Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAlPf"'ogressive Insuf"'ance U.S. Flat Tf"'ack Championships Round 1 B: Paul Battle smacked the front-straightaway wall on lap five, Hayden drove underneath him to grab the second spot. Murphree also got by Johnson and set after Hayden. Wood then hit a hole and bobbled in turn two on lap eight. It was all Hayden needed to make his move and take the lead. Murphree again took advantage with Hayden, moving to second, while Johnson regained some of his lost momentum to run third. Murphree was able to match paces with Hayden, the two gapping the field by about three lengths. Hayden was unintentionally blocking Murphree's exit off the corners, and it bit the Kentuckian on lap 12 when he got a little too sideways through the middle of three and four just as Murphree got on the gas. Murphree's front wheel barely bumped Hayden's rear wheel, but it was enough to throw the unhooked Honda and its superstar rider over the high side and onto the ground. Though he was not hurt, Hayden was down long enough to draw the red flag. He would be forced to restart at the back of the pack, which meant that Murphree inherited the lead. Johnson was second, with Wood, Varnes, Teague, Carr, Lynch, Yoder, Cool beth and Russell completing the top 10 with 14 laps left. Murphree and Johnson got away clean when the light flashed, and they pulled away from Wood. Murphree led the next six laps, with Johnson trying the high line to get around him. Johnson then got under Murhpree in turns three and four and grabbed the lead for the rest of the way. Like he had with Hayden earlier, Murphree ran close to Johnson for the rest of the race. "I led the thing, but I wasn't riding the bike properly," Murphree said. "You'd think that working with the na American Supercamps guys I'd have that figured out, but I didn't. Soon as Jake got by me, I went back into racer mode. I guess that was what I needed. So we'll just try to win Columbus and Du Quoin. We need two more wins to satisfy my goal of three wins this season." Hayden quickly charged his way to seventh place only two laps after the restart, and he brought Mullen with him. Mullen would work his way to seventh at the finish. (Right) Call him Superman: Hayden (69) c:harged from the rear of the field to third In the 14 laps that remained after his fall, but only after trading paint heavily with eventual fourthplac:e finisher Kevin Varnes (89). (Below) Johnson (14U) slipped underneath a struggling Murphree with seven laps to go and pulled a small advantage the rest of the way. "I shouldn't have jumped," Mullen said. "That was a big mistake. But my bike was working good, and I just needed to concentrate. I was surprised at how quickly Nicky got back up there. He got by me and then got another couple people and took me with him, but after that I was kind of on my own." Teague was running sixth after the restart but dropped out with 19 laps complete, allowing Carr and Cool beth to move up. Carr had only needed to finish seventh if Murphree finished second, he was now sixth, and when Wood nearly highsided and fell off the pace on lap 23, Carr got insurance points. Chris Carr (i) c:llnc:hed his fourthc:areer AMA Grand National Championship with a strong flfthplac:e finish at Tunlc:a. Carr Joined Carroll Resweber and Sc:ott Parker as a four-time UUlsL 10 SEPTEMBER 25, 2002' cue I • n • _ s "This is great," Carr said. "We wanted to do this with the Ford people sponsoring the event, but I guess if we hadn't done it here, we would have done it next week, and they're the sponsors of that event as well. I just got a little nervous there after the restart because I was running with a lot of guys that I don't usually run with, and I'm running for a championship while they're running to earn a national number. I had a rhythm going before the restart, but I lost it after the restart." Hayden nearly wound up on the ground again after making a particularly aggressive pass on Varnes in turn three. Hayden stuffed the Pennsylvanian, who had been running a steady fourth, behind Wood, and pushed him wide off turn four. Varnes apparently took offense at the move, electing to run it wide open into turn one and punt Hayden toward the hay bales. "I got into Kevin a little bit, but he returned the favor by nearly knocking me out of the barn," Hayden said. "I know I had it coming, but... manl" "Nicky got into me pretty good," said Varnes, who eventually succumbed to the charging Hayden on lap 21. "When I ran it in on him, I just didn't shut it off. I wanted to hit him one more time. I figured 'What the hell? He's going away, so I won't be able to race with him anymore.' Then Raun Wood nearly fell in front of us. I wish I had gone inside of him - I might have gotten third." Wood didn't fall down, but he fell off the pace, slipping from third to 14th in just three laps. "The front end just tucked," Wood said. "I highsided a little, but I saved it. I'll tell you, it was way more relaxing running up front than it was in the middle of the pack." Lynch came out on top of a frantic battle with Russell and Beattie to end

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