Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128127
Formula USAlSFX National Dirt Track Series Round 1 D: Del Mar Fairgrounds care. I'm not here chasing any points or anything. I'm just here to win. I'm going to go for it. It is going to be interesting to watch." Poovey grabbed the lead at the start of heat two, leading Kell Enterprises/Nymo Plates' Kyle Ragsdale and Fox Racing/Bits and Pieces Motorcycles' Randy Bereman into turn one. Poovey got a good run off turn four on lap two and pulled a length on the rest of the pack. "I wasn't that fast, but I just didn't want to fall down," Poovey said. "I'm really not trying to win tonight. I just need to get eighth place or better to win the championship. It would be good for me to win something like this. Chris Carr is the real number one, but I could use this for these 400 deals. My sponsors have been with me for a long time, so I want to win it for them. I can't blow the whole thing by trying to win the race." Ragsdale held on for second, moving into the main. Willie McCoy got the holeshot on the KK Racing ATK in heat three, but Landes quickly knifed underneath and built a five bike-length lead over runner-up McCoy by the finish. Landes also went on to set the fastest time in the heat races, landing him on the pole for the main event. "That was fun," Landes said. "The main thing about this is that you've got to get out front. If you don't, then you've got to fight your way through. We're working pretty good, but we're going to make a few changes to see if we can make it a little better. We'll be there." King blasted to the front at the start of the final heat race, with TLC Racing/A&A Racing's Steve Murray in tow. Hayden was also in this heat, but he had suffered a bad start and was forced to deal with Eric Beers and Matt Proto for much of the race. By the time that Hayden got around those two, it was too late to catch King and Murray. "I got off the line really good, but going into one a few guys got together - just a short-track deal," Hayden said. "I got bumped around, and I actually thought I was going to crash. I caught back up, but I couldn't get through." Still, Hayden was confident that his motorcycle was good enough to get the job done. "The bike works really good," Hayden said. "The motor is awesome, but the wheelbase is just a little bit long. It is a little bit quick-handling. It wants to come around. But hopefully I can get it in the main. I'm surprised I'm as close as I am, really." (Below) Hayden (69) knifes under Landes (41). Just as he did at the AMA Springfield Short Track, Hayden started a torrid charge to the front about five laps from the end. 32 OCTOBER 24. 2001 • cue King won the final heat race. • • n • _ lIS "It [the 500R] comes out of the hole great, and on a track like this that's about 80 percent of it," King said. "Once I got out and got a good start, I just tried to be smooth. I would say that the guy who wins the main event is going to be the guy who gets the start." Three semis would transfer only the winner of each to the main event, with the also-rans having one last chance at getting into the main by winning the Last Chance Qualifier. American Suzuki/Wildcat Motorsports' Davey Durelle dodge,d that bullet by going on to the win in the first semi. Hayden then got back on track via a win in the second semi. And Bereman took a seemingly uneventful win in the third semi, that is until the race announcer told the crowd that Bereman, at 41 years old, had just qualified for his first National. Then the win suddenly became more popular. "Yeah, I heard the crowd kind of go wild out there, and that was really nice,' Bereman said. "It felt really nice to go out there and make my first National. This is the kind of track that I like, and riding in Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series has really helped me along. There's some really stiff competition here, but I'm just going to try and make something happen. This one's for my dad." At 41 years old, West Coast flat track ace Randy Bereman (5Y) eamed his first career National berth. Bereman ended up finishing 11th in the 12-rider field.