Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Kenny Coolbeth had to work his way forward after a bad start. Coolbeth wound up fifth. the starting line, but once I got it figured out, we were plenty fast once we got rolling. I was right on Kenny Coolbeth and Chris Hart. Kenny got by Chris about three laps earlier than I did. I got hung up battling with Chris, and that was all I could do was sixth. We were gaining on Bigelow, but he had got away early. First time on the bike, sixth place, I can't complain." Willie McCoy inherited seventh from Jay Springsteen when the Bartels' Harley-Davidson/Corbin/PJl-backed Springsteen lost his brakes and fell on lap 22. Springer harmlessly slid into the hay bales in turn one and the race continued. "( got a great start from the second row, then I missed a shift going into turn one and all the guys I'd passed, passed me back: McCoy said. "Once I got rolling, I was already way back there. I kept going and going, passing people. I was going to pass Springer, then he fell down and made it easy for me. I didn't want to pass tum that way, but I'll take it. I wanted a topfive finish. I didn't want to finish that far back. I've just got to quit making mistakes and ride harder. It felt good, but you just can't give these guys a headstart like that. Me and Chris got great starts off the second row, and we were drag racing into turn one when I missed the shift. I had to jump "I could see him back there every once in a while, but I wasn't going to change my line until someone passed me," Atherton said. "My tire was really going away when he went by me, and I tried to cut the corner like he was, but my tire would just roll off the rim too much. 1just went back to the top, where I could roll through the tum and not jeopardize the tire. It's too easy to knock one off the rim." Early in the race, it looked like Atherton might have something for Murphree, but it was not to be. "When you win, you're in your own class, running your own race," Atherton said. "I closed on him a couple of times, then I'd make a mistake, and he didn't make any. I thought maybe if I could get some pressure on him, he might make one, but I couldn't get close enough to do that. He was riding good, my hat's off to him." Bryan Bigelow got the holeshot on his Gardner Racing/Lancaster HarleyDavidson-backed Harley, but it was short-lived as Murphree slipped around the outside. "I got a good start and led into the first turn, but it was one of those nights. I just didn't have enough speed," Bigelow said. "Johnny was just a couple of clicks qUicker all night. Over the course of 25 laps, that's a full straightaway and then some. I know how good it feels to win that first one, and I know he's lovin' it right now. "I started out in the middle, but Johnny rolled around me on the top," Bigelow continued. "I moved up and I thought I was on the top part of the groove, but Kevin came around a bit higher. That didn't surprise me too much. It didn't really matter where I was. I just didn't have as much speed as those guys." Murphree attributed his win to a lot of planning and hard work. "I've always thought hard work was how you got there," Murphree said. "Today, we didn't work on the motorcycle. I didn't have to ride the never made up any ground running high in one and two," Carr said. "I went down there [turns one and two) and watched the semis. I saw an area H-D/Fieldsheer Leathers' J.R. Schnabel, who fmished sixth aboard an XR from the Johnny Goad racing stables, matching his best Springfield TT fin- where I thought I could make up time. I'd just turn in early, miss the top lOin the series standings. rut that was down low. I just kept it way down on the bottom and chased the way up to sixth in the main, and it the moisture to the inside rather than felt really good: Schnabel said. "We the outside. The track, being as dry as it was, that seemed to work pretty good. If the guy in front of me made a came a long way during the night. mistake, I got by him. That's what happened with Kevin. He got a little sideways, and I got by him." Performance Harley-Davidson/ Lombardi's Harley-Davidson's Chris Hart was holding down fifth early in the race, but by lap 10 he was fading. ish and vaulting himself back into the "We got things working and got all Every time I got on the bike, I felt more confident with it. I started trusting it more, and it seemed the harder I put it in there the better it worked. I've just got to thank Lancaster J.R. Schnabel put his number- 33 plates on one of Johnny Goad's Lancaster Harley-backed machines and finished sixth, matching his best perfonnance of the season to date. Harley-Davidson, Saddlemen and Johnny Goad for giving me the chance. We had a few problems on "I got a pretty good start, but the track kind of went away from me, and I dropped back," Hart said. "I had been using a high line, then I made a couple of mistakes and just couldn't find a line that worked for me. The 10th is an improvement for us. We didn't make either National here last year so I guess we made progress." Corbin/Samson/Dave Burks Motorsports' Kenny Coolbeth climbed his way into fifth. "We needed a better start: Coolbeth said. "I couldn't get around [Chris) Hart. By the time I did, they motorcycle hard. Everything just happened. It's like you work so hard for so long, then everything jumps into your lap like that. I knew at the start of the day I had to go easy like that. I felt I didn't need to be the fastest guy all night, just during the 25-lap main event." Carr was using a far different line from everyone else and was making it go, I was catching Bryan, but time work. "1 had a bike that was set up to just ran out." work better up high, down in turns three and four, but it seemed like I were pretty much checked out. I ran Bigelow down. I think if I had a couple of more laps, I could have got by him too. I tried everything. I ended up going in high and just rolling around the corners. With about five laps to Also working his way forward all day was Team WE/West Bend n e _,. • JUNE 12, 2002 31

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