Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA National Hot Shoe Series, final round Geo Roeder (66) only managed to finish s ixth in the series finale in Las Vegas , but it was enough to give him the 750cc Expert title. By Dave Hoenig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos 00 0\ 0\ ...... ...... N l-< (l) .g ..... u o 38 LAS VEGAS, NY, OCT. 2 h e 1998 A M A Na tio n a l H ot Shoe Series drew to a close on th e La s Vega s Motor Spe edwa y' s half mile ova l. Of the four classes being run, only th e Harl ey-Davidson Sports te r Performa nc e cla ss had been clin ch ed . Corbin Racing /San Jose Ha rl ey-D avid son's Ga ry Ro gers had locked up that title in Seattle. So it came down to the other classes, and th er e wa s p lenty of ac tio n as Geo Roeder II led th e 750s a head of Ric h King w hile Bria n Shi rley was ahea d of Tom M cG ra ne J r. in the 600cc Pro Sports. In th e 600cc Exp ert cla ss, Dan Stanley held a three-po int lead over' Ken Coolbeth Jr. Everything would be decided in Vegas. The Harley-Da vidson Sportster Per formance class was th e first to attack the slic k, bu mpy ova l. Th e 19 en tries we re di vided in to two heat s; an d the first one went to Wid m an ' s Harley-D a vid sonsponsored Brian Kro m ro y as he easily ou tdista nce d fast qualifie r John Fau lkner Il l. Joe Duva ll topped th e second h e at on h is The Wre n ch /D ick Lanes /Parcel Express-spo nso red s portster . Faulkne r led the 12-rider, lD-lap main into tum one, wi th Duvall right behind. The end of lap one saw a four-rider pack hit th e li ne . Faulkn er le d Kr omro y, Duvall and Rogers across the finis h line. Rogers was repeatedl y attempting to pass coming high off tu rn four. After a couple of brush es with the wa ll, Rogers took the lead o n lap six and was able to dis tance himself from th e fie ld w h ile Du vall and Kromroy scrapp ed over second. Kromroy wou ld eventually take tha t spot- w ith the top three well ahe ad of Fau lkner in four th. Se an Lollar , Scott Deubler , Bob Mora n and Yuhiko Hirao had a racelong ba ttle o ver fifth , a nd they fin ished in tha t order. Chris Fitzhugh, Eric Wood, Eddie Dixon and Jeff Hie rs rou nded ou t the field . The 600cc Pro-Sport title was still in dispute coming into the final round, and the two contenders had to travel a long way to se ttle th e matter. Poin ts' lead er Brian Sh ir ley brought his jayco Co nstructio n / Ha rt Racing ZS'I'C Truckingbacked Rot ax all the way fro m Illinois, w h ile Indian Mot orcycle Su p pl y / Gu tteridge Harley-Da vid son /Diems Cycles' Tom McGrane calls Pennsylvania hom e. Tw en ty-fou r riders sig ned up for the Frid ay-night event, with four- lap qu alifie rs se t to pl ace them into three heat ra ces, from which th e top fou r wou ld advanc e to the fin al. Californian Ton y Souza ran away wit h the fir st hea t on his Big Valley Ford /Bieffe/Motion Pro-, backed CCM, an d heat tw o featured title con tenders Shirl ey and McGrane squarin g off. Shirley led in to th e fir s t turn, wit h McGrane all over him; Shirley gave way to McGrane's pressure on lap four. McG ran e the n pu lled away to an ea sy win, but his on ly hop e of winnin g the title end ed when Shirley finish ed second and was ens u red the sev en p oints that wou ld go to the last-place finisher in the 12-rid er main . The Pro-Sport main sta rted as a fourrid er battl