Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128228
the first 10 laps with Hacker on my butt, and the bike didn't fall off at all. The tire was great the whole way. I ran the last 12 laps of the race within one tenth of a second of each other." "Our laps were faster earlier in the race, but the bike didn't fall off as much as some of the other guys''Carr said. "I just wanted to get the most out of my bike. I knew Hacker was fast early, and I knew I had to have everything working for the main. I knew he would be right there. I was fortunate enough to gap him and then keep the pace steady enough to where he could never really come back. I just wanted to make sure I didn't cook the tire. I started right in the middle. Kopp and Hacker were on the outside of me. It was a great spot; I thought it was perfect. Murphree tried to crowd me a little and move me up, but I held my ground on the line. It was just everybody fighting for elbow room." KTM North America/Jones Powersports teammates Kenny Cool beth and Joe Kopp held down third and fourth the whole way, with neither able to mount much of a challenge. @QD&[1DCS\7D~@ How They Got There Mike Hacker came away with the fastest four-lap qualifying heat, four-tenths of a second faster than Joe Kopp. In regular heat race action Hacker ran away with the first heat and once again posted fast time. There was a great battle over second until the last tum of the last lap. Johnny Murphree and Gardner Racing's Bryan Bigelow looked like they they were going to fight their way into the main until Bigelow's Harley let go coming off turn four. Chris Hart squeaked into third as Bigelow coasted across the line in fourth. The second heat saw KTM teammates Kenny Cool beth and Joe Kopp square off. Kopp slipped by Coolbeth on lap two, and they split from a good race between Jake Johnson and Tim Eades. Eades stayed glued to Johnson the whole race and took the final transfer spot right at the finish line. Chris Carr got by early leader Kevin Atherton in the third heat, and once again the top two positions were set, while great racing went on over the last transfer spot. Jay Springsteen, Shawn Clark and Steve Beattie raced down to the wire, and Clark nipped Springsteen at the line. "I got Springer on the last lap," Clark said. "He did the same to me here last year. It sure helps that 25 laps in the main when you don't have to ride a semi." The last heat saw Ricky Winsett get around Jared Mees for the lead early, but Geo Roeder was on the move and took over late in the race. "I told Skip (Eaken) the last time I won anything here was 11 years ago - I won a semi," Roeder said. "When I won my heat race, I was real happy with that." Mees, Rich King and Paul Lynch also set Winsett back. Steve Beattie won the fastest semi over Shaun Russell, but Bryan Bigelow had his back-up bike flying. Bigelow had been forced to change bikes and then start from the fourth row as he worked his way to third in the eight-lap race. Jake Johnson and Ricky Winsett made up for their heat race disappointments in the second semi as they sent Memphis Shades' J.R. Schnabel, who was having bike problems all night, to the truck. The last semi saw Paul Lynch and Jay Springsteen holding off the much-improved factory Suzuki of Kevin Varnes for the last transfer positions. "I wish I had been closer when Mike and Chris were racing; 1 think we were all pretty equal," Coolbeth said. "I just couldn't gain any ground. I kept charging hard and was catching Mike a little, but nol enough. I'm really pretty happy. The track was slippery, and it was hard to pass_ Coming out .of the corners was good, but it was really slippery going in_" Kopp's fourth-place finish was certainly not what he was looking for as he attempts to eat into Carr's points lead. "The starts were just so important tonight," Kopp said. "It was really hard to make up time anywhere. Once we spread out, you just couldn't make up any time. l tried running it ell U C • e into the turns pretty hard a couple of times but would just start slipping. I think if I could have gotten by Kenny early in the main, it would have been a different story, but it seemed like all four of us wanted the same line everywbere_ After four or five laps we had a pretty good gap with each other, and .it was a pretty boring race from my seat.~ The wide groove belied the fact that there would be little or no passing among the top half of tlte field. Coziahr Harley-Davidson/National 'Cycle's Johnny Murphree got by Lancaster Harley-Davidson/Saddlemen's Jared Mees on lap six for the only pass of the top eight positions. Cayuga Tool & Die/Sunoto• AuGUST 20, 2003 9 ,