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/128157
AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 4: Illinois State Fairgrounds you have to turn away from the wall. It's perfectly legal." Carr now sits tied with the late Ricky Graham for second in consecutive wins at Springfield. Both have four. If he wins it again in September, he will have five and tie Scott Parker for the lead on that list. "What can I say? It played out pretty good for me at the end today," Carr said. For his part, Atherton expressed only admiration for Carr's cagey move. "I know I was the fastest rider out there today, but it was a good move that Chris made," Atherton said. "I've been coming here for a lot of years, but that was the first time that I had seen that one." Murphree, who led only lap 14 but was never lower than fourth in the lead draft all day, was satisfied with his third-place finish in the face of the pre-race hype that had the Californian pegged to win in his first race back since breaking his leg at an amateur motocross a little more than a month ago. Murphree was a bona fide contender aboard his Mike Wheeler-tuned Harley-Davidson, making daring moves to snatch the lead in turn three late in the race, only to get drafted at the line each time. "Showtime" had the crowd cheering loudly more than once during the Grand National main event. It took 35 years of combined experi- 10 JUNE 5, 2002' cue I • ence to keep him from winning. "If that's all those guys have for me, then the next time we come here, we're going to be in good shape,· Murphree said. "I was just driving around in that pack, and I didn't know if I had anything for them, but then, when everyone picked up the pace, it wasn't that much faster. Everyone was showing what they had, and it was just a little bit faster. If I had known that, I would have tried something different in three and four. We had mile an hour on them on the straightaways, but I think the gearing was off just a little. That's nobody's n."". fault but my own. That's all going in my notebook, and we'll just go from there." Despite fantastic racing throughout the day, the event was marred by the death of AMA Grand National number 45 Jim Sumner of Grafton, Wisconsin, who crashed during the second practice session after losing control of his motorcycle in front of the main grandstand on the front straightaway. Sumner was unconscious when he was transported to Springfield Memorial Hospital. He never regained consciousness. Sumner was 32 years old. Atherton won the first of the four 1 O-Iap heat races after a typical Springfield draft-fest with BBRP/Circ1e F-backed Skip Eaken Racing/ Gardner Racing/Lancaster HarleyDavidson/Walters Brothers HarleyDavidson's Bryan Bigelow and "Tornado" Tim Eades, who was looking extremely fast on his own motorcycle after another tragedy robbed him of his usual M&J Racing machinery (see Briefly... ). Eades was the odd-man out at the line, however, as Atherton took the win, followed by Stanley and Bigelow. Hayden and his Teddy Pooveytuned Terry Poovey Honda RS750 got the best of a five-way dice that included Motorcyclist Post's Aaron Creamer, Bartels' Harley-Davidson/ Real McCoy Leathers/Arai-backed Shaun Russell, Memphis Shades/ Parts Unlimited's Kevin Varnes and Bryan Smith Racing/Paul Laskobacked Bryan Smith. Varnes pulled a double draft move on Russell and Hayden into turn three on the last lap, but Hayden slipped back past Varnes at the wire for the win, with Russell third and Smith headed to the semis. Murphree emerged victorious in a . loaded heat three, heading a six-rider pack that contained Springsteen, Dallas Harley-Davidson/KK Motorcycle Supply/Shoei's Willie McCoy, Corbin Racing/Samson's Kenny Coolbeth, KK Motorcycle Supply/Las Vegas Harley-Davidson's Geo Roeder and Team WE/West Bend H-D/Fieldsheer Leathers' J.R. Schnabel, who showed up to do battle aboard a potent Butch Donahue Harley-Davidson tuned by Minnesota engine builder Jerry Wilhelmy (see Briefly... ). Murphree was in control during the second half of the race, and he crossed the line first, posting a time of five minutes, 51.909 seconds to win the pole for the main event. "This couldn't have happened at a better place," Murphree said. "This is close enough to the shop and close enough to what I call home in the summer. I'm tickled pink, especially after being away for a while with the injury. That obviously wasn't bothering me today." Carr had to come from behind to win the final heat after getting off to a poor start. He ran down a three-rider pack containing Custom Chrome/ Kiesow Racing/Rev-Tech's Gary Rogers, 1stlegal.com/USC Racing/ Hap Jones' Terry Poovey and Jones Powersports/KTM/Arai's Joe Kopp, asserting himself just as the red flag came out on lap six for Mike Hinds, who crashed in turn four but was uninjured. Carr took control of the restart, while early leader Rogers dropped off the pace. Carr pulled low off the final corner to secure the win, well ahead of Poovey and Kopp. Coolbeth and Moroney's HarleyDavidson/Nort/ Arai-backed Jake