Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP .->".''-~'i\~!~"!'::'j , ':), '~\ :'~ .-.,,,~I~" " ~",~ A tJ 22 ~: ~'~ ".~(Y' ~J" ·- "l,' ',' ;.;;:.;; ·~;';?;~-'f' ;'.~- '" lent. It sta rte d d rying out with 'six or seven lap s to go and I started having a har d time ge tting it to bite." The man o n th e m o v e now w a s Kevin Varn es. "I just kept pluggin g away and the next thing you know, here comes Kevin aro u n d o n th e outsid e in turn o ne ," Kopp said . "I started go ing high er and high er, but I think everyo ne moved up a nd it dried out r ea l q u ic k. ] just cou ld n' t get off turn tw o like I was earlier. I think] w as getting through th ree and four better, but it was tu rn two that I was making up time on early." This was 17 lap s in to the main, and Varn es wa sn't th rou gh just yet , "I was able to make most of my passes on th e o uts ide, comi ng out of turn four : ' Varnes sa id . "They we re tryin g to turn and squa re off the corner, but] was lett in g it drift and kept up my mornentum. They mad e me wor k for that one. This definitely ge ts me motivated fo r Springfield." At the tail of the lead pack, Ca rr an d ' Parker wer e havin g a heated battl e over six th . Lap 17 w as also w he n Carr put Parker away and started his p ursuit of King. " I wa sn 't fa st eno ug h to ga in bi g chu nks and I wasn 't reall y fast enoug h to put any m ov es on a nybo dy," said Carr. " I wa s behind Rich for probabl y seven or eight laps before I found a way by him ." Davis was in command for much of the race, but it was tenuou s at best. "The track had really cha nge d from what it was earlier and none of us kn ew w ha t we wer e up against:' Davis said . "At firs t there w as more moisture up to p , bu t aft er five or six laps, w he re ] was running see me d to ' dry out. That' s w hv I moved back to th e bottom an d they actua lly jus t mov ed a littl e high er yet. When I passed Steve back, I moved up to where he was running. I knew he was goi ng to ta ke a run at me, but ] d idn't know w here it wo u ld be. Here, w hen yo u ' re runn in g ou t fro n t, th e thi ng is th at yo u d on 't want to ge t in way over you r hea d and make a dumb mistake and ge t in the marbles. I mad e up my mind that I was go ing to mak e him go past me, not make a mistake an d give it to h im . It ' s tou gh. You kn o w they' re goi ng to be chargi ng , bu t yo u don ' t wa n t to make a mistake and give it to them . ] was tryi ng to take a little of the botto m and a littl e of the top so he wo ul d n' t have a clear line anvwhere. I wanted to stav on the bottom "becau se I knew ] cou ld (nove u p int o him ." Bryan Bigelow is posit ioning himse lf to take over King's title of "Mr. Consisten cy." Bigelow has qu alified for eve ry Natio na l s ince m issin g t he ope n ing round a t Daytona, with seven top -10 finishe s. Tonigh t he wa s locked in a bat tle with Coo lbeth. "Every thing was going pret ty good; w e g o t off th e line decent," Bigel ow said . "I just didn't have the spee d of the lead er s early in the race. Kenny passed me and showed me a really goo d line . Th en on the las t lap I was able to ge t him ba ck - I ca n pr etty mu ch th an k Ken ny fo r t hat o n e. H e p roba bl y sho u ld n' t have sho w n me so ear ly. The lea d er s w ere far enough ahead of me th a t I d idn 't reall y have a nybody to chase ; then, after Kenny go t by, I just put m y head down - I didn't wa nt to let him beat me. I'm jus t really hap py with ano ther top-10 finish. We're still holding on to that ninth place in the point s." Coolbeth, on the other hand , is showing marked imp roveme nt on w ha t sta rted as a disappointing season. " I s ta r te d w a y back on t he back . -'f'-- ;'.~ ', .r-. ':,,-;.,c:l'::-'·Y:{"':' ~';- ;::',~; ;\: ::i~~g~J,;, row ;' Coolbo th sai d, "I go t the best start that I cou ld from there, but that was n't good ," he sai d . "I work ed mr way u p and go t by Bigelow . Then Bryan and I we re battling; it seeme d like maybe we were goin g sl ower . I s till thi n k if we would ha ve had five or six mor e laps, we could have caug ht Par ker. [ was ru nning higher than Bryan an d then , after J pas sed him, he moved u p a nd stayed right on me , then passed me back on the . last lap . I'm happy now. If I cou ld just mov e a little bit fu rther up, that woul d be nicer." Butler's 10th-place finish was ~omewha t surp rising a fter his heat-race performance. "Every t h ing got kind of clu ttered through' the first turn.t'Butler