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DIRT TRACK· .'. W Grand National Championship Series Round 9: Peoria M.C. Clubgrounds (Left) The tell-tale lap: Just after this photo was taken, Joe Kopp (43) shot onto the infield and crashed Into the creek at the Peoria TT. Leader Andy Tresser (91) controlled the restart and led all the way to the finish for the victory. (Below) Tresser became the first winner besides Chris Carr to score a Grand National TT victory since Bubba Shobert accomplished the feat In 1987. By SCott Rousseau Photos by Bert Shepard and Flat Trak Fotos PEORIA, IL, AUG. 4 or th,e first time since 1988, Chris Carr did not win the Peoria 11. Who did? It wasn't who you'd think. With Carr away road racing the Harley-Davidson VRl000, insiders had tabbed as many as four solid contenders for the "Prince of Peoria's" throne in reigning champion Joe Kopp, Team Saddlemen' 9- Rich King, Total Control Racing's Kevin Atherton and Harley-Davidson of Sacramento's Joe Kopp. And most of the 18,000-plus had their eyes on Kopp as the Washington IT specialist was the heavy favorite coming into the event - all but guaranteed his first Grand National win. But as Kopp's bid for victory so aptly proved, in racing, there are no guarantees. . When the racing was done at Peoria, California's Andy Tresser, another perennially strong contender at Peoria, led the start, restart, and every circuit during the 25-lap main to score his first career Grand National victory. The 31year-old, a privateer in the strictest sense of the word, took control from the first green light on his Wood-Rotax and held off King, then Kopp, then King again to become the first winner besides F Carr at the IT since Bubba Shobert won the event in 1987. "I can't put the feeling into words," Tresser said. ''I've tried hard to win at this place, and every year I keep getting older and it keeps getting harder. I thought that I could win it last year, but I was sick. I was really focused this year, though, and now I can go to sleep finally knowing that I won Peoria." King remained fairly close to Tresser throughout -the main event and piloted his Missile Engineering Rotax home to a stout second-place finish, picking up the series points lead in the process. The Iowan showcased the same steady technique that has made him a solid championship contender for the past two years. King never faltered at all during the main event, cutting 25 smooth laps to land on the podium. "You never know what's going to happen, do you?" King said. "I was hoping for a top-five finish, but I wasn't going to do anything stupid to get it. I was just going to ride as smooth as I could. I like this place because it is different than the rest. You know who is going fast, but some guys go too hard over the jump. I'm not going to set the world on fire, but I'll be. there at the end." . King was no doubt referring to thirdplace finisher Kopp, who may unoffically go down as the hero of the 1996 Peoria 11. Oearly the fastest rider all day, the 26-year-old was sitting in the catbird seat, just behind Tresser, on the fifth lap of the National, and with the crowd sensing victory, made his bid for the lead over the famous P~oria jump. That's when it all went wrong. Kopp got crossed up as he took flight and landed on the infield lawn beside his still-speeding motorcycle. Like a rodeo steer wrestler, Kopp tried to bulldog the machine to a 'stop before letting it go just a few feet before the bank of the creek that runs through the infield. The machine charged through the creek and then catapulted wildly up the opposite bank. There were spectators nearby, but fortunately nobody, including Kopp, was injured. With a lot of help from his friends (see Briefly...) Kopp mechanic Kenny Tolbert miraculously got the damaged bike repaired in the eight-minute time limit and the shaken but unhurt Kopp remounted and rejoined the rear of the field for the restart. From there, Kopp put on an epic ride, passing 15 riders in 18 laps and then final1y making his way by Team Harley-Davidson's Parker and USC Racing's Kevin Varnes to finish an unbelievable third. Despite "losing" a race that may very well have been his for the taking. Kopp got his chin up, and even managed a sense of humor about the whole ordeal. "Do you ever watch The Simpsons?" Kopp said. "That was kind of like, 'Dohhhh!' That was what I was thinking as I was letting go of the motorcycle. I knew that I wasn't going to save it as soon as I flew off the track, but I didn't think I was going to crash tha t hard either. I thought I was going to spin it out on the lawn, but that creek came up pretty fast. After the crash, I wasn't even thinking about winrung the race. I just wanted to pick up some points. This feels pretty good, because if we can come back from something like that, I know that we can run 'em down on the 750." Parker raced his Bill Werner-tuned Harley-Davidson XR600 to fourth place - down two spots from his runner-up placing in '95, but a consistent finish no less, and one that has moved him into sole posession of second place in the series standings. Parker rode hard and did his own bit of passing, starting seventh in the main event before blasting by Dan Stanley and Eric Bostrom in the middle stages of the race to run fifth. With the fast-moving Kopp hot on his tail, Parker then caught Vames on lap 21 to make his way to third for only one corner before losing the rostrum spot to Kopp. Afterward, Parker appeared rather indifferent with his final result. "I couldn't get'off three and four for nothing," Parker said. "That's where Kopp got me. He was really haulin' the mail through there. 1 was faster everywhere else, but I struggled with Vames.