Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

pissed. That seems to be when I have my best showings. I didn't want to run it hard for all 12 laps because that thing is kind of fragile yet. I really wound it up for the first couple laps, and then I nearly fell down going into turn three, so I backed it off a bit." It didn't matter. Bigelow was so far ahead by then, that Schnabel and McCoy had no chance at catching him. Instead, the two riders waged war for the second spot, with Schnabel appearing to be better through turns one and two, while McCoy was better through turns three and four. The KK/F&S Suzuki-backed McCoy took a shot at Schnabel there on lap 10, but he may have shown his hand too early. Schnabel immediately picked up on where McCoy was attempting to run and adjusted his line accordingly, effectively blocking McCoy and holding him to third at the line. "Bigs was just gone tonight," Schnabel said. "I don't know that we could have done to catch him. I saw Willie catch me at the end, and I started to get nervous about him rather than ride my own race. I saw where he was trying to go, so I just moved down and blocked the line, held him off and ended up second. Bigs is the guy that we need to beat for the points. We've got to pick it up if we're going to win the championship. It's going to come down to me and him. I know our bike is capable of doing it. We'll be there." McCoy was his typical restless self after the race. "It was nice to finish third, but man I want to win one of these things," McCoy said. "I caught J.R. at the end. He saw me down low, and he moved down there. He rode smart. The bottom was the fast way around here tonight. Tim Goeken Racing/Fast Plates' Sam Lowe finished fourth, while Bill Allen Racing/Davidson-Douglas Racing's Jason Tyer was fifth. eN Delaw.re Sblte F.i"nJunds IlMTingllln, D.I...... Results: August 4,2001 (Round 12 of 2DI HEAT 1 (10 laps; t 1 riders, top 3 transrer): 1. Will Davis (H·D); 2. Joe Kopp (H-D); 3. Chris Evans (H-D); 4. Chris Hart (H-D); 5. Willie McCoy (H-D); 6. Jason Tyer (H-D); 7. Bryan Smith (H-D); B. Rob Williams (H· D); 9. She un Russell (H-O); 10. Tom McGrane (Hon); 1I. Mike Vames (H-D). Time: 4 min.. 17.314 sec. HEAT 2 (IO laps; II riders. top 3 transfer); I. Chris Carr (H-D); 2. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 3. Jess Roeder (H-D); 4. Dan Butler (H-D); 5. Paul Lynch (HD); 6. lUck Winsett (H-D); 7. George IUchtmeyer (HD); 8. J.R. Schnobel (H-D); 9. John Nickens III (HD); 10. Garth Bostian (H-D); 11. Kyle Long (H-D). Time: 4 min .. 18.499 sec. HEAT 3 (10 laps; 10 riders, top 3 transfer): l. Geo Roeder II (H-D); 2. Shawn Clark (H-D); 3. Kevin Vernes (H-O); 4. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 5. Mike Hllcker (H-O); 6. Bryan Bigelow (HoD); 7. Aaron Creamer (H-D); 8. Sam Lowe (H-D); 9. Todd Winsett (SUl); 10. Cory Roth (H-D). Time: 4 min., 19.525 sec. HEAT 4 (10 laps; 10 riders. top 3 transfer): 1. Kenny Coolbeth (H-D); 2. Rich King (H-D); 3. Steve Beattie (H-D); 4. Nicky Hayden (H-D); 5. Terry Poovey (H-D); 6. Gary Rogers (H-D): 7. Roger Lee Hayden (H-D); 8. Tim Eades (H-D); 9. Roy Miller (Su,); 10. Donnie Steword (H-D). ·Time: 4 min .. 19.486 sec. SEMI I (8 laps; 10 riders, top 2 transfer); I. Chris Hart (H-D); 2. J.R. Schabel (H-D); 3. Bryan Bigelow (H-D); 4. Terry Poovey (H-D); 5. Paul Lynch (H-D); 6. Bryan Smith (H-D); 7. Tim Eades (H-D); 8. Kyle Long (H-D); 9. Todd Winsett (Su,); 10. Tom McGrane (Hon). Time: 3 min.. 32.891 sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps; 10 riders. top 2 transfer): 1. Gary Rogers (H-D); 4. Dan Butler (H-D); 5. Mike Hacker (H-D); 6. Rob Williams (H-D); 7. Garth Bastian (H-D); B. Roy Miller (H-D); 9. Sam Lowe (HD); 10. Mike Vames (H-D). Time: 3 min.• 33.372 sec. SEMI 3 (8 laps; 10 riders. top 2 transfer): I. Nicky Hayden (H-D); 2. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 3. Aaron Creamer (H-D): 4. Jason Tyer (H-D); 5. Donnie Steward (H-D): 6. Shaun Russell (H-D); 7. Rick Winsett (H-D); 8. John Nickens III (H-D); 9. Cory Roth (H-D); 10. Roger Lee Hayden (H-D). Time: 3 min.. 30.964 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps: 18 riders); 1. Will Davis (H-D; 2. Chris CO" (H-D); 3. Goo Roeder 11 (HD); 4. Nicky Hayden (H-D); 5. Chris Evans (H-D); 6. Joe Kopp (H-D); 7. Rich King (H-D); 8. Shawn Clark (H-D); 9. Steve Boattie (H-D); 10. Jess Roeder (HD); 11. J.R. Schnabel (H-D); 12. Willie McCoy (H-D); 13. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 14. Chris Hart (H-D); 15. George Richtmeyer (H-D): 16. Kevin Varnes (H- D); 17. