Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

SEMI 2 (6 laps; 12 riders, top 2 transfer): 1. Tommy Hayden (Kaw); 2. Chris Carr (Vor); 3. Shawn Clark (Han); 4. John Raun Wood (Han); 5. Kevin Varnes (Suz); 6. Cory McDermitt (Han); 7. Danny Walker (Han); 8. Jared Mees (Han); 9. Merle Scherb (Han); 10. Garth Bastian (Yam); 11. Mark Burch (Han); 12. Rick Winsett (Han). Time: 4 min.. 00.979 sec. SEMI 3 (8 laps; 12 riders, top 2 transfer); 1. Rob Pearson (Han); 2. Roy Miller (Han); 3. Donnie Mullen (Han); 4. Eric Rickman (Han); 5. Terry Poovey (Han); 6. Justin Voight (Han); 7. Rich King (H·D); 8. Jerry Cartwright (Yam); 9. Dominic Beaulac (Han); 10. Mike Hinds (Han); 11. Kevin Atherton (Yam); '12. Bryan Smith (Han). Time: 4 min.. t 1.400 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps; 18 riders): 1. Brett Landes (Han); 2. Jake Johnson (Han): 3. Joe AMA PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U,S, FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 of 18 rounds): 1. Chris Carr (72/1 win): 2, (TIE) Johnny Murphree (58)/Joe Kopp (58); 4, Rich King (47): 5. Jake Johnson (43); 6, Brett Landes (37); 7. Shaun Russell (33); 8. Jay Springsteen (32); 9. (TIE) Kenny Coolbeth (31 )/Bryan Bigelow (31); 11. Garth Bastian (23/1 win): 12, Ken Yoder (20); 13, A,J, Eslick (16); 14, Tommy Hayden (15); IS, Greg Tysor (14): 16, (TIE) J.R, Schnabel (13)/Mike Hacker (13); 18, (TIE) Terry Poovey (12)/Rick Winsett (12); 20. Steve Beattie (11), Kopp (KTM); 4, Tommy Hayden (Yam); 5, Greg Tysor (Han); 6. Johnny Murphree (Han): 7. Bryan Bigelow (Han): 8. Chris C"rr (Vor); 9. Kenny Cool beth (KTM); 10. A.J. Eslick (Suz); 11. Shaun Russell (Han); 12. Benny Carlson (Han); 13. Roy Miller (Han); 14. J.R. Schnabel (Yam); 15. John Hlebo (Han); 16. Paul Lynch (Han); 17. Gary Rogers (Han); 18. Rob Pearson (Han). Time: 12 min., 25.737 sec. Margin of victory: 00.203 sec. Murphree tlies his White Brothers Honda off the Springfield TT jump en route to finishing sixth. spot in the main event. Tysor got a good start and soon found himself tussling with Coziahr Harley-Davidson/National Cycle Supply's Johnny Murphree for the sixth spot. Tysor nailed it down when Murphree highsided off his rear wheel and crashed while making a pass attempt in the right-hander before the short chute on lap five. After Schnabel crashed, sixth turned into fifth for Tysor. "I had no idea .where I was in the field," Tysor said. "Riders were going everywhere, and I got creamed a cou· pie times, I just kind of rode around, My bike was working real good, It Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Chillicothe, Ohio, May 31 Round 6 - Granite City, Illinois, June 14 (From left to right) Kopp, Landes and Johnson celebrate on the podium after 25 laps of hectic action at Springfield. Time: 5 min., 03.531 sec. HEAT 2 (10 laps; 12 riders, top 3 transfer): 1. Johnny Murphree (Han); 2. Shaun Russell (Han); 3. Kenny Cool beth (KTM); 4. Donnie Mullen (Hen); 5. Chris Hart (Han); 6. Cory McDermitt (Han); 7. Dominic Bellulac (Han); 8. Josh Toungett (Han); 9. Merle Scherb (Han); 10. Rich King (H·D); 11. Georgie Price IV (KTM); 12. Glirth Bastian (Yam). Time: 5 min., 02.666 sec. HEAT 3 (10 laps; 12 riders, top 3 transfer): 1. J.R. Schnabel (Yam); 2. Bryan Bigelow (Hon); 3. John Hlebo (Han); 4. Kevin Varnes (Suz); 5. Gary Rogers (Han); 6. Bryan Smith (Han); 7. John Raun Wood (Hon); 8, Chris Boone (KTM); g. Roy Miller (Han); 10. Danny Walker (Han); 11. R.J. Overholt (Yam): 12. Rob Pearson (Hon). TIme: 5 min., 00.947 sec. HEAT 4 (10 laps; 12 riders, top 3 transfer): 1. Brett Landes (Hon); 2, Joe Kopp (KTM): 3, A.J. Eslick (Suz); 4. Benny Carlson (Han); 5. Richard Winsett (Han); 6. Eric Rickman (Han): 7. Mike Hacker (Han); 8. Shawn Clark (Han); 9. Mike Hinds (Han); 10. Willie McCoy (Han); 11. Mark Burch (Han); 