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event. Landes had just enough of a cushion on the charging Schnabel the latter once again getting off to a poor start and having to pass several riders - to take the win in the second semi. AMA road racer Jake Zemke grabbed the win in the third semi, where Poovey finished fourth. That left both Poovey and Schnabel in the last-chance qualifier, which also presented a wild card, in the form of Roger Lee Hayden. Schnabel finally got the start he was looking for in the LCQ, and he pulled clear of Aqua-Flo/BBRP rider Jethro Halbe for the win. Poovey, meanwhile, was mired toward the rear of the field. He would advance as high as fourth place, but that wasn't good enough. Poovey would need to throw his provisional start card (granted to the top 10 finishers from the previous season) into a hat with four other riders and hope that his name would be drawn so that he could tag onto the tail of the field for the main. After a controversy that involved Idaho rider Steve Liberty's name being called for the provisional (Liberty didn't finish in the top 10 in 2001), Dan Stanley got the call to join the field, and Poovey was still out. Nicky Hayden wasted no time in breaking to the lead off the inside of row one when the green light flashed for the start of the main. He quickly dropped right to the apron of the slippery little bullring, preferring to twowheel through the apexes and then grab a handful of throttle as he came off the corners. "1 just got a good start, and that's everything here," he said. "l just put my head down. l figured that we would be lapping some people, and I didn't want to be in a battle when that happened. l wanted to get through clean. I had to peek back a couple of times, though, because with the walls here, it sounds like they're on you even when they're not." They weren't. While Nicky was streaking away, brother Tommy and Muprhree were in a battle for the second spot. Tommy held control of the inside, forcing Murphree to take the long way around. The Californian refused to back down, and he was rewarded with the second spot when Tommy flinched in turn one on lap two. "l thought maybe after the heat race l might have something for Nick," Tommy Hayden said, "but in the main, he stepped it up, and I couldn't quite stay with him. Then Murph was running the outside, and I was running the inside. We seesawed back and forth for a few laps, but then l made a mistake and he got by me and got away from me a little bit. I just tried to hold on and make the podium. 1 had a great time, and hopefully I can come back here and race again next year." Johnson, who won the AMA Tuni- of hoping for a red flag, but l didn't get it. After that, I just went out and had fun. 1thought we had a shot at it, but we threw it on the ground." The only one to fare worse would be Varnes, who was battling with Mees and Carr for the fifth spot when he dropped out in between turns one and two on lap seven. "l stalled it," Varnes said flatly. "I got to battling with Jared Mees, and I went to run under him coming into turn one, but then he got it turned really quick and l was heading for his rear wheel. It was one of them deals where if l had caught his rear wheel, it would have high-sided me pretty hard. l hit the brakes a little bit, and it died on me. l tried to bump it to get it going, but that didn't work. 1was feeling pretty good up until then. I was right on Joe Kopp there for a while, and as the track came around, we were getting better and better. We still had a good time." Schnabel was definitely on the move in the main. After starting 11 th, he had worked his way to sixth by lap eight, partially thanks to Johnson and ca Short Track, was running fourth early, but he crashed in between turns one and two on lap three. He would get back in the race, but he finished 12th. "That [crashing] is never a good thing to do," Johnson said. "I got a good start, and l was sitting in fourth a couple laps into it. l knew that Nicky was going to try and get away, so I wanted to get up there and dice with him as quickly as I could. I tried getting under Tommy a couple times, and it seemed like he was getting sideways coming off and stalling my drives. I tried to go around the outside, and l guess my throttle control got me, and I spun it out. 1 was kind (Left) Tommy Hayden (22) and Johnny Murphree (20) battled for the second spot early in the main event. Murphree made the outside pass to grab second. Tommy would finish third. (Below) Nicky Hayden (69) wasted no time in establishing his lead. He wound up winning the race by half a lap. cu cle n e _ so • OCTOBER 23, 2002 41