Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 3: Allen County Fairgrounds Dirt Track AMAISUPERTRAPP SUPERTRACKER SERIES r~- I, " "1 . -- I I I .' It , ~_- ' ' . 1 1 -- for pus hrod su premacy, was 1800-FASTHOG's Mike Hack er. The 23-year-old Virginian gave credence to the old "It' s not the bike, it's the rider" theory as he wo n the second hea t race over Wh ite's HD / M &S Suzuki-mounted Roy Miller in fine sty le, but when the ma in even t was up for grabs, the normall y competitve Grand Na tional star on the rise was ou tmuscled by Mor ehead and Kopp, who left him to battle w it h th e Widm an Buell/Jim Wa gn er l KlitN-backed , Buell 5-1 Lightning-based . entry of Brian Kromroy. Half a straightaway behind the leaders, Hacker wound up fin ish ing th ird after Krom r oy . dropped back. "My bike ru ns good," Hacker sai d . "It's a little mor e sluggish than my 750. It makes mor e of its p ower on top. It d oesn 't quite co me on like a 750. If I tr ied to p in ch it off, th en th o se guys were m ot o rin' m e. I jus t h ope th at it doesn 't turn into a Suzuki sho w, but I g uess th ey ' re easier to build th a n a H arley. Th ose guys are just takin g a box -st ock motor a n d puttin g it in a fram e. Suzuki is also pu tting in a lot of co n tingency, so that' s good . Harl ey d oesn't have anything." Kromroy finished fourth, while Brett By Scott Rous seau Photos by Flat Trak Fotos LIMA, OH, JUNE 26 f yo u d idn't kn ow , you cou ld n ' t tell. The Allen Cou nty Fairgrounds in Lima , Ohi o , o ffere d th e AMA /SuperTrapp SuperTracker Series rid ers their first chance to test their new, production-based 1000cc dirt tra ck equipment on a tru e cus hion ha lf mile, and despite the high attrition rate in the 12-lap main event, the y passed with flying colors, with 43-year-old Steve Morehead going to the head of th e cla ss . Other than the free-revving whine that wa iled from th e ex haust pipes o f hi s Su zuki, you w ould have th ought tha t Morehead was just riding a Harl ey XR. Fresh off of his fourth-place finish in the preced ing AM A Gr and N ati onal Dirt Trask Series program, Morehead, by far the oldest anything in the field of entries, proved why he ha s earned the reputation as one of the sport's all-tim e tough guys, as he climbed aboard his F&S/KK Mot orcycle Suppl y Su zuki TLl 000 and ran down a si m il a rly mounted Joe Kopp in th e last corner, pulling ahead on the front straig htawa y to score a po pular victor y for the fan s w ho stuc k arou nd to tak e a ga nde r at the fled gling series. Morehead showed a you thfu l exubera nce that was on par with his still-experime ntal equipment, as he claimed his first win of the season. 'TIl tell you what: When we showed up tonight, I wa s scared to death of having to ride that thin g on the pea gravel after all of the wobbling ar ound we :d done a t Spri ngfield," Mo rehead sa id. "But that thing rea lly surprised me . It was fun. It was easier to rid e than my 750. I was just ru nning it in there, and my pipe was d ragg ing , and I was using it as a brake." With the win, More head also moves into the series points lead . He now leads Kopp, 61-53, while J.R. Schnabel sits third, wit h 51 poin ts. All three have won a rou nd of the series . Morehead and Kopp were clearl y the class of the field in the final, both riders running within a few ticks of their 750cc times as they took off and hid from a pa ir of rid ers on Harl ey-David son XLtwin-based equipment to settle the fight for th e w in betw een them selves. Kopp led most of the race, choosing to keep his howling Dick's Suz u ki/ Dave Burks Mot orsp orts / Harl ey-David son of Missouri TL u p nea r the top of the track for the whole 12 laps. Morehead followed Kopp, shadowing his every move before maki ng the money pass off turn four in th e das h to the checkered flag. Still, Kopp was satisfied tha t his program has come together well enough to allow him to remai n in contention for the inaugural series title. "This was my third time on the bike now," Kopp said . "Th ey're really good on the half mile. I probably cou ld have go ne faster if I hadn't been rid ing a 750 all da y. I wa s rea l comfor table on it. I think that it could b e a g oo d cl a ss . They're handling as well as the 7505. "Of course," Kopp added, " I might ,..: have to tear it d own a t th e en d of the >"5 year to see if it needs new rings or some.., thing." Finishing third, and first in the battl e 20 , (Above) Steve Morehead takes the victory lap with his daugther Kate after scoring his first SuperTrapp SuperTracker win of the year aboa rd his F&S Suzuki TL1000. Morehead is a firm supporter of the new production-based series. (Right) Morehea d (42) swiped the win fr om Joe Kopp (43) by putt ing a sprint car-style sli de job on the Washington rider off the last corner. Morehead drifted up, to ok away Kopp's momentum and then beat him to the finish line for the win . (Left) Mike Hacker rode the heck out of his HarleyDavidson- based SuperTracker, only to be completely out-muscled by the Suzukis of Morehead and Kopp. Hacke r finis hed th ird. Lan d es piloted his RJ Po laris & Victory I jam es Land es-backed, stock-framed Ducati 916, which has proved itself to be more competitive on the big mile tracks, to a lonely fifth-plac e finis h. J.R. Schnabel wa s looking fast in the first of the tw o six-lap heat races. The 19-year-old Wisconsinite, who claim s to enjoy riding his Team Powell Suzuki as much as his regular XR75O, shot off the line ahead of Morehead, wit h Krornroy, Landes a nd Suzuki-mou nted Rober t Buffington in tow. Gary Rogers pulled off on the first lap, his Suzuki experiencing so me so rt of ignition tr ouble. As they clawed their way around the middl e p ortion o f th e tra ck , M oreh e ad s tead ily gained on the you ngs ter, but he simply didn't have enoug h lime to make an a t tem pt for th e lead in th e s hort sp rint. Schnab el went on to w in , with Mor ehead second and Kromroy third. "I like riding thi s thing ," Schna be l sa id . "Th ey ' re so fun . They wi n d up

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