Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Fast- heat race winner Geo Roeder II (66) appeared all set to give Parker (1) a run for the money in t he main event, but the Ohioan crashed on the first lap and was credited with 18th place instead. (Below) After com ing from the penalty line , Will Davis (21) grooved his way into seco nd place, while Joe Kopp (43) and Dan Butler (22) battled up top. Kopp wound up t hird, Butler fifth. tle started han gin g up jus t a littl e, bu t that was n't a big problem . The n it started backfiring throu gh the car bs so bad . I looked d own and the re were flam es shooting ou t bet w een my legs. I ju st tri ed to nurse it hom e. I looked back and sa w everyone was a long wa ys ba ck. Th e y a ll ca me up re al fas t, th ou gh . Sprin ger sa id when he caugh t up, it sou nded like a duck shoo t." Former Canadian Na tional Cha mpion Chris Evans wr estl ed his TLC Racing / Ameri can Ha rley-Davidson mount home sixth after an early-race ad ventu re. "I go t ta ngled up on the first lap," Evans said . "Som eb od y on the b a ck s tr a igh taway go t all si dew ays, and I s h ut off a n d g o t b last e d. I je r k ed a bu nch of my tearoffs off. It cost me four or five positions. Th en we wen t into tum four and Roed er went down, and I thought, 'Man, that's a red flag for su re.' Then no red flag on that deal, so I was really messed up." Kenny Coo lbeth ha s been on a tear since h is strong performance a t Peoria three wee ks ago. The Missouri HarleyDav ids on /Da ve Burks Ra cing rid er b lasted to the front fr om th e sec ond row, follow ing teammate Kopp through tu rn one be fore chargin g in to third down the back chute. It was not eas y, how ever, as motorcycles w ere bouncing all aro und him. "I had problems that first lap," Coolbeth said . "Bu tler squared turn two off right in front of me and I hit him ." It d id n' t really slow eith er rider, as they ran second and third at the end of the first lap. The two bat tled spe ctacularly un til lap 10, w hen Coolbeth was the first to have problems. "Halfway through, I lost my brakes and the thro ttle was sticking," explained the youngster, who hung on de sp erately for seventh . "We changed everything, because all day 1 was having problems. We chang ed carbu re tors, w e chan ged s lid es . Things ju st won't g o my way. The track go t rough towards the end of the race, but it wasn't bot hering me. We just need some good luck. " _ Chris Carr had started his Sacramento Harley-Davidson /Phoenix Racing / RC Digital Harley right beh ind Parker, but couldn't ma tch th e ch am p ' s sta rt and wa s doomed to work his way up. "Th e first corner, I w ent to th e top and just got coated, ripped a tear-away off, but by th en I wa s lik e three gu ys from the end," Carr sa id . "We w ork ed ou r way up to eighth; I' ll take it. lt just wasn't ou r night, the b rak es didn' t go ou r wa y. We w ere encou raged , at th e end of the night; my lap times were the same as Park er' s." Followin g King home in i Ot h was Tom Cummin g s Rac in g /Mi chig an Harley-Davidson Dealers-backed Nick y Hayden, who had been ba ck as far as 15th before starting forward. "The first lap, I just shu t off coming into tum thr ee," Hayd en said . "It wa s so dusty tha t I just cou ldn' t see . I kind of rode it ou t, 'c ause, man , it scare d me. Roed er crashed the re in turn four, and I couldn't even tell wh o it wa s. The next cou p le of laps I could see the wa ving yellow flags . I guess once I got going, I must have passed a few guys." HEATS Bu tler backed u p his fas t qua lifying tim e by leading the first heat from start to fin ish . Butl er was chased into tu rn one by Tea m Undo /Do na h ue H-D's Brett Landes, but Coolbe th took second by the end of lap one . Landes' troubles we re far fro m ove r a s he was und e r s iege from Ha yd en, who h ad b e en forced to the penalty line after going to a backup bik e. By lap four, the top three positions were set. Wh ile Landes appeared to be lookin g all over for a line, he dropped deep into the pack. Chris Boone had his best outing a t a Grand N ational, as he moved into a solid fou rth over Bret Beyer and Wad e Camlin. But Butler took the win "We were going good all da y, set fast tim e and the bik e w as w orki ng great ," Butler sai d . "No one tou ched us in the heat. We ran right away with it." Geo Roed er II led th e se co nd h eat into turn on e, but Scott Parker pulled a head as they exit ed turn tw o. Pa rk er led the first lap, but tha t was it, as Roed e r t ook o ver o n the seco n d lap and . pulled ou t a small lead . Parker clos ed the gap in the waning stages of the race but could n' t make a pass. Team Saddlemen / I -800-FASTHOG' s Mike Hacker (lik e Hayden in the first heat, Ha cker was on a backup bike and started on the penalty lin e) held down a lone ly third . over a logjam battle for fourth . Shaun Russell led Dan Stan ley, J.R. Schnabel and Danny Koelsch home. Will Davi s ran off from an excellent race in the third hea t. Davis w as long go ne from t he th ree -rider battIe over second. Jay Springst een, Chris Evans, Chris Carr and Steve Morehead ga ve chase into the first turn, but Morehead soon dropped off the frantic pace. Davis pu lled farther and fart her away, and in th e la st coupl e of laps Springste e n slip ped back and left the two Chrisses to ba ttle over second. Evans barely came out on top. . "T his place is ju s t no t my kind of track, but we were fast," Davi s said. "I cou ldn' t believe it." Springsteen , Mor ehead , Paul Morg an and Gary Rogers were equa lly spaced behind th e front t rio , and off to th e semis. The last race wa s any thing but a runawa y, although Kevin Varnes looked