Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Morehead led Ingram, Carr, Farris and Parker into tum pne and would never relinquish his lead Just before the.white flag came out, Carr found his way past Ingram in three and four and went on to finish second Ingram held on for third ahead of Parker, but like the rest of the field, would have to Wait for another chance to qualify. "'Ibe track is a real pole-putter," said Morehead "You have to stay right on the groove or else." In heat four, Springsteen, Aaron Hill and Rich King blasted into tum one virtually even, but after some bumping, King emerged the leader. like Graham had done in the first heat, King twisted the throttle on his Honda and pulled out to a commanding 2O-bikelength lead Larry Pegram started fourth but quickly passed his way into third, behind Springsteen. Just before the halfway point, Springsteen slipped off the groove in turn four and allowed Pegram to sneak past, but would eventually finish second and -qualify for the main after Pegram parted company with his bike on the last lap. "I have no idea what happened," said Pegram."One second I was haulin', the next I was down." King scored an easy win aboard his Garvis Honda Town-backed machine, well ahead of Springsteen and a distant Atherton, who struggled to hold on with his injured arm. 'Tm stillleaming about this bike," said King of the Honda RS7S0 that Jones used to win last year's event "Every lap I got more and more comfortable, and every lap I pulled further and further away." Semis Winchester Harley's Rodney Farris grabbed the holeshot in the first eightlap semi, but all eyes were on Jones, who started third, behind Dave Hebb. Jones quickly displaced Hebb and set out after Farris, who he passed on lap three. To .the approval of the crowd, Jones pulled out a IS-bike-length lead aboard his Gardner Racing-backed HarleyDavidson and went on to notch the win ahead of Farris and Poovey, who came from fifth to secure the third and final ticket to the main. 'Td say the crowd helps out, but I'm also really comfortable on this track," said crowd-favorite Jones. Arai's Aaron Hill led the charge in the second semi and held off the charges of Parker for three laps before succumbing. Once into the lead, Parker pulled away from Hill, who held off the advances of Donahue Harley-Davidson's Davey Durelle to the finish. 'We made some changes after the heat and seem to have things dialed in," said Parker. The third semi brought controversy and protest The entire field, with the exception of second-row starter Greg Crow, jumped the gun and was sent to the penalty line. Before the restart, AMA National referee Jerry Kennedy motioned to the riders that another false start would result in the guilty rider(s) being thrown out Mertens proved to be too arixious on the restart, and the race was red flagged as the riders completed lap one. The entire field, including Mertens, was lined up for another try. This time, Mertens left the line legally and led the field through turn one. Ingram, Camlin, Pegram and Atherton shadowed Mertens around the track, all battling for one of the three available transfer positions. Ingram bumped Mertens off the groove on lap three and assumed the lead, but that is all Mertens would budge. Ingram established a healthy lead and went on to greet the checkered flag in firs~. The checkered was all Ingram saw, though, as starter Steve Feraci forgot to show the white flag before the start of the last lap. Mertens rode alone in second, while Camlin held off the advances of Pegram throughout the race to earn the third and final spot in the maID. Immediately after the race, Pegram complained to referee Kennedy that he should have held true to his words and thrown Mertens out after he jumped the gun on the restart. Kennedy turned down Pegram's protest, as the rulebook states: "A rider on the penalty llne whose front wheel touches that line before the official start may be disqualified" In the official results posted after the race, Ingram was credited with the win ahead of Mertens and Camlin, but Kennedy would later change his mind . Some 20 minutes later, after the Camel Challenge, Mertens was notified by Kennedy that he was disqualified from the semi and would not be allowed to participate in the National. Pegram would be the 17th rider to compete in the main, An uproar amongst the riders against the decision again put AMA officials under the gun. Talk of allowing both Mertens and Pegram to compete in the main - thus making it a field of 18 was heard, and caused even more confusion. Riders scheduled to compete in the National staged an official protest, and refused to ride if Pegram was allowed to compete. Finally, Kennedy reversed his decision and declared Mertens the official qualifier. "All I'm saying is that Jerry (Kennedy) should have stuck to his word Mertens jumped the line and should have been thrown out," said Pegram. "If they were going to disqualify me, they should have done it before the race }Vas restarted or immediately after the race," said Mertens. "Not 20 minutes later like they did Do you know how it feels to think you've made the main and have someone tell you that you're DQ'ed?" Kennedy was unavailable for comment, but National dirt track manager Mike Kidd said: "Mertens should have been thrown out right then, but wasn't We shouldn't have waited around like we did" Camel Challenge Fast-qualifier .Graham chose to start the five-lap $10,000 Camel O1allenge on the outside pole, with Ingram, Davis, Pegram, Springsteen