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
AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships Round 1 0: Hagerstown Speedway my own RAce ~@ Johnny Murphree 5th "I'm really disgusted," Murphree said. "We've been working so hard, and then to get these results... I figuJ'!,d as soon as got my ducks in a row, we would be winning every race. We were really close before the break, and I quil doing anything that wouldn't promote better results. All I wanted to do was go faster. I had to struggle my butt off to get fifth, and I wasn't catching Joe. I rode my butt off, and that was all I could do, fifth. It was like I was riding a different track from everybody else. As soon as I turned the gas on, there was no grip. We changed everything on the bike and was still turning the exact same lap times. Obviously it's not the motorcycle. Hopefully we can go to Peoria and have a wet, sticky, bumpy racetrack for those motocross bikes and make something happen there." 1] ®& Jared Mees 6th "I had a great time.," Mees said. "This is backyard stuff for me. It's the kind of tracks I grew up on. We were fast right off the bat; I felt comfortable all night. Johnny (Goad) had the setup dialed in when we got here. I was in front of Murph for a little while, then he got by me, and we had a good race going with Shawn Clark. We progress every week. I'm learning more and more every week, especially on the 750. It was just so hard to make up time. You had to be just really smooth and steady, or you'd light up the tire." ®1] Shawn Clark 7th "The bike was fast right out of the truck," Clark said. "That's, the best bike I've had all year. I think we're starting to get things figured out. That's the best I've ever seen Hagerstown. It was fast all the way around and no bumps at all; you could go anywhere you wanted to. In the heat I passed Mees twice, but he kept getting me back. He was riding a totally different line than I wanted to. I think we were close speedwise, and if I could have got a straight shot at him, I might have been able to hold him off." @@ Geo Roeder II 8th "I was hoping to do better in the final, but after I ran eighth on the first lap and po one passed me, I was happy," Roeder said. "Usually on these tracks I get passed by a bunch of guys at the end of the race, but we held our spot. I think l'm real close right now, but I screwed up the first lap. I thought I'd try the top, and there wasn't anything there. The last time I did good here was when Rusty Rogers won, and he was running around the top. I thought maybe this would be the same here tonight. I dropped down; the bike worked good." 1] lID backed Shawn Clark had a spirited battle with the rookie Mees but was unable to improve on his seventhplace finish, a career best for Clark. KK Supply/Las Vegas Harley-Davidson's Geo Roeder cruised home in eighth, a marked improvement of Roeder's "car track" results. Paul Lynch, another rider out of the Moroney's Honda/180Ofasthog stable, started on the back row but finished a solid ninth over the Factory HarleyDavidson of Rich King. King was one of the few riders making passes albeit it was from 12th to 10th. Tim Eades was another rider posting his best national finish ever. The Roper/Silkolene·backed Eades finished 11th. Lancaster Harley-Davidson / Saddlemen's Steve Beattie, Lombardi Harley·Davidson/Schott Harley-Davidson's Chris Hart and Bartels' Harley·Davidson's Jay Springsteen rounded out the top 15. The last of the Moroney's Honda/ 10 AU/:Aust" 20, 2003' C II c I 1800fasthog riders, Jake Johnson, National Cycle/Kersting·Perry HarleyDavidson's Kevin Atherton, Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Shaun Russell and Patriot Harley-Davidson's Ricky Winsett filled the field. BB3 NATIONAL Due to the rain threat, the HarleyDavidson Sportster Performance Series competitors were forced to wait for the completion of the entire GNe program. Much like their GNC counterparts, the racing was dose, but little passing actually occurred. Doc's Harley-Davidson/Jim & Jenny Wagner-sponsored Scott Scberb backed up his fast heat win by leading every lap of the 12-lap main. [t was the veteran's first National win since his Amateur days. "[t feels great to get that monkey off our back," Scherb said. "We've been close a lot of times, but this is'great.'' Paul Lynch {] ~ Tim Eades ~® Kevin Atherton 9th "We were fast all day then changed tires for the heat race, and it didn't work oul," Lynch said. "We ended up going backwards. We put the tire we had been running earlier on for the semi and main events, and it worked great. Hindsight is 20/20. I got second pick on the back row and took the outside. I tried the outside on the parade lap to see what was up there. I knew it would be pretty hard to pass once everybody got going. I saw there was a little something there, and I wanted to get as many as I could on the first lap. I don't think anybody passed the whole race." 11th "I need a twingle," Eades said. "I'd try to get on the gas when everybody else did, and I'd just spin. I could slowly roll the gas on and keep pace, but I got a bad start and got stuck in the back. It felt real good. We've shortened the bike up and jacked it up in the air like everybody else, got a traction master like everybody else, now I just need to be going as fast as everybody else. My times got faster as the main event went on. King got by me, and I felt like I could go with him, but Hart was running the same line I was, and he was on the brake hard, and that held me up for a little while. That's my best finish ever. One more and we'll have that top-! 0 finish." 16th "I just got a bad start," Atherton said. "I saw guys roll across the line, and I pulled in my clutch, but the light still went green, and it's not supposed to do that," said Atherton. "I was sitting there with my clutch in when it went green. That put me in the back, and you can't do that here. I just didn't think it would go green. I know the guy next to me was over the line. Ifs ands and buts...