to be on that cou rse wh en his Ros e Racing /Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson /B&B Trading Company-backed Harley se lfdestructed. Varnes' spectacular high line was pullin g him w ell clear of the battling Bryan Bigelow and Kopp. With Varnes' d emise, it bec am e a tw o-rider bat tle ove r th e lead. Kopp was on the top while Bigelow kep t his USC Racin g /Lancast er Har ley-David son / Dod ge Brothers Harl ey on the bottom . Kopp slow ly pulled a small lead , w hile Bigelow cruised in second . King wa s a very di st ant third, as he foug h t off 1997 Rookie of the Year Johnny Murphree. King even made a cou ple of ten tati ve forays to th e top near th e h ay bales, but he quickly came back to the bottom, as Murphree continued to hammer th e top. Kin g held on for th e las t di rect transfer. SEMIS Steve Morehead wa sted no tim e tak, ing co ntro l of th e first eight-lap semi. Th e F&S H arl ey-Davidson /KK Motor cycle Su p p ly / Sh e p h er d & Drag o obacked Mor eh ead wa s never seriously challe ng ed as Bart el s' Ha rl ey-David son's Sha un Russell was a sa fe second . Bret Beyer and John Nickens III battled early fo r third, w it h Nickens com ing away on top . Landes and Billy Martin followed. Two Michigan rid ers battled it ou t in th e second sem i, as form er th ree-t ime Grand National Champion Springsteen locked horns wit h rookie Jason Sentell, w ho has been a pow er on the Ohio limes to ne half miles in the 600cc class fo r some time. Sentell gave Springsteen fits until about the halfway ma rk . He then settled into second and, for the seco nd week in a row, was Nationa l bound . Rogers once again came up one position sho rt, finis hing third . Wade Camli n ou tdueled Jerry Vand erk ooi for fourth. Pau l Mor gan III read th e lig ht perfectly in the last sem i and romped away. on his Coziahr Harley-Davidson /Buck/ [one's Harl ey. All the actio n wa s behind Morgan , as Varnes (co min g from th e p en alty line o n hi s ba cku p bike) was once aga in clipping the hay bales on his w ay to the fron t. After working his way around Murphree a nd J. R. Schnabel, Varnes settled into a solid second . GRAND NATIONAL By virtue of his fast-heat time , Roeder led the pa rad e out to select his starti ng p osition fo r th e 25-lap Gra n d Nationa l feature. He op ted for the third spot fro m the bottom, with Butler choosing second and moving to the ou tside of Roed er. The front row - from the bottom - w as ma de up of Kopp, Davis (before his miscue), Roeder, Butler, Evans and Pa rke r . Ro w two h eld C oolb e th , Bigelow, King, H ac ke r, H a yd en and Ca rr . Sp ringsteen, Mo rehead, Varnes, Sentell , Morga n and Russell w ere in row three . As the eng ines strained , waiting for the green, the red light flash ed on, and Davis was sen t to the rear of the field . " In th e bac k, yo u ca n't see; yo u' re just fighting to see an ything that first lap," Davis said. "If so me bo dy goes d own in front of you, you' re going over th em. Tha t was my worst nightmar e . going to the penalt y line." When the light did go gree n, Parker sho t in to the lead with a perfect start. Roeder was in second as the field made a mad dash down th e back stra ig h t. Roed er's race came to a sud den ha lt in turn four, with a crash . "I saw Roed er go d own on that first lap , and I was right on the same line," Kopp sa id. "I w as lucky to get by, and th en I th ou ght they would red-flag it. , He sp un it out and low-sided ." "I took off and ran up top the first three or four lap s, then I dropped down soone r than I had planned," Parker said. "I wasn't getting through one and two v e ry good . I w as really s t rugg li ng throug h there - there were some gnarly holes. (After Roed er crashed) I felt better about my chances - not tha t I was happy to see George fall, but when I came by and saw he wa s out, I though t, 'Well, I know we wo n't be going at it.' I saw I had a little lead on the rest of the guys , and I just pu t my head down and tried to cut som e great la ps. I go t away by myself, then glanced back a couple of times. I thi nk Coolbeth was the last guy I saw back there. Then, toward s the end of the race, I saw it was Will, and I knew he'd be hustling , tryi ng to catch up. So I tried to pick up the pace a little bit and keep my act tog ether a little better." Butl er and Coolbeth were ha ving a knock -down, drag-ou t battl e for second , as they traded not only positions bu t a ls o lin es for 10 lap s . Coolbeths mechanical problems forced him off the pace first, and Kopp and Davis dropped him to fifth by lap 13. Kopp was really chargin g, and Davis stay ed right w ith him, but Kopp was starting to have his own problems. "It wa s et ting harder to run it in," Kopp said . "As soon as I'd roll off the throttle, it would start pu shin g into ttirn one. I had to baby it a little, but it was still working comi ng out of two . The re was eno ugh loose stu ff up top that I didn't ' hav e to follow th e groove like Will wa s. I kept pa ssing him there, and he kept pa ssing me goi ng into three. I had enough cushion there th a t I was getti ng a good bit e coming off . It was fun every time I'd go into one I'd see him dive for the bottom. I knew I had to make every corner count. He finally got me coming out of four. lt wa s not really a groove in three a nd four, but th ere wa s all kinds of tra ction." By lap 16, Davis had moved to second and appeared to be closing on Parker. "I ran the top a couple of times, but I just kep t ge tt ing bla st ed fro m ev ery di rection," Davi s said . "I wanted to run the top. I felt like I could run faste r u p ..... CJ) ::l eo ::l -< 13

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