12. Terry Poovey (Han). Time: 4 min., 58.530 sec. SEMI I (8 laps; 12 riders, top 2 transfer): I. Benny Carlson (Han); 2. Gary Rogers (Hon); 3. Dan Stanley (Han); 4. Chris Hart (Han); 5. Mike Hacker (Han); 6. Geo Roeder II (Han); 7. Willie McCoy (Han); 8. Chris Boone (KTM); 9. Jason Tyer (ATK); , O. R.J. Overholt (Yam); 11. Georgie Price IV (KTM); 12. Josh Toungett (Han). Time: 4 min., 04.087 sec. was real strong, Really, it was sort of uneventful. It seemed like there was a lot of bashing and banging. It seemed like a guy would get banged out of the way so that the pass would be easy, But lap times were between fifth and eighth fastest all day, so I'd have been really disappointed if I hadn't done well, I mean, I'm older than most of these guys' dads, and I didn't get tired, so I'm happy about that." Murphree, meanwhile, was able to BRIEFLY••• After just missing the Springfield Mile feature the day before and then coming home 1Oth in the Springfield TT, Team Suzuki's A.J. Eslick gave his take on the Corbin Suzuki race program. "With our twins pro· gram, we're 25 years behind the XR750 and we're already making main events," Eslick said, "Kevin [Varnes] made the main event yesterday, and I should have been there, so the big bikes will be along shortly, Our minibike [singles] program... We're riding the trailbike, It's not even a fullblown race unit, but we're making it happen. We're ready, On the clay short track at Chillicothe next weekend, we're going to be up in the top five for sure. For sure!" get back up and charge back to the sixth spot. "I should have won the thing there's no doubt in my mind," Murphree said, "I had guys going everywhere in my way, and [ just got anxious too early and ran into the back of somebody and fell off in the righthander. It was just a mental error, but we're coming on strong, and I think we've got a good program right now." One of the neater stories to follow at the Springfield TT was that of American Supercamps coach Danny Walker, who brought his stock Honda CRF450R out to play with the big boys· and made the 4B-rider cut in his first Grand National race in several years, After getting a horrendous start in his first-round scratch ride and failing to crack the top three, Walker came back in round two and won, putting himself in the regular program. A 10th-place finish in heat three and a seventh in the second semi ended his day early, but the Coloradoan was all smiles. "I'm tired, man," Walker said, "I taught an American Supercamp here all last night. and I was wondering if I would even make the cut, and if I did, would I be able to hold on, I didn't even start riding the bike like we teach our students to until the last three laps of my semi, and those turned out to be my fastest three laps of the day, I had fun. This might be my last hurrah in dirt track. I don't know, This is an awesome place," Gardner Racing/Walters Brothers Harley-Davidson's Bryan Bigelow, Quality Checked Certified Pre-owned Ford Racing/Davie Liles Ethanol Fuels' Chris Carr, KTM/Jones Powersports' Kenny Coolbeth, and Team Suzuki/Corbin's A,J, Eslick rounded out the top 10. eN Illinois State Fairgrounds Springfield, Illinois Results: May 26, 2003 [Round 4 of 181 HEAT 1 (10 laps; 12 riders. top 3 transfer): 1. Jake Johnson (Han); 2. Greg Tysor (Han); 3. Paul Lynch (Han); 4. Kevin Atherton (Yam); 5. Chris Carr (Vor); 6. Dan Stanley (Han); 7. Jerry Cartwright (Yam); 8. Jared Mees (Han); 9. Jason Tyer (Han); 10. Justin Voight (Han); 11. Tommy Hayden (Yam); 12. Geo Roeder II (Han). MTornado Timmy" Eades was spotted limping through the pits at the TT on its originally scheduled day, the Virginian suffering a tom ACL in a crash on a practice track the Wednesday before the Springfield weekend, "I stuck my foot in a hole, and it about tore me off the bike," Eades said, "the