Motor Racing / Shav Glick : Title Win Takes Pressure Off Shobert

Newly crowned national champion Bubba Shobert could be excused if he takes it easy in the Camel Pro Series national half-mile motorcycle race Saturday night at Ascot Park, but he won’t. The 23-year-old rider from Lubbock, Tex., has one more frustration to wipe away and Ascot is his last chance.

When Shobert finished third last Sunday in the San Jose Mile, he clinched the 1985 championship and collected $143,000--the richest one-day payoff in series history. Broken down, he received an $80,000 bonus from Honda, his bike sponsor; $40,000 from the series sponsor points fund; $20,000 for having the best record on mile tracks; and $3,000 for finishing third in the race. He also became the first rider in five years to win the title before the season’s final race.

That erased the disappointment of losing the championship last year by a single point--despite missing six races when he was suspended for fighting. But he still needs a victory on a half-mile track to complete the American Motorcyclist Assn.’s Grand National “cycle slam” of victories on all five types of tracks--mile, half mile, road, short track and TT steeplechase.

Only Dick (Bugsy) Mann and three-time world champion Kenny Roberts have accomplished the feat since the series started in 1954.

What makes it all the more significant to Shobert is that he actually won a half-mile race last year but had it taken away from him. While practicing for a race in St. Louis, Shobert collided with fellow Texan Terry Poovey. After a shouting match, Shobert punched Poovey in the eye. Poovey missed two races, and Shobert was fined $1,000 and suspended for six races. During his appeal, Shobert was permitted to race.

During that period he won a half mile at Hagerstown, Md., but when the suspension was upheld, he was stripped of the victory. After the suspension was lifted, Shobert won four times and finished second seven times to miss catching Honda teammate Ricky Graham of Seaside, Calif., by a single point. Shobert had 27 points taken away during the suspension.

“It cost me a lot, but it taught me a lot, too,” Shobert said. “I guess it was just meant to be. I would like to have had the title last year but Ricky did a better job and deserved it. I just feel great that I won it this year.”

This year Shobert has won 5 of 27 races, including the Ascot TT steeplechase last spring for his first TT win. The other four wins were all on mile tracks, giving Shobert a record 13 AMA mile wins.

“Winning the championship last week gives me a better chance at Ascot,” Shobert said. “If I hadn’t clinched it, I couldn’t take chances where I might lose points, but now the pressure’s off and I can go fast enough to win and not worry about falling and not getting a high finish. Instead of being tense trying to win the championship, I’ll be loose out there.”

The main obstacles in his way Saturday night are Graham, Ted Boody of Sapula, Okla., and Jay Springsteen of Lapeer, Mich.

Graham holds both the one-lap qualifying and 20-lap race records at Ascot and has won four of the last six races. Graham missed several early season races after being injured in a trail riding accident before the season began. His recent surge moved Graham from 21st to fifth in the points.

Boody won at Ascot last May in the season’s first half-mile race and since then has finished second in every half-mile race this season. Springsteen, a three-time series champion, won a record 40th main event two weeks ago in a mile race in Syracuse, N.Y., and is a four-time winner at Ascot.

Standings:

1. Bubba Shobert (Lubbock, Tex.), Honda, 249 points; 2. Ted Boody (Sapula, Okla.), Honda, 205; 3. Scott Parker (Flint, Mich.), Harley-Davidson, 178; 4. Doug Chandler (Salinas), Honda, 177; 5. Ricky Graham (Seaside, Calif.), Honda, 145; 6. Scott Pearson (Ceres, Calif.), Honda, 132; 7. Chris Carr (Stockton), H-D, 125; 8. Jay Springsteen (Lapeer, Mich.), H-D, 107; 9. Ronnie Jones (Oklahoma City), Honda, 96; 10. Mike Baldwin (Darien, Conn.), Honda, 89.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Hometown favorite Bob Ott of Dominguez Hills will challenge world finalists Sam Ermolenko and Lance King in tonight’s racing at Ascot’s South Bay Stadium. . . . Orange County Fairgrounds will look like a preview of the U.S. Nationals when all of the qualified riders compete in Friday night’s regular program. . . . No racing next Wednesday night at San Bernardino’s Inland Speedway as officials prepare the track for the California State Championships Sept. 28 on the same Orange Showgrounds oval.

OFF ROAD--Although drivers and spectators consider San Bernardino’s Orange Show Speedway the best of Mickey Thompson’s Gran Prix circuits, it probably will be dropped from the 1986 schedule because of limited seating capacity. . . . The Gran Prix truck series finale last Saturday night pleased both sides as Steve Millen’s win helped Toyota take the manufacturers championship, and Roger Mears’ second-place finish ahead of Ivan Stewart gave Mears and Nissan the individual title.

SPORTS CARS--The Porsche Owners Club will hold its 30th anniversary time trials Saturday and Sunday at Riverside International Raceway with nonclub members welcome to test their skills on the road course.

STOCK CARS--Ken Sapper retained his Saugus Speedway modified championship last week, but the sportsman and street stock crowns will be decided Saturday night in a pair of double points main events. Saugus closes its claimer stocks season Friday night . . . Marcus Mallett, winner of the last two NASCAR pro stock main events at Ascot Park, will go for No. 3 against points leader Don Wright Jr. on Sunday night.

LAND SPEED--The Bonneville salt flat was the best it has been in 30 years according to Speed Week historian Burke LeSage with the result that four cars bettered 300 m.p.h. Al Teague, in a 370 cubic inch blown Chrysler, was fastest at 349.09 m.p.h. Others were Nolan and Rick White, 454 c.i. blown Chevrolet, 347.973; Don Vesco, Offy-powered F Streamliner, 318.893; and Kaplan-Carr, rear-engine Lakester, 300.587.

FORMULA ONE--World public opinion against South Africa could jeopardize that country’s Oct. 19 race at Kyalami. Renault has already pulled out and several others teams have indicated they do not wish to race there. . . . Renault’s retirement from Formula One leaves talented Patrick Tambay without a ride but he will probably become former world champion Alan Jones’ Beatrice teammate next year. . . . World champion Niki Lauda’s decision to retire--again--has caused a flurry of driver changes among other former champions. Keke Rosberg is moving from Williams to McLaren to replace Lauda and two-time champion Nelson Piquet is leaving Brabham to replace Rosberg in the new Williams-Honda car.

SPRINT CARS--After a weekend of racing winged sprinters against the World of Outlaws, California Racing Assn. drivers return to its wingless season Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

NECROLOGY--Two-time Daytona 200 motorcycle winner Dale Singleton, of Dalton, Ga., was killed earlier this month in an airplane crash near Winnsboro, S.C. Singleton, 30, who had been racing stock cars this season, won the 1979 and 1981 Daytona races before retiring from cycles in 1982.