Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 6: Tri-City Speedway my own RAce Willie McCoy 6th McCoy had an impressive run in the main event, spending most of it sandwiched between Kevin Atherton and Rich King. He was just able to hold off King to the line to finish sixth_ "I needed that," McCoy said. "I was really shooting for a top-three, but top six ain't bad for me because I have been struggling a lot. I really wanted to get by Kevin on that last lap, but we both hit the same hole down in turn two, and it (Top) Kevin Atherton rode his Harley to a fifth-place finish in the National, one spot behind Johnny Murphree (below). messed up my drive to come off two. It was a good, fair race, and I felt great. I wanted to pusb harder, but the track was slippery, and there's a fine line between pushing too hard and not enough. We're happy with sixth. It has been a long time. I think the last time I finished this good was when I was fifth or sixth at Vernon, New York, the first year we ran there. Hopefully this finish will get me rolling. 1] @@ Rich King 7th The factory Harley rider was frustrated to come out of Granite City with a seventhplace finish of much more. was capable when he felt he ;J55~i~!;~~i~ King's main event went south right off the line. "The track was actually pretty racy," he said. "I was rolling around the top there, and one of the guys who was on the front row decided to take it easy and let everyone else pass us. He kind of pinched me off, and I went from a good start to way to the back. I don't know if he was just scared or what. I felt good all night, and I was getting excellent starts, and when you've got a bike that can run at the front, you want to be at the front. I'd like to get beat on my own, determine my own destiny, not like that. But that's racing. If I didn't want to get parked in the turn, I should have been up on the front row to begin with. I don't think we had a bad day, but if I felt like I had a seventh-place motorcycle, then finishing seventh isn't giving anything away, but we should have been on the box here." backed Brian Thomas got the holeshot, followed by McDermitt Racing/Lima H-D's Cory McDermitt, Doc's Harley-Davidson/Jim Wagnerbacked Brian Kromroy, Smoking Moe's/Simons Performance's Scott Stump and Zach's Custom/Lancaster Harley-Davidson's Mees. The running order changed quickly, as Gutteridge Harley-Davidson/Aupperle Racing's "I knew that we were going to be right around top," Kopp said. "The moisture was staying there a little bit longer than I thought it would, and I just kept rolling it and rolling it. The whole time I thought it was Atherton behind me, and here it was Coolbeth. I just couldn't shake him. This team is on a roll now, and I think that you're going to see a lot more onetwo finishes from Team KTM." Behind King, defending event champion Bryan Bigelow finished eighth aboard the same Gardner Racing!Walters Brothers Harley-Davidson machine that he had used to win the 2002 race. Doc's Harley-Davidson/ USC Racing's Terry Poovey and Johnson rounded out the top 10. Josh Toungett jumped into the fray by lap four to make for a six-rider lead battle early. Mees took a shot at Thomas in turn three on lap six, running it in past him and then drifting up, which allowed McDermitt to cut under both riders to take the lead. Stump was running higher on the Defending Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series Champion Jared Mees bagged his first win of the season by holding off another new young charger and an old veteran in the 12lap Sportster feature at Tri-City Speedway. Much like their GNC counterparts, the Sportster riders were able to really mix it up on the track than anyone else and was still able to keep up with the front pack. Mees pulled outside McDermitt off turn four and got a good drive up the front straightaway to take the lead for good on lap seven, leaving McDermitt to fend off Stump and Toungett, who were running second and third respectively by then. Both Toungett - the new kid - and Stump, a former 883 series champion, were able to get by McDermitt in the last two laps to finish wide-grooved half mile. The race was anything but follow-the-Ieader. second and third respectively. Mees' victory earned him enough BBa NATIONAL Jim 32 Wagner/Mark JUNE 25, 2003' Coffmaneye • e points to secure his GNC classification. n e _ s 1] ~ Jake Johnson 10th "Well, I thought I was in it," the 10th· placed Johnson said. "I came off the line fourth, but then Kenny and Joe were in a whole different race. They were gone. I was kind of on Kevin for the first lap or two. We were trying a differ· ent tire with a little more rubber on it, but I guess we should have used one that was a little more worn out. I couldn't get it to work, and I just started going backwards. I was trying to be easy on the throttle, but I couldn't get it through the middle of the comer. I was coming out decent, but I couldn't get in there through the middle. I'm kind of bummed, but 12th is our worst finish this year. I'm happy when I can stay inside the top 10. @ Jay Springsteen 13th The Springer was sixth on the first lap, but that was the best he would run, ultimately finishing 13th. He said that he knows why: too many twingles. "I got a great start for the main event, but mine was the only bike in the main event that sounded like a real Harley. All the others bikes sounded like big singles. I got a great start, but I just couldn't get off the comers with them, I even tried my Springer finesse on the throttle, just rolling it and easing it on, but it just spun the tire and spun the tire. We jacked the frame around all day long, trying to get more swingarm angle in it to get more traction, and then trying to jack the front end to get more weight on the rear wheel. We tried everything short of twingling ours. I don't like twingles. I think they ought to outlaw 'em." @[] Mike Hacker 15th "I was riding like an idiot," the SuperTrapp/Moroney's-sponsored Hacker said after the main event. "I was going low, going high, just riding every which way trying tn find something that would work. We pretty much struggled the whole main event. I just couldn't get going. I went pretty good at the beginning; but then I just took a step backwards. I couldn't get the thing to hook up. I don't know if it was the bike or just me, but I couldn't come to terms with it. The track got slick, and I couldn't compensate for it. I just kept wicking it up. I need to get my rhythm back. When you've only made one other main event besides this one, it makes for a very short season. Hopefully I can get everything together and come out of it."

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