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/128177
" "--~" .. ,----- I I~- , , . . -_. . ~t;rack Formula USAIOrag Specialties National Dirt Track Series Round 9: Del Mar Fairgrounds By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY DOUG KARCHER DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 5 fter finishing a disappointing 13th at the AMA season-finale Du Quoin Mile, American Honda/ White Brothers' Nicky Hayden came to the Del Mar Fairgrounds in search of that one last dirt-track victory with which he could wax nostalgic while battling for the MotoGP Championship in Europe next year. At the penultimate round of the Drag Specialties Formula USA National Dirt Track Series, the Skip Van Leeuwen National Short Track, Hayden got what he came for. Hayden rode as flawless a race as he had anywhere all season, grabbing the lead from his pole starting position and pulling clear of a battle between two of his White Brothers teammates, brother Tommy Hayden and AMA Grand National runner-up Johnny Murphree, to win the 20-lap Del Mar Short Track. Hayden simply hugged the pole on the tight Del Mar bullring and left the competition in his wake as he won the race by better than half a lap. It was his first career Formula USA victory, and one that he says will provide that much soughtafter happy memory. A 40 OCTOBER 23, 2002' cue I "I'm glad that it went like that," Hayden said after pulling into Victory Lane. "I didn't want to have to think about Du Quoin for the next couple of years. Today, when the sun was up, I didn't feel that comfortable, but then the sun went down, and the track just kind of came to me. We made some gearing changes, and in the main event I felt real good, smooth and comfortable. I just put in the laps." Behind Hayden, Murphree sneaked past Tommy Hayden after Tommy bobbled in the middle stages of the race, and he held on to finish second, with Tommy third. The battle for fifth was a three-rider affair with championship implications, as Moroney'sbacked Jared Mees, Quality Checked Pre-owned Certified Ford-backed Chris Carr, and Team WE Racing/ West Bend H-D's J.R. Schnabel mixed it up behind eventual fourthplace finisher Joe Kopp and his factory KTM. Carr wound up getting the spot after first Schnabel and then Mees nearly high-sided off turn four. Mees held off Schnabel for the sixth spot. Schnabel's finish put him within 20 points of 2001 Del Mar Short Track winner and defending Formula USA National Dirt Track Champion Terry Poovey, who failed to make the Short n • _ s • Track main event. Poovey even tried to use his Formula USA provisional start card, but Dan Stanley's name was drawn in the three-rider lotto to determine who would gain the event's single provisional start. With the season-finale K&N Filters Del Mar Mile still left to be run, the title will not be decided until the final round of the series. With Poovey ahead, 260-240, if Schnabel were to win, Poovey would have to finish better than 10th in order to swipe the crown. Kopp trails Schnabel by just 10 points in a battle that could swing unfavorably against the Wisconsinite if Kopp had a good day at the Del Mar Mile. The close action and ultraquick lap times provided by the tight confines of the Del Mar Rodeo Arena produced several crashes in the first of the four eight-lap heat races, the worst coming when Washington rider Eric Rickman tangled with another rider in turn three, going down and breaking his foot in the process. Once the heat got under way in earnest, Johnson, Tommy Hayden, Steve Beattie and Brett Landes battled it out for the lead. Tommy Hayden got under Johnson three laps into the race and went on to take the win, with Johnson gaining the only other transfer spot from the heat by finishing second. Heat two was all Hayden, as he shot clear of a pack that included his Tunica, Mississippi, AMA Short Track rival, Varnes. Hayden appeared to be totally relaxed as he and Varnes went one-two to guarantee their starts in the main event. Heat three proved to be disastrous for championship contender Schnabel, who was asleep next to polesitter Mees on the starting line when the green light flashed and rounded the first turn in about 10th place. Mees grabbed the early lead, but he yielded to Murphree, who went on to take the win, with Mees second. Schnabel wound up seventh. That might have made Poovey's job easier, but the defending event and series champion suffered just as poor a start in the subsequent heat race. Poovey rebounded, though, and found himself in a back-and-forth battle with Carr for the second spot. The two swapped positions at every turn for several laps before Poovey stalled his bike while attempting to stuff Carr in turn one. Kopp went on to take the win, followed by Carr. Beattie won the first of the three eight-lap semis, which placed only the winner of each into the main