Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIProgressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 1 1 : The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway STORY By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS By DAVE HOENIG/ FLAT TRAK FOTOS CONCORD, NC, J(]LY 28 o fter 24 and a half of 25 actionpacked laps on the rocket-fast, red clay 3/8-mile Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway, it all came down to this: North Carolina native Will Davis was doing everything in his power to bring home a win in front of his homestate fans. Kenny Coolbeth was doing everything in his power to earn his first career Grand National win. And so it was that the two went into the last two turns, Davis practically smoking the tire while maintaining the low line that he had used to take the lead away from Jay Springsteen on lap nine, and Coolbeth clawing around the top of the groove where there was more traction but a lot more real estate to cover - attempting to roll past Davis with momentum. The two hit the front straightaway together and commenced a drag race that had the approximate crowd of 7000 on its collective feet as they crossed the stripe, under AMA starter Poochie Cox's checkered flag ... When it was over, the Fasthog.com/ Moroney's Harley-Davidson-backed Davis of Goldsboro, North Carolina, chased down a dream at round 11 of the AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships series, earning a hard-fought and mighty popular victory in front of his homestate crowd on the track that is located adjacent to the big NASCAR circuit just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. It wasn't easy, but the really memorable ones never are, and this one is likely to have the dirt track fans who attended the race talking for quite a while. For Davis, the events that unfolded at Lowe's marked quite the turnabout from his situation of one year ago, when he missed the inaugural event and in fact was barely able to walk after suffering potentially permanent damage from a collision in a softball game. Tonight's dream came with a later deadline than he had anticipated, but it was still mission accomplished. "It's like I've told people before, that accident was just meant to be," Davis said. "And now this was meant to be. It couldn't have been any better, with the finish that close. It's just unreal. This year, we started thinking, 'What are we doing wrong?' But then when the chips are down, we come through. I just can't explain it." The 36-year-old Davis ran near the bottom of the track right from the 22 AUGUST 8.2001 • C U; C I start of the race, sitting in fourth place on the opening lap but well in contention as part of a six-rider pack, containing early race leader Springsteen, Memphis Shades/Coziahr Harley-Davidson's Johnny Murphree, Corbin Racing/Harley-Davidson of Missouri's Coolbeth and Joe Kopp, and defending race winner Mike Hacker on the Saddlemen Racing/ Lancaster Harley-Davidson XR. Davis snatched the lead away from dirt track icon Jay Springsteen on lap nine of the 25-lap Grand National feature and then fended off a relentless attack from a hot-riding Coolbeth in the last five laps, crossing the finish line mere inches ahead of Coolbeth - a Connecticut Yankee no less. "Sometimes I get so worked up and I really get emotional, and I'm definitely that way now," Davis said in the post-race interview. "There are a lot of people that I love here tonight, people that have known me racing motorcycles since' was 6 years old but never got to see me do it. My whole family is here, my teache n e _ s Will Davis takes his son, Cole, and tuner, Mike Wheeler, for an emotional victory lap after winning in front of 7000 of his homestate fans at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was Davis' second win of the season. ers, kids I went to school with, my pastor, my mom and dad. My dad has always been the biggest deal behind my racing. I love you, Mom and Dad... This one's for you. '" knew that Kenny [Coolbeth] was back there, but when he caught up, I made sure that he was going to have a fight," Davis continued. "That's what people paid for, to see a show. I'll tell you what, if people need more than that, then they need to buy another ticket, because we can't give them any more. I don't know how long this race was, but that's how long I went without breathing." Despite finishing second by less than a wheel for the second race in a row, it appears as though the Kenny Coolbeth that many dirt track insiders believed was going to dominate the scene right out of the box when he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1994 has finally arrived. He was fast all night, using daring moves in the corners to force his way to the front in both his heat race and the main event. When the time came to challenge Davis, Cool beth - who is still only 24 - exhibited the cool and maturity of a longtime veteran, carefully planning his attack rather than rushing it. His attempt to roll around the top and into first place almost worked. Even so, his second straight podium finish signals that Coolbeth is ready to win, and that could make him a real spoiler as the season heads toward its conclusion. "That was awesome," Coolbeth said. "That was a good, clean race. We're there, man. It's going to happen. , kind of let Will go because I thought that I could get a run on him in turn four, but it didn't work." For reigning Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Champion Kopp, third place allowed him to regain the series points lead from main title rival Chris Carr, whose seventh-place finish capped a seemingly impossible comeback - but more on that in a minute. Kopp was strong all night aboard his Corbin Racing entry. once again displaying the consistency that got him the title in the first place. When the front six riders split from the rest of the field in the early going, Kopp was among them. While Davis chased down Springsteen for the lead, Kopp worked Coolbeth for third. Then his drive sort of stalled, and as his teammate went after Davis, Kopp was forced to defend third from Hacker. He did what it took, earning another podium and retaking the points lead. "That was a good race," Kopp said. "Early on, I thought that I had something for Will and Kenny, but once I got into third I just couldn't make any time on them. They were pushing each other, getting away. I was watching that more than I was watching what I was doing and the next thing I know Hacker starts pounding or) me for third. I had to start paying attention, keeping the wheels in line. It was a heck of a job to keep Hacker behind me, but I did it. I'm happy with third. My main goal was to beat Carr tonight. I pulled a wishbone, and I didn't wish to win the race, I wished to beat Carr, and that's what happened." Truth be told, that didn't happen without a hell of a lot of drama, as Carr, the two-time series champ, fell in traffic on the opening lap and then watched helplessly as his motorcycle

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