awa y from the lea d pack. Bigelow and Morgan battled for contro l of th e group contain ing what was basically the second ha lf of the field . Ultima tely, Hayd en surfaced as the fast est of the alsorans, finishing 10th. , "It was kind of disappointing," Hayd en sa id . "We made' a little mistak e at the beg in ning by putting on a tir e that only had a cou p le laps on it . It d id n't co me in too good , a nd we los t tou ch with the lead guys. Aft er th at, we just had our own little grou p in the back. That's ra cing." Parker was running sixth on lap 12 wh en all hell let loose in the bowels of his Bill Werner-tuned mach in e for the second d ay in a ro w, droppin g him ou t of the race after the same had happened ju st one day befor e. w hile he wa s runn in g fo r th e top p ri z e in th e Hall o f Fame final. Parker inadvertently cut off both Jones and Hacker as he' tried to get o ff the gro ove in tu rn one , knocki ng bot h of them ou t of the chase . But eve n a t th e p oint th a t Parker dropped ou t, it wa s Stanley who had the crowd cha rg ed up, as he cra n ked his Greg Cro w-tu ned Gar d ner Racin g special aro und the ou ter rim of the corn ers, passing two, three and even four riders in the turns to rem ain in the lead pack as late as lap 1Q. He ran as high as secon d , but th en, in th e middle of turn thr ee it appea red as thou gh Stan ley had sim ply slip ped off the gro ove. However, the fact that he failed to pick up stea m again told a differ ent tale. Stanley coasted to a stop on the front s traig ht wit h his chain - and mayb e a dream or two dragging in the dirt. With tears we lling in his eye s, the Was hing to nia n spared no thing in making his feelings known . 'T d like to have been the winn er of this &%$#ing race tod ay," Stanley said . "I've never felt better. I fou nd a line tha t nob od y else wa s usin g, and it worked every single lap . I wa s having a goo d time. It's just so fru strating, all these lit tl e m echa nica l prob le ms w e ' ve been having. But I'll tell you, if we eve r get it straightened ou t.," That basicall y left Kin g, Carr, Davis and Spri ngsteen mixing up at the front. King ran fourth dow n the back straight on the w h ite-flag lap, but he quickl y drafted his way to the front, going into three, w hile Da vis go t shu ffle d to the back. Ca rr and Springsteen maintained second and third. As they came off the final bend , King appeared to cut off the whole bot tom of the track, w hile,Carr sw u ng off th e corn er in. a big ar c a nd Briefl' ... ria injuries are still 'acut~ enough' to pr~~~ni him from' pulling ~ff 'his helmet without ripping his ears off. the extended autograph sess ion began right aft er his engine failure . and ran for over four -hours . " l -ean honestly ·say , that this is the firsi 'time in ,20 yearst hat I got ,t ired of signing my own name: Parker said: " I couldn't eve n get my d ouble Ts right. Half of the Rich King' o ffered high praise ,to all the folks who helped him w in the . Springfield M ile, not the least of whom was Sam Wessely. " Everybody ,' time I thin k I was only Writing one T, '" knows w hat kind of wee kend we've had : crac king brake lines , oil tanks, frames. swi ngarms, ~' King said. " Sam never lost faith. He busted his butt . There were auctions and remembrances for the Davey Camlin fam ily . who 'was in atte ndance ut the Springfi eld mile in force, and aiso to benefit all weekend long. He' s ove r 60 ' years old' .. we give him free coffee and injure d racer Kevin Atherton , w ho wante d to be at S pringf ield but ' everything :.. Because ofhim we're on top of the box today. " could not because of the numerous opera tions that he has had to under Rich King 's c hassis ,trouble s were maddening for both him and tune r go in order to repair his badly damaged leg. Davey ' s father Do':' Camlin' Sam W essely, forci ng the pair to put in ext ra hour s making repai rs follow . rode a v ictory lap of honor in' remem brance of Davey on Saturd ay. He, wa s 'aboard one 'of the first XR750s 'that he and Daveyhad 'ever built, 'ing the Hall 01 Fame race" Fort unately, th e team was able to borrow a swmqarrn from the Co ziahr Harley -D avid son team afte r Brian Shi rley' s , while announcer Dave Despain read a letter that Don had writ ten about his son. On Sunday: A therton'srookle -season dirt -trackleathers and the fiery run-in with Gary ,Rogers. ~ We had a sw ingarm that we co uld loan ,them .frorn Brian' s bike. " C oziahr, mechanic Babe D emay said. " That's , nu mber plate o ff ,of Davey C amlin ' s back -t o -beck . S pringfield -w inning abou t ~II that we co uld loan ' them' off that bike : to whi ch King joked : ' motorcycle were up fo r sale. A therton'slea thers we nt for $ 1300 , with the " Yeah, they loaned it to us. W e heard it was a pret ty hot swi ngarm. " , proc eeds going' to his medi cal fund. Bidding for the Camlin plate started at over $1000 , The proceed s for the final sale wen t to the Carnhn family. . . C omin g into th e Sprin gfield M ile. the ge neral co nse nsus w as t hat the In another' gesture of good will, race fan james R. Florey of Lttchheld, 1999 AMA Grand Nat ional Championship title r ace was Chri s Carr' s to .lo se. Now it seems that a srnokin' hot Rich King may have so mething to . M inne sota, purchased the checkered flag that was used to mark Rich King' s win at the Springfie ld M ile. Florey purchased the flag, which was say abo ut that. W ith thr ee wins in the last fou r races. King is forci ng Carr -to keep his guard up, That fact isn't lo st on the form er champio n either, · autographed by all of the main event riders, for $875, w ith the proceed s go ing to the D irt Track Hail of Fame. Florey then prom ptly gave the flag "There' s no do ubt about It. " C arr said. " Rich is a t6ugh com peti tor , Last year, we we re talk ing, and he was kind of down in the mouth 'about Parker . itself to Ri,ch King as a souve~i r of his first Grand National mile wln .. having big lead w hen we were at DuQucin . I told him , " Hey 'man, I can't The co mment by J a y Springsteen, " I know that (King move ) now , so affo rd to give up. I gotta,go race . I need the money . " 1"11 w rite it down f or next year. ". w as off icial confirma tio n by the three-tu ne Grand National Champion that, yes , he will ret urn for anot her futl season 'T w o'd a y s . two motors. Wh en wasthe last time that happened to Bill in theyear 2000. " One more yearfor sure. or as long as I can put up with Werner·built equipment ? N obo dy can rememb er. " I don't know what to say, - Werner said after the Grand Nati onal. " The fir st one : I think I know ' . it." Springer continue d later. " Ji m Kelly has got the bike s ' running so go od : and J o e (6ishal is doi n'g a supe r job of keep ing things running. wh at happenedto it, but I don ' t have a clue wit li this one. 'I'll have to take When you come to Spri ngfield, it is fun to go racing , Some of these half it apart see. Sc ot t said th at it was running good.. 'and then it started making grinding noises and quit. It' s obviously sornethinqmternal. I don' t , 'miles we 've been going to, the trac k hasbeen terrible. and it' s like it ain't . even no fun. But i still enjoy racirig like it was today. • know what it is. Anybod y who says that this is easy is nuts , " a to After the D irt Tr~ck Hall of Fame Race, Will Davis looked like he had Scott P a rker laughed off his troubles on Springfie ld whi le he was sig nbee n subjec t to a pub lic stoning, as his armsand legs showed 'multiple ' ing autog raphs afte r the .races. " It's hard no t to, " he said, ' That' s part o f motorsports, and we 've bee n real succe ssful 'over the years . at Spring- .welts and bruises from the chunks that were coming off the track . "The , field. I've had a lot of good days when a lo t of peo ple have had bad day s. I ' Spr ingfield Mi le broke all to pieces yesterday, " Davis said , " There was feel for .'e m when it happens, I've got to smile.' I had a bad day . W e were roc ks .and you name it " hitti ng me. Today, It' s your typical Springfield. It 's , just riding aro und there, waiting for .shit to happen. And it happenedJ" . a lot better. There' s no compariso n, It is breaking up a littl e down low in ' one. and two , but if they keep afte r it , 1think it will be all right . For perhaps the first time in his caree r, Scott Parker actually admitte d that he wa s tired 6f signing' autog raphs .. literally . For Parker,. whos e PeoJoe K ..pp wa s disep polnted not to make the Grand .National main event

• Cover