Formula USAlDrag Specialties National Dirt Track Series
Round 10: Del Mar Short Track
prevailed, coming home 12th after
Schnabel finished fifth.
"I'm happy to win it, especially after
I had such a bad night on the short
track the night before,· Poovey said. "I
had a great year, and I feel like I can
still run with 'em if I can get good
starts. Being a two-time champion is
great, and I like this Formula USA program. Hopefully, in time, this series
will really mean something big."
Meanwhile, Atherton smoked the
field in the 20-lap Pro Singles main to
finish over 13 seconds - nearly half a
lap - ahead of the runner-up, Quality
Checked
Certified
Pre-owned
Ford/Vor-backed Chris Carr on a
dusty, rutty Del Mar Fairgrounds mile
track that once again had riders raising the same old safety issues. This
came to bear during the Last Chance
Qualifier, when Motorcyclist Post's
Aaron Creamer was involved in a
multiple rider pile-up in turn four. The
XX-year-old Creamer of Leominster,
Massachusetts, was transported to
XXXX hospital, where he was treated
for broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Creamer was released on Oct. XX.
The win was Atherton's first in Formula USA and his second National
dirt track win of the season.
"I just wish the racetrack would
have made it so that we could have
had a better race for the fans,· Atherton said afterward. "It was a good day
for us, though. That little bike is really fun to ride. It's light, and you can
really run it into the corners hard. My
game plan was just to not have to
race anybody. I thought that Chris
was going to have something for me
early, but we got away from him. It
went well."
By SCOTT ROUSSEAU
PHOTOS BY DOUG KARCHER
DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 6
addlemen Racing/National Cycle
Supply's Kevin Atherton and Las
Vegas Harley-Davidson/Roeder
Harley-Davidson/KK Motorcycle Supply's Geo Roeder II thoroughly dominated their respective classes at the
Formula USA season finale K&N Filters Del Mar Mile, but 1stlegal.com/
Hap Jones-backed Terry Poovey
once again claimed the Drag Specialties Formula USA National Dirt Track
Championship.
Poovey, 44, of Euless, Texas,
came into the final race at Del Mar
with a 20-point cushion over J.R.
Schnabel, and 30 points ahead of Joe
Kopp. He upped it to 22 points with a
win in his heat race, and needed to
finish ninth if Schnabel won the main
event. During a tense main event in
which Poovey ran as far back as 15th
while Schnabel ran third - good
enough for the 23-year-old to wrest
the title away from the Texan, Poovey
32
OCTOBER 23, 2002'
cue
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