Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track ChaIT1pionships Round 5: KC Raceway forgiving than a slippery groove. You need to have you bike set up just right. Obviously Chris and Kenny [Tolbert] and Johnny and Wheels [Mike Wheeler) had it figured out better than we did." On lap 15, Murphree forged his way into second. "I ran out of time after I was jacking with those guys," Murphree said. "When I was messing with Schnabel, Chris was busy with Kevin up front. When I got by Schnabel, Chris was around Atherton, and then Kevin was really holding me up. By the time I got around Atherton, the fast line was gone, and there was nowhere to go to make up time. I was able to get around Kevin on the outside, and it was kind of neat, but that went away. I was running the same times as Chris, but he was half a straightway ahead." (Right! Shaun Russell had an "okay" day at KC Raceway, winding up sixth in the main event after coming from the third row. (Below) Rookie rider Shawn Baer (33AI had a Cinderella main event going. He was running fifth until his Rotax turned Into a pumpkin, dropping him to 12th at the finish. my own RAce ® Joe Kopp 5th Joe Kopp looked like he might be on his way to his second podium finish in a row, then his charge stalled out. '" thought I had something for Kenny; I had planned on riding the whole race on the top, but the first couple of laps I went down low and was getting by quite a few guys, said Kopp. "I was trying to drift up to where everybody else was riding, to get a bite and square the corner off, but it got so dry up there, that didn't work anymore. Once I lost contact with Kenny, -fifth was where I was going to be." 1] @@ Rich King 9th Rich King was able to slide by J.R. Schnabel and the fading Shawn Baer the last two laps for ninth. "I just couldn't get off the line pretty much all day. I don't know what the deal was," said King. '" know I didn't have the greatest starting spot, but I went about five feet, and it just turned Sideways, and I was looking at the fans. I was second to last the first lap or so. It sucks; you have a good motorcycle and can't get off the line, , don't know if we could have won it, but we were top five anyway." ®® J.R. Schnabel 10th J.R. Schnabel's tenth-place finish was far from his start. "We got a good start and were running up there for a while, but as soon as it dried out, we were in trouble. We were on that moto frame, and once it dried out. I started struggling. It still felt good, but everybody else must have felt better: they were going by," said Schnabel. "Off the line' was second, and then Chris got me right away. When he went by, I was hoping everybody wasn't going that good because he went by in a hurry. After that everybody single med by me, and that's where we ended up (tenth)." A major surprise was going on just behind the leaders as Battlefield Harley-Davidson's Shawn Baer was moving up to fourth. After disposing of Schnabel, young Baer was under intense pressure from KTM Sportmotorcycle's Kenny Coolbeth. Coolbeth took fourth on lap 11 only to have his KTM teammate, Joe Kopp, blast by two laps later. "I had an all right start, then a couple of guys got in front of me," Coolbeth said. "Once I got into fourth, Joe came around me and that kinda' loosened me up a little. I got him back and was able to pull away a little bit. I sure wish I had gotten off the line a little better, away from everybody else." All the wind seemed to leave Kopp's sails at this point. "It was a tough one," Kopp said. "I got to the front pretty quick, but then 30 JUNE 11, 2003' cue I e I just couldn't do anything with them. "It seemed they got faster the farther in the field I moved up." Baer appeared to settle into sixth, but in reality his Rotax was self destructing, and he would eventually drop to 12th. Scott Powersports' Raun Wood, Bartels' HarleyDavidson's Shaun Russell, Moroney's Honda's Paul Lynch, Schnabel, Moroney's Honda's Jake Johnson, and HarleyDavidson Motor Company's Rich King swarmed all over the rookie. Russell was finally able to claw his way into sixth. "Third row starts are tough - I didn't even get nevvs that good a start," Russell said. "I got into the first turn, and there was Jake Johnson and a couple other guys, and I thought 'Wow they got a good start from the third row.' I just started chasing the moisture and finding different lines from everybody else, but I would have needed about 100 laps to catch up to the front. Ronnie [Brown) did a good job setting the bike up, but I didn't get the job done in the heat and had to win the semi to get in; that's tough." Lynch had a front-row start, but it did him little good. "I had to work my way up, but I shouldn't have had to," Lynch said. "I had a front-row start, but I got a bad start. Once I got rolling on the out- side, I was passing guys. I needed 10 or 15 more laps, and I think I could have caught those guys. I think we should have had a podium finish. Our times were right there with those guys; I just needed a better start." Wood bounced around the leader board before landing in eighth place. "I got off the third row pretty good and went to the top, but everybody was up there," Wood said. "After about six laps it got pretty dusty up there, and I was just sitting still. I saw Kopp dive back down to the middle and thought I'd just follow him. He was passing people. I stuck with him a little while, tried to get by, but I couldn't. I just tried to go high to use 1-.L---:?:;::--.....::-==~:--:-:-;::,--:-;~-::~;;~:iiiipj~;;;S;~~;;;~;::;~l I

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