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Dirt Track Round 4: Indiana State Fairgrounds AMAISUPERTRAPP SUPERTRACKER SERIES in, with his Suzuki backfiring heavily. Mike Ha cker, clearly off the pace on his very willing bu t very lacking HarleyDavidson, also called it a night early to concentra te on the Gra nd Na tional feature that was yet to be run. On the restart, Kopp go t th e best ju m p, and he and Sch na bel began to pull away, with Rogers right the re as well . Rogers ultimately slid a bit off the pace and settled into third, well clear of Buffington. Widma n Buell/jim Wag nerbacked Brian Kromroy and his Buell 5-1 Ligh tning ra n fifth, ahead of Total Perfo rma nce Ra cers' Scott Deubler, w ho was a bo a r d a stock-fra med Ya ma ha TOM-based twi n. Kro mroy wou ld u ltimately be black-flagg ed for an apparent oil leak and credi ted with sixth, a hea d of Brett Land es, wh o rolled ou t a brandnew C&J-fram ed Honda VTR1 000 bu t s u ffered carburetion gre m li ns a boa rd the machine. By Scott Rousseau · Photos by Flat Trak Fotos INDIANAPOLIS, IN,JULY 3 n what could be described as ano ther positive test, the pr od uction-based 1000cc SuperTrapp SuperTra cker Series took to th e slick, grooved o nemil e oval a t th e Ind iana S ta te Fa ir grou nds, and Suz u kis waltzed int o the podium positions, 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Dick ' s Suz uk i/ Dave Burks Mot or spo rts' Joe Kopp led the d ance - which had to be restart ed after a terri ble-lookin g cras h in volving Fast By Feracci ' s Larry Pegram on the openi ng lap - from start to finis h, wit h Team Powe ll/Sunoco's j .R. Sc h na bel a tte m p ti ng to run Kopp d own , w hile Rogers Lake Racing /Mitchell' s Mod esto Harley-Davidso n's Gary Rogers ap parently fixed the ign ition problems that had plagu ed him at Lima the week before to run third . "I felt like I had a little mot or on [.R. but he wa s right on me when I looked ba ck," Kopp sa id . "I felt I was ge tting be tt er drives tha n h e w as, but the n I bobbled in tu m two (on the last lap) and he p ass ed me go ing into th ree. I was wi lling to follow him to the finish , but he just grabbed too much throttle coming off tum four, and that ma de it eve n easier for me." In the opening Su perTracker hea t, Moron e y ' s H arl ey -D a vid s on /1 -800FAST HOG's Mik e Ha cker once aga in rod e hi s tail o ff to put hi s r oa ri n g XL1000-based V-twin at the head of the pack, but it wa sn't long befo re the three howling Suzukis of Schnabel, F&S Suzuki /KK Motor cycle Supply /Shepherd & Dragoo's Steve Moreh ead, and Robe r t Buffin gton left H acker in th eir wa ke. Morehea d t h e n got on the g as a n d began to make serious time around the join t, leaving Schnabel so me 15 lengths be hind by the time th e checkered flag wa ved . . Heat two prod uced a similar rout, as Kopp picked up the pace earl y, leaving D 0> 0> 0> ~ -S .., 20 (Top) Joe Kopp (43) held off a late-race charge by J.R. Schnabel (33) as the two Suzuki riders ran one-two to the finish at the Indy Mile round of the AMAlSuperTrapp SuperTracker Series. Kopp now has two wins in the series. (Above) Bad deal : Road racing star larry Pegram lays in the hay bales alongside Roy Miller's fallen Suzuki, while Brell landes (left) checks to see if Pegram is okay. Pegram was collected by Miller in the first tum on lap two, sending both riders tumbling. Neither rider was seriously injured. (Above right) Three Suzuki riders landed on the podium at Indy, as Gary Rogers (left) finis hed third, behind Schnabel (center) and Kopp (right). Miller and Pegram to dice it out for second p lace. As Kop p pulled away, the Miller/Pegram batt le intensified, with Pegram clearly ru nning as fast as the Suzuki rid er on the stra igh taways, only to lose time wh ile having to fig h t th e Du ca ti a bit in th e turns. The former Grand National regular man aged to put togeth er a great corner off turn two, run it in past Miller in turn thr ee and then hold him off at the finish to claim the second spot. Schnabel took the lead on the origin al start in the 12-rid er, 12-lap main eve nt, with WoIf Ra ci n g / Su bu rba n Mo tors Harl ey- David son's Buffington running second , ahea d of Whit e's Har ley-Davidson /M&S Su zuki' s Roy Mill er , Kopp , Ha cker and Pegram , Ihe last aboard the Rj Pol aris & Vic to ry / Ja m es La ndesowned Duca ti 916 nor ma lly rid d en by Brett Landes. As Kopp advanced, so d id Pegram , and th e road ra ci ng Ohioan throttled up th e Duck in th e hope of gaining positions in tum one. With too mu ch of a run on Mill er to go to th e inside o f him , Pegra m op te d to hea d high a t the same time th at Miller lost contro l and went down. Miller 's Suzuki plowed int o Pegram, sending both bikes and riders tumbling int o the hay bales. After several minutes, both riders we re up and, for the most p a rt , u ninjured , a lthou ~h a very groggy Pegram was left nursing a bum on his arm for the rest of the nigh t. Two rid ers also elected not to restart the ma in eve nt. Steve Morehead pulled With most of the remai nin g machinery fa irl y s p read o u t, Kopp a n d Schna bel ran wit hin a few bike len gths of one ano ther , Schnabel see mingly just ou t of stri king range but rea dy for any mistake that Kopp might make. It came just af ter th e white flag, as Kopp go t loos e going into one, allowi ng Schna bel to get a good d raft on the Washingto nian and make a pass for the lead as they bolted in to turn th ree . Un fortuna te ly, Schnabel th en did the sa me, g iv ing Kopp a chance to s ta rt h is dra ft-pass ea rlier than he had pla nned . Kop p p ulled ou t of line and motored by Schnabe l, pulling away even as they crossed the finish line. "I think that the problem 'with these things is that we' re having to d eal wit h much hig her comer speeds than we do o n th e 750s,· Kopp said. "I th ink that they steer as well as the 750s, and if we were ta kin g ou r 750s in to th e co rners that hard, who knows? We might experience the same situation. It' s just something that we're going to have to figure out. " Bu t th is d e al is go ing back a n d forth," Kopp continu ed . "We have a real battle going. It's going to be int eresting eN to see wh at happens next." Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis, Indiana Res ults : Ju ly 3, 1999 (Round 4 of 10) HEAT 1 (6 laps; 6 r id ers, ~ ll tran sfe r): 1. Steve Mor eh ead (Su z ): 2. JR Sc hna bel (Su z) ; 3. Rob e rt Buffi ng ton (Su z ): 4. M ike H a c ker (H- D); 5. Br ian Kromroy (Bue): 6. Sco tt Doe bler (Yam). Ti me 3 min.; 52.775 sec. HEAT 2: 16 l.1;p 6 ride rs , .1;11 tr .1;nsfec): I. Joe Kopp S; (Suz ); 2. Larry Pegram IDuc): 3. Roy Miller (Su z) ; 4. Gary Roge rs (H·O); 5. Brett Landes (Dud; 6. Ro ber t MilI"r(H·D). Tim e: 3 min.; 52167 St'C .