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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127847
AMA National Hot Shoe S
eries, Round 5: Indiana State Fairgrounds
(Above) Steve
BeattIe (26)
rode aro und th e
outside ot Geo
Roeder II (66) to
earn the 750cc
Expert win at
round five ot
the AMA
National Hot
Shoe series in
Indianapolis,
Indiana, on
Ju ne 15.
(Len) Scott
Stump (77)
sneaked past
Chance Darling
(84) on the last
corner for the
883cc main-
event win.
By Bert and Ty ler Shepard
INDIANAPOUS,IN,JUNE 15
he only way to beat Roeder is
to go hi gh er than h e do e s,"
T:JOcc winner Stev e Beattie said .
"I b ea t him at No rwa lk la st yea r by
doing the same thing. I hate riding in
the roost: you jus t hav e to go above it. 1
have beaten Moreh ead w hen Roeder
was not there and I hav e beaten Roed er
when Moreh ead was not th er e. Now I
ha ve beaten them .bo th a t their own
game, but it wa s not in Ohio."
The Canadian -born Beatti e was more
than happy. He had just won the fifth
s to p o n th e AMA Na tio n al Hot Sh oe
Series circu it , a t th e Indianapolis Fairgrounds ha lf mile. Beattie and m ost of
the exper ts, fres h ffo m the Terr e Haute
Grand National Half Mile, wer e joined
by a large contingent of Pro-Am racers
to try, fo r the firs t tim e, the half mi le
th at is encl osed by the Ind y Mile. The
race was part of three days of events at
the Fa irgrounds to benefit th e Riley
Hospital for Children .
Ryan Brown put in his best rid e of
the '97 season to con vin cingly trounce
the talent-laden 600cc Expert field . Tim
Eades and Mike McKee won the 600 and
250cc portions of the Pro-Am program,
respectively. Ex-Buckeye Scott Stump
got the best of Chance Darling - and the
limestone pea gravel - for the win in the
883 class.
As with any new venue, there wa s a
great deal of speculation as to wh at the
ra cing su rface would be like. Everyone
was more than pleased with it.
"It kin d of re mi n ds m e of Yo r k,
Pen nsylvania,''' said Kevin Varnes after
he bea t Morehead in the second 750cc
Expert heat race. Geo Roeder 11 kept his
program o n a roll as he controlled the
first 750cc Expe rt qualifier .
Paul Morgan , Ryan Brown an d
Kenny Coolbeth earn ed front-row starting spo ts for the 600cc Expe rt ma in with
heat wins. Eades brothers Tim an d Joe,
along wi th Mike McKee an d Josh Kno tt,
co ll e c te d 600cc Pro-A m hea t wi ns.
Chance Darli ng and Scott Stu mp continued to domi nate the 8830c class as they
won their heat races.
The 883cc main wa s the first to take
to the half mile. Darling took control of
th e main, and appeared as th ough he
was out to increase his lead in the Hot
Shoe po ints standings. Scott Stump and
Billy Martin followed Darling from a
distance. With half of the race completed , Stump s tarted to close on Darling .
Stump closed to a bike length as the duo
took the white flag.
"For some reason I wen t to the bottom ," added Stump.
Darling's o nly slip would take place
wit h 300 feet left in the event.
"I' m still trying to learn to rid e thi s
thin g." he sai d.
Darling we nt too high, and tha t let
St u m p put h is Performance Ra cing
Inc ./ KK/ America n Asphalt and Grad ing in front by a wh eel at the chec kers.
Nick Humm el had to wi n the race to
the first turn twice in 250cc Pro-Am. Joe
Eades got off in tu rn one to bring ou t
th e red flag. Hummel' s seco nd holeshot
. looked as goo d as the first. McKee had
the Hann um 's H-D /B&B Ent. /J&M Racing H onda on the m o ve after a lessthan-perfect start. McKee had to di sp ose
of Jeff Land ru m and Pat Towl er befo re
he was to ge t a cha nce to run wi th Hu mmel for the lead . McKee's win , coupled
with point lea d er La nd ru m's third
p lace, a llowed him to close to within
two points of the Ohi o racer.
Brown completely dominated th e
600cc Expert main on ' his K&N / Wh ite
Brothers / AFAM e ntr y. Second p la ce
was th e point of co nte n tio n. Paul Morga n III brok e free fr om Brett Bey er,
Jason Sentell an d Kenny Coolbeth to
clai m th e place mon ey . The sh ow spot
wo uld eventua lly go to Jason Sentell as
he got the best of Coolbeth and Beyer.
750 EX: 1. Steve Beattie: 2. CtL'O Ro
eder II; 3. Steve
Mort> h t·"d ; 4. Doug Davis: 5 . Kevin Varnes; 6. ' r. l
l
Buchana n; 7. Brian Bige low : 8. Mike Var nes; 9 . Pau l
Lynch; 10. james Mcllvena.
600 EX: 1. Ryan Bmwn; 2. Pa ul Mor gan; 3. Jd!oOlI
Se n tell: 4 . Kenny Coo l ~t h ; 5. Bret Beyer: 6 . C a ry
Stogsdill; 7. J.R. Schn"'bcJ ; 8. Lonn ie Pauley; 9. Garth
Ba..tian; 10. JU\h Butler .
600 PR O-AM: 1. Tim Ead l.'S; 2. Ch ris Huss ; 3. Joe
F...IJes; 40. Ioeh Knott ; S. Mike Md