and Carr to his left, in that order. Davis hooked up the best at the flash of the green light and led Pegram and Graham into tum one. Carr was fifth, while Springsteen seemed content with sixth. "Hell, I'm happy just to be making these things," said Springsteen, who has qualified for three Camel Challenges thus far in the season. Ingram plowed into the rear of Gra· ham's bike on the first lap and Carr snuck under them as they scrambled to get back on the groove. Davis was next to slip off the groove, and Pegram was quick to rail past and into the lead Davis' slip also allowed Carr to scoot past and into second On lap three, Carr dove under Pegram and stole the lead as they slid into tum one. Carr went on to win with inChes to spare over Pegram, while Davis, Ingram, Graham and Springsteen crossed the finish line well off the pace. "I started bad, but everyone was ramming each other and I just snuck right by," said Carr, who earnM $5000 for his win. "I never touched a soul." "I was thinking, 'Okay, just take it easy and you'll win,' " explained Pegram. "I guess I took it too easy, because Chris just came flying by me." Junior National Roy Hart Jr. blasted the competition Rusty Rogers (57) passed race promoter Ronnie Jones (16) for fourth place. (Left to right) Graham, Ingram~ Davis, Larry Pegram, Jay Springsteen, and Chris Carr were the six fastest qualifiers and competed in the Camel Challenge. Carr won. in the first six-lap Junior heat, and led Ty Howard, Jaime Aguilar and Alan Eadie across the line and into the main. Allon McBee did the. same in the second heat, topping Brett Landes, Shane McNally and Joel Barrow, while James Hart left Tim Selby, Donald Paul and Chad Barth behind in the third heat. James Hart assumed the lead early in the IS-lap Junior National and fended off the repeated attacks of his brother, Roy, to earn his first win of the season. Roy finished a close second, while Selby overcame a lackluster start to motor into third at the race's end Landes and McBee challenged James Hart early in the race, but dropped off the pace near the mid-way point. McBee managed to hold onto fifth, behind Barrow, while Landes was relegated to 11 th with mechanical troubles. 'Tm glad it was my brother behind me," said Hart Racing/Neil KeenlBelll Lou'slHogwash-sponsored James Hart "But I still wasn't going to give him any chances." National The 25-lap National got off to a rocky start when Hale and Springsteen tangled right off the line and brought out the red flag. Hale hit the ground and tumbled to a stop, while Springsteen rode to the side of the track with his teammate's motorcycle stuck to his rear wheel. "I was just.charging, then I looked up and saw Springer right there. I couldn't stop," said Hale, who later discovered that his right wrist was broken. Hale had previously broken the same wrist in an exhibition race in Italy in 1990. Davis grabbed the holeshot on the complete restart and raced through tum one with Graham, King, Ingram and Carr on his tail. Graham glued himself to Davis' rear fender and the two riders began to pull away from King, who had his hands full with Ingram and Carr. Parker left the line poorly, and completed the first lap in 12th place. Carr was the first rider to make a move; and zapped Ingram in tum two. Next to feel Carr's heat was King, but the parttime racer held tough until the 11th lap. By the time Carr worked his way into . third, Davis and Graham had established a IQ-bike-length lead While Graham continued to hound Davis, Carr began to eat away at the distance between them. Carr closed in on the lead duo by the 18th lap, while Parker had struggled through the pack and moved up to seventh. At that point, the top 10 read: Davis, Graham, Carr, King, Ingram, Jones, Parker, Rogers, Morehead and Springsteen. Carr looked ready to challenge Graham for second, but all hell broke loose on the 21st lap when Carr crashed in tum two. ' '1 hit a hole and the rear end slipped out from under me," said Carr. Carr scrambled to pick his machine up and move it off the groove, but failed to notice that the bike was still running. When the rear wheel touched the ground, it spun onto the track and clipped Parker as he sped by. Parker crashed hard and was taken to the hqspital, but suffered only a bangedup left leg and a cut above his eye from his glasses. Just after passing the Carr/Parker crash, Morehead's throttle stuck wide open and the series veteran was sent crashing into the haybales lining turn three. Morehead didn't suffer serious injury, but was too sore to continue. Davis headed the single-file restart, and for the next five laps would continue to ride flawlessly. After pressuring him throughout the race, Graham struggled after the restart and allowed Ingriun to sneak past "Will was riding so smooth, he would have had to make a mistake for me to pass him," said Graham. '1 could stay right on him, but after the restart I felt like I had oil on my tires. I went high, and Danny got me." The oil Graham spoke of may have come from Camlin's Harley, as he was pulled from the single-file restart with a leaking machine. "I can't believe it," said a heartbroken Camlin. Davis greeted the checkered flag with room to spare over Ingram, while Graham held on to finish a distant third. Rounding out the top five were Rogers and Jones, who snuck past King on the restart. "I felt like· I was on rails," said Davis: "I just concentrated on staymg smooth. - - - - - - Continued on page 13 11

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