Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

four of us, the track. was dangerous. I can't imagine 17 guys racing on it." The field in the second heat was a bit fatter. Ingram, George Roeder n, Davey Camlin, Don Estep and Mike Dillon sat on the front row, while Greg Crow made up row two. M&M Racing's Ingram assumed the lead from the get-go, but Roeder shadowed the Honda rider and pushed his Mike's H-D Harley-Davidson into the lead on the third lap. Ingram and Roeder went on to swap the lead a few times, but it was Roeder who came out on top at the flag. Camlin finished a distant third but would have to ride in the semi. "I can't say that I felt comfortable out there," said Roeder. "But I have to pay the bills." Five riders - Graham, Jones; Rogers, . Tony Donahue and Aaron Hill- made up the starting grid for heat three. At the start, Jones led Rogers and Graham throqgh tUTn one, while Donahue and Hill cruised around the oval. "The AMA wouldn't give us a refund, and they said that we had to race to be paid for racing," said a dejected Hill. "So Tony and I went out and rode two laps easy. We rode like jokes at a joke of a race." Meanwhile, Jones, Rogers and Graham battled over the two direct transfer positions. Jones led the majority of the race, but a last-lap charge by his rivals caught- him off guard, and he finished third behind winner Rogers and runnerup Graham. "I grew up racing on tracks worse than this," said Rogers. '1t may be dangerous, but it suits me just fine." Pegram, Davey Durelle; Morehead and Dale Jenneman started on the front row of heat four, while Chance Darling staged next to the wall on the second row. Pegram, who was unofficially the fastest rider during practice, sped off the line and was never challenged. Morehead held second throughout the ra<;e but was seriously challenged by Darling on laps two through five. But Darling's chain snapped on the back. straight and left him stranded, allowing Morehead to finish an easy second, a full straightaway behind winner Pegram. '1 was all alone, so it wasn't all that bad," said Pegram. "You just have to watch yourself." Rusty Rogers (57) and Ricky Graham (3) ran second and third, respectively, for the duration of the shortened 2O-lap National. (Left to right) Billy Herndon, Scott Parker, Larry fegram, Rusty Rogers and Pegram's tuner, Skip Eaken, discuss what should be done. Parker .was against runn?tg the race, but Rogers, Pegram and Eaken were f~ it. Herndon was skeptical. Semi Laughter broke out in the pits when referee Kennedy announced over the loudspeaker that there would only be oQe semi that would transfer the top nine riders to the National. Poovey donned his riding gear and was angered when he was initially told that he wouldn't be allowed to compete due to the fact that he didn't race in his heat. Close review of the official AMA rulebook revealed that since Poovey wasn't disqualified from his heat, he should be allowed to compete. "I didn't think that I had to ride my heat," said Poovey. "I wanted to spend as little time on the track. as possible." Several racers in the pits. felt that Poovey had planned to sit out the race, but changed his mind when he heard the semi announcement Gardner Racing's Jones motored his Harley into the lead at the start of the eight-lap semi and ran away with an easy win. Camlin initially held down second with Durelle and Crow on his tail, while Dillon, Darling and Inderbitzen and Poovey battled over fifth a few seconds back.. . While it was no surprise that Jones was out front, Darling turned a few heads by turning up the wick and smoking past first Dillon, then Crow, Durelle and Camlin. Jones greeted the checkered flag with a straightaway lead over Darling, who in turn enjoyed a comfortable lead over Crow, Durelle and Camlin. Poovey finished a distant sixth, while Dillon, Jenneman and McBee rounded out the top nine and would compete in the National. "You have to race the track more than you have to race each other," said Jones. "It's bad." "Things are finally coming together for us and the bike is working good," said Southeast Harley/Motorcycle Specialties/Arai/Simmons Construction/White Bros.-sponsored Darling, who was happy that he had qualified for his first National of the year. "We had a good ride at Springfield last week but came up a little short. I feel pretty good today, all things considered." National As winner of the fastest heat race, Pegram was given first choice on the line and he set his Harley on the outside groove. To his left were Rogers, Roeder, Beattie, Jones and Durelle, while Graham, Morehead, Ingram, Darling and Poovey made up row two. Crow, Camlin, Dillon, Jenneman and McBee sat on the third row. 7

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