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AMAIProgressive Insurance U. S. Flat Track Championship Round 1 1 : Peoria TT After coming close last year, J.R. Schnabel wins the fabled IT "Every lap going into three and four, Chris [Carr] was going higher and higher to avoid the bumps," said Schnabel. "I figured if I could get next to him and get a block-pass, that was my only shot. I drove it way up inside. It probably wouldn't have worked if I'd done it 10 other times, but it worked that one time for me. It's just great." For most of the race, Schnabel had been locked in a three-way battle for second with the Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford-backed Rotax of Carr and the Coziahr HarleyDavidson/National Cycle-backed Honda of Johnny Murphree. "All day we were there, but it wasn't like last year, when we were STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLAT TRAK FOTOS PEORIA, IL, AUG. 17 I!& year ago at Peoria Race Park, it m looked like J.R. Schnabel was on his way to his second career win in the AMA's Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship, only to have Nicky Hayden dash his dreams of a Peoria TT win with a last-lap pass. This time around it was Schnabel's turn for last-lap heroics. Schnabel pushed his Memphis Shades/Parts Unlimited-backed Yamaha by "Prince of Peoria" Chris Carr in the last turn on the last lap to le~ his only lap of the 25-lap main. fast right out of the truck," said Schnabel. "We were the fastest guy all day long last year - today it wasn't like that. We made some changes for the main that really helped. 1 got off the line fairly good, second or third. Jake [Johnson] started to get away, but I wasn't panicking yet. I knew about lap 15 or 18 was when I wanted to make my move and go as hard as I could. We were starting to gain on him a little; then he slid out, and that saved me big time. Johnny [Murphree] had second, then I got by him, then Chris [Carr] got by me and started to pull away a little bit. Then Johnny got me, and 1 had to pick it up to get back up with those guys. We had a good battle going, and I was afraid Jake was going to get away. We were pushing each other so hard we were actually catching him, and we made up quite a bit of time. Then Jake lowsided and opened the door for us." Moroney's Honda/1800fasthog's Jake Johnson looked to have the race wrapped up as he used a great holeshot to rocket away from the battling trio. Johnson led the first 20 laps only to hit the ground on lap twenty-one. "I got the holeshot, and those guys got to racing each other, and I was able to get a little bit of a lead," said Johnson. "I should have calmed down a little, I guess. I don't know what happened. I looked back a couple of times and saw Johnny, Chris and J.R. I just peeked back, and it looked like they were right on me. 1 had been taking it easy through three and four, but I figured I could get through there a little bit faster. I just got in there a little bit hard, hit a hole and bounced the front end off the ground. Before I knew what was happening, I saw Johnny coming right at me." (Above) Jake Johnson (14), Johnny Murphree (20) and J.R. Schnabel (33) get a jump on the field on the opening lap of the Peoria TT at the famed Peoria Race Park. (Left) The battle came down to the final lap with Schanbel (33) going under leader Chris Carr (1) to take the victory. Murphree followed those two across the finish line in third place. 26 AUGUST 27, 2003' II: U II: I e n e vv s