Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Dirt Track . m m m ~ N '"; Q s:> E G> Q. G> Cf) 16 sta nd at the start of lap four. Meanwhile, Kopp was setting s a il for th e victory podium, while Stanley, Roeder, Springsteen and Kin g spaced out about eight or 10 lengt hs apart. Roeder was th e first one to come forwa rd, and he traded the th ird position with Stanley for a co u p le o f bends before taking thi rd for good when he crossed in front of Stanley and nearly roosted him off his motorcycle. Kin g w as running fifth, with Springs te e n and Carr running sixth and se venth, the latter two just getting set to mix it up bi g time as they crossed the stripe to st art lap nine. Then Jorg ensen went throu gh th e guardrail w hile attempting to overtak e Ru ss el l. His Saddlemen Racing /Lancaste r Harley -Davids on /Dod g e Brothers tea mma te, Varnes, was behind the pa ir a nd w itnessed the inciden t. " It looked like Russell broke co m ing off of two," Varn es sa id . "T o b v was behind hi m, pa ssed him, and th en w ent to swerve ba ck in fron t of him to get to the outsid e o f th e straightaway . And it looked like the sa n d jus t too k him, a n d he took a 90-d egree turn right into th e fenc e . He drilled i t ha rd and just .. . s to p ped . I seen all th is s tu ff flying, and I pull ed down to th e insid e o f th e s t r a ig h ta w ay, and th en I haul ed ass back to tum four to get them to red flag it because I kn ew that the leaders w ould be coming around th ere ." After stopping to alert race officials of the crash, Varnes didn't ev en bother to cross the start /finish line on th e red flag, a nd it cost him, as h e was scored one lap down a nd credited with 14th. H e did n't seem to mind . "N o big deal," Varnes said . "Thirdrow start, what the hell you gonna d o with th at?" Loca l boy McCoy was d isa ppo in ted, ho w e ve r, as he was running 13th and working his way forward w he n the race was ha lted . "Every time I tried to move forwa rd , I couldn't see, so I was jus t tryi ng to ride as sa fely as I co u ld ," McCo y sa id , " I' d ca tc h so meone, and th en w hen I' d try h ard to pass th em, I' d ju st get b lasted . I' m d isa p p ointed be ca us e th e re was a good turno ut here, a lo t o f fri e nd s a nd family a nd sponsors. Bu t I d o n 't thi nk th a t we' ll be ba ck. T hey' re build in g a new clay half mile out at Texas Mo to r Speedway, so maybe we'll get to race there next tim e." For the 12th-placed Rogers, who had been part of the melee that took p lace a t the D u Quoin Mile, making the main was just ca use for celebra tion , even though he didn't get in too many laps . The finish was the best of his career. " I think tha t t h e y m ade th e best choice for everybody (by stopping it )," Rogers sa id. " It' s too bad that somebody had to get hurt fo r th em to make the call , but we made it, and I was happy just to be in th e show." Rogers a lso commented on the conte ntio n th at if nobodv ha d been hurt, then the fervor over the tra ck conditions w ould not have been as great. " I th in k th at yo u try to p ut it (the tra ck ) o u t of yo u r m ind , but w hen you see th a t so met hi ng li ke th at h appen s, th e n you th in k, 'Tha t co u ld ha ve been me: a nd it ma kes yo u th in k tw ice abou t w anting to go back out there again." As it turned o u t, n obody w ould ha ve to. Altho ug h Parker la ter ad m itted th at h e w a s d on e fo r th e ni ght a n y w a y , A MA officia ls ca lled th e race co m p le te after it w as d e termined that nin e la ps exactly half th e 18,Iap d ista n ce - w ere co m p le te d . The decis io n was ju s t fine wi th the 11th -placed Beattie. " I' m getting too old for this crap: ' the Canad ian sai d . " I just d ecid ed to ro ll HEAT 1 no l,Ip,,; sev e n riders , to p th ree Ir.mderl: 1. Scott Parker (H· D); 2. Steve Beatt ie (H-D); 3. Brva n Bigelo w (H-o); 4. Mike Hacker (H-D); 5. Shau n Ru;~J1 (H- D); 6. Bill y \-1.utio (H -D); 7. Iaime Aguilar (H-D>. Ti me : 6 mi ns.: 48.1~~ . H EAT 2. (10 tap ; seven riders. top three Inn!o ferl: 1. J.')' Sprmgstcc n (H-D); 2. Will Dav i.. (H·D ); 3. \''t e litli McCo y (H-D); 4. Paul lynch (H·D); 5. Pau l Bergstro m (H- D); b . J.R. Schnabel (H·m ; 7. Steve vto rehead (H- D). Time: 6 mins .: 51.117 ~'C'S. HEAT 3 00 laps; sh; riders, top three IroOln sfer ): 1. J~ Kopp (H -D); 2. D.l0 Sta nle y (H· D); 3. Rich King (HD ); 4. CMy Roger!'