Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~I Formula U S AlS F X Nation al Dirt Track Se r ie s R o u nd 1 : C o lo n ial D o w ns Jen n i f e r Snyder li S H) proved that she belong s with h er thrilling victory ov er M ike Hacker (87), Rich King (8 0) and Bryan Smith (84x) In the M ega M ile, the opening round of the Fonnula USAlSFX National Di rt Track Series. wer e ta k en from each heat and liberty had to ride in a semi. T he second heat w as a real barn burn er, as Hack er led th e charge into turn on e wi th Rich K ing and Corb in Racing 's Kenn y Coolbeth right on his heel s. By th e seco nd la p , Hacke r and King had pulled clea r of Coolbeth and b eg an a battl e for th e lead. Hacker and King sw ap p ed th e lead, somet imes t wi ce i n one la p . Hacker led King across th e fi ni sh li ne at the start of the whi t e -fl ag la p. K ing d ra ft ed p ast Hacker go ing into turn one . As th e pair exi ted t urn f o ur , H a c ke r pu ll ed alongside K ing and th e drag rac e to the checkered fl ag was on . Hacker edged King to win the fastest heat of the night with a time of 6 min ut es, 33.528 seconds . The third and final heat was just as exc iting as the second, with Moroney Harley-Davidson's Will Davis and 1st L e g a l. c o m Ra c in g ' s Terry Po ov ey providing the drama. Da v is got the , S TO RY AND P HOT OS BY JIM VINCENT/GRAND NATIO NAL CHAMPION .COM NEW KENT, VA, APR. 28 n her first appearance in the SFX National Dirt Track Series as a Harley -Dav idson factory r ider, 17year-old Jen n i fer Sn yd er of Grand Saline, Texa s, proved to everyon e that Harley-D avidson had made th e right choi ce in hiring her to contest the Pro Sing les Class . Her t h r ill in g victory at the Mega Mile showed that she has what it takes to run with the veterans . Snyder led several laps, was drafted and blasted with gravel spray, and di d no t back off. A nd when , with four laps to go, she fo und herself in fourth place, she effectively used the draft to retake the lead at the sta rt of the thi rtee nth lap . Dur in g those last three lap s, Snyd er held off cha llenges fro m both Mike Hacke r and Rich King and held her pos ition at the fr ont un til th e c heckered flag . F i n i sh i n g sec ond through fourth wer e Saddlemen Rac ing's Hacker, K ing, and T LC Raci ng 's Bry an Sm ith. Not onl y did Sny der win the first r a c e of t h e se a so n , s h e also set fastest ti me in qual ifying, with a tim e I 50 MAY 1 6 . 2001 • cu e • e of 47.456 seconds, al most.4 seco nds faster than second-fastest qualifier and teammate K ing at 47 .849 second s. Will Dav is was th ird fastest , with a 48.057 -second run on the mile-and-a-quarter Colonial Downs crushed gravel and li m estone tr ack. Appro x im at el y 7500 spe cta tors f il l ed t h e v i ew ing area at C ol onial D own s. The y c ame to w itn ess th e firs t Nat ional Dirt Track Race hel d on a track longer th an one mile since the 1950s. Th e last rac e long er th an a m ile was held at th e two -mile Track in Dodg e C it y , Kansas . Bes id es th e racing , the fans were treated to a liv e band " T he Griffin ," and an appear ance from Denn is Anderson and his Monster Truck " Grav e Digger" . The lo cal ABATE Chapter also hosted a ride-in bike show at one end of the grandstand. H EATS Sny d er may not have gotten the holeshot at the start of th e first hea t race going into tum one , but she took t he l e ad fr om KK Ra cin g 's Willie McC oy on the back stret ch and never Snyder (i S H) goes to the line ahead of Hacker (8 7) and King 1801. n e _ IS gave up the lead for the entire eight laps. McCoy hung tough but could not mount a charge and finished sec ond . Fin ishing third was Liberty T ire Racing 's Steve Liberty . Because of a light rider turnout , only two r id ers holeshot an d led for two laps before Poovey drafted past and led the next t h re e laps . Dav is hung tough and stayed ri ght on Poov ey's rear wheel and got under him to take the lead on the sixth la p. Wh en the two crossed

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