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/128167
AMAIProgressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 1 1 : Delaware State Fairgrounds (Above) Roeder, Hart and Kopp celebrate on the box. (Left) Although he failed to make the 750cc main, rookie hot rod Jake Johnson smoked 'em In the 505cc Support race at Harrington. 10 AUGUST 14, 2002· c u e • _ n __ s see. When Evans crashed, I felt my foot hit him and I didn't even know he was down. I was backed out. That could have been a bad deal. The first four of five laps were pretty hairy, I'm sure, for a lot of guys. Once it dried out and started to groove up, it was kind of tough to handle, but I had a good motorcycle. I was going to the front, I'd started like 12th or 13th, was going good, but just got tired." Newly inducted Hall of Farner Jay Springsteen cruised home seventh on his Bartels' Harley-Davidson/ Corbinsponsored Harley. "Back where I was at, you just couldn't see where you were going," Springsteen said. "After the track got polished off, it was so slippery. We tried to make some changes to the swingarm, but we never got it right. The first few laps, it felt like your eyes were getting sand-blasted. I'd be going down the straights, blinking my eyes, trying to see where I'm going. I did all right. I finished seventh. I'm happy with that. If you get off with the leaders, you can run with them, but when you're trying to play catch up, eating that dust and dirt, you just have to settle for where you're at. You just fall in line and try to keep your pace going." Quality Checked Ford Racing/ David Ules Fuels-backed Chris Carr had a very uncharacteristic race, as the defending Grand National Champion struggled all night. After slipping to fourth in his heat, Carr was forced to a semi, where he earned his way into the main with a win. "Long night for me, but we have to take what we get," Carr said. Carr was able to scratch his way up to seventh and was the last rider to pass the troubled Beattie. "The track finally started to come back to where it was in my semi," Carr said. "Late in the race, the last five laps, my times were almost as good as the leaders. It just took too long for the track to come to me. I couldn't really get a hold of it early in the race, but late in the race I was able to hook up and go. It was just too late." After so much promise early in the night, Kevin Varnes' event came apart in the main, and he wound up 10th. "On the restart, I got off the line decent, but it seemed like everyone else got a better start, and I got a pretty good roost in the first corner. That bogged me down. Then I got pinched off on the outside down the back straight. I never could get it going after that. The line that I was riding was working, but there were guys getting by me on the bottom. I tried to move down there with them, but I couldn't get that to work and just kept fading back. The way the track changed, my gearing was way off. When Springer passed me, I thought it was Chris, but then I screwed up one lap and Chris got by me. I hate it, but what are you going to do?" Paul Sehiskar/Cayuga Tool & Die's Shawn Clark ran as high as eighth before slipping back to 11 tho Willie McCoy [Dallas Harley-Davidson/KK Supply] finally out-dueled Dominic Beaulac for 12th. The Weirbach Racing-backed Beaulac was on Mike Lynch's Harley. Schnabel Racing's J.R. Schnabel put the Lancaster Harley-Davidsonbacked Buell into it's second Grand National and powered around American Harley-Davidson's Chris Evans four 14th. KK Supply/Jeanine/TCR's Dave Rayburn finished 16th in his first National main of 2002. Custom Chrome/Kiesow Racing's Gary Rogers and North East Harley-Davidson/Motorcyclist Post's Aaron Creamer rounded out the field. The first heat was a hard-fought battle, as Geo Roeder II nipped Murphree at the finish line. It would be the fastest heat of the night. McCoy cruised home third over Paul Lynch.