Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128110
AMAIProgre s s ive In suran c e U .S . F lat T r a c k Championships Rou n d 7: Hagerstown Spe e d w a y After starting from th e second row, Will Da vis w orked his way up to fourth plac e, well behind the podium fi nis hers. Hack er w as h av ing a d iff i c u lt t ime runn in g low enou g h t o defen d the bottom of th e trac k, but Schnabel had ta ken a few lap s during his heat race to surv ey the extre me botto m and file the info for future reference. Schnabel put th at knowledge to work, dogging Hac k er for seve ral laps before div in g below h im in turn one and taking over the sixth spot on lap 18 , a position Schnabel would keep for the rest of the rac e. "I got a bad start, but I was smart enough that I didn 't panic : Schnabel said . " I was thinking the whole race , and when I got a bad start, I said to myself, 'J ust stay low because guys are going to k ee p sliding h ig h ou t the r e . ' I am a l i tt l e disappoint ed be caus e I wa s c atc h ing Spring er at th e end and ma ybe w e co ul d h av e gotten a to p -five , wh ich is m y goal. I want con sistent to p -fi ves , but I got a sixth at the Spr ingfield TT and a sixth he re, so I' m m is sing it b y one. We j ust need to pic k it up a litt le bit , but I am having m y be st season . 1 like to think it's because of the setups, but B ill [Powell] thinks I' m riding different. Bu t wh ate ver we 're doing , it's working , so if 1 finish in the top five at every race, th e po ints will be there at th e end of the seaso n." A ft er Schn abel went by him. Hack er then ha d t o fac e anot h er battl e, t his one co mi ng from h i s lo ngtime buddy , Coolbeth , wh o had c al me d down eno ugh to start marching forward afte r dropping as far back as 10th as the pa ck sorted it self out in th e early going . Coo lbeth used the sa me move on H a c k er that had worked for Schnabe l , although the sty le was a li ttle more roughhouse ; th e two traded pa int off turn four b efo re Coolbeth act ually got past Hack er, drop ping him to eig hth. "The track was really good in the beg inn ing, bu t then it got drier, and I 26 J UNE 27. 200 1 • cue I e kind of lost my rhythm out there : Hack er said. "It was j ust one of them th in g s. You 've got to learn how to ride these track s if you want to win . But we learn ed a lot t oday . We tried a wh ol e bun ch of di fferent stuff . and it worked . Ne xt time we go to a real sli ck hal f m ile, we'll be rea dy. They d id a gr eat j o b w ith the tr ack , th ough . It's hard to ke ep a tra ck in th is good a shape with the sun beating do wn on it." Up front, Kopp had wh ittled a cou ple lengths off of Carr's lead , but he was runn ing out of laps to get himself back into contention for th e win . B y that po int , it was c l e ar th a t T eam Harley -Dav idson 's Ri ch K ing was having a tough da y . Still nursing an inj ured left ankl e, co urtesy o f a get-off at th e Formula USA Ply m outh , Wisconsin , short tra ck , K in g had suffered a b ad start an d , apparent ly u na ble t o f ind a rhy t hm , struggled along in lOth. Kin g was able to pass Gardn er Racing /Walters Brothers Harley -D av id son 's Ste ve Beatt ie for the ninth spot before the race was over, but th at w as of li tt le consolation , as he later alleged that B ig el ow had ru n int o h im twice out on the tr ack . Whether or no t i t was B ig elow , i t was clea r th at someone had rubbed K in g , as there we re t ire tracks all over King 's mufflers. "My leg wasn 't good, bu t my race w as done ri ght off the bat th an ks to B ig el ow : King sai d . "He doesn 't hold a li ne. He's j ust all over the track . I was at the front early on . It [ninth] had nothing to do with my start." Beattie , on t he ot her hand, seemed q uite satisfied with his top- 10 run . " W e had to cha nge b ikes early on , b u t m ad e it into t he final : Be attie sa id . "There was n eVIl's j ust a big ho le in fro nt of m e at th e sta rt , and I gated perfect and fed the clutch all th e way to t he c o rn er , and mad e it th rough there and was abou t fifth or sixth off the start. I went bac k wards a l i ttl e b it , but I learned some things, and it just fel t good to go a full 2 5 la ps again ." Coziahr H ar l ey - D avid so n / Memphis Shad es' Johnny Mu rphr e e h o o k ed up wi t h hi s friendly California racing rival , Bart els' Harley -Davidson/X 1Rb ac k ed Shaun Russell in th e ma in event , Murphree dropping from as h igh as t h ird rig h t o f f the start, wh ile Russell improved only two spo ts , coming f ro m 14th t o 12 t h when he caught Murphree bu t co uld not fi n d a way around him . Murphree 's 1 1th -place resul t might have co me as a bit o f a surp ri se t o some , as he had sho wn in hi s hea t race an d in t he m ain event that he could roll the corners better than just about anyone. "T here wer e j ust so many people going ev ery wh ich wa y it was like a dogfight: Murphree said . " If I rolled the corn er good , there wou ld always be som eo ne in the w ay at the exit. I c ou l d get a' good run , but I c o u l d never finish it. Then I got caught by on e of m y Ca lifornia mates [Rus sell], and we started playing around. Th e slo wer I we nt , th e better I felt, bu t 1 could never ma ke mysel f to go slo w enough. We 'll g et 'em nex t w eek ." Russell simpl y r ejo iced at t he chance to m a k e a main o n a h alf m il e. " It' s b e e n a pr e tt y good yea r already , compared to last year, when w e got slowed down a f t er getting hurt: Russell said . "I' m fee ling good. I' m not rea ll y where I want to be yet, but I'm getting closer. I was ju st tr y i n g to f ind a fa st way aro u nd out th ere. Johnn y was right in front of me , and I worked hard to try and get around him. I got alongside of him a coup le t imes , but I couldn ' t make anything stick. The tra ck was a lot better tha n I thought it was going to be for a da y race . They did a good j ob toda y. " Gary Stolzenburg 's F&S Harl ey Davi dso n / KK Motorcycle S upply sq uad was represented by both of its riders, Willie McCoy and rookie Bryan Smi th, in the ma in event . Both had a time deal in g with th e slick co nditions, McCoy ru nning 13th, ahead of Las Veg as Harl ey -D avidson/ K K Motorcycle Supp l y ' s J es s Roe der , 1st Leg al.com's Terry Poovey - whose Har l ey h ad ma naged to d ro p both brak e sho es onto the race tr ack in th e fi rst stag es of the race - "T urbo T im " Ead es on the Motociter.com HarleyD av ids on and Gar y Rogers on t he Cu sto m C h r o m e/Am er ica n M a de Suspension Harley -D av id son . " A better sta rt would have helped m e," McCoy said . "I was stuc k down low earl y on, and I needed to be h igher. I st art ed working my wa y up , but th en I k ind of got int o Johnny Murphree and almost went o ver the bars. Once 1 settled back down and started roll ing , I couldn't catch up." Sm ith brought up the rear , fin ishin g 18th i n his first c a re er Grand National appearance. " I just made a couple m ista kes that won 't happen aga in : Smith said. "A t least I didn 't fall off aga in." Kenny Coolbeth 131) raced with Rich Ki ng after an early slip-up that delayed much of the pack. Coolbeth w ent on to fi nish seventh, while King was ninth.