exp lained . "Eve ryone wa s go ing everyw here. We finally got grouped togeth er and I startI'd work ing my way th rou gh the pa ck. After I got by Schna bel and icky Hayden, the next guy was jus t a little too far away for me to reel them in. ] jus t put in some good, solid laps and I had a blast." Stead ily bouncing aro u nd at midfield was Schnabel. "Not too bad - we 're ge tting ther e," he said later. "We go t a 17th last week and 11th this week, 10th at Joliet. We'r e starting to ge t it all togeth er. We hav en 't h ad an y mechani ca l problems lat ely . Th e bikes a re wor king g reat. Th a t's wh at it take s, I'v e had bett er sta rts, and that really help s. ] felt really good early on, then in the middle of the race I start" I'd messing up. Then I picked it back up. , I had to move up the track - I was running too low. It help ed to get in rig h t out of the heat; that way , ] was able to start on the second row and didn' t have to rid e a se mi . It fel t good a ll nigh t. From practice on, we had a good night. " Ha vd en sold iered home in 12th. "It 'was a har d track to pass on, bu t that wasn 't my problem - ] was n't going an ywher e an yw ay," Ha yden said . "I go t off good and got arou nd some peop le early, then just sta lled . It's kind of frustrati ng after running fourth last week to run so far back tonigh t. I know it's not the equ ip me nt; Will' s w inning on the same thin g. I thin k I've got as good or bett er a bike as any body out ther e." Pa u l Mor gan , Lan des, Spri ngsteen, Mike Varnes and Poovey ro unded out the finish ers. Murphree dropped out on' n lap 16. Briefl State Fai r Speedway Sedal ia , Mis so u ri Results: August 29, 1998 (Ro u n d 15 of 19) ~ H EAT 1 (10 la ps; 9 riders . top three transf e r): I. Kevin Va m e- ( H -D); 2. Ste ve Mor eh ea d (H -D); 3. l.R. Schn abe l (H· D); 4. Brett Landes (H-D); 5. Greg Teag ue (H-D); 6. Dale lenncrnan (H· D); i . ja son Sentell (H ·D); 8. N ick Dani els (H-D); 9. Josh Butler (H·D ). Tim e: 4 min .. 17.647 Sl'C . H EAT 2 (10 la p s; 9 ride rs, top three transferj: I. Will Davis (H-D); 2. C hris Carr (H-D); 3, Pa ul Morgan 111(H-D); 4. Ken Coo lbe th Jr. (H-D); 5, Terr y Poove y (Hr». 6. Shoun R us~l"l1 (H· D ); 7. Wade Ca mlin (H-D ); 8. Brent Armb ruster (H-D); 9. Steve G i.I1 (H·D ). " . T ime: 4 min .;"1 8.813 St-'C. HEAT 3 (10 laps; 9 riders, top three transfer]: 1. Joe K()pp (H-D); 2. Dan Bu tler (H-D); 3. Scott Parker (H-D); 4. Nicky Ha yden (H-D); 5. Pa u l Bergs trom (H- D> 6. Dan ; Sta nley (H-D); 7. Willie McCoy (H· D); 8. Ken Yoder (HD); 9. G,'O Roeder II (H· D). Time : 4 min., 11';'1.)31 sec. H EAT 4 () O la ps; 8 riders, top th ree transferj : 1. Rich King (He n): 2. Bryan Bigelo w Oi-D); 3. Jo hnny Murp hr ee (H· D); 4. Ja y Springst een (H -D ); 5. Mik e Va rnes (H- D); 6. Gary Ro gers (H-D); 7. Billy Martin (H· D); 8. Kev in O lliges (H-D>. T ime: 4 min., 19.440 ~"C. SEMI 1 (S laps; 7 riders, top two tra nsfe r): 1. Terry Poo vey (H-D); 2. Brett Land es (H·D); 3. C ary Roger!' UJ0 ); 4. Paul Bergs tro m (H·D ); 5. Brent Armbruster (H -D); b . Ken Yo er (H -D); 7. jason Sent ell (H-D). d Tim e: 3 min., 29.376 !'t'c SEM I 2 (8 lap s; 8 riders, top two transfer): 1. Ken C oo lb e t h j r : Oi-D ); 2. Mik e Varn e s (H ·D); 3. Diln Sta ulev (H-D); 4. G rog Tea gue (H-DJ; 5. Wade Ca mlin (H- m; 6. Gt.o Roe der II O"i·D); 7. N ick Daniel s (H· D); 8. ' Kevin Olhges (H-D). T ime: 3 min ., 25.M3 sec. SEM I 3 (8 laps; 10 riders, top tw o transfer): I . jay Spr ing s teen Il-l-D ): 2. Nic ky Ha yd en (H-D); 3. Dal e lenuernan (H-D); 4. Sha un Russe ll (H-D ); 5. Billy Martin ' (H-D); 6. W illi", McCo v (H- D); 7, Ste ve Gill 0 '1-0); 8. Josh Butler ( l-i-D ). . T ime: 3 min ., 28.095 se . c DON & GA RY SCANLA N M EMOR IA L D FC 15 la ps; 6 riders ): 1. Dan Sta nley (H-D); 2. Sha un Rus...ell (H-D); 3. Pau l Bergs trom (H- D); 4. Dale jennem an (H0 ); 5. Ca rv Rogers (H-D); 6. Greg Teague (H -D). GRAND NA TJO NAL (25 la ps; 20 riders ): 1. Will Da vis (1 ); 2. Kevin V<1T -1-0 nt.'S (I1- D); 3. Slew Morehead ••• Jess Roeder (94) managed to hold off Shaun Russell (65Z) to w in the HarleyDavidson Sportster Performance Nat io nal , 1 (H -D); 4. JOt.' Kopp (H-D); 5, Chris Ca rr (H· D); h . Rich King (Ho n): 7: Sco tt Parker (H-D); 8. Bryan Bigelow ( H ~ D); 9. Ken Coolberb Jr. (H-DJ; 10 Dan Butler (H-D); J.R. Sch nabe l (H-D ); 12. Nicky Ha yden (H-D); 13. Pa l Mo r gan III (H -D) ; 14 . Brett La ndes (H - D) ; 15. J

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