ACL is BO-percent tom, and the MCL is torn. I'm not riding the TT because I want to ride the mile tomorrow [which he didl. Jim Kelly did the motors on my bike, so they are really fast - too fast for 'em to just sit. Then I have an appOintment with Mike Hacker's doctor next Tuesday, so we'll see what he has to say," It's funny how things change: After his victory at the Tunica Short Track, New Yorker Garth Bastian commented that he has gained an extra measure of celebrity. "It has been a little different since I won," Bastian said, "People are treating me different now, Some of the guys have invited me to go golfing with them and stuff like that. Of course, maybe I'll go back to being a peon after this weekend; I don't know. I'm not really a TT guy, and the smaller the track, the better I do." Whether or not it changed anything, Bastian did miss out on both main events during the weekend. The Yamaha-supported teams of J.R. Schnabel and Kevin Atherton looked like they had their YZFs flying while battling in the sea of Hondas at the Springfield TT, "I love the Yamaha," Schnabel said, "The thing is handling great righl now," Atherton agreed, saying, ''I'm pretty used to them already, seeing as I live on one all winter, The one we brought here today is stone stock except for the Arrow exhaust pipe. We save our real fire breather for the miles," Gary Rogers has a new ace up his sleeve to keep him up to speed at the Grand National events. Rogers' Custom Chrome/Kiesow Racing team has added three-time AMA Grand National Champion Bubba Shobert to its ranks, Shobert will now be in attendance at all but one of the Progressive Insurance U,S, Flat Track rounds, -I'm just here to be a consultant. coach, whatever," Shobert said, '" can help them with setup, though I never rode one of these new bikes. I think it'll help Gary just to have a mediator in his pit. someone to talk to and give him confidence," Rogers was understandably jazzed to have Shobert working with the team, "The guy just knows so much," Roger said, "He's going to be a huge asset to our program," Chris Carr lost a practice session due to a little faux pas with an onboard camera unit. The champ was filming on-bike footage for the upcoming Speed Channel telecast of the Springfield TT when the costly little unit ejected itself from its pack. The bag, which was still attached to Carr's Vor by a sturdy little cable, then proceeded to snake around behind the machine for a lap before AMA officials threw the black flag, When asked about how much he thought the camera might have been worth, Carr shrugged his shoulders and replied: "It didn't cost me a thing," The camera turned out to be undamaged, Illinois rider Rob Pearson looked fast on both days at the Springfield TT, ultimately making the show aboard his Greg Crow-built Honda CRF. "Greg and Jay Williamson put this one together, and it feels good," Pearson said. "We jumped on it because ours grenaded, and we're still putting it back together," With extensive experience on both framer and stock-framed flat track equipment due to his years of amateur racing, Pearson was in as good a position as any veteran to discuss the handling characteristics of each, "All these [stock-framed bikes] are pretty similar," he said, "Whenever the track dries out, they want to get really side· ways, so we're all still trying to sort that out. " Wild-riding veteran Rusty Rogers was back in action on the originally scheduled day of racing, but he didn't last long, Rogers collided with Jared Mees during their scratch heat. with Rogers getting the worst of it. suffering a shoulder injury. It kept him out of action during the next day's Springfield Mile, where he was scheduled to ride an F&S Suzuki TL1000. cue I e n e vv 50 JUNE 4, 2003 19

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