Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Harley-Davidson of Sacramento team owner Mik e Shattuck w as no d oubt well-aware of these points when he decided to return to the 1996 AMA Grand National Championship Series after a one-yea r hiatus. Shattuck's team di d well when it last hit the track in 1994 - his rider Aaron Hill and tuner Monte Heath collaborated for a seventh-place finish in the series standings - bu t the character differences that plagued the team at the end of the year culminated in Hill departing the team and the ride being left vacant for '95. Shattuck hopes to have remedied that for 1996, as he has assembled an allnew team consisting of former HarleyDavidson factory mechanic Kenny Tolbert and Mica , Wa shington, rider Joe Kopp. Tolbert's exploits on the Grand Nationa l tour are well -chronicled. The Texan wrenched Chris Carr to the championship title in 1992, and together the two earned 31 victori es - the final three coming in '95 before Carr elected to tum in his steel shoe for a road racing career. But what about Kopp? Relatively little is known of the quiet, 26-year-old, sixth-yea r Expert, and perhaps tha t's no surprise. He ha ils from the Northwest, an ar ea not wide ly recognized as a hotbed of dirt track activ ity. Fu rther mo re, prior to 1995, he was conside red by dirt track insiders to be a IT specialist - a 600 ride r, not exactly the best trait to claim on a circuit w hich demands prowess on mile and half-mile ovals aboa rd a 750cc Harley or Honda tw in . In fact he'd had little experience on 750s before last season. So why Kopp? Pe rhaps because he ce rtainly ha s pai d his dues. Having raced dirt track since he was four, Kopp stea d ily moved his way throu gh the ranks in the Northwest dirt track scene, a region that offers little to an asp ir in g Grand N atio nal champion when compared to the abundance of local and regional events in the eas t. "Up in Washington, all we've got is one TT course - Castle Rock," Kopp sa id . "And I live over by Spokane, so . that wa s always a goo d seven hours a way . Th en we h ad the Bellingham short track. That was about seven hours away, too. Both tracks were really competitive. If you went there and mad e a main, you we re doing good. We weren' t dominant, bu t we won our fair sha re of races. The re are a lot of good Pro-AIDs in Washington. Guys like Dann y Stanle y and Jeff Annen, Speedy Kell. Those guys are all real fast." Ko pp says that his o nly r ea l 750 experience carne in 1991 on a no wd efu nct ha lf mile in Couer d 'Alene, Ida ho. It certainly wasn't enough to get him noticed, but his conti nued performances in th e Washington area were eno ugh to net him a lucky break in 1994 when he hooked up wi th Washington logger Doug Donally and set out to contes t the 1995 Grand National Ch ampionship Series. "Doug bought Dave y Durelle's old Harley, and that's w ha t we rode las t year, " Kopp sa id . "Th a t was just real fortuna te for me , because if he hadn't done that, I never would have gotten out in to the scene. I realized that it didn't really matter how good I did at Peoria or whatever. There's not a real good chance you'll get recognized for a 750 ride ." But even afte r he had the tools, after he fi n all y got h is chance at Grand National glory, Kopp struggled bitterly d u ring the first six ra ces in which he att empted to qu alify, failing to make a single main eve n t d esp ite being in the hunt on several occasions. As the series Driving w ithout motorcycle liability insurance is illega l. It's alsa down-right foolish. Especially when you consider that, at McGraw, you can get So take the lead - insure with McGraw. Get on the phone now. Pr ou d Sponsor of tne McGraw Insurance serv ices ceur or nt« Superblhe Challenge FOR THE LOWEST RATES, IT ONLY TAKES ONE CALL: , -BOO-6MmRAW (662-4729) 360 1 Haven Avenue • Menlo Park • CA 94025 P.O. BOX 40 • Anaheim • CA 928 15 ., annual liability fOr as low as $791 ae Sea rs Polne Racew a y - Au gu s e Z 3 -Z S ~~ I!r!~e!~! California's Largest Wr~er o MotorcycleIns f uranc e Dealers! Order Your Yearbooks NOW! SELL THE IN YOUR STORE For the third year dealers can sell the official event program of the Supercross Series . in their stores! What bener Wdy to create excitement in your store during the months of the entire Supercross Series? Everything about the Supercross season is covered: Factory team line-ups, interview.;, rider numbers, the tracks, top 125cc and 250cc stars, 1996 schedules, autograph pages and more! ORDER NOW FOR PROMPT DEUVERY Minimum Order 10 Copies, Refills A vailable Sh ipped with asse m bled magazin e rack and stickers... 1. Open it up. 2. Set on counter, 3. Ready for business! Over 80% Deal er Margin • Retail Cover Pri ce $ S.OO/ copy 27

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