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AMAlProgressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 15: State Fair Speedway gered when Davis, who entered turn three near the front of the pack, appeared to lose the front end and was slammed to the ground. Motorcycles and riders scattered in all directions. Points leader Chris Carr was right in the eye of the hurricane. "It was pretty scary: Carr said. "I was dodging bikes and bodies. At the very end, Roeder came around the outside of me and clipped the hay bales. He bounced back in front of me. I'm the one who hurt George, I hit him in the back and upper shoul-. der area." After about a half-hour delay, the remaining 15 riders were called back to the line. The severity of the accident was obvious, but everyone prayed for the best. "I didn't know when we went back out to race, I didn't know Will had passed," said the emotional Carro. STORY AND PHOTOS By DAVE HOEINO/FLAT TRAK FOTOS SEDALIA, MO, AUG. 25 ragedy has once again struck the AMA's Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships. A massive pile-up in turn four on the first lap sent Geo Ro~der II and Joe Kopp to the hospital and resulted in the loss of the of one of the most popular stars of the series. Will Davis, 36, of Golsdsboro, North Carolina, succumbed to injuries received when he was stuck by his own motorcycle during the crash. Davis was transported by ambulance to Bothwell Regional Health Center, where attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. A representative of the hospital cited multiple traumas as the cause of death. The horrendous accident was trig- T 22 SEPTEMBER 5, 2001 • cue I • n e _ s "Had we known we might have reacted a little differently than we did. n The race that had seemed so important just minutes before became something everyone just wanted to see overwith. Carr pushed his Harley-Davidson of Sacramento/ Phoenix Racing XR750 to the front and was never seriously challenged, claiming his sixth win of the season. "I got a good start and held a smooth line, n Carr said. "I just rolled through the corners." Gardner Racing/Lancaster HarleyDavidson's Bryan Bigelow was putting a solid ride in second, but was slowly being reeled in by Rich King and his factory-backed Harley-Davidson. "I was going fast all day, Jthen in the main event I couldn't get off the corners. Rich [King] was just flat going faster: Bigelow said. "In the main, I just couldn't get off four, I The maln-event field rolls away to start the Sedalia Half Mlle. Moments later, tragedy would strike, as Will fatally I,.ured in a Davis (21) _ multiple-rider Incident in tum four. Davis was 36 years old. .Joe Kopp (1) and Geo Roeder II (66) were also injured In the melee. don't know what it was. I tried high, I tried low, down low was so bumpy. Rich was coming off the corners better than everybody. That's where I was losing all my ground, so I had to make it up everywhere else." King eventuall found his way past Bigelow. "I think everybody was a little tentative down in three and four, and I just rolled underneath him [Bigelow]: King said. "It wasn't anything fancy. He drifted up, and I went under him. Once the race restarted, I was just determined to get out of here, and