Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

up his sleeve, having completed an American Supercamps session in North Carolina on the day after the Charlotte Half Mile. The knowledge would come into play when the dirt line went away with about three laps to go, as Roeder maintained his advantage over Corbin/Samson's Nicky Hayden, who finished fourth, by smartly dropping down to the black line that was forming low in the corners. Another cushion, another good night for Roeder. "The bike was working good tonight," Roeder said. "We had a few bad breaks here and there, and I made a few mistakes. If I had gotten off the line a little better, I think we could have been up there. But hindsight is 20-20, and I'm happy with the way things went. The bike was fast, and maybe this will give us more momentum for the rest of the season. We just kept picking up spots on those restarts, so that was good for us. Old Will was really smokin' out there." Behind Roeder, a fair battle for the fourth spot took place among the 19year-old Hayden, American HarleyDavidson Inc./KK's Chris Evans another cushion specialist - and Kopp, the champ furiously tearing his way through the pack to catch Hayden and Evans on lap 14. Hayden was able to get away from the two veterans to grab the fourth spot. "I screwed up in my heat race, and that cost me because I had to start on the third row for the main event," Hayden said. "In the main, I actually felt pretty good. I came from quite a ways back and wound up fourth. I'm not real happy with fourth, but this place is tough, and I haven't been on a flat-tracker in five weeks. These boys have been doing it every week. With a few more laps, I thought I could have caught Roeder. Hopefully I can keep the momentum rolling. I had fun tonight, and I'm looking forward to Hagerstown." It was a sad night for Corbin Racing/H-D of Missouri's Kenny Coolbeth, as the Connecticut rider, who had landed two runner-up finishes in the last two consecutive rounds, survived a scary-looking crash on the front straightaway that saw him skid off the track and onto an access road at the entrance to turn one. Coolbeth got up from the incident, but was taken to Milford Medical Center to be treated for two broken hands. The left hand, which he injured at the SFXpromoted Indy Mile a little more than a year ago, is the more severely damaged, Coolbeth suffering a severed tendon in his ring finger. The injuries could put him out of action for much of the rest of the season. Other hard-luck stories on the night involved Bartels' HarleyDavidson's Jay Springsteen, who Geo Roeder II took advantage of the two restarts in the main event to work his way into third place. Roeder bombed the dirt line before dropping onto the groove late In the race and nursing it home for the final podium spot. grenaded a transmission just as the first red flag was thrown. Springer was credited with 17th. Memphis Shades/Coziahr Harley-Davidson's Kevin Varnes was back in action for the first time since suffering a broken left foot in his crash at the Superior, Wisconsin, Half Mile. Varnes made the main event, but he was forced to pull off when the injury was aggravated. Tires played a factor in the night's racing, as several of the more dialed-in teams chose to run a Contintental rear with a Maxxis front in the heats and semis. Later, the Maxxis fronts were ditched in favor of a Goodyear front for the main event. Davis, Carr and Roed· er all followed this game plan. After it was announced that the entire Grand National program would be run before the SuperTracker program because AMA officials were wary of the weather in the area, Davis took immediate control of the first 10-lap heat race of the evening, setting the tone by leading from start to finish, while second-placed Kopp's ride was equally prophetic, as he was forced to start from the penalty line aboard his reserve machine - a straight-up twin - after his twingle let go during the cool down lap of his scratch heat. Kopp threaded his way through the field and caught Davis on the last corner, but that was as close as he got to making a pass for the win. Evans diced with Performance Harley - Davidson/Adkins Racing's Chris Hart for the third sport. Evans prevailed, leaving "That Guy" to seek his fortune in the semis along with the rest of the non-qualifiers. Carr was clearly dialed for the main event as he got the jump on Springsteen in heat two and then split, winning by almost a full straightaway. Las Vegas Harley-Davidson/RoederHarley.com's Jess Roeder also had his act together, pulling clear of Dan Butler and Paul Lynch to snatch a direct transfer with a third-place finish, marking the first time in his career that he has ever done so. Ithaca Motorcycle Works/Cayuga Tool & Die's Shawn Clark got a fantastic holeshot in the third heat, and for a while it looked as though he would get away from Geo Roeder II and steal a win. Roeder got things fig- history by grabbing the holeshot and winning the eight-Iapper to become the oldest rider in AMA history ever to make a Grand National main event. KK Motorcycle Supply/F&S Harley-Davidson's Willie McCoy followed Richtmeyer across the stripe and into the main event. Hayden and Murphree took the final two transfer spots in the third semi, Hayden winning by a comfortable margin over Murphree, who struggled to get free of Aaron Creamer for the first five laps before breaking to a safe advantage over the Massachusetts rider. The chain of events that led to Coolbeth's demise began when he jumped the start when the field was revved up and ready to go in the feature. Coolbeth was sent to the penalty line. Davis got rolling first at the green light, and he quickly jumped from his starting spot just outside of Carr on the bottom of the track and bolted into the lead. Coolbeth tore into the pack through turns one and two, and was fighting for about 12th place when they came off turn four. Coolbeth bolted to the outside of Beattie, whose early game plan was to round the corners higher than anyone else. When Beattie didn't start his corner where Cool beth thought that the Canadian was going to, Coolbeth was left with no racetrack. A desper· ate attempt to lean it in on Beattie and make the curve met with disaster. "I went for a ride, that's for sure: Coolbeth would say later. "It kind of threw me over, and I just kept sliding and sliding, never really slowed ured out on lap five, however, catching Clark and then blowing past him in turn four when Clark drifted too far into the deep stuff. Clark went on to finish second, behind Roeder, while Varnes held off a trio of heavy players, including Johnny Murphree, Mike Hacker and Bryan Bigelow, for the last ticket out of the heat. Coolbeth had the competition covered in the fourth heat, charging to an easy win, while Team Harley-Davidson's Rich King was forced to deal with Hayden for much of the race. The King eventually got past the kid, taking second. Hayden then fell prey to Canadian champion Steve Beattie, on the Gardner RacingfWalters Brothers Harley, after drifting up high in turn four and allowing Beattie to square it off undemeath him. Beattie was in, Hayden was out. Hart returned to bag the first semi, with Team Powell/Harley-Davidson of West Bend's J.R. Schnabel rebounding from a dismal heat race performance to hold off a charging Bigelow and earn a starting position in the main event. Bigelow went on the trailer. After a red flag was thrown for separate crashes involving Mike Hacker and Gary Rogers in the fourth corner during semi number two, 46year-old George Richtmeyer made George Richtmeyer, 46, became the oldest rider In AMA history to qualify for an AMA Grand National dirt track, when he won the second semi going away. The racing grandfather finished iSth in the main event. cue I • n e _ S • AUGUST 15, 2001 7

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