Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Davis kept his cool in the face of the stiff competition and simply used a midtrack line in the comers' to pull away from early second-place runner Carr and '95 Daytona Short Track winner Brett Landes, who ran third. His Skip Eaken-prepared mount never faltered as Davis continued to build up a IS-length lead on the smooth and greasy quartermile urface that rings Larry Kelly Field. He appeared ttl make no mistakes, virtually mirroring his effort of three years ago, and when it was over, he had made a rather boring race of it, taking starter Poochie Cox's checkered flag by half a straightaway over econd place. "This is just my favorite place to win," an over-the-moon Davis said. "I know that winning a place like Springfield would be really neat, but this is so sweet for me. It ain't gonna get no better than Daytona. I hated it for the spectators, but I'm sorry about that. Last night it was rough, and that made for a lot of passing. Tonight it was a pool t?ble, and we could all find a line to run. Oh, wellit is my job to wjn these racE!s." While Davis was riding off into the sunset, Carr and Landes ran 2-3 but only for two laps before the Team Undo/ Donahue's Harley-Davidsonsponsored Landes shot underneath H-D of Sacramento/Phoenix Racing's ~arr in tum two on lap two. That left Landes with a clear shot at Davis on a race track that was clearly similar to the one on which Landes had earned his own Daytona Short Track win in 1995, but the 28year-old Californian was only able to match and not exceed Davis' pace. As the race ettled into the second half, Landes ran in no man's land about half a straightaway behind Davis and the same distance ahead of Carr. That is how he would finish, making him the most con istent man at paytona in '99, as his runner-up placing was a one-position improvement over his third-place run in the Hot Shoe race held the night before. "J was disappointed with second place here in '97, but I feel goociabout it now," Landes said. "1 just would have liked the opportunity to race with Will, because it would have been a hell of a· race. He was squaring it off up high, and I was running around the bottom. Will was just fast tonight." For Carr, who won the event in 1992 and '94, there was no disappointment in third place, especially considering the fact that he missed the show entirely one year ago. The 31-year-old former Grand National title holder rode at least as well as he did last night, starting behind Davis and succumbing only to Landes, who chose a slightly lower line on the track, while Carr ran around in the middle - about the same spot as Davis, before dropping to the pole. For Carr's part, third place was a good start to his championship drive, as the 16 points that went with it could make the difference in the series race, one that he lost by only two points last year even after failing to make the Daytona main. "1 wasn't surprised tha t Brett passed me," Carr said. "That's the way that it was when he won here. If he'd have gotten by me sooner, then he might have had' something for Will at the end of the race. J think that I was holding him up a bit." The best race on the track was ,the race for fourth place, which pitted 1991 Daytona Short Track winner Ronnie Jones and his Bob Weirbach Rotax against potential future motorcycle-racing giant Nicky Hayden on the TCR Rotax. Jones had to come from the back row after gaining entry through the semi, but the 'veteran rider from Okla- homa City got a great start and brilliantly negotiated traffic to run eighth across the stripe on the first lap. Hayden, meanwhile, had won his heat race and started on tne front row, where he got off the line fifth, behind Davis, Carr, Bartels Harley-Davidson's Shaun Russell and Landes. After Russell dropped off the lead pace, Hayden ran after the other three former race winners, while Jones moved past an early-race threeman battle for fifth involving Coziahr Harley-Davidson's Johnny Murphree, Russell, and GNC newcomer Donnie Steward. Jones ran down Hayden on lap 20, and the two ra'1 side by side and waged war for the last five laps, with Jones finally making a pass that stuck on lap 23 for fourth place. "Man, tha t was fun," said the 38year-old former series regular who periodically interrupts his car-racing career to return to the dirt tracks. "Nicky came up to talk to me afterward, and I told him that I was proud of him. I could tell he was getting tired, but he kept pressure on me. I went up and high and forced him to pass me on the cushion if he was going to do it. He never gave up. He did good." For Hayden, who had finished fourth on an Erion Racing Honda in Thursday's Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport race at Daytona International Speedway, a fifth at the Daytona Short Track was every bit as satisfying - if not more so. "I was just trying too hard, and Ronnie just started reeling me in," Hayden said. "He's pretty amazing, coming out of retirement and finishing fourth like that. I tried to go back by him on the last lap, and I got into him a bit, but my TCR bike ran really well. Marlon Hart helped us a bunch, too - he's real slick with the 600 stuff. But I really gotta thank Tom Cummings. I