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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127821
ICE RACE KOLD KUITER PRO INDOOR ICE RACE CHAMPIONSHIP (Above) IMA Ice Champion Chuck Springsteen (1) bagged the holeshot and put together a' flawless ride to win the 250cc Pro class at the Kold Kutter Pro Indoor Ice Race Championship at the IMA Sports Arena. (Left) Grand National regular Dan Butler (22) was in attendance and actually grabbed the holeshot ahead of Springsteen (1) and Bryan Villella (BOJ) in heat 12... (Left) ... but Springsteen (1) got a break when Butler (22) fell down, and the champ went on to remain undefeated for the rest of the night. FLINT, MI, DEC. 14 huck Springsteen, brother of former three-time AMA Grand National Champion and dirt track legend Jay Springsteen, left no doubt as to why he carries the AMA Indoor Ice series number-one· plate when he swept the heat races and led the main for all eight laps en route to his second straight victory on the IMA Sports Arena ice Saturday. "Boy, I go around in circles pretty good, don't I?" Springsteen said. "I just get out in front and haul ass, then it's t-... pretty hard to beat me." 0\ He went around in circles so good ;::: Saturday nobody could get close. OO~ Springsteen's victory came as no surprise to most, considering his domina~ tion on the IMA ice last January at the C'il Big Brothers/Big'Sisters annual ice race. In that race he won four of five heats Cd and the main. Seven-time AMA Grand ....... National Champion Scott Parker, who was in attendance at the event, said it was to be expected. J ~ ~ E 30 "He's got it working real good right now, and he keeps his head down all night," Parker said. "He's probably the most relaxed guy in the whole place. Everybody comes out thinking they have to beat Chuck, and he acts like he just got up in the morning and said, 'Hey, let's go riding.' " Springsteen's mechanic, Rick Kessler, said they'd figured out the winning combination. "We've got one of the best riders in the business and we've got this engine massaged just right," Kessler said. "When it all comes together like this nobody's going to beat Chuck." But the big surprise of the night was the guy trying to make a liar out of Kessler. Will Davis, the dirt tracker from Goldsboro, North Carolina, came in riding a Byron Molloseau-built Honda, and in only his second time riding on the ice - and his first in an indoor competitive situation - Davis left with a second-place finish. Davis took a lot of ribbing from Parker and his Total Control Racing teammate Kevin Atherton prior to the race. "Them boys were taking my money on the pool table last night and calling me 'Spot:" Davis said. Atherton said they came up with 'Spot' because they figured that's what Davis would be after the first heat. "We told him we'd come down and peel him off the wall when he splatted on it in the first lap:' Atherton said. However, at the end of the night Atherton was giving his teammate all the credit. "He's a great short tracker:' Atherton said. "He knows what it takes, and tonight he showed he's a versatile rider." "Hell, I ain't never even seen a hockey rink before, except maybe on ESPN," Davis said. "The only other time I'd rode on the ice, I came up here and took Scott's 600 out on the lake, went around about four times and bent. the hell out of the valves. So this is all new to me.'" Parker was impressed with Davis' effort on the ice. "WiU's a great rider, and he's used to the asphalt and tight tracks:' Parker said.. "But it's a whole new world out here, and you have to take your hat off to him." Dav.is' experience on indoor short tracks served him well in his ice-racing debut. He took two firsts and two seconds in his hea t races, fell in his fifth and was in second place from the start of the main. "I've been riding short tracks all my life so that's what I know:' Davis said. "That's on concrete and asphalt, though, and it takes a little bit to adapt to this surface. The ice was changing all night." Springsteen was a touch surprised by Davis' performance but wasn't ready to give much credit. "He finished second? I dido't even know there was anybody back there:' Springsteen said..