Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~I AMAIProg r e s siv e In surance U .S . Fla t T ra c k Championsh ips Round 2 : H o u s t o n Rac ewa y P a r k into turn three in abo ut fifth righ t off the g at e: D av is said . "The leaders w ere k in d a m essed u p and I went dow n lo w and almost clip ped some bo dy . I had to go high , and about fou r of th em passed m e coming off fo ur. I p assed fo ur or five g uys. I think I'd hav e had a run o n Chri s [Carr] and those guys, but I think it was Cl ark [actu all y Chris Hart ] fell right in fro nt of m e. I was right on hi m and he lost th e f ront end and we nt down . I glanc ed off the motorcycle and went up in th e m ud aga in , bu t ev erybody w as sca t te r ing . The lea ders pu ll ed ab out a st rai gh taway lead then . I don 't kn ow wh y I di dn 't hit h im and go over the ha ndlebars . I was loo ki ng for a way to get off. " Dav is held o n to six th , ahea d of F actory H arley - Davidso n rid er Rich K ing , wh o ca me from deep i n t he fi eld to finish seventh . " W e we re goi ng fast all d ay , b ut we j ust screwed up on our fro nt-tire cho ic e in th e heat race, and that p ut us beh in d the eig ht ball the rest of the day ," King said "T ry ing to pla y catch up on th is is toug h . T he track wasn't rou gh, bu t it was so hard and with the m oisture co ming up , the ri dges from wh eel packing would rea lly m ess the motorcycle up. Wh en yo u 'd hit one of them, yo u n ev er k new whe re you were going. I had a good bik e in th e m ain. I just got a ter ribl e sta rt . I th in k I was last through the f ir st turn . I st a rt ed co m ing, but it wa s j us t t oo l a t e . It was al most l i k e ri di ng a g ro ov e, but th ere was no ru bber on th e track . I think I ben efited from Hart going down , I th ink I go t abo ut th re e gu y s there. " Last yea r's Rook ie of th e Year and T exas' own J a so n Tyer , aboard th e Allen Raci ng/ D avidson Racing Harley, found hi mself in a solid eighth. "That was a lot bette r than we' re used to ," Tyer sa id. " I was having tran sm i s sio n problems all night, I couldn 't get it in gear so I had to really bab y it off the line. Luckily, a cou p le g uys got tang led up in the fi rst turn and I go t und er them. It reall y h elp ed when that guy fell down in turn three . So m e g uys shut off and w ent up to p . I d o v e low and we n t around them all . There reall y wasn 't a whol e lot of running people down. I p assed a few people early , then it was just a m atter of trying to ho ld my line. Wil l and Rich had a pretty good line, an d I cou ld n't catch them, so I j ust tr i ed to stay wi th th em and fi n i sh where I was at. " Geo Roeder II had a tough night, crashing during his scratch qualifying heat, and was happy to co me away w ith his ninth -place finish in th e m ain event. "Man , the wa y th e night started off, I didn 't think t h ere w as a ny wa y I w ou ld en d up wh ere I did ," the KK Supp ly / Las Vegas Harl ey -Da vidson/ 30 MAY 2 , 2001 • cu e • e Sc haeffe r's Ha r ley -Davidso n -back ed Roeder said . "A fter that cras h in the sc ratch heat , I figured we were done. I tor e th at bi k e up, and it wa s th e one we we re setting good times on i n p rac t ic e. I rode the ba ck up, and it run s good , b ut doesn 't handl e. We got it figu re d out, but it took us a wh ile . I was running pr etty good and then 44 went down . I w as trying to g et around [Wil li e ] McCo y , a nd he went hig h to miss him, it seem ed like five guy s went arou nd us. I've never been so happy wi th ninth p lac e in all m y li fe." Rounding out the top ten was K K Sup pl y /F£,S Harl ey -D avid son's W illie McCoy , who had had won h i s heat and ea rned a d irect tran sf er to the