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
A M A N a t ional H o t Shoe S eries Round S : P e oria R ace P a r k S T OR Y A N D P H O T O S BY D A VE H O E IN G /F L A T TR A K F OTO s PEORIA, IL, JUNE 10 " That wa s J ohnny's ra c e , but I'll ta ke it ," sa id J o e Ko p p after winning th e Peo ria Hot Shoe TT , th e trad itional snea k preview to th e big daddy Peoria TT Grand Nationa l held two months later. The scene unfo lded like th is: J oh nn y Murphre e h ad led 14 a nd three quarters laps of t he I S- la p race, bu t al mos t within sight of the finish line, t he sho ck o n Murphree 's C o z iah r Harley -D a vidson /M emph is Shad es Rotax broke. "I saw s moke come off the ba c k whe el an d 1 knew it was s lowing him down , " sa id th e Cor bin Ra c in g / Lopko/D enny Lop p-backe d Kopp . "I s ure wasn't going to let him beat me with a broken b ike ." The Pe or ia Moto rc ycle Club hosted its annual sp ring Hot Sho e Nat iona l at Peori a Ra c e Park an d the fa bled TT track o nce again took its toll on the ride rs . Both the Pro Sport a nd Expert ma in e vents h ad to be red -fla gg ed , with ride rs from each being transport- 58 JUNE 27 . 2001 • cue I e e d to the hospital. Pro -Sport rid er Scot Stodart and Expert Dan Stanley took am b ulanc e ride s . Stodart was th o ro ug hly beaten up in a turn -one get-off, wh ile Sta nley suffered a leg injury a fter gett ing ta n g le d up in a m ess just past the ju mp. When the Exp e rt main ca me to the line, fast qu a lifier Murph re e chose to start on the outside , w it h seco n d fastest Kopp pic king second fro m the inside . At the flash of th e gre e n, Mur- neuvs phre e an d Kop p c onve rged into turn one . Mu rphre e carried mo re s peed into the firs t tu rn and came out with the lea d . KK Racing/K im f, Karl Kle me nt' s Willie McCoy mu scled his way into thi rd , with J osh Butler, Brett Lan de s , Steve Be attie a nd Bryan Bige low funn e ling in behind him . Surprisin gly , Murp hree slowly pull ed away. Defend ing 600cc Expe rt Hot Shoe Champion Kopp had his hands full jus t tryin g to hold second fro m Mc Coy. Audiovox /Quakerstate's Lan des drop ped Ro b inso n Ra ci ng En g ines ' But ler t o fifth on la p thr e e . A lap la t e r , t he Ga rdner Ra c in g team o f Be a tt ie a nd Bigelow also set Butler ba c k. The re d fla g g reeted Murphre e a t the start o f lap si x aft er Beattie ha d h it the ground comi ng off the jump and h is b ike was laying in th e middle of the t rack. Dan Stanle y and J ohn Hle bo we re collec te d in th e ca rnage. Be a tt ie wa s unhu rt , a n d a shak en Hle bo return ed to t he pits. S tanley had to be tra ns po rted with a suspecte d dis located hip . Murp hree n ail ed th e res ta rt , and Mc Coy on c e ag a in was a ll ove r Kopp. McCoy sh ot into sec ond on lap seven , on ly to rip h is brake lev er off in th e right- ha nde r. "I felt g reat [until th en] : sai d McC oy. "I don't k now if I h ad anything for John ny , but after I lo st m y brake , 1wa s just hanging on." At th e cr ossed flags , Murp hree had a com fo rta b le lea d over Kop p. McCoy wa s ho lding off Landes , jus t a head of Bige low, Donn ie St ewa rd , Shaun Rus s e ll, Butle r, J. R. Schnabel a nd Ga ry Roge rs . But just wh en it app e a red Murph re e wo uld pu ll o ff th e b ig upset , disa st er struc k. "At firs t 1 wa s just happy to be in front of Jo e , 1 mean h e ' s w o n a Natio nal he re , bu t then 1 re a lized 1 h ad a s ho t a t win nin g , " Mu rp h ree said . "When I came off the jum p on the last lap , the shock broke , an d 1 tho ught I was going into the creek . Somehow 1 got thro ugh th e right-ha nder, but Joe jus t ca me a rou nd on th e outsi de." Scot Sto d a rt g ot the hol e sho t in th e Pro -S po rt m a in, with Brody Miller in ho t p u rsu it. Nick Williams , Wes Brown a nd Rau n Wood were a s hort dist ance ba ck. As Stoda rt led into turn on e on the third la p, Miller cha rged to the ins ide, bu t couldn 't scruff off enough speed a nd tan g le d with S todart. Both riders went tu mbling to the ground . St odart had to be transported to the hospita l, while Miller was a ble to m a ke re pa irs a nd come back for the resta rt. JB Ra c in g / S k a t e lan d Racing 's Nick Willi a m s le d the res tart , wit h Wo od , Br o wn a nd Mik e O eh le r bun ch ed righ t be hind h im. Willia ms pu lled to a co mforta ble lead as th e B ill's C ycl e /S t au ff er Motors -backed Brown took over sec on d . By the hal fway po int, Oehler ha d slip ped his Zach's Custom f, Perform an c e-ba c ked Rota x into th ird, and the podium wa s set. Wood he ld on to fou rth, wit h Josh Toung e tt working his wa y up from deep in th e field to eN ta ke fifth. Peoria Race Park Peoria, Illinois Resul1s: J une 10, 2001 [Round 61 600 cc PRO SPORT MAIN . ( 12 lap s; 13 riders ): 1. Nick Williams (Rtx): 2. Wes Brown (Rtx) ; 3. Mike Oehler (Rtx) : 4. Raun w ood (Rtx ): 5. Josh Toungett (Rt x ); 6 . Bra nd o n Laurse n ( Rtx) ; 7 . J oh n Powell (Rtx ) : 8 . A aron Humphrey ( Rtx } : 9 . Nick Arment (Rtx ): 10. Greg Sauder (Rtx) : 1 J. Brody M;lIer (Rtx) : 12. Scot Stoda rt (Rtx) : 13. Ben Morton (Hon). 600cc EXPERT MAIN. ( 15 laps. 17 riders) : J. Joe Kopp (Rtx) ; 2. Johnny Murphree (Rtx) ; 3 . Wlme McCoy ( A T K) : 4 . Brett Land es ( AT K) ; 5 . Bryan B igelow ( Rtx) ; 6 . Sho un Rus sell (CCM ) : 7 . J .R.. Schnabel (W· R); 8. Donnie Steward (CCM): 9. Gary Rogers (Rtx ); 10. Josh Butler (Rtx ); 11. Chri s Boone (Rt x); 12 . Bre t Beyer (Rtx ) ; 13 . Trenton Bailey (CCM): 14 . Jaime A guila r (Rtx) : 15. John Hlebo III (CCM ); 16 . Da n Sta nle y (Rt x) ; 17 . Steve Beattie (Rtx ). Murphree (2 0) got the h olesh ot on the field In the is-lap main and pulled away to what seemed like a sure win until h is shock absorber broke when he sailed over the jump on the last lap . Murphree still pulled off a secondp lace finish.