Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

S u p e rTra p p S u p e r T r a c k e r S erie s tl I Roun d 1 : Houston R a c e w a y P a r k Three heats were run to set the ma in. Kenny Coo lbeth , his teammate J oe Kopp and Jason Tyer c a me awa y w ith the w ins . De fend in g series champ ion Kopp d eciding to not ride the ma in and concent rate on his 750. " I li k e riding th e SuperTracke r wh en it helps m e o n t h e 750 , but tonight I d idn 't feel co mfo rta ble on it, so we parked it: sa id Kopp. "If I ca n keep th e GNC n umber one, I'll still be a ble to use it on that bik e too ." The mech an ica l problems tha t p lagued Mik e Hac k e r's 2000 cam pa ign seem to ha ve carried over into the new year. Hacker's Saddlemen/ Lancaster Ha rley -D avidson /Dodge Bro the rs ' Harle y was very fast, b ut o n ly lasted two laps in t he ma in event. eN (Left) Kenny Coolbeth scored his first career SuperTrapp SuperTracker w in at the opening round of the series on the Houston Half Mile. Cool beth ba ttled ha rd to prevent eventual GNC winne r J. R. Sc hna be l from earning a d ouble on the night. (Below) Coolbeth (center) shares the spoils of victory with "Inner-up Schnabel (right) and third-placed Jason Tyer (left). STORY BY D AVE H OENI G P H OTO S BY FLAT TR AK F OT O S BAYTOWN, TX, APR. 21 or b in Ra ci ng /D a ve Burks Moto rs po rts-s po nso re d Ke n ny Cool b eth captured h is first SuperT rapp Sup erTrac k er Natio n a l a t Houston Rac ew a y Park afte r a ra c e -lon g ba ttle with Team Powe ll's J. R. Sc hn abe l. Greg T eague got the ho leshot ove r Bria n Thom a s and S cott S c he rb , bu t Thomas hustled into the le a d at the end of the first lap . Lap two saw the red flag fly as Mike Mey er fell in tum four. He was un injured . b ut failed to make the restart. T e a g ue repeated h is holeshot on the restart, but slid high and Thom a s was once agai n on th e po int. T h a t didn 't la st long , however, a s Cool beth and Schnabel stormed to the front. A mi d -ra c e m iscue by Cool beth turned the le a d over to Schnabel. "With five la ps to go , I we nt for a tear-off and hit the kill button ," said Coolbeth . "That's how he got m e . I thi n k we had b e t t e r m o ve th at k ill button . That thing ran awesome, I'm finally getting us ed to it. " However, S chn abel wo uld not go away quietly. "I got by Kenny when he hit his kill bu tt o n , bu t h e came ba c k by ," sa id S chn ab el. "I thought h is bi k e wa s revving a lot harder than m ine . It was rea lly dogging off the corner, th en it wou ld s hoot m e into the ne xt corner too ha rd . I j u s t down sh ifted into t hi rd , I wa s pro bably r u n ni ng too hard , bu t I wa s a ble to run with him . I tried to se t him up for a last turn bu t , when I c a m e into turn three, I la id the bik e way over, tr ying to dive under him . Whe n I d id th at , I hit the sh ifter a nd kn oc ked it into second." Davi ds o n Ra c ing / Am e ric an S uzu ki's Jason T ye r had th ird pretty well locked u p until KK Supply /F&S Harle y - Da vidso n-Suzuki 's Willie McCoy caught his