ma i n event. M cC o y wa s wa s v ery hap py w ith h is l Oth-place fin ish. " I misse d a sh ift down the back st ra ig ht a nd l ost a few posit io ns, " McCoy said. "I've been working so hard o n th e bikes, and I' ve been sick , by halfway I was o ut of energy. I was j ust wa nting to survive. I fad ed back. Then I tried to pass Jason T yer o n th e last l a p an d b u mped h i m . I abou t c rashed and Roed er got by me. I' m j us t upset I got tired - t hat ti red . When yo u can 't hold o n to th e han dl ebars, it sucks. I was looking fo r th e checkered flag before t he halfway . W e're sup posed to be professiona ls and not get that tired ." P en d in g th e fi n dings o n S p ringste en ' s fu e l tests , everyo ne fro m Kev in Varn es on back moved up o ne po siti on. This m oved Itha c a Mot or cy cle Work s/Cayuga Tool £, Di e bac ked Shawn Clark into 10th. " It was wort h the t ri p down here [from New York] ," Clark said. "I put it on cru ise c o nt rol. I c a ug ht up an d started raci ng with them a little bit, but really I was j ust trying to m aintain ." CN Houston Ra cewayParle Baytown, Texas Results: April 21, 2001 (Round 2 of 201 HEAT 1 ( 10 laps; 8 riders. top 3 transfer): 1. Kev in Varne s ( HoD) ; 2 . Ken Co olbeth ( H-D) ; 3 . Robert Lewis (H·D); 4. Jason Tyer (H·D); 5. Bryan Smith (H·D); 6. Johnny Murphree (H· D); 7. Steve Uberty (H·D); 8. Bryan Bigelow (H·D). TIm e: 3 min., 35 .804 sec. HEAT 2 ( 10 laps; 8 riders, top 3 transfer) : 1. J .R. Schnabel (H·D); 2. Chris Carr (H· D); 3. Paul Lynch (H· D) ; 4. Steve Beattie (H·D); 5. Shawn Clark (H·D); 6. Jim Sumner (H·D); 7. Goo Roeder II (H·D); 6 . Jes s Roeder (H· D) . Tim e: 3 min.• 33.794 sec. HEAT 3 ( 10 laps; 8 riders. top 3 transfer); I. Willie McCoy (H-D); 2. Chris Hart (H·D); 3. Greg Tysor (SU2); 4. Will Davis (H-D); 5. Rich King (H-D); 6. Tim Eades (H-D); 7. Gary Rogers (H-D); 8. Terry Poovey (Han). lime: 3 min.. 39 .112 sec . HEAT 4 (10 laps; 8 riders. top 3 transfer) : 1. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 2. J~ Kopp (H· D); 3. Mik e Hec k er ( H· D) : 4 . M ike Varn e s ( H· D ): 5 . Sha un Russell (H-D); 6. Roy Miller (SU2); 7. Bob Vbema (Due); 8. Roger Lee Hayden (H-D). lime: 3 min.. 31. 113 sec. SEMI 1 (8 laps: 7 ridera, top 2 transfer): I. Shawn Clark (H· D): 2. Mike Vemes (H· D) : 3. Bryan Smith (H· D) : 4. TIm Eades (H· D) ; 5. Bryan Bigelow (H-D); 6. Jess Roeder (H-D); 7, Bob Ybe (Due). ma TIm 2 min., 52.735 sec. e: SEMI 2 (8 laps; 7 riders, top 2 transfer) : I . Rich King (H· D); 2. Gee Roeder II (H· D): 3. Sbaun Russell (H· D): 4 . Steve Beattie (H-D): 5 . Roger Lee Hayden (H-D); 6. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 7. Terry Poovey (Han). l1me: 2 m in., 52.73 5 sec . SEMI 3 (8 laps; 7 riders, top 2 transfer) : 1. Will Davis (H-D); 2. Jason Tyer (H-D); 3. Gary Rogers (H-D); 4. Steve Uberty (H-D); 5. Jim Sumner (H-D); 6. Roy Miller (SUl). Time; 2 min., 49 .728 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps; 18 riders): I. J.R. Schnabel (H· D); 2. Joe Kopp (H· D) ; 3. Kevin Varnes n e _ s (H-D); 4. Chris Carr (H-D); 5.Wili Davis (H-D); 6. Rich King (H-D); 7 . Jason Tyer (H· D); 8 . Gee Roeder II (H-D); 9. Willie McCoy (H-D); 10. Shawn Clark (HD); 11. Robert Lewis (H-D); 12. Mike Hacker (H·D); 13. Greg Tysor (SUl); 14. Paul Lynch (H-D); 15. Ken Coolbeth (H-D); 16. Mike Vames (H-D); 17. Chris Hart (H-D); Jay Springsteen (H-D) (Dlsq). Time: 8 m in.. 29.835 sec. AMA / PROGRESSIVE INSURA NCE U.S . FLAT TRA CK CHAMP IONSHIP SERI ES POI NTS STANDINGS (after 2 of 20 rounds): 1. Joe Kopp (38); 2. Will Da vis (37 / 1 win): 3 . Kevin Varnes (32 ); 4. Chris Carr (27); 5. J.R. Schnabel (23/ 1); 6. Greg Ty sor (2 0 ); 7. Mik e Hacker (1 8 ); 8 . Robert Lew is (17); 9. (TIE) Brett Landes / Shaw Clark (15); 11. n (TI E) Donnie Steward / Rich King ( 13); 13. Ja son Tyer ( 12); 14. Geo Roeder II (1 1); 15. (TIE) Dan Schnabe l stands tall at op the pod ium, w ith Kopp pettI and Springsteen (right). Springsteen would later be disqua lified for ill e gal fu el, le aving Varnes third . Stani ey / Willie McCoy ( 10) ; 17. (TIE) Johnny Murphree / Ken Coolbeth (8) ; 19. Terry Poovey (7); 20. Dan Butler (5). Upcoming Round s: Ro und 2 - Fort Worth , Texas, May 5 Ro und 3 - Sp ringfie ld. Illinoi s, May 26 B RIEFL Y. •• Houst on mark ed a big payday fo r J.R. Schnabel , as he co llect ed $5305 fo r his Pro gressive Insurance Grand Natio nal wi n and $905 for his sec ond in the Supe rTrapp SuperTrac ker Series main. Joe Kopp pocketed $3935 and Kevin V arnes moved up to the $2480 mark . It may be another record - it has to at least tie a reco rd , but not one minute was spe nt o n track prep all night - no doubt due to the fac t Rod G arret t and Steve M or ehead spe nt hours working o n the track all w eek. The night's action start ed and finished right o n time. The strange surface caused many setup nightm ares. resulting in many of the series elite re legated to the semis and a few to their trucks . At the start of the year, Continental Tire /SuzukilWKR' s Greg Tysor set the goal of being the first rider to put a Suzuk i into a 750 Grand National main. M ission accomplished . Now what? . , need a po dium," said Tysor. raising his goal considerably . " W e had a really good tim e. We 've struggled getting the bike set up, but w e knew we'd get it. W oody Kyle has helped me day and night. We got it togeth er and w ent to Savannah and tested all o ne day . W e had to fix the handling bugs - it was vio lently awful in Florida. W e're just tickled to death , and I think Su zuki is happy . " Tysor had actually led his 10-lap heat for eight laps , be fore giving way to W illie M cC oy and Chris Hart . Tysor held o n to the . last transfer. " Frank ly. I wa s tired - wa s ti red w hen we unloaded, I w orked all winter to be fit , but when you stay up all night worki ng on bike s... " Chris Hart Is starting his first full year o n a 750. aboar d the Eddie Adkins-tuned Perf ormance Harley-David son of Syra cuse/Perfo rmance Racing-backed Harley . A t Housto n, Hart showed a lot of speed and a litt le inexperience, cra shing in the main evet . " I just lost the fron t e nd, - said Hart of his lap-nine get-off. "The mot orcycle was wo rki ng real we ll. I saw Kenny IC oolbethl in front of me and Carr was right there, I just got impatient and tried to charge too hard . It wa s a rookie thing. I'm not used to the se 25-lappe rs. " J .R. Sc hnabe l wa s among the many wh o claimed to tire as the night w ent o n. blarmnq the harsh Wisconsin weather . " The wea ther has been so bad at hom e I haven' t been able to ride enough. - Schnabel said. "It got to around lap 12. and my leg was get ting tired . I looked back and saw I had a good lead , that kinda eased things a litt le. - Ju st past the halfway mark, Sch nabel w as moving into lapped traffic. " I've go t to thank the guys for mov ing ove r for me. It helpe d a lot. I kno w . I'v e been one of those lapped guy s many a lime, and I've always tried to get out of the way too. It's nice when you're on the other end:" N ic ky Hayden was at the Houston race, but the Kentu cky race r will have to wait until Sp ringfield to debut his new C orbin / Samp so n-sponsor ed Harley. - My wri st is jus t too sore, - the disappointed Hayden said. " I really wanted to ride here, but I just can't. Nic ky wa s left to chee r on his teammate , yo unger brother Roger Lee, w ho put it on the truck early afte r finishing fift h in his se mi.

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