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while Brent Armbruster came out on top
of a tight battle with Tim Mertens, Mark
Corsetti and Steve Mayfield for seventh.
. Perhaps the best race of the night
was the last four-lap qualifying heat for
the 750cc class. Atherton and Roeder
put on a great display as they traded the
lead all over the track. Atherton finally
held on to the lead at the end.
Roeder grabbed the lead in the first
750cc heat only to have Kopp immediately take it away. Kopp went on to an
easy win over Roeder. Paul Lynch held
off Davis as the top four moved on into
.themain.
Mike Varnes had the quickest trigger
finger in heat two, but was quickly gobbled up by Atherton, then Hacker and
Beattie. After getting off to a slow start,
Hacker closed rapidly on Atherton, but
after he caught up he couldn't find an
opening to get by. Bea ttie was a close
third, while Varnes held off Price for the
last transfer.
The last heat was all Camlin's as he
led wire-to-wire on his new Moroney's
Harley. Fat Boy Racing's Recil Hart
made Camtin work for a while, but
drifted back. Paul Morgan made it.an
Illinois sweep with a solid third. Chance
Darling captured the last transfer spot in
a close race with Jim Sumner and Steve
Mayfield.
Camlin got the holeshot in the last
race of the night, the 750cc Expert main.
Kopp had pushed·his XR to the front by
the second turn.
"I saw someone get the jump below
me, but I picked the outside starting slot
because there were some wet spots
down on the bottom," Kopp said.
"When I got into turn one it really
hooked up and I just held on. I jUst tried
to stay smooth after that:'
After the first lap it was Kopp leading Roeder, Atherton and Carnlin, but it
was Camlin's last lap, as his shock
broke. With Camlin out, the action
turned once again to Roeder and Atherton. Atherton was finally able to put a
little distance on Roeder toward the end,
, but Kopp was long gone.
"I feel good about this," Atherton
said. "I had knee surgery in December
and haven't been able to train at all. I
just got on my motocross bike for the
first time last week."
Will Davis locked onto fourth and
the top four positions were set. Hacker
was finally able to put Beattie away for
fifth as Beattie slipped back into a battle
with Lynch.
fN
Oglethorpe Speedway
Savannah, Georgia
Results: February 28, 1997
(Round 1 of 17 and 1 of 9)
7SO EX: 1. Joe Kopp (H-D); 2. Kevin Atherton (H-D);
3. Ceo Roeder D (H-D); 4. Will Davis (H-D); 5. Mike
·Hacker (H-D); 6. Steve Beattie (H-D); 7. Paul Lynch (HD); 8. Reell Hart (H-D); 9. Chance Darling (Han); 10.
Paul Morgan m (H-D); 11. Mike Varnes (H-D); 12. Dave
CarnIln (H-D).
600 EX: 1. Ken Coolbeth Jr. (W-R); 2. Lornuc Pauicy
(Rtx) 3. Scott Shinn (H-D); 4. Roger Durkee (Rtx); 5.
Morgan Coolbeth (Rtx); 6. Ryan Anderson (W-R); 7.
Brent Armbruster (ATK); 8. Tim Mertens (ATK); 9.
Mark Co.-.etti (W-R); 10. Steve Mayfield (Ra); 11. Pat
Behric