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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128162
Formula USA National Dirt Track Series Round 5: Oklahoma State Fair Speedway By NICALEE SOWDERS PHOTOS By GARY KIDD OKlAHOMA CITY, OK, JUNE 22 1Ft he Oklahoma State Fair Speed'V way played host to the inaugural Formu.la USA Moto IT, a traditional dirt-track event with a unique twist in the form of a motocross-style starting gate. No matter, it was just a walk in the park for factory Harley-Davidson rider Rich King. Although the track was challenging and King had his hands full with Team WE/West Bend H-D/Fieldsheer Leathers' J.R. Schnabel for most of the 25-lap main event, there was no stopping the 38-year-old Iowan, who led all but one lap of the race. Wiseco-sponsored Bryan Bigelow, who had the second-fastest lap of the night in timed qualifying, finished third. Some 36 riders showed up, with American Honda rider Matt Wait setting the fastest time. Right behind Bigelow was King, on his Harley Davidson Motor Company-backed entry. Danny Eslick and Schnabel's times were close as well, the two rounding out the top five in qualify- 54 JULY 10, 2002' cue • e ing. Wait, Schnabel and King won their respective heat races to gain easy access to the main event. With 18 riders starting across one row behind the starting gate, the potential for trouble existed, and the original start had to be aborted after a horrific crash that involved Custom Chrome rider Gary Rogers, Willie McCoy on the Dallas H-D ATK, and the Synergy Honda of Cory West. King got the holeshot, but going into turn one, Rogers, who was running fifth, crashed when a rider on the inside of him took his handlebars away. Rogers' bike flipped into the air, and it clipped Wait's rear wheel before landing in front of McCoy, who had nowhere to go and crashed. Rogers' bike also hit Kopp in the ribs, knocking the wind out of the Plymouth winner, and hit Dan Stanley and Scott Scherb as well. McCoy's bike then hit Brandon Cartwright in the knee. Cartwright and Team Powell rider Brett Landes tangled but stayed on two wheels. Then, going into the 3/8-mile turns three and four, Wait crashed and his bike flipped to the outside of the pack. Nobody else was involved, but Formula USA offin e .... s cials threw the red flag for the incidents. During the break, riders and officials discussed the starting procedure, and a decision was made to put the nine fastest qualifiers on the front row, and the other nine in a second row. On the restart, King again got the holeshot. Schnabel was second, followed by Bigelow and then Wait. Stanley was running fifth and Kopp was behind him in sixth. Eslick was challenging Pegram for seventh, and he was able to pass Pegram and attempt to catch Kopp. Wait, too, was on the move, anxious to catch King, who was putting room between himself and secondplaced Schnabel. Wait passed Bigelow after the Dunlop jump. Teammates for a day, lstlegal.com riders John Hlebo III and Terry Poovey raced further back in the pack. Hlebo passed the Texan and went to work on Landes. The King/Schnabel/Wait pack began to pull away while Bigelow, Stanley and Kopp were battling for fourth. Eslick also closed in on that group, while Landes and Pegram diced for eighth. Rogers, meanwhile, had worked his way up to the battle for 12th. He was caught up in a battle with Cartwright and Scherb. Back up front, Schnabel made a mistake and Wait pulled up even closer. Kopp got under Stanley coming out of the sharp left-hander before the line for fifth. King continued to lead. Schnabel had his hands full with road racer Wait, but then Wait slid down in the same spot as he had on the original start. His rear wheel locked up and down he went. It took a few kicks but he finally got the Honda CRF450R started. Although he was dead last, Wait put his head down and stormed the pack. He would move up to 13th quickly. With Wait going down, Bigelow was now third, with Kopp a close fourth. Eslick was all over Stanley for fifth. King and Schnabel continued to lead the pack, while Bigelow was stretching the distance between himself and Kopp, whose bike sounded flat coming off the 180-degree turn onto the front straight. While battling