> (H- D ); 5. Ken Yode r Jr . (H· D); 6. (Left 10 right ) Mike Hacker, Scoll Parker a nd Bryan Bige low race inlo turn one before th e majestic Lone Slar Pa rk grandstand In Ihe o pe ning heat. Race allen dance was q uoled aI 15,117. off and make it to th e next race. I'm here b y m yself, and I don 't want to jeopard ize a nybody by havin g them take m y s tuff home if I d on't m ake it throu gh , s o .. . n ah . I'm ju st d is app o inted with how w e were misled about co m ing to this pl ace. We were told th at thi s w a s a clay-ba sed track, and th ere w a sn 't a n ounce of clay to be found an ywh ere . So ... di s appointed w ith th e AMA .., all year. I' m up s e t a b o u t how th e y do things, Someth ing has got to cha nge. The cro w d was great. " Hayden w a s ru n ni ng a lo nely 10th at the flag. "It 's unfortunate what happened to Toby, " Hayden said , "I was just runnin g around in the back. Once yo u go t bla st ed d own , i t w as h ard to pa s s i n th e ro ost , but m y bigg est th ing w as th at m y mind is on n e xt w e e k more than this w eek. I just w anted to be safe and go to Col orado (f o r the MBNA 5uperbike final ).' For Davis, who wou nd up ninth, th e stoppage could not come soon enough. "If w e hadn 't unloaded the truck , I w ould have liked it e ven b etter, but Ke..-in Varnes (H- D) , w ha teve r:' Davis sa id . "Today was just not the day to p ull a s tu n t like tha t. I'm . g lad that we go t th e laps that we did to g ive th e spect ators someth ing , but w e s hou ld have known better tha n to come here without testing. We were su p p osed to test ba ck in November o r December. You d on' t get these people to show up a nd pay their money and fill the grand, s ta nds and the n you ca n ' t fu lfill it (the main) , It' s our fau lt, so th a t's w hy we went o u t and tried to race. But once it go t so bad th at you take on e to the hospi tal , that's w he n it' s time to ... hopefu lly they go t their money's worth. I' m not goin g to point fingers at anybod y because it's my faul t for no t ge lling hold of Bruce Bober and sa ying, ' Loo k. unless we d o a test, you might as w ell take it o ff th e s che d u le.' It' s his fault , bu t it 's o ur fa u lt for letting him d o it. I jus t hate that so m ebod y had to get h urt before w e sto pp ed. That's the sad part." eN Lone Star Pa rk Dallas , Texas Resul ls: Se ple mbe r 11, 1999 (Round 16 of 19) Brieflv... - Chris earr was unavailable lor comment lollowing the Toby Jorgensen incident. The forme r Grand National Champion rus hed 011 to Parkland M emorial Hospital to provide any assistance o r informa tion tha t he co uld until members of .Jorqensen 's family w er e able to arrive on the scene. Shaun Russell was very nearly in the wrong place in the wrong time for the seco nd time this season, as he had somewhat 01 a view 01 the Toby.Jor- gensen crash on the back straight. "I just saw Toby's bike come Aying by me ," said Russell. who wound up 15th. "It was a weird deal. I just saw something come by me.' Russell also said that he was disappointed with his finish, ' Iwas expecting to do better," he continued. ' They say that you just hold the throttle open on these tracks, but there's a bit more to it than that.' The Dallas Mile marked the retirement 01 loncnme AMA starter S te ve Faraci , who has bee n handling the starting and A agging duties for 24 years , "This is my last Grand National race ,' Faraci sa id. "I'm getting a littie tired, and I figure I'd beller get out before I get any shorter (Faraci stan ds about 5·loot·5). It was an unlortunate way to linish the race , but