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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128127
Formula USAlSFX National Dirt Track Series Round 1 1 : Del Mar Fairgrounds Team Harley-Davidson's Rich King (80) returned the - _...._ -......lMY to its winning ways with a dominant perfonnance at the Del Mar Mile. It was King's ftrst win there and the sixth in eight years for the orange-and-black squad. On the restart, King pulled away from both Kevin Atherton, Chris Carr and Kenny Coolbeth to take the win by about half the distance of the front straightaway when Formula USA flagman Scott Zimmerman dropped the checkers on the field. Making the win all the sweeter was the fact that King headed for home with the lion's share of the 1stlegal.com Grand Slam prize fund, a healthy $20,000 haul. "I felt really good the first 10 laps, but then, when the red flag came out, I figured that now they knew all the lines that I was running and they'd be a lot tougher," King said. "Chris got by me out there, and I thought, 'This isn't good.' Then I got back by him and started putting laps together. Nobody passed me, and I looked back and nobody was there." Harley-Davidson of Sacramento/ Phoenix Racing's Carr grabbed the STORY BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY DOUG KARCHER DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 7 "'fFl his year's Formula USA National 1.l Dirt Track Series season finale at Del Mar had an undeniably familiar ring to it. Since its inception under AMA Grand National sanction in 1995 and subsequent takeover by the insurgent Formula USA, there has been one near-constant in the event: Its seven-year history prior to 2001 has been smeared by an orange-andblack streak, as the factory HarleyDavidson team has walked away with five wins. Of course, all five of those were scored by factory legend and Dirt Track Hall of Farner Scott Parker, whose complete dominance on the sandy, rough Southern California Chris Carr (4) led the 18-r1der pack into turn one at the start of the main event, wtth Kevin Ather10n (23) and King (partially hidden behind cam quickly establishing themselves as players for the win. "'*" carr (4) battles wtth Nlckr Hayden (69). carr went on to land third place In the main event. Hayden was disappointed to finish seventh and afterward contemplated retirement from dirt track competition. 28 OCTOBER 24, 2001 • cue I e horse track was interrupted only by Kevin Atherton (1996) and Geo Roeder II (2000). This year, however, the orange-and-black was back on track. Rich King returned Bill Werner and co. to victory at Del Mar, putting in as dominating a performance as Parker ever did aboard a factory XR and thus assuaging his own runner-up finish to Parker in that 1997 nail-biter, when King was still a privateer. He rode every bit as aggressively this year, and was largely unchallenged for much of the 20-lap race, which was interrupted at the halfway point by a manufactured red flag so that the riders could change helmets or shields due to the perennial visibility problems that are encountered at Del Mar. n e _ s holeshot at the start of the 20-lap main event, with King, Saddlemen Racing/Lawwill-Dodge Racing's Atherton and KK Racing's Willie McCoy in his wake. King then set to flying down the back straight, and he snatched the lead away from Carr, getting a good jump off turn four to take the lead, which he would hold for the first four laps. Atherton was soon on him, however, and started getting good draft runs down the back straightaway to take the lead into turn three. The Michigander led the pack on laps five and six, with King right on his tail, Carr third, Corbin Racing's Coolbeth fourth and McCoy fifth. Corbin Motors/Samson's Nicky Hayden also figured into the battle at this point, though more as sideshow entertainment than any-