Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIProgressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 20: Du Guoin State Fairgrounds there. Parker, Graham and I used to run up there for 25 laps. The bikes ran great. I was very relaxed out there, and I had Rich right where I wanted him. His bike was just a little stronger. " As for 2002, Atherton said that he expects to be on the championship trail again. "We're trying to put the program together," Atherton said. "I want to do this, but I don't want to do this halfassed. To do this, I'll need the best of everything. We've got the bikes working now, so that's a start." Coolbeth slipped past Hacker for third. "This place still owes me one, but that [not winning) is just going to make me work harder for next year," Cool beth said. "I'm hungry, man. This season has given me way more confidence, and my team is 100 percent, from the truck to the bikes to the people. We're just going to put our heads down and be back stronger next year." Hacker's fourth-place finish was a nice comeback, considering that just a week earlier he had been airlifted to a Seattle trauma center after crashing at the Formula USA mile there. "I don't know what else I could have done different today," Hacker said. "I'm there every time, and after last weekend I'll take anything. It just seemed like I was spinning my wheels a little there at the end. It was really hard for me Kenny and Rich to pass. Atherton had that line up high that was getting him where he needed to go. 1 thought about trying that, but Kevin's really good at it, and if you go and try what he's doing, you might wind up on your head. This was just a nice finale for me, because I was kind of afraid I'd come in here and not be on the pace after last weekend." out there, but then he went out early and I had the championship, so I wanted to win the race," a disappointed Smith said. "I had that race won no matter how I sized it up, but a few laps from the end it started making some funny noises and quit." That left Johnson and McCoy to go at it in what still might have been a thrilling finish, but then Johnson pulled up lame on lap nine, leaving McCoy almost a straightaway ahead of the next closet men. It was a battle between Brian Thomas and A.J. Eslick, which suddenly went from a scrap for fifth to a scrap for second. But even that one lost its luster as Eslick dropped off the pace with a flattening rear tire. He was able to nurse it across the line for third, well behind runner-up Thomas. It was simply McCoy's day. "It was great to go out on a win," McCoy said. "Actually, we won the last two - Springfield and here. It was fun battling with Bryan and Jake there early. They were going back and forth, and I was just trying to pace myself and figure out what I was going to do at the end. Then they both broke, and that sucked, but I'll take a win however I can get it. We're happy, and I'm happy for Bryan to win the number-one plate. I think he'll be a good champion." Coziahr Harley-Davidson's James Hart and Sill's Harley-Davidson's finished fourth and fifth respectively, leading a slow parade across the line. SUPERTRAPP SUPERTRACKER NATIONAL Like the Harley title, the SuperTrapp SuperTracker showdown between Lancaster Harley-Davidson's Bryan Bigelow and Team Powell Suzuki's J.R. Schnabel ended prematurely when Schnabel was injured in practice [see Briefly ...). With no one to race, Bigelow picked up his first career professional National title by finishing sixth in the 12-lap main event at Du Quoin. "I didn't want to win it like that, without J.R. out there, but there's nothing I can do about that," Bigelow said. "I was glad to win the thing. We beat all those Suzukis. They [Suzuki] kept throwing money at it, but we kicked their ass." Still, Suzukis dominated the Du Quoin podium as the race turned out to be another Kenny Coolbeth benefit, the Connecticut yankee flat demolishing the field en route to his class-high fifth win of the year. Coolbeth got the holeshot in the main event and simply checked out on the field. "With five laps to go, I just peeked back and saw those guys battling," Coolbeth said. "I was just kind of in a trance, really concentrating. I wanted HARLEY·DAVIDSDN SPDRTSTER PERFDRMANCE NATIDNAL A potentially climactic battle for the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series fizzled when Paul Morgan III failed to make the main event after his Moroney's Harley-Davidson entry broke during his heat race. That, in turn, handed the title to Michigan youngster Bryan Smith, and it looked as though Smith was also on pace to win the Du Quoin feature as well, as he pulled to the front of the pack and mixed it up with Jake Johnson and exiting series champion Willie McCoy in the 12-lap main event. Smith was clearly the man in charge in that trio for the first few laps, but that all changed when his motorcycle let go on the eighth lap of what was - until then - an exciting battle. "I'd really have liked to have won the championship with Paul [Morgan) 34 OCTOBER 10, 2001 ' cue I • n • _ lIS to stay focused and ride my own race. " In