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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128116
Nail biter: It all came down to a last-lap battle between Davis (21) and Kenny Coolbeth (31 I, with Davis barely holding the youngster off for the win. Coolbeth's runner-up was his second In as many rounds. burst into flames in turn four. Carr's Harley-Davidson of Sacramento mechanic Kenny Tolbert - with a little help from his friends - somehow managed to get the motorcycle back in running order so that Carr could rejoin the field for the restart. Carr then put on a passing clinic, making his way up to seventh place on a track where almost everyone was going fast, to limit the championship points swing to just four. Kopp now leads Carr, 180-178. "To lose only four points after you pick yourself up off the ground - it could have been a hell of a lot worse," Carr said. Hacker battled for the lead in the tight, six-rider pack that established a torrid pace, but there was to be no repeat for the Virginian, who wound up fourth at the finish. Murphree was also a part of that pack, ultimately finishing fifth - another solid performance - one spot ahead of Bartels' Harley-Davidson/Corbin's Springsteen, who slipped to sixth after chunking a tire. Behind Carr, Performance Harley-Davidson's/ Adkins Racing rider Chris Hart finished a career-best eighth, ahead of Moroney's Harley-Davidson rider Paul Morgan III and Team Powell/HarleyDavidson of West Bend rider J.R. Schnabel. Team Harley-Davidson's Rich King suffered a disappointing night, finishing 14th in the main event. Davis started the night off on the bottom, leading all 10 laps to win the opening heat race by a comfortable margin over KK Supply/Las Vegas Harley-Davidson/s Geo Roeder II, while Moroney's Harley-Davidson rider Paul Morgan III came home third to earn the last direct ticket to the main. Carr and Coolbeth then came out smoking in the second heat, with Carr taking the lead while Coolbeth, who ran in fourth, rolled around the outside of Departure Bike Works/Pro Class Cycles' John Nickens III in turn three and then cut down track to dive underneath Schnabel off turn four. Coolbeth slowly closed the gap on Carr, but Carr took the win. Hart, meanwhile, quietly made his way to third place, leaving Schnabel and Nickens to prepare for semi action. Carr's winning time of three minutes, 12.751 seconds, was nearly three seconds faster than Davis' winning time, and it would be good enough to earn him the pole position for the main event. Continental Tire/Suzuki rider Greg Tysor had his SV650-based dirttracker running well as he stole the holeshot in heat three. Tysor was eventually passed by both Springsteen and Hacker, but he would, hang on to third for a direct transfer. Hacker took the lead away from Springsteen on lap three and never looked back. Kopp and Murphree seesawed back and forth in the lead during heat four. Murphree led the first lap, and then Kopp took over. Murphree then came back around Kopp off turn four on lap five. Kopp then attempted to return the favor off the last corner, but he dived too low and his motorcycle fell off the cams a bit, allowing Murphree to escape with the win. Behind this, Motociter.com's Tim Eades held off a determined Kevin Atherton in another great battle, taking third and advancing to the main event. Schnabel rebounded with a win over Beattie in the first semi, the two moving on to the main. King strug- Joe Kopp (1) put In another conslsten1 podium ride, finishing third and retaking the series points lead. Defending Chartotte Half Mile winner Mike Hacker (67) was a solid fourth. gled down in fourth place before making his way to the lead in semi two, passing Nickens, who then barely held off a charging Sam Lowe for the second spot and the transfer. KK/F&S Harley-Davidson & Suzuki's Willie McCoy nearly threw it away in turn four while leading the third semi, but the Texan gathered it up and took the win to advance. JAB Computing/SuperTrapp's Paul Lynch put it together for second, leaving regular main event starter Bryan Bigelow in third and on the trailer early. Carr chose to start on the groove for the main event, with Coolbeth to his right, against the outside wall. Davis, meanwhile, was on the bottom of the track, with Springsteen, Hacker and Murphree between him and Carr. Davis got the holeshot in the first go, with Carr, Murphree, Hacker and Springsteen falling in line behind him down the back straightaway. But then as they thundered through turn one on lap two, there was trouble. Carr was down and sliding in a circle, facing oncoming traffic. Miraculously, nobody hit him, but that wasn't the end of the struggle, as fire erupted from his motorcycle. Although the Harley-caust appeared to be intense, it was brief, as Lowe's safety personnel were quickly on the scene to extinguish the flames. From there, Tolbert took over and, with the assitance of several other teams, somehow managed to thrash the motorcycle back into running order, Carr rejoining the field for the complete restart - albeit from the penalty line this time. "Somebody got into the back of me, man," Carr said. "That's the way it goes. That's racing. I wasn't sure whether or not we were done, because when you see your bike catch on fire, you never know. I thought it was oil coming from the sump, but it turned out that wasn't the case. We did have a lot of help getting it back together, though, and I want to thank those people. I saw Springer's crew in there, Joe Bisha, Eddie Adkins, Shaun Russell. A lot of people chipped in. And Kenny is so good at directing traffic under pressure. He gets the job done, there is no doubt about that." Springsteen and Murphree battled side by side for the lead down the back straight, with Springsteen taking charge on lap one. Murphree soon worked his way back alongside the old man again, and they were once gain parallel when they crossed the stripe on lap three. Coolbeth was already working the top to perfection, and he skipped past the low-lining Davis for third on that same lap. Kopp was right behind them in fifth, with Hacker sixth. That running order remained the same for three more frantic laps before Davis, who held steadfast to the bottom of the track, started making his move toward the front, first passing Coolbeth for third on lap five, and then sliding up under Murphree for second on lap six. Meanwhile, Carr had already made his way to 11 th, with a pass on Morgan, who was running 12th, at the tail end of the second pack. Hart was riding a steady eighth, while Roeder, Lynch, and Eades clung tightly in his wake. Carr would manage to thread