fellow Texan. "We 've be en fighti ng with the handling on the Suzuki for a year," sa id Tyer. "Th e n ton ight, after th e ro ugh edges got knocked down , the tra ck was smooth and it ha ndled so much better. I haven 't ha d that m uc h seat time on the S uzu k i, but I'm getting more comforta ble a ll the time ." Widma n Harley -Davidson 's S cott S ch e rb ke pt th e Texas str ing intact as he b ro ught t he firs t Harley home. in fifth , a head of Brom le y S uzuki's Roy Mi ll er a n d th e Bu ell of J im Wa gn er/Widm a n Harley -Da v idson ' s Brian Th oma s , who went from le a d ing th e firs t lap to a seventh -place finis h. J o e Du va ll p ut his Du vall E le c t ric /M o ti on Pro -b a c ke d Suzuki in to Houston Raceway Parll Baytown, Teus Re sults: April Zl , ZOO1 (R ound 1 of 11 eighth over another early frontrunner , Greg Teague , who brought his Mari onea ux Racing/Ricky Farm er -ba ck e d Buell hom e ninth ah ead of the Su zu ki of Cu stom Chr om e /Am eri c an Su s pe ns ion 's Gary Rog er s . Th e 2 1 SuperTr a c k e rs on h a n d made up one of the la rgest fields yet for th is still -young serie s . cue I .. SUPERTRAPP 5aPERTRACKER SERIES HEAT 1 (6 laps; 7 riders, top six transfer) : 1. Ken Cool beth (Suz): 2. J .R. Schnabel (Sue): 3. Willie McCoy (Suz): 4. Roy M;lIer (Suz): 5. Mik e Meyer (HD ); 6 . Joe Duvall ( Suz); 7. Yuhiko Hirao (Suz). Tim e: 2 min.. 12. 1 19 sec. HEAT 2 ( 6 laps; 7 riders. top Ilve tran sfer): 1. Joe Kopp (Suz); 2 . Greg Tea gue ( Sue); 3 . Bob Buffington (Suz) ; 4 . Steve Uberty (H -D) ; 5 . Jo hn Fau lkner ( H· D) ; 6 . Mark Witham ( Yem): 7. Gerry Booher (Bue). TIme: 2 min.. 17.853 sec. HEAT 3 (6 laps; 7 riders. top six tra nsfer): 1. Ja son Tyer (SUl): 2. Brian Thomas (Sue): 3. Mik e Hacke r (H· D) : 4. Scott Scherb ( H-D): 5. Gary Rogers (Suz): 6 . Brian Kromroy ( Sue); 7 . Jerry Vanderkooi (Suz) . TIme : 2 min., 13. 773 sec. SUPERT RAP P S UP ERT RA C K ER SERIES NA nONAL ( t 2 laps; 17 rider s): 1. Ken Cool be th (Sua): 2. J.R. Schnabel (SUl); 3 . Jason Tye r (SUl ): 4. Will ie McCoy (Suz) : 5. Scott Scherb (H· D) : 6. Roy M iller (Suz): 7 . Brian Thomas ( Sue); 8 . J oe Duvall (Suz); 9. Greg Teague ( Sue); 10 . Gary Rogers (SUl); 1 1. Jo hn Fa ulk ner ( H· D) : 12. Robert Buffingt on ( Sua): 13. Steve Liberty (H· D): 14. Brian Kromroy (Bu e ): 15. Mike Hacker (H-D); 16. Mike Meyer (H-D); 17. Joe Kopp (Suz). lime: 4 min., 19.00 4 sec. S{JPERTRAPP SUPERTR AC K ER SERI ES POINTS ST AND INGS ( after 1 of 7 rounds) : 1. Ken Coo lbe th (23 / I win) ; 2 . J.R. Schnabel ( 19) ; 3. Jason T yer ( 16): 4. Willie McCoy ( 15) : 5. Scott Scherb (1 4): 6. Roy MHler ( 13) ; 7 . Brian Thomas (12 ); 8 . Joe Duvall (I I ): 9 . Greg Teague ( 10) : 10. Gary Rogers (9) : 11. John Faulkner (8); 12. Bob Buffington (7) ; 13. Steve Liberty (6 ); 14. Brian Krornroy (5) ; 15. Mike Hacker (4) : 16 . Mike Meyer (3) : 17. Joe Kopp (2 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Hagerstown , M aryland, June 16 Round 3 - Superior, Wisconsin, June 23 n .. _ S • MAY 2, 2001 31

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