fact, Coolbeth's performances on his Dennis Town-built Suzuki TLl 000 might signal that there are sure to be some tough decisions as to what equipment he'll choose for his 2002 Grand National campaign. "I really got used to that thing this year," Coolbeth said. "The Harleys are better in the turns, but then the Suzuki might be a little better on the straightaways. We're still not that good on them on the half miles, but that'll come. It will be a tough decision." The Du Quoin race might have been a complete bore if the battle for second between Johnny Murphree who was making his SuperTracker debut as a guest aboard Joe Kopp's Corbin Racing Suzuki TL - and F&S Suzuki's Willie McCoy that didn't materialize until 10 laps into the 12lap feature. McCoy caught Murphree and attempted to sneak under him in turns one and three over the last couple circuits, but Murphree was able to keep the spot at the line despite his unfamiliarity with the machine. "I've never been on one of those things before," Murphree said. "What a grin. It was a total blast. That was just a one-time deal, but I'd love to try one again with the classes combining. Willie kept showing me a wheel about every third lap. I could get through the corners pretty well, but 1 never realized how much power these things really have. I completely wore out the tire from brand new in just 12 laps." McCoy's tire, on the other hand, didn't come in right away. "It just took my tire a few laps to start working," McCoy said. "I could get a run at him off the corner, but then he would get rolling down the front straightaway, and I didn't have enough for him. I could have taken a chance and stuffed it underneath him out there, but I don't like taking chances like that. I just never had a good clean chance to pass him, so Another newbl.: Jake Johnson (14U) made his first career Grand National final In only his second ride on a 750. Despite finishing 15th, the 17-year-okl is already showing promise. we just hoped that he would have messed up and given us a better shot at it, but he didn't." Saddlemen Racing/Lancaster Harley-Davidson's Mike Hacker was the first non-Suzuki finisher, carding fourth by an inch on his Randy Texter-built Buell, while Tim Goeken Racing's Sam Lowe was fifth on another Suzuki. Du Quain StalIl FairlIraunds Du Quain. lIIinsis Resulb: Sa........ ZI, ZOOl lRaund ZD of ZOI HEAT 1 (10 laps; 11 riders, top 4 transfer): 1. Steve Beattie (H·D): 2. Kevin Atherton (H·D): 3. Chris Carr (H-D): 4. Terry Poovey (Hon): 5. WIllie McCoy (H·D): 6. Bryan Smith (H·D); 7. John Nickens III (H·D): 8. Paul Morgan III (H-D): 9. Greg Teague (H-D): 10. Devon Pritchard (H-D); 11. Shawn Clark (H-D). Time: None. due to red flag. HEAT 2 (10 laps; 12 riders, top 4 transfer): 1. Rich King (H-D): 2. Mike Hacker (H-D); 3. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 4. Bryan Bigelow (H-D); 5. Shaun Russell (H-D): 6. Chris Hart (H-D); 7. Tim Eades (H· D): 8. Sam Lowe (H·D): 9. Jim Sumner (H·D): 10. Kyle Long (H-D); 11. Yuhiko Hirao (H-D): 12. Eric Rickman (H-D). Time: 5 min., 51.769 sec. HEAT 3 (10 laps; 11 riders, top 4 transfer): 1. Kenny Coolbeth (H·D): 2. Kevin Varnes (H·D): 3. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 4. Paul Lynch (H·D); 5. Dale Jenneman (H-D); 6. Jake Johnson (H-D); 7. Jason Tyer (H-D); 8. Chris Boone (H-D); 9. Jaime Aguilar (H-D): 10. Roy Miiler (SOl): 11. Michael Meyer (H·D). Time: 5 min., 50.732 sec. SEMI 1 (8 laps; 11 riders, top 3 transfer): 1. Dale Jenneman (H-D); 2. Jake Johnson (H-D); 3. John Nickens III (H·D): 4. Tim Eades (H-D): 5. Paul Morgan III (H-D); 6. Chris Hart (H·D): 7. Shawn Clark (H-D): 8. Kyle Long (H·D): 9. Yuhiko Hirao (H-D): 10. Jaime Aguilar (H·D); II. Roy Miller (H-D). Time: 4 min., 50.1 8a sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps; 11 riders, top 3 transfer): 1. Shaun Russeil (H-D): 2. Bryan Smith (H·D); 3, Willie McCoy (H-D); 4. Joson Tyer (H-D); 5. Greg Teague (H-D): 6. Devon Pritchard (H·D); 7. Jim Sumner (HD); 8. Sam Lowe (H·D); 9. Michael Meyer (H-D): 10. Chris Boone (H·D): 11. Eric Rickman (H-D). Time: 4 min., 48.731 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (20 laps; 18 riders): 1. Rich King (H·D); 2. Kevin Atherton (H-D); 3. Kenny Coolbeth (H·D): 4. Mike Hacker (H-D); 5. Joy Springsteen (H·D); 6. Kevin VlImes (H-D); 7. Steve Beattie (H·D): 8. Chris Carr (H·D); 9. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 10. Bryon Bigelow (H-D): 11. Poul Lynch (H·D); 12. Terry Poovey (Hon): 13. Dale Jenneman (H-D): 14. Bryan Smith (H·D): 15. Jake Johnson (H-D): 16. Willie McCoy (H-D): 17. John Nickens Iii (H-D); 18. Shoun Russeil (H·D). Time: 11 min., 49.656 sec. AMA/PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 20 of 20 rounds): I. Chris Corr (339/9 wins); 2. Rich King (261/2 wins); 3. Joe Kopp (213/1 win): 4. Kenny Coolbeth (197): 5. Mike Hacker (188): 6. Johnny Murphree (188): 7. Wlil Davis (162/3 wins); 8. Bryan Bigelow (159/1 win); 9. Jay Springsteen (134/1); 10. J.R. Schnobel (134/1 win): 11. Terry Poovey (101); 12. (TIE) Willie McCoy (89)/Nicky Hayden (89): 14. Goo Roeder iI (88): 15.

• Cover