really appreciate that he gave me this opportunity. I'm on such good equipment, and there are a lot of good guys who ride every week that probably deserve to be on it before I do. But this is just a great opportunity, and I really want to make a mark in dirt track racing." HEATS Starts were crucial in the 10-lap heat races, as only two riders from each would transfer directly to the main event. Owing to the slippery nature of . the race track, the winner in five of the six heats was the man who got the holeshot. Davis. was first and fastest in neat one, as he blasted from the outside of the front row and ran away from a twoman battle for the second spot, between Team KTM's Joe Kopp and Coziahr Harley-Davidson's Johnny Murphree. The two ran in single file around the track, with Kopp doing everything he could to unseat Murphree. It all came down to a last-lap showdown, as Kopp tried to stuff it under Murpbree off turn two, but the young Californian held fast, with Murphree taking second place. By then, Davis had jumped out to a huge lead and finished first with a time of three minutes, 15.705 seconds, which held up as the fast time of the night and put him on the pole. "This is a brand-new motorcycle," Davis said. "Jeff Cole built us a C&J single shock just like my 750 Harley and, man, the thing is sweet. The race track is just super for racing, and I think that you're going to see some better racing than last night. We have to go and take three teeth off of the thing, beca use I was just buzzin' the guts out of it." Co.ntinental Tires' Greg Tysor was the sole exception to the "start first and finish first" rule, as he got a grea t start from the middle of row one. From there, he led Carr for eight of the 10 laps in heat two, with Carr finally squaring it off and getting on the gas way early to make a pass for the lead in turns three and four. Carr led the final two laps, while Tysor barely eked out second place when he got a little cocky and wheelied off turn four and down the length of the front straight, allowing a charging King to almost ace him out of the transfer spot. "Greg was doing a real good job up front," Carr said. "He was riding the -line that he needed to ride to win the race. I just kind of forced my way in there a little bit and moved him over, and that way I could run my oWn line. I don't know if down low is tlle fastest or not. It's going to change. Hell, we could be cutting the strings off the hay bales later tonight. You never know." In hea t three, Hayden used the outside row-one starting spot as effectively as Davis had, leading the field into the first turn and pulling cleanly away. The race was halted when Lonnie Pauley crashed in turns three and four on lap three, and again after Willie McCoy bailed off on the front straight on lap seven. At that point, the race was called, with winner Hayden and Varnes getting the transfers. Poovey was the next man to domi- The best battle on the track featured old veteran Ronnie Jones (16) and future star Nicky Hayden (69) in fourth-place scrap that went the distance. Age and experience beat out youth and enthusiasm, as Jones crossed the line ahead of Hayden for the spoL nate a heat race, as he left second-place finisher Donnie Steward and the rest far behind in heat four. Arguably the best short-tracker in the game, the 40-yearold Texan was as dominant as Davis had been earlier, but the race track was already beginning to wear, making for a slower winning time. onetheless, the '97 race winner became the third former winner to make the big show. "It felt good then," Poovey said. "I hope that the race track stays together, and I'm looking forward to the main event. This is a nel" motorcycle that" we just built this winter. Glen Salpaka put it together for me, and it runs grea l" Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Shaun Russell used teammate Jay Springsteen's backup bike to take a wire-to-wire win in heat race number five as he held off the -determined charges of rookie Expert Toby Jorgensen - nephew of former IT great Alex Jorgensen - and 1-800FASTHOG/Gould Erectors' Mike Hacker. The three were tied together after Russell took the lead from the green light, but the final positions remained . unchanged, with Hacker being the odd man out. "I've got to thank Springer for letting me borrow his bike," Russell said. "I had some problems with mine, and he said, 'Hey, why don't you try out mine?' I went fast on it right away." Landes. was the fourth different winner to gain entry into the main. He took charge from one spot to the right of the inside pole in the last heat race and never looked back, as he left behind a tight race for second involving Garnder Racing/Wiebler's Harley-Davidson's Davey Camlin, H-D of Missouri/W.E. LePage's Kenny Coolbeth, and Jones. '1 was a little bit nervous going' into that race - I kept having to go to the bathroom, I was getting so nervous," Landes said. "Now we're starting on the front row, which is where we have to be if we want to win this thing. I think that tonight's the night. I've been wanting it real bad for four years. I'm pumped." SEMIS It was do-or-die time in the four • m en ,..: ~ .c: ~ ... ::I; 19

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