e, with Sh irl ey le ad ing McGran e, Dale Jones and Souza. Shirley a nd McG rane s li pped awa y, a nd McGrane took the lead on lap five of the 12-lap race. Shirley seemed to lose his concent ra tion and was soon challenged by Souza , w ho took over second place. Bu t a mistake by Souza let Shirley back into the runner-up spot for the final two laps. Dale Jones held off two-stroke Honda rider Rick Pea rce an d Jake Lati me r for fou rth. Bob Gra nt, Mike Farro II, Greg Sterling , Eric Beers, To m Sherman and Dennis Ca meron rounded ou t the field. The onl y title that was trul y in dis pu te was in the 600cc Expert class. Defending class cha m pion Ken Coolbe th ca me in three point s down to Dan Sta nley, and the four-point difference between finishin g fir st a nd secon d m eant a w in by Coolbeth wo uld lock up the title. In w hat was the largest class o f the night, 35 rid ers had four heat s, with the top three in each movin g on to a 15-lap mai n ev en t. Duva ll ch arged in to th e lead of th e fir s t heat, with Coolbe th a d ista n t s even th . Lap tw o found th e H arley-D a vidson of M is souri /Da ve Burks Mo torsports /Bill LePage-b acked Coolbeth in second, and one lap later he was up front and pulling away. Du vall was left to battle with Jeff Anne n, with Annen ge tting by with two la p s to go. Pole si tter Greg Tea gue pu t his Allen-M ar ion eaux H onda i n to t h e fi rs t turn firs t in heat tw o, bu t h e was qu ickly swallowed up by Steve and Ma yfi eld Beau Brown . The top three ra ced whee l to w heel t h e e n t ire ra ce. BB RP /Cecil Bro wn ' s Auto backed Brow n led laps six and seven before giving way to Ma yfield Broker age's Mayfield led as b oth Te a gu e in to th e main. I d e rni tsu / Rod La k e -s p on s ored T ob y Jorg en se n led Tim Eades and Jerry Sou thwo rth off the line . Jorgen sen and th e Sad d lem en /1-800-FAsTHOG-ba ck ed Ea des pu lled away, as Southworth was under siege from Ger amy Rackley and Jason Tyer. Th e three excha nged p os iti on s throughoutthe rest of the race, wi th Tyer managing to push his Karl & Kim Klement Racing /Phil Da rcy Racing ATK into the last qualifying po sition . Pole sitter Lonnie Paulev led the last heat off the line, but it was' d eemed that h is s ta r t wa s too g ood , a nd Paul ey would make th e restart from the penalty line. Stanl ey got a h uge holeshot and led ea rly over Eddie Dixon, J.P. Simonsen a nd Don Ha rt. Sta n le y pu lled h is BBRP/ Circle F Racin g Frames /Gardner Racing-ba ck ed Ro ta x to a n ea sy win , with Pauley taki ng secon d . Ryan Anderso n sli p ped arou nd Simonsen fo r the last transfer spo t. Th e sea s o n -lo n g poi n ts ba tt le between Sta nl ey and Coolbe th ca me down to the fina l 15-lap race of the seaso n. Jorgensen s p li t th e tw o lead ers go ing into turn one as Stanley led . Coolbeth qu ickly se t Jorgensen back and the he ad -to-head battle wa s on. Jorgen sen a ls o g ave way to Ead es for o ne lap befo re regaining third place. Jorgensen's mou nt ex p ired goi ng d o w n th e fro nt stra igh t as lap four came to a close, tu rning third back over to Eades. Mayfield mad e a late-race charge at Eades, bu t he came u p just short. Up front , Stanl ey held the lead until the sixth lap, at which point Coolbe th stormed by. Stanley's race was far from over a s he m ad e repea ted cha rges a t -Coo lbe th, but