Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

- - AMAIProgressive Insurance U, S, Flat Track Championships Round 8: Illinois State Fairgrounds BRIEFLy•••• Despite his bad luck, defending U,S. Flat Track Champion Chris Carr holds on to his points lead, now down to six over Kevin Varnes. "' thought the track was fine - we're professionals, we're paid to adapt: Carr said, "It's just a different racetrack. I thought it made for a pretty good show. All the red flags kind of bummed a few people out. We run symmetrical racetracks all the time, but having something a little different, I think the cream rose to the top tonight. I'm very happy with the Vor. Obviously, we're disappointed with the finish, but with so little time on the bike and with the points lead we had, we thought it was worth the gamble. " And what's Carr's take on the Hayden frenzy? ·We're chasing a National Championship and he's chasing a little bit of fun, so our mindsets are a little bit different." Carr said. "The kid is a heck of a rider. He has proved it on the dirt and he has proved it on the pavement. One of these days, we'll lose him to pavement fulltime. Not many in his shoes have stayed around this long, even on a part.time basis, " Last week's winner, Chris Evans, almost missed the show completely as he was attending the amateur races on the mile, not realizing the short track had an early start. Evans rolled in as practice was well under way, Undaunted, Evans set seventh·fastesttime in his four·lap qualifying heat. Evans didn't do as well this week, coming away seventh in both his heat and semi. Kevin Atherton's night didn't go well at all, ending with a 12th-place finish. "I'm an idiot." Atherton said, "I just had that jersey on, just a jersey. I was in fourth down the back straight the first lap, and the spray absolutely killed me. It was just stupid. I've got my leather jacket laying right there. I just wasn't thinking. It's a short track. I guess I had to leam the hard way. I thought. 'Hey, a little spray is not going to hurt: It hurt so bad! I was so pumped about this thing tonight. I thought we could get top five easy. The bike was fine, We had some brake problems In the heat, but we put a new caliper and master cylinder on and it was fine. " It was a big night for Raun Wood and R.J, Overholt, as both qualified for their first Grand National main event. • Awesome," Overholt said. "I've been waiting eight or nine years for this. I was surprised in the semI. I didn't think I was getting off two as good as I needed. but we got in." Overholt's night wasn't quite as good. "It was a lot of fun," he said. "Mainly, I Just ride local stuff, but we're starting to get back into it. We came out here just trying to make the main, and that's what I did, It was a good night I made some bad choices in the r[lain, but as long as I didn't hurt anyone or myself, we did good. " Although Johnny Murphree and Bryan Bigelow are from Califomia and Michigan, respectively, both have strong central Illinois ties through their sponsors. "The Honda worked great for the second time out. " Bigelow said. "It's hard to take the motorcycle you won on last year and park it but that's what we did. I think it was the right choice, but in the back of your head you always wonder," said Bigelow. "Realistically, we have an outside shot at the championship. We're only 16 points out This is what we've all worked for, to come every week and be consistent It's a good feeling. This was great because all our sponsors were here, being so close to Peoria. I wanted to be the first two-time winner this year, but Nicky got it He's unbelievable. He's in a League of his own." Murphree's day was not as good, ·We had to work on the bike every time I came in tonight" he said. "It was like the opposite of one of those perfect days. It just took me too long to figure out where I needed to run. Just because one end of the track was different from the other, so what? They're still motorcycles - two wheels and a throttle. I should have figured that out early in the day, but I didn't I caught Kevin at the end of the race, and I thought 'I've got to get him and get that one point: Didn't work out. This early in the season, I try not to care. l'Ii try to not care about points until about Du Quoin. " Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki road racer Tommy Hayden was also at Springfield again, this time riding one of Joe Bisha's Rolaxes. But. unlike his brother, Tommy failed to make the National. posting a fourth in his heat and a third in his semi. Kevin Vames charged from the back row to finish fifth In the main event. He now finds himself a mere nine points out of the series points lead. to tip over. I had to take my foot off the brake, about that time, the light went green. I picked a bad time to lose my balance." Kopp