Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Randy Goss (6) and Hank Scott. riding the new Honda RS750. took their battle for second down to the wire. Goss took the position by a foot. the best racing o f th e day. G ary Sco tt and Steve Moreh ead pl aye d a ga me o f swa p th e lead thro ug ho u t th e 10 laps. Scott favored passing going into turn one; Morehead into turn three. On the fin al lap, Scott took the lead in . turn one and h eld on through turns 3-4 . However, Mor eh ead go t a s tro ng drive off turn four a n d drafted p ast to win by a sca nt two feet. The cro wd g ave th em a rous ing ch eer. Tim Mer- ten s watched a ll th is from th ird. T he heat was th e fast est, g iving Morehead th e pole for the National. Semis The semis, from which th e top tw o finishers would qualify for th e Na- tional, wer e cu t to ei gh t la ps from 10 due to the laten ess o f the da y. Shobert and Tom Ma itland had a race-long duel going at the front of sem i one. ND /Sh oei /Diamond/Cas- trol/Hi-Point sponsored Maitl and couldn't sha ke Shobert from th e lead. Both went to th e Nat ional. G raham 's tea m h ad made so me cha n ges between th e he at a n d th e se m i a n d it sh owed as Graham a nd Bea ch swa p pe d th e lead o u t fron t. Bea ch led th e fin al lap un til th e fo u rt h turn when Grah am, with ap pare nt ease a nd a lot o f horse- po we r, blasted by for th e win. Sou th Da ko ta ri d er Bea ch to ok second on his Fargo H -D sponsored Har ley. Last Chance Bill y H erndon bro ke away from a fo u r rider battl e in th e closing la p s o f th e Last Chan ce Qual ifier to tak e th e w in a nd the fina l starting posi tion i n th e 17-r id er National field . National I lT b d iehh was.q u id Voss,' i n ' seco nds l n u l' ll'! J o r gen sen a nd H a n k Sco tt kn ocki ng o n h is rear w he el wh ile the Parker / G ary Sco tt duel wasn ' t far behind. Mike Kidd , runn in g aro u nd 10th most o f th e ti me, stop pe d a t th e sta n / finish line to h ave hi s m echan ic look a t the rear wheel a n d sw in ga r m . So meth ing wa s ca usi ng th e bik e to wo bble badl y. They co u ld n ' t find a nyth i ng a n d Kidd co ntin ue d to ci r - cu la te a t slo wer th an race speed . On lap 23 , th e fin al po sitions were se t a ltho u g h th er e wo u ld still be a bi t o f swappi ng in th e remainin g laps befo re thi n gs evened o u t. Graham ca me o n for th e w in with G os s hold - in g o ff a last cha nce effort by Hank Scott a t th e li n e by o n ly a fo ot o r tw o . J org en sen led Gary Scott wi th Parker a nd Bood y beh ind . " H ey, we did i t didn 't we ," sa id tu ner T ex P eel to G ra ha m . " Yo u bet," sai d G rah am. "Th ings a re reall y sta rti ng to ro ll now." " T here was so mu ch dust o n th e back stra ig h t 1 co u ld n ' t see h alf th e ti m e, " sa id Goss. " O n ce o r tw ice 1 ac tua lly stoo d u p to see wh at was in fron t o f me . 1 did n' t kn ow H a nk was beh i nd me until h e flew pas t. I ha d p ow er o n him so 1 rea lly wasn ' t wo rried. " " I th ink H a n k d id a h eck o f a job ri d in g, " sa id H ond a 's J erry Griffit h . " T h e bik e is ver y new an d we're sti ll so n ing out th e b ugs a nd maki ng the po wer more us abl e. • Results NATIONA L: 1. Ric ky Gra ham (H· D); 2 . Rand y Gos s (H· D); 3 . Hank Seon (Han ); 4 . A lex J or gen sen (H- D); 5 . Gar y Scan (H-D); 6 . Scott Parka' (H- D); 7. Ted Boody (H -D J;B. J ay Beac h (H · D); 9 . Bu bb a Sh o- bert (H-D); 10 . Bill y Herndon (H-D); 1 1. J on Corn - w ell (H- D); 12 . Tom Ma itla nd (H-D); 13. Mi ke Kidd (Ha n); 14 . Ste ve Hall (H-D); 15 . Er ic Rau sch (H · D); 16 . Tim M ert en s (H-D); 17 . St eve M or eh ead (H · D). Time : 15 m in .• 29 . 165 secs. 9 ' AVera'g~ speM: 9 6 .86 mph. " ". .. . . , . .

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