they a ll ca me up short. A n nen rode to a lo nely fi f th , while Brow n edged Ty er . Pau le y , Gre g Tea gu e , A n derso n a n d Du vall all bou nced a ro u nd in va rious posit io ns, but finished in that order. Jorgen sen was the only rid er not to finish . The 29 Experts ran three 750cc heat s to se t th eir 12-rider main. Points leader Roed er led the first heat into turn o ne, ahead of Chris Carr a nd fast qualifier Dan Butler. The Roed er' s Ha rley-Davidso n / Mike ' s Ha rl ey -Da v id so n-backed Roed er led un til th e ha lf w a y m ar k, when Bu tler p u shed hi s USC Racing /Lanca st er Harley-Dav idson / Dod ge Brothers-backed Harley in to the lead and ran away from a Roeder/Carr battle. Carr finis hed a close th ird on his H arley-Davidso n of sa crame n to / I Phoenix Racing Ha rley . Team Powell' s J.R. Schnabel finished a soli d fourth ana m oved on to the main . Harley-David son of Missouri/Dav e , Bu r ks Motorsp ort s ' Jo e Kopp m ad e sho rt work of th e seco nd heat, as he finis hed w ay a head of Harley-Da vid son M otor C ompany ' s Sco t t Pa rke r, A u d iovox / Q uake r S tate/ Do na h ue . H arley-D av id son' s Brett Land es a nd Tomm y C u m m ing s Racin g /Michi gan Har ley-Davidson Dea lers' Will Davis. The la s t heat was a cl o se o ne, as Co rbin Ra cin g' s Rich Kin g and F&s Harley- Davidson's Steve Morehead battled away . Kin g was ab le to keep his Ho nda up fro n t, w ith Moreh ead and King the only ride rs with a mathematical chanc e of un seat ing Roed er from the poin ts lead. Finishi ng a so lid third was t h e USC Racin g /Lan ca st e r HarleyDavi dson /Dodge Brothers - ba ck ed Brya n Bigelow. Johnny Murphree powere d .his new ride, th e Coz ia hr HarleyDavidson /Buck-spon sored Harley, in to the last transfer spo t. As th e 15-lap, 12-rid er main en tered turn o ne , Kin g led Kopp a nd Butler. Butler slipped into seco nd a t the end of lap on e, leadin g K opp, Landes, Morehead , Parker, Ca rr and Davis. The fourt h lap saw a major shake-u p. Af ter Butler was ab le to s nea k under King going into turn on e, Parker stuc k his foot in a hole in turn three. Aft er a sp ec ta cu lar s ave, Pa rker rode to th e infield and stra ight to the pits. He made his wa y to his car and immed iately left to tend to an injured knee. While m ost eyes were on Park er, Butler pulled to a comfortab le lead . King , m ea nwhil e , had hi s hand s full w it h Kopp and Morehead in hot pursuit. As the laps wore down, the field seem satisfied wit h thei r positions, w ith o nly Roeder making a move. He passed Carr with three laps left to take over sixth. It wa s good enou g h to g ive Roeder his 0 seco nd Ho t Shoe title. Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada Results: October 2, 1998 EX 750: 1. O,1n Bu tler (H-D ); 2. Rich King (H -D); 3. Joe Kop p (H-D) ; 4. Steve Mor ehea d (H-D ); 5. Will Dav is (H-D); 6. C"-"O Roeder II (H· D); 7. Chris Ca rr (H- Dl; 8. Brya n Bigel o w (H- D); 9. Jo hnny Mu rp hrt'C (H- D); 10. J.R. Schnabel (l-i-D ): 11. Brett Landes (H -D ); 12. Scott Pa rker (H -D). EX 600: 1. Ken Coo lbc th (W- R); 2. Dan Stanlcv (Rtx): 3. Ti m Ead e s (Rtx); -I. Steve Mav field (W-R );· S. Jeff Annen (W-R); 6. Beau Brow n (W. R); 7. Ieson Tyer (Rtx): 8. Lonnie Pauley (W-R); 9. Greg Teag ue (Ha n); 10. Ryan A nd erson ( W - R); 11. Joe Du va ll (A T K); 12 . Tob y Jorgense n

• Cover