Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Randy GOII (6) and Bubba Shobert battled for the lead through much of the race. Shobert used a lalt lap paIS to win by a bikelength. AltA GrandNational Championship/ Winston Pro Series: Round J4 Indy Mile thriller to Shobert By Gary Van Voorhis Photos by Bert Shepard/Silver Shutter INDIANAPOLIS, IN , JULY 3 Bubba Shobert, by a margin of less than one bikelength over Randy Goss at the end of 25 action packed miles of racing, picked up his firs t career National victory in the Indianapolis Mile. Third place finisher Steve Morehead joined the celebration in winner's circle and took the opportuni ty 6 to give Shobert a champagne shampoo. "It's about time I won a National," said Texan Shobert. "We had one heck of a battle going on out there for all 25 laps. It must have been a great show for the fans." Shobert moved to 10th in the point standings via his win. " "I thought I had enough steam to hold Bubba off," said Goss. "He got a tremendous drive off tum four and just nipped me at the line. It was good close racing. " "Taking last weekend off from the National and riding two local Ohio half miles allowed me to dial in the bike and that hel ped," said Morehead. "What didn't help was losing my brakes on the second lap. You can't really mix it up without, brakes.. Having Ricky (Graham) drop out of the top three near the end with a sick engine made third a gift, but I'll take it. " Terry Poovey put in a strong ride to place fourth with Scott Parker taking fifth. The Winston Pro Series point standings shuffled around. Graham still holds a commanding lead with 142 points while Poovey moved to second with Parker third at 107 and 103 points, respectively. Jay Springsteen, at 99, leads Goss with 98. Springsteen and Poovey had been in a close duel for fifth when the two touched wheels starting the 24th lap and Springsteen went down. He was credited with 15th place, out of the points. "I was charging into the tum and that damn Poovey was standing on the brakes. I hit his back tire and highsided. That's no way to ride, " said Springsteen afterwards. He was only shaken up. "It wasn't my fault," said Poovey. "We wen; racing; $ar',s all." I" ' Qualifying There had been a lot of rain in the Indianapolis area prior to the event and grooming the track pushed the program back nearly two hours. Threatening weather surrounded the Indy area, keeping the spectator turnout down. Gary Scott was the first rider out in time trials, and when the 54 riders were finished, his 36.800 second clocking was best. However, it posed no threat to Hank Scott's track record of 35.283. Springsteen, Graham -looking for his fourth consecutive fast time in mile Nationals this season -Scott Parker and Goss rounded out the top five. " I guess I bu ilt th e engine too tight," said Hank Scott explaining why he was quitting for the night after only running practice. " It's safer and cheaper to do it this way. I don' t want to risk blowing the engine up. It 's really making a lot of noise." Heats Gary Scott and Goss set up close quarters competition for the lead in the first heat. Lance Jones moved up to challenge on lap three and took the lead heading into tum three. Moments later, he was out with a blown engine. Jones' exit moved Mike Kidd, on a Honda NS750, into third. Scott took the lead, pulling out a few bike lengths and looking over his shoulder at Goss' position on each lap as "he exited tum four. Goss narrowed the gap and then took the lead on lap eight. Scott stayed close, but couldn't regain the lead. Kidd cruised home in third for a spot in the National. It was the fastest heat of the night, giving Goss the pole for the National. Springsteen led the opening lap of heat two and the next nine as well. Eklund, after Scott Adams broke an engine, cruised around in second. The real fight was for third and involved six riders from the fifth lap to the finish. Honda mounted Scott Pearson led the 12-wheeled freight train to start the last lap. Ted Boody was fifth in the group, but Boody pulled out all the stops and took third at the flag by inches over Charlie Roberts. Boody was on a bike lent to him by Tom Cummings and Gary Peel after his broke in practice. Graham, Poovey and Tim Mertens dueled it out over the first five laps in heat three with Graham usually holding the upper hand. Graham got a bit of breathing room on lap six, but Poovey closed it back up on lap eight. By this time, the front two had put some 30 bikelengths on Mertens in third. Poovey couldn't get close enough to catch Graham's draft in the final laps and settled for second. The final heat was a slam-bang affair between Parker and Shobert for the lead as Garth Brow, Dave Bradley and Ken Houston battled for third. Parker and Shobert were trading the lead three and four times on some laps by using the draft and pass technique and late braking to the utmost. Meanwhile, Houston had dropped off th e pa ce, leaving Brow with a slight edge on Bradley for third. Both battles would go to the checkered flag. Parker led Shobert by a bikelength as the two got the white flag telling them there was one lap to go. Shobert got a drive off tum two ; passed Parker going into tum three and then held him off at the finish. Brow led Bradley to the flag for his spot in the National. Yamaha's Jimmy Filice took a ride to the hospital after he went down in tum three, three laps from the finish while running sixth. "I ran the bike really hard into tum three," said Filice after he returned to the track, "and it pitched me right off. I caught my wrist on the triple clamp when I went down and it fractured the wrist. The doctor said I won 't be racing for six weeks. I'm going to see my own doctor when I get :home." Semis Alex Jorgensen knew one of the two transfers to the National from the first semi was going to be his. He grabbed the lead in a seven rider string and held on. Charlie Roberts made what appeared to be a costly mistake on lap three when he gambled on a high line challenge of Jorgensen and it cost him second. Jorgensen and Pearson moved away with Jorgensen holding about a 15 bikelength lead. Roberts began to close on Pearson and moved right on his ir ear

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