Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BDmTTRACK~A~d~.~~~~_~_~_cl_h_os_m_·~_:R_~_d_l_6~~~~~~ ~ C'J ~ ~ .....-l "' ~ .....-l 1-1 Cl,) ,.0 o ~ u o 14 crossing the finish line after slipping off the groove while trying to pass Poovey on the last lap. "It took me a little bit to get going, but once I got up to speed it was great," said winne.r Parker. "The track is smooth and the groove is a lot wider than usual. We can go into the turns four abreast, it's great." "My bike is just not as fast as the factory guys'," said Graham. "I can't draft them out of the turns." National Fast-heat winner Atherton was given first pick on the line, and he chose the outside pole. To his left, were Parker, Carr, Morehead, Graham and Durelle. And on the side of the track, stood Parker's mechanic Bill Werner and Carr's mechanic Kenny Tolbert. "I've done my part and given Scotty a good bike to race, now it's all up to him,' said Werner. "You can't control your own destiny and you can't worry about others." "If I told you that I'm not nervous, I'd be a darn liar," said Tolbert. "I must have worked on that bike more this past week than I have all season. I was sitting up at three in the morning the other night polishing stuff and I thought, 'Hey, you're gonna overdo it. Go to sleep.' " To Werner and Tolbert's dismay, both Parker and Carr suffered mediocre starts. Morehead found the most traction and led the way with Graham, Atherton and Durelle in tow, while Parker and Carr rounded turn one in sixth and seventh, respectively. Graham was the first to pounce and stole the lead· from Morehead on the opening lap of the 25-lap race, only to see Morehead do the same on the next straight. Atherton joined' the party on lap three and assumed the lead, while Parker and Carr seemed content to run fifth and sixth. "I got a medium holeshot, but I just cruised for a while," said Parker. "I wanted to watch the other guys' lines and figure out my strategy." "I knew that tire wear was going to be a factor," said Carr. "So I ,rode conservatively during the opening laps. No sense in trying to go fast and burning up your tire." Morehead, Graham and Atherton thrilled the crowd for the first 1.0 laps, as each rider took his turn drafting and double-drafting into the lead. Meanwhile, Pegram had worked his way up from a poor start and broke into the top five by passing Carr. Parker came to life on lap I0 and motored up to second, then stole the lead from Atherton on lap II. "I was just riding steady and 'saving my tire when I saw Scotty move into the lead," said Carr. "That's when I decided it was time to go. " Like Parker, Carr· came to life and joined the battle for the lead on lap 12. Carr turned up the wick and flew to the front of the lead pack that also consisted of Parker, Atherton, Graham, Morehead, Pegram, Durelle,' Jones and Poovey, running in that order. About 10 bike lengths behind the leaders came a pack made up of Camlin, I:arris, Springsteen, Roeder, Herndon and Darling, while King and Brow circulated the track well off the pace. On lap IS, Morehead's motor began to sour and the series veteran was forced to slow from his torrid pace. "I felt great for the first half of the race," said Morehead, who managed to nurse his motorcycle home to an eventual seventh-place finish. "The bike was a horse - it-was really flying. Then about the halfway point it started Fast qualifier Terry Poovey set a new one-lap track record and finished eighth. to tie up, I think the bottom end was going our." Meanwhile, Atherton assumed the