Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Grand National Championship Series Round 8: Thunder Ridge Raceway STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLAT TRAK FOTOS PRESTONSBGRG, KY, JGlY 20 " pparently, round nine of the AMA's Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship was scheduled during eastern Kentucky's monsoon season, but after a week's delay the skies parted long enough to run the Thunder in the Mountains National. The aptly named Thunder Ridge Raceway hosted the first-time event on its limestone half mile. The track drastically changed during the day, going from a cushion to a relatively wide, but slippery groove by the time the night was through. The ability to adapt to the changing conditions played right into the hands of defending Grand National Champion Chris Carr. After struggling to a third-place finish in his heat, Carr blitzed the field on his Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford Racing/David Liles Fuel-backed Harley-Davidson, landing his second win of the year and widening his lead in the series points standings. "We made a chassis adjustment, up front, and even though we're all running Goodyear tires, they all aren't prepared the same way," Carr said afterward. "We made a change there, 30 JULv31, 2002' cue I • too. I think a combination of the changes and the fact the track changed helped us the most. It didn't get faster, but you could get a better drive off the turns. I was hooked up better in the main - in the heat, I couldn't get a hold of the ground. I think the track coming around helped me more than others, I guess." An amazing race unfolded, with riders going from the back to the front, and many of those up front sliding to the rear. The only rider consistently up front was Corbin/Samson/Dave Burks Motorsports' Kenny Coolbeth. Geo Roeder II, Rich King, Shawn Clark, Jay Springsteen and Chris Hart were glued right behind Coolbeth that first lap. Cool beth led the first lap only to have the cushion-busting, KK Supply/Las Vegas Harley-Davidsonbacked Roeder go blasting by on lap two. "I knew the cushion wouldn't last forever," Roeder said. "It got rough and riding up there really wears on you. My game plan was to get out front on the cushion, then drop to the groove. I just couldn't make the groove work. The groove was rough. I think it was rougher than the cushion in spots." nevu. Chris Carr wheelles in celebration after earning his second AMA win of the year at the Prestonburg Han Mile. Carr came from row two and took the lead on lap nine. Roeder's lead lasted until lap five, when Harley-Davidson Motor Company's Rich King took over. King was riding for the first time since his Lima crash and was still feeling the effects. As King took control, Roeder faded into the pack. Carr was on a charge, and he reached King on lap eight and took the lead on lap nine. King faded back into the field from there, ultimately finishing seventh. "It's just a case of being a little injured and a little out of shape," King said. "When the track dried out, I started struggling. I had a good motorcycle. I thought I could win the thing. I was losing the front end a lot, but I think that had a lot to do with my hand [broken bones in right hand]. Maybe I just wasn't as aggressive as I should have been. I just wasn't in the swing of things." Carr still was getting pressure from Coolbeth, but seemed just out of reach. "I started off around eighth, got by a couple of guys, then dropped back," Carr said. "I just settled down and started picking them off one at a time, and then, boom, I was in the lead." By lap 10, it was Carr, Coolbeth, King and rookie sensation Jake Johnson. The Moroney's HarleyDavidson/SuperTrapp-backed Johnson had come from the third row and was closing on the leaders. "I got an unbelievable start from the third row, and it seemed like no time and I was right there," Johnson said. "It seemed like, when Chris got by me, he had a pretty good line. It was right at the edge of the groove. I started following him, but as the race went on my tire started to go away and it wasn't working as good." Bartel's Harley-Davidson/Corbinbacked Jay Springsteen had been up and down the ladder, but was settled into fourth. "It was very slick the first few laps, then I changed my line getting into the corners," Springsteen said. "That's when I got by Rich King and a couple of other guys, early in the race. They were skating around on the groove, and I just changed my entrance into the corner, went under the groove and there was traction there." On lap 17, Gardner Racing/Lancaster Harley-Davidson's Bryan Bigelow set King back one more spot. Coziahr Harley-Davidson's Johnny Murphree and Saddlemen/Lancaster Harley-Davidson's J.R. Schnabel had just got by King when the red flag came out on lap 22. Weirbach Racing's Dominic Beaulac had bailed in turn two. In this situation, there are two options. It could be called a completed race or restarted. If it was restarted, there would be a minimum of five laps to run. The race was restarted as a five-lap dash. Although uninjured, Beaulac joined Las Vegas HarleyDavidson's Jess Roeder and Dodge Brothers/Saddlemen's Kevin Atherton on the sidelines. The restart order was Carr, Coolbeth, Johnson, Springsteen, Bigelow, Murphree, Schnabel, King, Geo Roeder, Clark, Chris Hart, Kevin Varnes, Terry Poovey, Willie McCoy and Shaun Russell. Surprisingly, as the riders filed out of the repair box toward the starting line, the blue and black Harley of Johnson was missing. "I started the bike up for the restart and it started making nasty noises," Johnson said. "We decided it was better not to take a chance and have it lock up on us or something. "

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