I'm glad that only one person got hurt and that was it.' After the races . riders and tuners , includingJay Springstee n. Scott Parker and Kenny T01· bert. presented Faraci WIth a retirement rocking chair and a new fishing pole. among other goodbye gifts . P a ul Lynch appears to be picking up the pieces of his racing career once agai n, as evidenced by his solid sho wing in the semi at Dalla s to gain a berth in his first Grand National main event of the year. ' It was a long time coming: the 20·year·old Maryland·based ride r said. "If they had an award lor people who missed it by one or two each time, then we would have gotte n that. " Lynch has even managed to shore up his eq uip. ment depth with the purchase 01 a J&M·lramed Harley-David son XR Irom the G!,rdner Racing stab les. ' Our first ride on it was at Rapid City," the 20·year·old Lynch said, ' This is a J&M center-shock chassis. We 've had the side-shockers before, but this is hrst one of these that we've had, This one leels real good. We rode it at Sp ringfield. and IT was competmve. We'll see what we can do with It: Lynch rode his side-shock XR in the main event. but broke the lrame and wound up 17th. Will Da vis was riding injuredat the Dallas Hall Mile , the result 01 a crash at the MARS asphalt racing series finale at Ashville Speedway in Ashville, North Carolina, just one night belore the Dallas race . A blown tire was the culpnt. " I wa s in the ho spital until four o 'cloc k thi s morn ing. ~ said Davis, who was baitered by a sore back. ' At first they thought that I had broken verteb rae. They did catscans and X.rays, and more catscans . I walked ri~ht ou1 of the hospital. got my bags and got on a plane to come here..For the stea dy-riding Bryan Big e low. an eighth.place fi nish that might have made him very unhappy anywhere else was good enough tonight. "Every week it seems like these race tracks are so bad," Bigelow said. ' I'm ' not complaining, but it see ms like every week, the best that you can look for is that you came out 01 it without getting all busted up..It's sad to think Time: 6 mins .: 4Q.469 St."CS. H EAT -I no I.lps ; 7 riders, to p th ree tra nsfer): I. G l.'O Reeder II (H·D); 2. Chris Carr (H-D); 3. Xic ky Havden (H-O ); 4. Brian Sh irlev (H- D); 5. Terrv- Pcovev (Ho nl: b. Toby Jorgen sen (H -Oi; 7. Gn.., Tea gu e (H-O) . · Time: b mins.; 5U .950 sees. SEM I 1 (8Iap!i; 7 rid ers, top three tra n sf er): 1. Mike Had.t.·r(H-Ol ;2. Shaun RU!'Io"ot"1I (H- 0);3. Paul Lynch (H · 0); -I. P..ul Berg strom 01 -0); 5. Dilly Ma rti n (H- D); b . l.R. Schn.l!:lc, (H· D); 7. Iaime Aguila r (H- O ). 'I Time: 5 m m....; 31.322 ~"CS . SEMI 2 (8 I.-.p s; 8 riders, top th ree tran!i.fer): 1. Gilry Rogers (H·O); 2. Kevin Varnes (H·D) ; J . Toby jo rge nsen (H -D) ; 4.. Ken Yode r ( H-O ); 5. Greg Teague Hi · D); 6. Brian Shirley (l -i-D): 7. Ter ry Pl1llVCY (Hon j: 8. Stev e M oreh ead (H· D). Time: 5 mins.; 35.-194 "'t'CS. . G RAND NATIONAL (9 lap..): I. Jl.. .• Kop p (H-D>; 2. Scutt Parker (H· D); 3. Ceo Roeder II (H-D) ; 4. D.ln Sta nley (H·D>; 5. Rich King (11-0) ; fl. J.1Y Springsteen (H- D); 7. C hri s Ca rr (H -D>; K. Bry an Bigelow 01 -0); 9. Will .D.n· b (H -D); 10. N ick y Hayden (H-Dl; 11. Steve Bea ttie ( H· D); 12. Gary Roger ... (H -D>; 13. Willie M(, uy -,C (H-D> 14. Kevin Va rnes (H-D>; 15. Sba un Ru ~~11 (H-D); ; 16. To by [orgc nw n (H-D); 17. P;IUI Lynch (H-OJ; 18. Mill" Ha cker (H- D). Ti me: (No ne, du e to red n.l~) . GRAND NATIONA L POI NT S (.1f1t'r 18 of 21): 1. Chr is C arr (272/-1 wi ns) : 2. Rich King (227 / 4); 3. Scott Parker 075/0; -I. will Davi .. (170 /2); 5. lo Kop p 053 /1); b. e Bryan Bigelow (148) ; 7. G..-o Roede r II (1-15); 1:'. J<1 \o' Spring~t..' en (144/ 1); Q . Nic ky H••ydcn (1 15/ 1); 10. Kl'\ 'in Atherton (l Oi /1 ); 11. Kevin Va rnes (l OS); 12. Ste ve Morehea d (95); 13. Mile H.\CI..l"f (85 ); 101. Ken Coolbeth Jr . 