lead on lap 17 and looked as if he would break away. "I had a pretty good lead going and thought, 'Hey, I'm going to get away from them,' but then I lOOKed back on the next lap and they were right back with me," said Atherton. Carr and Parker closed the gap on their younger teammate, as did Graham and Pegram. In the remaining laps, each of the three factory Harley riders took turns in the lead, while Graham and Pegram looked for a way _ to join in the fray. As they sped past the white flag, the order read: Parker, Carr, Atherton, Pegram and Graham. Carr swooped past Parker as they entered turn one, and Atherton bumped the champ back to third with a draft pass on the back straight. As he entered turn three, though, Atherton took a peek over his shoulder and slipped off the groove, allowing Parker, Pegram, Graham and Durelle past. While some onlookers felt that he had moved over to let his teammate by, Atherton told a different story: "I drafted past Scott on the back straight and was getting ready to set up Chris. Then I looked back to check on where Scott was in three and four so I could guard my line, but I got all sideways and slipped way off the groove." Once past Atherton, Parker drew to the rear of Carr's motorcycle and performed a picture-perfect draft pass inches before the finish line to score the win. Pegram broke away from Graham to finish a lonely third, while Durelle and a recovered Atherton finished fifth and sixth, respectively, just behind Graham. Morehead, Poovey, Jones and Springsteen rounded out the top 10 finishers. "That was the best race of the year," said Parker. "I did what I had to do, but, unfortunately, so did Chris." When asked why he didn't attempt to break away from the pack as he has in so many mile races, Parker replied, "I didn't want tol I wanted to be in the middle of the pack. I needed as many people between myself and Chris as possible." "I set out to make sure tnat I finished first or second," said Carr, obviously satisfied with his performance. "I cruised at the start and kinda let them get away, but I knew that they'd come back to me. The track was a little abrasive, so you had to be careful with your tire. Mine was pretty well worn out at the end of the race." "I got a bad start, but 1 got going at about the 10th lap or so," said Pegram. "I wanted to get in the middle (Left to right) Chris Carr, Scott Parker and Larry Pegram stood on the winner's box. Chris Carr (20), Ricky Graham (3) and Scott Parker (1) swapped the lead repeatedly. and mix things up a bit, but those guys got away at the very end. Ricky' and 1 had a great race, the track was good and made for some good passes." Unlike Parker, Carr and Pegram, Graham was a bit somber after the race. "I was just frustrated,'~ said the twotime Grand National Champion. "I knew that I couldn't win. No matter what I did, I couldn't keep up with the factory bikes on the straights. I would ride my butt off in the turns and pass them, but it would he all over on the next st~ight." eN Results TIME TRIALS: 1. Terry Poovey (36.263); 2. Scott Parker (36.446); 3. Ricky Graham (36.52&); 4. Davey Durelle (36.554); 5. Steve Morehead (36.56&); 6. Kevin Atherton (36.576); 7. Larry Pegram (36.622); &. Ronnie Jones (36.766); 9. Chris Carr (36.777); 10. Mike Hale (36.&13); II. Billy Herndon (36.