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It’s Carr, not Graham, at Daytona Short Track

Chris Carr, the AMA's 1992 Grand National Champion, showed Daytona Bike Week race-goers he's determined to be a factor in the 1994 championship run. He did so by scoring a convincing win at the Bike Week’s short-track national aboard his Harley-Davidson/Rotax over Terry Poovey, who finished second, and third-placer Brett Landes.

Ricky Graham, who won the 1993 Grand National Championship aboard a Johnny Goad-tuned Honda, but who this year is testing the roadracing waters, checked into the Dayona event aboard a Smokin’ Joe’s Honda dirttracker. He was unable to come to terms with the track and with the bike, falling in his heat and in his semi-final. Graham rode a Smokin’ Joe’s Honda RC30 in the Daytona 200 and finished 15th.

Evergreen dirt-tracker Jay Springsteen also was scheduled for a ride in Sunday’s 200-mile roadrace. But his appearance in the Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster dirt-track challenge the evening before the 200-miler brought a premature end to Springer’s Daytona race weekend. He highsided hard off his bike in Turn 4, sustaining shoulder and wrist injuries that kept him out of Sunday’s roadrace.

Legends battle, Aldana wins

Racing veteran Dave Aldana battled his way through three close heats to win this year’s BMW Battle of the Legends, a feature of vintage day at Daytona’s Bike Week.

But it wasn’t easy, as Aldana and the rest of this year’s cast-Yvon DuHamel, Jay Springsteen, Reg Pridmore, Gary Nixon, Roger Reiman, Don Emde, Kurt Leibmann, Don Vesco and Don Castro, each mounted on an identically prepped R1 lOORS-flogged away at each other around the speedway’s shortened vintage-roadrace infield to draft-and-pass, draft-and-pass on the speedway’s straights and banking.

DuHamel, last year’s winner, was never far out of the hunt, winning the first heat, then finishing third and second in the next two heats to take second overall. Springsteen, with two thirds and a second, wound up third overall.

How hard do these guys really race on streetbikes and street tires? Reg Pridmore, who finished fourth overall, summed it up: “There isn’t a rider here who wants to finish last, especially me. We all have our egos to satisfy.”

Kiedrowski doubles Daytona

ICawasaki’s Mike Kiedrowski kicked his season into high gear with his second-straight Daytona Supercross win. Early race leader Jeff Stanton was looking to take his first win of the season but was no match for Kiedrowski on the physically demanding track, which resembled an outdoor circuit more than a true supercross course. Stanton mounted a mid-race charge after Kiedrowski passed him, but he could not put a dent in Kiedrowski s lead, and finished in second place.

Pre-race favorite Mike LaRocco was the victim of a bad start, but managed to work his way up to third for the final spot on the podium.

Series points leader and 1993 Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath was unable to find the form that has taken him to five victories in the seven races run so far this season. He finished in fourth. Mike Craig, the only other rider to beat McGrath this year, looked strong in the early going but fell off both his bike and the pace, taking an early trip back to the pits.

The 125cc race looked to be a Jimmy Button runaway, and was, until Button popped off his bike and lost his 16-second advantage. This left an opening for Suzuki teammate Ezra Lusk, working up from a lastplace start. Button would have none of that, and on the final lap stuffed Lusk off the track to take the win. E3