15. Butler (b7) ; lb. Da n St.mlev (66); 17. Steve Beatt ie (05); 18. Bn 'U Landes (55); 19. JR Sch nabe l (is,; (5;1); D .," 20. Shaun RU o;,"t"ll (50). Upcoming Rounds: Ro und 17 , S a c ra me nto . Ca lifor nia , Sep tembe r 19 Round 18 - Las Vegas, Nevada . October 3 that that is the best thing that we can pick out. Eighth place here? Icouldn't se e , and I'm sure nobody else could see . That' s pretty bad because the MIchiganguys, well. this is right up our alley. I don't know what to teUyou.' Kopp's win dropped Bigelow back to sixth place in the se ries standings : the two are battling lor that last spot in the top five. "That's racing." Bigelow said. ' Last week he didn't make the main event at Springfield, and that put him back to sixth. It's going to be a see saw battle all the way back to Del Mar, It seems like it's so much pressure between both 01 us that It'S like we're racing lor the championship, and we're really only racing lor fifth and sixth. It's gonna come rightdown to Del Mar.' Steve More he ad was in his street clothes before the semis started, the series ' olde st active vete ran pu lling the plug on his own rather tha n risk racing on a track that he felt was unsale . Afterward, Morehead commented on his decision. ' My opinion is that Chris Agajanian brings us to premier facilitie · Dallas ... we've been to Albuquerque... San Diego · but s it's all sand," Morehead sa id. -I don't care howbeautilul that grandstand is or how many butts you put in the sea ts , if we can't put on a good, sale race , why in the hell are we there? The promoter is doing his job, and it cos ts Chris Agajanian an awlullo t 01 money to put on his show, but unfortunat ely the race tra cks are all-w eat he r race tracks tha t are bui lt w ith sa nd, and we can't do it. It doesn't work. There are so me places that we don't belong. We do belong in the big cities . I agree to that · but when it's ell-weather race tracks built with sa nd. we don't belonq, And dumping wa ter on sand wa s the dumbe st thing that I've ever seen in my life. and I can' t believe that G ene Romero. with his racing expe rience . didn 't know what it was going to do. It's like standing on a beach at the ocea n. Let the nde go out and suc k your feet out lrom undemeath you. and what's going to happen? You sink. When the sand hits you, it sticks. In live minutes, It dries and blows away. We didn't have a dust proble m tonight. We kept watering the race track and it got so fter and softer until there was no bo ttom to It. C 'rnon , It's not lAMA Dirt Track Manager) Bruce Bober's lault. I honestly believe that there are politics involved in this game , where... you run five or eight Nat ionals a year, and you ge t an eve nt in a big city . But until Burton Smith gets his sprint car tracks built in Atlanta, Charl ott e and Texas... We cannot race on sand . Let' s lace reality. I've been doing this lor 26 years. and I'm not going to race when the lights are out. Ir s not all Bruce 's lault. He is the man that we got for the job, but I think that politics are overriding Bruce's decision. and that's what is making our sport look like a piece 01 shit. ' Sixth-placed J a y Spri ng steen was equally unhappy With the track conditions , even though the 42·year·old tough guy appeared to be one of the few riders who could negotiate the ruts with little difficulty In the main. ' I mean it is a beautilul facility, but you can't pack sand: Springer said, "l don't care what you put on It. Aren't they supposed to have a Hot Shoe race belore they have a Grand National? Is (Chris) Agajanian, because he's got f- king millions 01 dolla rs. he can just buy his way in? It was like racing in a plow ed field . If yo u've got enough money , yo u can have a race in a plowed lield. We 'd be bette r 011. lta in' t no lun racing like that: Springstee n used every trick in the book to try and ward 011 the roost. including running a helmet visor above his number plate and having a rag on the handleba r so that he could wipe the visor on his helmet. "' tried everything I could: he sa id. "It ain'l no lun racing like that. It's too dangerous. and we don't need it."

• Cover