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 18. Kenny Coolbeth (H-D). Bryan Bigelow decimated the field in the SuperTrapp SuperTracker main event. BIgelow ran wide open for two laps before backing it down and cruising to his third win of the year" Time: 23 min.. 17.560 sec. AMA/PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Arter 12 of 20 rounds): 1. Chris Carr (197/4 wins); 2. Joe Kopp (193/1 win); 3. Will Davis (153/3 wins); 4. Rich King (135/1 win); 5. Kenny Cool beth (l18); 6. Mike Hacker (99); 7. Johnny Murphree (91); 8. J.R. Schnabel (90/1 win); 9. Jay Springsteen (85); 10. Geo Roeder II (84); 11. Bryan Bigelow (68); 12. Willie McCoy (63); 13. Terry Poovey (55); 14. Steve Beattie (54); 15. Nicky Hayden (53): 16. Kevin Varnes (52); 17. Shawn Clark (46); 18. Shaun Russell (33); 19. Chris Evans (28); 20. Jess Roeder (27). AMA/SUPERTIlAPP SUPERTRACKER NATIONAL (I2 laps; 16 riders); 1. Bryan Blgeloe (Bue); 2. J.R. Schnobel (SOl); 3. Willie McCoy (SOl); 4. Sam Lowe (Suz); 5. Jason Tyer (5uz); 6. George Richlmeyer (Suz); 7. Brandon Lee Cartwright (Suz); 8. Gary Rogers (Suz); 9. Joe Duvall (Suz): 10. Brian Thomas (Bue); II. Scott Scherb (H-D): 12. Roy Miller (Su,); 13. Jerry Vanderkooi (Suz); 14. Mike Hacker (Bue); 15. Kenny Coolbeth (Su,); 16. Joe Kopp (Su,). Time: 5 min.. 20.625 sec. AMA SUPERTRAPP SUPERTRACKER SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 8 rounds); 1. Bryan Bigelow (95/3 wins); 2. J.R. Schnabel (87); 3. Sam Lowe (SO); 4. Kenny Coolbeth (66/2 wins); 5. (TIE) Mike Hacker (59)/Willie McCoy (59); 7. Scott Scherb (58); 8. Greg Teague (57/1 win); 9. Joe Kopp (56); 10. Jason Tyer (55); 11. Brian Thomas (53); BRIEFLY••• Geo Roeder II had nothing but praise for the American Supercamps school that he took part in after the Charlotte Half Mile. "It was a lot of fun." Roeder said. "They make a lot of great points. and I know how to ride an XR 100 now [laughsJ. Seriously, I think the proof of it will be at Hagerstown next weekend. Throttle control has always been my downfall. but I'm looking fOlWard to trying a few different things next week." Supercamp or no. veteran tuner Skip Eaken said that he is quite happy with how Roeder has been riding his stuff. "I like Geo a lot: Skip said. -You just couldn't ask a guy to try any harder than he does." Although Kevin Varnes may have come back a little too soon from the broken foot that he suffered at the Superior Haif Mile. the Pennsylvanian was just glad to be back at the track. "My wife was getting pissed off at me: Varnes said. -I was watching everything that I wanted to watch on TV. which meant that she couldn't watch any of her channels." Varnes transferred directly to the main event. but he pulled off in the main after aggravating the foot again. The good news; Shawn Clark continues to impress. The New Yorker was tough again at Harrington. scoring a direct transfer and running eighth in the main event. "It feels good." Clark said. "My whole team has just been working so hard." The bad news; Clark may be losing his sponsor. "We just found that out. so we're trying to impress people. We have been talking to some people. and we have been busting our butts. Hopefully. we can announce something here in the next month or so. I would love to. It depends on how it goes. When preparing for a cushion track, it is common to see most of the teams tape up the leading edges of many of the components on their motorcycles in order to minimize the damage caused by flying debris. Bill Allen/Davidson-Douglas Racing's Jason Tyer may have gone overboard. as just about everything but the wheels and the engines on his motorcycles was taped. "At Springfield. J.B. Norris told the crowd that if they wanted to see the nicest motorcycle in the pits. then they needed to come over to see ours." Tyer said. "Ever since then. my dad has got to keep that reputation up. Besides. it beats the hell out of repainting them. " Tyer is a painter by trade. so any damage to the finishes on his motorcycles is handled by him - all the more reason to keep' em shiny. SuperTracker racer Scott Scherb was riding a Rodan in the main event. Actually. it was the name of Scherb's new Wagner Harley-backed. Harley-Davidson-based SuperTracker, with engine work by Jim Nallin. "Jim Wagner has a different two-syllable name for all of our motors." Scherb said. "We have Thunder. Ughtning. Cyclops and now Rodan." Scherb rode on Rodan to finish 11th in the SuperTracker main. The switch; Harley-Davidson factory rider Jennifer Snyder rode with the team to Harrington to watch the races. Snyder and team driver Pete Pulaski were then scheduled to turn around and drive back to the factory in. Milwaukee, where team mechanic