was able to work his way through traffic, taking advantage of the pointed end of the track. "We still worked our way up to fourth. The best place for me to pass was coming off turn two. That real sharp turn, it was just like they make the indoor tracks back home. It causes people to make mistakes." As a semi winner, Memphis Shades/Parts Unlimited's Kevin 20 JULY 17, 2002' C U "" •• Varnes started on row three and worked his way up to a strong, fifth" place finish. "I had a pretty good start off the third row, and I just hugged the inside," Varnes said. "Going into that tight corner, a lot of guys got funneled out. I just took it real easy on the inside and got myself straight to go down the back straightaway. "It seemed like everyone was too 'rammy.' I just took my time and picked 'em off. The track was different, that's for sure. It made it easier to pass because you weren't going to n."". run 25 laps consistently without mak" ing a couple of mistakes. I don't know about Hayden, but everyone else was going to make mistakes. I was behind Joe the whole time. I could really get into the corners a lot harder, but that KTM just seemed to leap off the corners better than our Rotax, Maybe next time we'll have something a little different. "I couldn't believe it, I saw Steve Morehead pointing to Jake Johnson, like he got second or third and I thought, 'If he got that, I'm right there too,'" Varnes added. "It's tough on a short track_ If you don't make it out of the heat, you have to win your semi. We were able to get it done, but coming from the third row, 1 never thought I'd get up into the top five. I was hoping for a top 10. We were lucky enough to make top five. We'll take it." Johnny Murphree was another rider charging to the front, landing sixth at the wire. "As bad as we felt all day, to get sixth in the National is pretty good, but I was wanting atop-five," Murphree said. "After I picked up the pace in my heat race, I thought I had it figured out a little better and I could go to the front. I didn't get it together in time. I know I could have finished top three if I could have run with those guys, but I started in the sec" ond row. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, you know how that goes. I'm happy to get as far up as we did, but I'm not real happy with my performance early tonight." Co rb in/Sa mso n / KT M" backed Kenny Coolbeth, on the other hand, said that he was "kinda bummed out" over his seventh-place finish. "All in all, it was all right," Coolbeth said. "I was hoping I could keep Kevin and Johnny behind me, but I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't run with those guys. The bike was working awesome early in the National, but the track kind of went away from me, and I didn't adapt to it. The KTM worked good. That's the best I've ever done here." Scott Powersports/Greenland Masonry-backed Raun Wood finished a respectable eighth in his first National main event. "I just wanted to get the holeshot off my row," Wood said. "We got in behind Atherton. I followed him for a few laps, then he screwed up. We got lucky, just kept squaring off the corners and getting under them. It was a lot of fun." Shaun Russell brought his Bartel's Harley-Davidson/Custom Chromebacked Rotax from 14th to ninth. "We were fast in practice, and I thought things were going to be good, but in the scratch heat we got into some. trouble and things kind of went downhill from there," Russell sajd. "We just never could get back with a good start, and that was key here - being able to get out and run your own lines instead of having to work around other people's lines. In the semi, I was able to get a good start and ride my own race, but in the main it was back to the same thing again - traffic the whole time. "I kind of got hung up in a big pack, I was just moving around and they'd make mistakes, then I'd make a mistake," Russell said. "Once I found a line to get by someone and make it stick for a lap, it seemed like I could stay by them and move on to the next guy. I thought the track stayed pretty good. The cushion went away pretty quick, but it was relatively smooth. The shape of the track made it interesting and probably made for better racing." Terry Poovey rounded out the top 10, leading Jay Springsteen, who had a guest seat aboard a factory HarleyDavidson, and Dodge Brothers/Saddlemen's Kevin Atherton, who was the last of the lead-lap riders. Carr, Hlebo, Dallas Harley"Davidson/KK Supply's Willie McCoy and Water's Autobody/Sunnyside Cycle's R.J. Overho'it were all one-lap down. Red proved to be a popular color in the heat races as the flag was out at least once -in five of the. six heats. Fast qualifier Joe Kopp got both holeshots in the first heat, but was passed on the last lap by Carr. Just

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