Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK AMA NATIONAL HOT SHOE SERIES Round 13: Illinois State Fairgrounds th ree finishers in the ma in ev ent, the 600cc Expert class actually fea tu red a more in tense bailie for the win - on e which remained in question right up to the finish. Tha t's where BBRP / Gard ner Raci ng / Circle F Ra ci ng Fra mes' Da n Stanley pulled past reigni ng AMA 600cc National H ot Shoe Cha mpi on Kenny Coo lbeth an d h is H -D of Missouri / Burks Motorsports /W.E. LePage-backed Wood-Rotax to cla im a narrow vic tory after a side-by-side dash to AMA star ter Steve Faraci's checkered flag. "That we n t o kay ," S ta n ley sa id . "Anytime yo u ca n win a 600cc mil e, with all the gu ys that are ou t there, it's rea l b ig . I think tha t w e're ou t of our slu mp." . Coolbe th w en t on to finish se cond, several len gth s ahe ad of J&M Racing / Arai /Motion Pro rid er Joe Kopp, who was aboard his own Rotax aft er his facto r y KTM motor cycl e exp erienced rnec anical tr oubles earlier in the day. Despite a fine finish, Coolb eth was disappointed . "I s hou ld ha ve w on it ," Coolbeth sai d . "I thou ght tha t I cou ld ho ld him off at the finish. He was ge tting me coming out of the corne rs, and I wa s gelling him comi ng in . I d id w ha t I had to d o , I thoug ht." Kopp ad milled that he wo uld have need ed a little help to run with the top two, and he thou gh t that he had it, as he diced wit h Lonnie Pau ley until Paule y's By Scott Rou ss eau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos g:j B ~ 00 0\ 0\ .- rr) N ~ (lJ ..0 E (lJ ..... P-. (lJ (f) 18 SPRINGFIELD, II., SEPT. 5 ou can take Terry Poovey away from the co m petition, but you sure as heck can' t tak e the competiti ve fire ou t of Terry Poovey. A t a g e 39 , Po ov ey , th e p opul ar Texas-based privat eer makes only selectiv e appearances on th e AMA Gra nd Nation al Ch ampionship trail; when he does show up, he' s ther e to race. And when he' s moti vated, he's as tou gh as any regular competitor on the circuit. Poov ey le ft no doubt o f th at as he piloted hi s brand-new USC Ra cing / Sakaid a / Salpaka Honda RS750 - the las t of its breed - to a con vincing win over a tough field in the 15-1ap AMA National Hot Shoe main event on the Sprin gfield Mile. With the win, Poovey took hom e the biggest check from the $15,000 purse and also got the chance for a bonus spin, as he was the first of the final three riders to qualify for the $50,000 Dirt Tra ck Hall of Fame Race to be held later the same day. "I sure would have been humiliated if I hadn't w on this and made that race," (Above) Terry Poovey (18) proved that he still has what it takes to win on the mile, as he claimed victory in the 15-lap 750Cc Expert class at the Springfield Hot Shoe National mile. Povey beat out Ronnie Jo nes (16), Dan Butler (partially hidden) and Dave Durelle (58K). (Right) Poovey (center) celebrated atop the podium with his daughter Katie (to his left) at his side. Ronnie Jones (far right) and Dan Butler (far left)were second and third. Poovey said . "I losf everythi ng tha t I had two years ago , and I've been takin g m y tim e to build thi s b ik e in m y ga rage." Poovey also thanked his friends and fa m ily fo r ha v ing s tood b y h im. He accep ted the victory accolades with his dau ght er Katie at his side atop the victory podium. Poovey came off the ou tside of th e fro n t row in th e m ai n event and engaged in a tight, five-rider baili e for th e lead with Team Saddlemen fill -in Da v e DureIl e , TCR' s Ronn ie Jo nes, ano the r Team Saddlemen sub - in th e form of form er Wo rld Su perbike racer Mike Hale - and USC/ Dodge Brothers' Dan Bu tler . Althoug h Du relle led th e group acro ss the finish line on laps one and three, Poovey held the point for all .the rest, inclu d ing the payoff lap, as he stre tched his lead from abo u t the middle stages of the race. That left Butler and Jones to battle it ou t for second, and Jon es' old age and tre ach ery overcame Butler's yo u th and en thus iasm for the runner-up spot. "To m my Cummings a nd TCR told me that if I could qu alify for that Hall of Fame Race, then they'd hav e a bike for. me," Jones said . "I want to thank them for pu tting this togeth er for me." . With h is th ird-place fi nis h, Butler was ove rjoyed, as it marked hi s best caree r finis h on a mile in AMA Na tional com pe tition . "Th is is w ha t it's all abo u t," Butler said. "We we re loo king forwa rd to com in g her e, running around at 100 m ph and getting int o that Hall of Fame Race. I wa nted to do this for Ricky (Graham), becau se yo u know he wou ld have been righ t in there." Althou gh the 750s took center s tage on the mile d ue to the fact that the final . th ree qualifyin g sp o ts for th e Ha ll of Fame Race we re go ing to go to the top Dan Stan ley (10) pumped his fist in the air after he snookered second-place finisher Kenny Coolbeth (1) at the finish line to take the win in the 600cc Expert final. Bullet Racing /Pro Plates entry let go on lap eight of the 12-lap race. "I was kind of hoping that Lonnie w ould help pull me up there," Kopp said. "I kn ew I co u ld n' t pull up with them by m yself. We just had a thirdplace bike today. The KTM had a leaky crank seal." 750cc EXPERT Jon es had the low pol e, with Willie . M cC oy , H ale, Durell e, Butler a nd Poovey lined up to the right, as the 17rid er field go t set to sp rint off the line . After th ey d id , Durell e was the first rid er to br eak int o the lead , as he took control down the back stra ight, led into turn three and then across the line for the co m p le tio n of th e o pen ing lap. Poovey was second, with Jon es , Hale a n d Butler a ll runnin g in h is w ake . Poovey had the lead when they completed lap tw o, with H-D of Sacramento / Phoenix Racing's Chris Carr already . up to six th a fter sta r ting on th e back row. Carr w o uld run a s high as fifth before pulli ng off on lap six and being cre d ited w ith 16 th p lac e - one s p ot ahead of Steve Morehea d , who elected not to contes t the main even t at all in anticipa tion of the Hall of Fame Race tha t was to come that afternoon. "We were ju st trying so me s tu ff to get us set up for later in the day, and it worked," Carr said . . Butler appea red ' to get more agg res-

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