Craig Lager was waiting with a second truck to take Snyder to the Formula USA round in Rapid City. South Dakota, which is scheduled for August 8. Meanwhile. Rich King and Bill Werner were going to fly out of Washington D.C. and into Rapid City. run the race. then fly back to Harrington and drive to Hagerstown, Maryland. for round 13 of the AMA series_ Steve Beattie and Jay Springsteen shared a laugh over a Beattie clown move during the scratch heats. when the Canadian prevented 12. Gary Rogers (50); 13. Joe Duvall (44); 14. George Rlchtmeyer (42); 15. Roy Miller (39): 16. Bryan Smith (36); 17. Steve Uberty (26); 18. Brian Kromroy (25); 19. (TIE) Jerry Vanderkooi (12)/Brandon Lee Cartwright ( 12). Upcoming Rounds: Round 13 - Hagerstown, Maryland, August 11 Round 14 - Sedalia, Missouri, August 18 Springsteen from making a pass for the win by sticking his arm across Springsteen's front numberplate down the back straightaway. "That one had me laughing in my helmet." Springer said. Beattie added; "You should see how hard Springer plays when he comes to Canada. We fool around like that for the entire main event. ~ Ironically. Steve Beattie was involved in a shouting match with Jess Roeder after the main event. when Beattie alleged that Roeder had slammed into him on lap 23. After flashing Roeder the "you're numberone" finger as he went by Roeder again. Beattie finished ninth. only to receive a slap to the back of the head. courtesy of Roeder. on the cooldown lap. Tempers flared in the pits before calmer heads prevailed. "I don't want to escalate the problem any further." Roeder said. -We've had a few run-ins on the track. He's a good guy. I don't have anything against him. I made an honest mistake out there. and I ran into him. Then I backed off the gas to iet him back by because I don't want to pass like that. Then he flashed me some... sign language. and it just carried on into the pits. I've been hit a lot more than I've hit anybody. The difference is that I don't say anything when somebody hits me. - Beattie. of course. saw things differently. "A little bit of bumping. and I've been on the receiving end of it a couple times." Beattie said. "Then he comes by and punches me in the back of the helmet on the back straightaway. So it's on again. I was willing to leave it because I beat him, but... He's riding the best that I've ever seen him ride. and he doesn't need to cream guys to pass them. If they pass him clean. then he should pass them ciean instead of trying to put them into the fence. He keeps claiming that it's an accident. but it's not. " AMA Dirt Track Manager Bruce Bober said that he has taken note of the Harrington incident. and that while neither rider has been penalized. both will be watched carefully at upcoming rounds of the series. On the other hand. when 46-year-old George Richtmeyer scored an upset win over Willie McCoy in the second semi. he may have been the happiest guy in the place. "Not too many people my age get the chance to do this. and I'm just out there having fun and giving 'er hell." Richtmeyer said. "This is a new bike. Phil Miller owns it. Eddie Adkins works on it. and I've just got a bunch of great people behind me. This is my first National main event in about 15 years." Not only that. it also made this racing grandfather the oldest rider ever to qualify for a GNC main. Richtmeyer went on to finish 15th. "This just sucks," Saddlemen Racing/Lancaster Harley-Davidson's Mike Hacker said after failing to qualify for the first time this season. "This is definitely testing me. I guess we're going to find out what I'm made of. I guess... Correction; Our description of the new Mert La_ill suspension sys" tem being used by Sam Lowe as parallelogram design was inaccurate. According to Lawwill. it is a quadrilateral. and there is a big difference. Chris Hart was happy to iand his second-straight main-event berth at Harrington. "We're still learning." said Hart. who finished 14th. "We're starting to come. Give me another year. and we'lI be running right up front. " Johnny Murphree expected to be competitive in the main event. but wound up falling down instead and finishing way off the pace, in 13th. "I was going good after that last restart. but then I lost the front end." Murphree said. "I just decided to get up and get what few points I could. I didn't want to be a jerk and lay there. Tonight was going to be my night to catch Hacker because he didn't make the main. but then I didn't do much of a job, either." George Richtmeyer (H-D); 2. Willie McCoy (H-D); 3. cue' • neVIl's AUGUST 15. 2001 9

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