Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 4: Illinois State Fairgrounds my Own Race (J) 1] Chris Carr 8th "We made chicken soup out of chicken shit today, buddy," the reigning AMA Grand National Champion said after bringing his Italian Vor home eighth. "We struggled all day long. We kept getting the bike a little better as the day went on, but the thing just flat wore me out. I ended up finishing better than I thought I would. The key to winning championships is to control your off days. We had an off day and finished eighth. That's not terrible." (J) 1] ® A.J. Eslick 10th After a frustrating day on the Springfield Mile in which he knew he could have made the main event but instead watched from the truck as his Corbin Suzuki cohort, Kevin Varnes, made the show, it was Eslick's tum to be the hero at the n. He was 10th into the first tum and then ran as far back as 12th while dicing with Kenny Coolbeth and Shaun Russell. He was able to put away Russell and close on Coolbeth and Carr in the late going. "It was pretty good," Eslick said. "I missed seeing the halfway flags, so I lost count of where we were in the race. I saw the five-lap sign and picked up the pace then. I caught Coolbeth and Carr. Another two laps, and I could have gotten by those guys and had a better fmish. We kept it rolling and brought it home on two wheels. It was pretty good." to the finish line, so I just stayed on lever down. It messed with my head a the gas and tried to keep it as clean as possible." Landes said that he had wanted to be on the inside line off the final curve. "But the way it worked out, he little bit, and the next thing I knew, Jake was gone. Then somebody else was pressuring me. It looked like J.R. [Schnabel]. But we held on for third. went to the inside, and I went to the outside and just held it on," Landes said. "I was either gonna win the thing or throw it down the road. It all worked out. It's just awesome. It's It was a good finish for me. I beat all the guys in the points that I had to, so I gained something on them. That was my main goal here. I didn't win, but I'll take that." Fourth place went to one third of last year's Springfield TT heroes, everything you dream of." Tommy Hayden, who had to come Third went to Kopp, who fought to stay ahead of both Landes and Schnabel early in the race and then Schnabel and Team Kawasaki's Tommy Hay- from the back row and eat into a gap that was well over five seconds behind the leaders. Possibly the den late in the race. "The roost was pretty bad out here, so I was running with my fastest rider on the track (it was either Hayden or Landes), the Kentuckian picked off riders one by one until he caught Schnabel, with whom leather [race] jacket earlier in the day," Kopp said. "But I saw everyone else was wearing a chest protector and a jersey, so I went back and put he made contact, sending Schnabel to the ground. Hayden was pursuing Kopp and attempting to set up a pass when the checkered flag fell. my chest protector and jersey back on and said, 'I'm getting the holeshot.' I got the holeshot, and "I started on the third row," Hayden said. "I knew it was going to be a Jake was pressuring me pretty hard. long day from there. I got a good start, and I got through there pretty My front brake lever kept rotating up. Every lap, on the front straightaway, I had to keep pushing my front brake good until I got up to fifth. The farther you go, the harder it gets because of the faster guys. The track got a little 18 JUNE 4, 2003' cue I ... n ... _ s (J)~7?G:S. Benny Carlson (J){§)®& Roy Miller 12th After being aced out of a direct transfer by A.J. Eslick in the fourth heat race, the 4&6 Racing-sponsored Carlson of West Bend, Wisconsin, returned with a vengeance in the first semi, winning the race to earn his first career Grand National start. "Words can't describe what I'm feeling," he said. "You work so hard just to get to this point. We finally made it." Better yet, the West Bend, Wisconsinite ran a strong main event, fmishing just outside the top 10. "John Hlebo faded, and I passed him, and I was just trying to hang on to Shaun Russell, but then my brakes faded. We had a good race." 13th After his own Suzuki blew up in practice, Miller jumped on one of Tom McGrane's Honda CRF450Rs. The Pennsylvanian loaded into the main via the last available transfer spot, a runner-up finish in the second semi, which placed him on the third row. "I got an okay start in the main," Miller said. "It got grooved up and got real slippery toward the end. I was just trying to hang in there and keep it smooth and stay out of the roost, which was bad. The Honda worked really good. I liked it. I might have to end up on one." (J) 1] © Paul Lynch 16th The third member of the Moroney's racing team made the main event by finishing third in the first heat race, which landed him an outside second-row start in the main event. "I actually thought about picking the inside of the third row," Lynch said. "I remember Rodney Farris telling me that if I had the chance to get on the second row, to always make sure that I took it, so I lined up on the outside of the second row. Then a guy went down in the right-hander, and he clipped my rear brake. I had to run the whole 25 laps with just my front brakes, but we stayed up and got some points. It was a good day." more one line, and I couldn't really put any good passes on anybody. I just had to sit there and wait for them to make a mistake, and that wasn't happening. I just kind of ran out of laps." As for the contact with Schnabel, Hayden said that he didn't feel there was any wrongdoing on his part. "Well, racing is racing, and rubbing is racing," Hayden said. "I followed J.R. for eight laps, and I had plenty of opportunities to pass J.R. the first time I caught him on the inside if I wanted to put some rubber on him. That's just the way it goes. Racing is racing. I've ran into people before, and I've had people run into me before. He slid into me. I was just going around the turn. I'll probably race him a little different from now on. That's just the way it goes." Although he was disappointed, Schnabel, who wound up 14th, agreed with Hayden that there was nothing intentional about the contact. "Kopp was just holding us up so bad," Schnabel said. "I was trying to get by him, but I slipped just enough that Tommy got inside me out of the right-hander. I got back to the inside of him in the long left-hander, and we were just racing close. We barely even touched, and I don't know what I gut hung up on, whether it was his leg or what, but it just jacked my front wheel off the ground, and down I went. It was just one of those unfortunate deals. If I had gotten a clean start, I felt like I could have run away with it. At least I know that the Yamaha is running really well, and I'm looking forward to the next race for sure because I think we will be good there." Another part-timer, Continental Tires/Woody Kyle Racing's Greg Tysor finished fifth, matching his career-best Grand National finish, at the Daytona Short Track of 2001. After running second to Johnson for a direct transfer out of the heat race into the main event, the Georgian wound up with a second-row starting

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