Larry Lawrence | April 29, 2016
Scott Parker clinched the 1988 title at the Sacramento Mile and the team celebrated with a giant cake. Of course seconds after this cover photo was taken by photographer Mitch Friedman it turned into a massive food fight.
SACRAMENTO, CA (April 29, 2016) – Scott Parker had some of his most memorable AMA Grand National victories on the legendary Sacramento Mile and on Saturday, May 21, he will return to Cal Expo to take part in the Clash of the Titans III, an exhibition against his former hero and rival and fellow Flint, Michigan native Jay Springsteen. It was Springsteen who won the first two Clash of the Titan events over Chris Carr and is looking for three in a row at this year’s event.
For Parker the return to Sacramento brings back some vivid memories of racing in one of the iconic motorcycle races in America.
“The Sacramento Mile is a very special place for me,” said Parker, who with 13 national wins, has more victories at Cal Expo than any other rider in history. “One that really stands out was in ’85 when I beat Wayne Rainey by a couple of inches. Almost every time I see Wayne he brings up that race. He always says, ‘Why didn’t you let me win that race?’ because Wayne never won on the Mile.
“The other one was in ’88 when I won the last race of the year there and put an end to the question of who the real champion was.”
Parker is referring to a situation at the end of the 1988 AMA Grand National season where Honda factory rider Bubba Shobert had a chance to win the championship had a weight penalty that disqualified him from a race early in the season, been overturned on appeal. The appeal was ultimately denied during the Sacramento race weekend and Parker clinched the championship before the race even started. But Parker didn’t want to win the title that way. He said he wanted to end the season with a victory, proving he would have been the champion regardless of the appeal decision. And he did. Parker dominated that year’s Sacramento Mile season finale over Shobert.
Now Parker returns to Sacramento for the first time since he retired in 1999 and he’s looking forward to racing his friend and former Harley-Davidson factory teammate Jay Springsteen.
“Me and Jay actually got together and had dinner at Hooters the other night and he was talking about how much fun it was going to be for me to come back to Sacramento,” Parker said. “He just kept going on and on about how it was one of the best things he’s ever been a part of, so he’s really got me pumped up. As far as training, I haven’t been on a bike much, but I think after a few laps it will all come back to me, after all that’s what I did for 30 years.”
Parker concluded by saying the thing he was most looking forward to was getting back to see the fans.
“Sacramento always had some of the greatest fans in the series,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to seeing again all the great people who cheered me on back in my racing days. It should be a blast.”
The AMA Pro Grand National Championship series is one of the longest running motorcycle racing championships in the world. On the long straights of the Sacramento Mile top speeds can reach 130 miles per hour. Flat track racing has produced many of America’s Motorcycle Grand Prix Champions such as Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Jr. and Nicky Hayden. Visit www.sactomile.com to keep up with all the latest on the event.
For additional series info visit: www.amaproracing.com/ft Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SactoMile Twitter: https://twitter.com/sactomile YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/sactomile
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*** 2016 Ticket Information: Ticket information is available for the May 21, 2016 Sacramento Mile at www.sactomile.com.
Fans can order tickets online at http://www.sactomile.com/tickets, or by calling 1-844 SAC MILE (1-844- 722-6453).
