Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 15: Rodney Farris Memorial Hub City Classic Joe Kopp (43) strapped a huge holeshot on the field at the start of the Rodney Farris Memorial Hub City Classic at Hagerstown Speedway before going on to a career-best runner-up finish. in the fastest heat race of the night for the pole position in the feature. "Good," Atherton said. "I've always had bad luck here. Well, I don't want to say 'bad luck,' but I've never had good luck here. I always knew if they got moisture in the track, then it would be good. We're just on a roll, man. We gotta keep it going." Behind Atherton, Spectro/Moroney's Harley-Davidson's Mike Hacker and Deeley Harley-Davidson's Steve Beattie engaged in an all-out war for second place. Beattie held the advantage for most of the race, using a cleaner line through turns one and two, but Hacker was making headway with an outside / inside move through three and four that drew him close to th.e Canadian National Champion. The move finally paid off as the 20-year-old Virginian just slipped by Beattie at the line to collect a front-row start for the main event. "I'm on the front row for the main event, baby!" a jubilant Hacker said. "The bike is set up so that I can go pretty much anywhere that I want. If the line is at the top, then I can be there. If it's at the bottom, I can be there, too. I feel like I can win this thing. I haven't felt like that since last year." "I did a big wheelie by mistake coming off of four, and I had to chop the throttle," Beattie said. "But that's still the best I've ever done in a heat race here. I actually got ninth last year in th main. The track is the best I've ever ridden here. It's ;n A-I shape. There are, multiple lines out there, which makes it By Scott Rousseau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos HAGERSTOWN, MD, AUG. 24 all him the comeback kid, or the come-from-the-back kid. Call him whatever you want. Total Control Racing's Kevin Atherton is on a roll. The 25-year-old former HarleyDavidson factory rider has not only stepped up his performances, but he .may be hitting his stride at just the right time. That was certainly the case as the young Michigander scored his third win of the season, his second win in a row and doubled his career victory tally all at once before 6200 spectators during the Rodney Farris Memorial Hub City Classic at Hagerstown Speedway. Atherton appears to have stepped up his maturity level as well. Sure, the flash and flamboyance are still there on the race track, but gone from the repertoire is the youthful overexuberance that has probably cost him more races than he has won. Atherton proved it by once again overcoming a less than perfect start to run down early race leader Joe Kopp just past the Halfway point and then run away from the Harley-Davidson of Sacramento rider to land on top of the victory podium for the second straight week. Atherton also ascended to fourth in the series standings with 179 points. "It should be three in a row," Atherton said. "You can tell I'm still pissed off about Indy, can't you? But me and this place - I suck here. But they finally put some water in it to where you can race on it. They were putting water in it even when it was supposed to rain. They did a great job with it." Kopp may have had the most reason 'to be disappointed with Atherton's lateseason rejuvenation as it cost the Washingtonian and IT specialist a chance at his first GrWld National victory. Kopp put his Kenny Tolbert-tuned Har,leyDavidson XR750 in front of the l8-rider field when the green light £lashed and looked stronger than he has all season as C 24 killer." HEATS Atherton flexed his muscle in the opening 10-lap qualifying heat by cheoking out on the rest of his competitors and cruising to a 2D-length victory . Davis. followed Atherton's example by running away with the second heat race in just as convincing style after grabbing the holeshot and then leading' an ll-rider processional to the checkered flag, posting a time less than a second slower than the first heat. Davis was about one second ahead of Corbin Racing's Dave Camlin at the finish. "The track is better tonight than it has ever been," Davis said. "The weather is not as hot as when we come here normally. Normally it's 100 degrees and they can't get any water in the race track. We're gonna find those missing tenths somewhere. It's gonua be a good race - that's all I can say." "I thought we had a chance to win it," Camlin said. "We made a major change after practi~e. I told Skip that I didn't think I could go any faster than I was going, and we were three tenths off. But we made that change, and then all of a sudden I could go just as fast as the rest of those guys. I screwed up a couple of times, but it was 10 times easier to ride the bike in that heat than it was in practice." Parker finished a distant and uncharacteristic third on his factory HarleyDavidson after slipping by Corbin Racing's Chance Darling in turn three on the second lap to land a second-row start for the .feature. Put into the context of a prize fight, the factory was clearly on the ropes. IIWe're workin' on it," a rather reserved Parker said. "1 like the track. It's smooth, and it's got traction, We're changing some things, and we think we'ltbe ready for them." The best battle for a heat win took place in heat three when Morehead, Jenneman and USC Racing's Kevin Vames - the defending event champion - went

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