Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Formula USA/Drag Specialties National Dirt Track Series Round 10: Del Mar Short Track Stili the one: By finishing 12th in the main event, Terry Poovey (i) retained his Fonnula USA National Dirt Track Serles crown. It was touch and go for much of the main, but Poovey pulled out the series win over Schnabel by a mere eight points. Johnny Goad and got the opportunity to run with Bill Werner. And I think that we showed we can run with them. I learned a lot this year - especially with this series - and I think that if we can get the right opportunities and the right breaks, things are going to go really well for us in 2003. I just need to be more focused at the beginning of the year. At my age, it's good to be in the position that I'm in." Johnson rode hard for a while, hoping to reel in King. It didn't happen, and he settled for a hard-earned fifth. "We geared the bike a little different in the main event," Johnson said. "We geared it to shift. Kevin and Chris kind of checked out, but J had a pretty good battle with J.R. and Rich. Me and J.R. got to racing a little too much and let Rich get away from us, but things worked out good for us." Kopp ran seventh, almost dropping to eighth when Butler attacked him off the last corner. A bobble by Kopp forced Butler to back off, and that spelled the difference in the finishing order. "We were going good earlier in the day, but later on I lost my confidence, and I wasn't as Willing to take chances. I survived the deal more than anything," Kopp said. "I got a pretty decent start from the second row, and I got past Poovey pretty qUick, but J.R. just got away from me. I knew that no matter what I did with Terry, it wasn't going to matter as long as J.R. was still in front of me. But we'll take it. It was a long year, but we'll be back next year with KTM for sure." Butler was a little disappointed to finish eighth, especially after he had worked so hard to catch Kopp. "Coming out of four, I had Joe set up, and I was going by him, then all of a sudden I see both his feet," Butler said. "He was down, done, and he cut right over in front of me and killed 34 OCTOBER 23, 2002' cue my drive. I was whippin' on her, trying to get back past him at the line, but I just came up a little bit short at the line. That was fun. I love this track, but now that it's over, I have the chance to go back and train so that I can be 100 percent for next year. I'm very comfortable on that Suzuki anywhere now." Youngsters Mees, Eslick and Nate Wait rounded out the top 10. "I tried to ride the bottom for a few laps, but that wasn't working," said Mees, whose finish would earn him Formula USA Rookie of the Year honors. I had to ride the thing pinned to get it to work in the deep stuff. On the straightaway, it felt like we were down in power. That's racing." Eslick was just happy to have the chance to ride - and to catch some of Geo Roeder's circus antics. "I want to thank Suzuki for giving me the opportunity to come out here and ride on the mile," Eslick said. "I also want to thank my mom for all that she has done to help me in my career. The track wasn't in the best of shape. Vision was bad, and the track was rough. I tried to keep breathing so that I wouldn't get arm pump. I'll tell you what: I saw the craziest thing out there. Geo Roeder saved a tankslapper with his hands completely off the handlebars. He was steering the thing with his helmet on the crossbar. That was an exciting moment for me." Wait said he was happy to be in the main event, that he had just recently built his bike, and that he has no plans as of yet for 2003. I e n _ .,. s "After winning the LCQ, I felt really confident going into the main event, but then coming off the front row, with all those guys in front of me, I just had to work on being cautious," Wait said. "When they made a mistake, you had to be in a good position to take advantage of it. I really liked my bike. I didn't even hardly feel the bumps out there. " Atherton's easy win leaves him with the mojo as the flat track season comes to a close. "We get to sit on that win for a while," Atherton said. "I should have rode that thing in the Twins race," Atherton said. "I think my corner speed was awesome. It just suited my riding style. The track wasn't very racy, and I didn't want to have to race anyone and take any chances. I was just able to run my own race and go as fast as I wanted to go. I ran the thing wide open for 15 laps and then started giving it a little fresh air going into the corners. These singles feel good through the apexes and off the corners, and then halfway down the straightaways it's 'Ia-tee-dah', but then you can just bury it into the corners. It's just super safe. The twins are picking up speed going into the corners. And these things are only 220 pounds. They feel like a racebike to me." SUPER SINGLES & TWINS Roeder posted a second-fastest time of 39.188 seconds in timed qualifying for the Istlegal.com Super Singles & Twins Challenge. It was the last time that he was second fastest in twins competition all day. He buried the competition in his heat race, landing the pole with a time of Old school: Geo Roeder II (66) dominated the 12-lap 1stlegal.com Super Singles & Twins Challenge, pocketing $8000 In prize money for his work. The cushion-busting Roeder was never seri_ly c enged in the race, maJcJng him a time Detjllar winner. ...... four minutes, 07.540 sconds. In the 12-lap challenge, he simply pulled a vanishing act, running hard into the cushion to fend off Suzuki TLl 000mounted Kenny Cool beth from the get-go. Coolbeth's superior straightaway speed saw him pull onto Kopp's tail early, but the Connecticut rider struggled in the turns. Roeder simply got away. "The track was smooth as glass," Roeder joked. "Everything went good today, no complaints. What can I say? The track was the way that I liked it. I picked up a nice paycheck today, and that kind of makes it nice going into the winter. I want to thank 1stlegaJ.com for putting up the money for the event. Hopefully, they'll keep having this event every year. We led it from start to finish today. That's the best way to win it. This is a great end to the season," Roeder said. "My bike was working good all day. It's always nice to comeback to Del Mar." Coolbeth continued to struggle to stay in contention for the podium, but first McCoy and then Johnson made their way past him by knifing underneath him on their Harley XRs. "They dug the track up a little more than in the heats," Coolbeth said. "It was good for the first five laps, but then that thing just wore me down. I wanted to be able to walk out of here, you know? The track was so bad, and it just got worse. I saw Willie back there, and he just kept coming after me. He rode a good race." Cool beth also said he feels as though little progress is being made in the battle to get the TLs to handle more like the Harley XRs. "Not really," Cool beth said. "We have made a few changes to it, but

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