&79); 12, George Roeder II (36.938); 13. Jay Springsteen (36.963); 14. Dan Ingram (37.030); 15. Garth Brow (37.076); 16. Tim Mertens (~7.109); 17. Willie McCoy (37.151); 18. Greg Sims (37.223); 19. Jason Fletcher (37.242); 20. Rusty Rogers (37.312); 21. Chance Darling (37.338); 22. Steve Beattie (37.359); 23. Rodney Farris (37.372); 24. Davey Camlin· (37.380); 25. Donnie Estep (37.510); 26. Rich King (37.526); 27. Ted Taylor (37.545); 28. Gordon Schopieray (37.547); 29. Chris Evans (37.570); 30. Mike Dillon (37.591); 31. Rex Fisher-(37.639); 32. Ben Bostrom (37.652); 33. Aaron Hill (37.659); 34. Scott Stump (37.671); 35. Greg Crow (37.798); 36. Sal Hoffman (37.926); 37. Tony Donahue (37.954); 38. Tim Selby (37.980); 39. Jeff Dietz (38.014); 40. Mike Inderbitzen (38.043). HEAT I: 1. Chris Carr (H-D); 2. Terry Poovey (Hon); 3. Ronnie Jones (H-D); 4. Davey Camlin (HD); 5. Tim Mertens (Hon); 6. Willie McCoy (H-D); 7. Aaron Hill (H--D); 8. Ben Bostrom'(H-D); 9. Don Estep (H-D); 10. Dale Jenneman (H-D); II. Mike Inderbitzen (H-D). . Time: 6 minutes, 9.11 seconds. HEAT 2: 1. Scott Parker (H-D); 2. Larry Pegram (H-D); 3. Mike Hale (H,D); 4. Rodney Farris (HD); 5. Garth Brow (Hon); 6. Rich King (Hon); 7. Greg Sims (H-D); 8. Rex Fisher (H-D); 9. Scott Stump (Hon); 10. Jeff Dietz (H-D); 11. David Lloyd (Hon). Time: 6;08.87. HEAT 3: 1. Kevin Atherton (H-D); 2. Ricky Graham (Hon); 3. Dan Ingram (Hon); 4. Billy Herndon (Hon); 5. Ted Taylor (H-D); 6. Jason Fletcher (H-D); 7. Steve Beattie (H-D); 8. Mike Dillon (H-D); 9. Greg Crow (H-D); 10. Tim Selby (H-D); 11. Kevin Bricker (H-D); 12. Steve Raymond (H-D). Time: 6;07.32. HEAT 4: 1'. Steve Morehead (H-D); 2. Davey Durelle (H-DI; 3. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 4. George Roeder II (H-D); 5. Chance Darling (H-D); 6. Tony Donahue (H-D); 7. Scott Hoffman (H-D); 8. Chris Evans (Hon); 9. GordoD Schopieray (H-D); 10. Joe Winston III (H-D); II. Dave Roberts (H-D); 12. Rusty Rogers (H-D). Time: 6;10.73. SEMI I: 1. Camlin; 2. Farris; 3. Darling; 4. Ingram; 5. Hill; 6. fletcher; 7. Sims; 8. Crow; 9. Jenneman; 10. Dietz; II. Rogers; 12. Roberts; 13. Evans. Time: 4;59.32. SEMI 2: 1. Herndon; 2. Roeder; 3. King; 4. Hale; 5. Mertens; 6. HoCIman; 7. Selby; 8. Beattie; 9. Stump; 10. Inderbitzen; J 1. Bostrom; 12. Winston. Time: 4;58.66. SEMI 3: I. Jones; 2. Springsteen; 3. Brow;-4. McCoy; 5. Estep; 6. Taylor; 7. Donahue; 8. Fisher; 9. Bricker; 10. Lloyd; 11. Schopieray; 12. Dillon. Time: 4;57.45. CAMEL CHALLENGE: I. Scott Parker (H-D); 2. Ricky Graham (Hon); 3. Kevin Atherton (H-D); 4. Davey Durelle (H-D); 5. Terry Poovey (Hon); 6. Steve Morehead (H-D). . Time: 3;05.77 25-LAP NATIONAL: 1. Scott Parker (H-D); 2. Chris Carr (H-D);. 3. Larry Pegram (H-D); 4. Ricky Graham (Hon); 5. Davey Durelle (H-D); 6. Kevin Atherton (H-D); 7. Steve Morehead (H-D); 8. Terry ,Poovey (Hon); 9. Ronnie Jones (H-D); 10. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 11. George Roeder II (H-D); 12. Rodriey Farris (H-D); 13. Davey Camlin (H-D); 14. Billy Herndon (Hon); 15. Chance Darling (H-D); 16. Garth Brow (Hon); 17. Rich King (Hon). Time: 15;20.09. Average speed: 97.815 mph. AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/ CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: I. Chris Carr (22114 wins); 2. Scott Parker (212/7); 3. Ricky Graham (174/1); 4. Larry Pegram (148/1); 5. Kevin Atherton (130); 6. Will Davis (89/2); 7. Ronnie Jones (87); 8. Dan Ingram (81); 9. Terry Poovey (78); 10. George Roeder II (75); It. Rusty Rogers (73/ I); 12. Jay Springsteen (70); 13. Steve Morehead (64); 14. Davey Durelle (62); 15. Rich King (38); 16. Mike Hale (37); 17. (TIE) Aaron Hill/Davey Camlin (30); 19. Rodney Farris (23); 20. Billy Herndon (21).

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