Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIProgressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship Round 1 1 : Peoria TT fast. Sometimes when things like that - I was going a lot higher and carry- happen, you get to riding defensively, and maybe that's what happened ing my momentum. I figured I wasn't today - I just got too defensive." Schnabel was more than ready to put his 2002 experiences to use. going to. beat him by following him. The last lap over the jump, I realized I was close enough to do it." Turn three was Schnabel's target. "When Jake fell, it slowed Johnny "I knew Chris was having trouble up, and Chris and I both got by,- getting into turn three, and he was Schnabel said. "From then on I was using that high line; he was making it work, but that gave me the room to Sixty riders attempted to qualify for the 48-rider program at Peoria. Gardner Racing's Bryan Bigelow captured the fastest of the nine four-lap qualifiers. Lancaster Harley-Davidson/Saddlemen's Jared Mees got the holeshot in the first heat over Aupperle Racing's Rob Pearson and R.J. Overholt. Bryan Bigelow was mired in sixth but on his way to the front. Bigelow caught Mees and took the lead on the white-flag lap. Pearson was trying to hold off Roger Lee Hayden for the last transfer. Hayden made a lastlap, last-tum charge on Pearson. The two came together exiting tum four, and Hayden exited the race with a violent highside. After a short time on the ground, Hayden retumed to his pits to regroup for his semi. Shaun Russell led the second heat until Jake Johnson could work his way by Wes Brown and take over. Kevin Atherton also got by Russell, leaving Russell to hold off the fast-closing Bryan Smith for the last transfer. The third heat was a runaway for Chris Carr. Henry Wiles was a distant second. lancaster Harley-Davidson/SaddJemen's Steve Beattie held a solid third over the KTM North America/Jones Powersports team of Joe Kopp and Kenny Coolbeth. The last heat saw Johnny Murphree jump into the lead and cruise to the win. J.R. Schnabel worked his way around Dan Stanley for second and was rapidly closing on Murphree. After the race when Murphree was told he had "unofficially" set fast heat time, he prophetically said: "That may be, but I think Schnabel probably had the real fast time. He was really closing on me: Stanley had to hold off a late race attack from Gary Rogers for the last transfer. Custom Chrome/Revtech's Gary Rogers came right back in the first semi and led wire to wire. Kenny Coolbeth held off Wes Brown for the last ticket to the main. Roger Lee Hayden came from the back row but could only get to fourth. The second semi saw KTM riders Joe Kopp and larry Pegram battling for the point until Pegram settled into the lead about halfway through. Kopp then had his hands full with R.J. Overholt all over him. The first red flag of the day came out on lap five as Josh Toungett and Jeremy Deruyter tangled on the front straight. Fortunately, both riders were okay. The restart saw Pegram resume his lead while Kopp tried to put Overholt away. Ronnie Jones joined the fun and pried third away from Overholt. The last semi saw Rich King leading Willie McCoy, Kevin Varnes and A.J. Eslick when the red came out again - this time Ryan Anderson had fallen in tum one and was trapped in the hay bales. Anderson would make the restart, where McCoy led Bryan Smith, King, Eslick and Varnes. Smith took over at the end of lap one and was never challenged, as McCoy and King were locked in a desperate battle for the very last spot in the National. King would prevail. thinking, 'I got second once before at Peoria - I don't want that again.' I just rode as hard as I could. I was up in the high line in one and two, and it ,was working good. I used the line Nicky [Hayden] used on me last year take a run at him," said Schnabel. "That's where I made the pass on Murphree, and then he passed me right back in the same spot, about five laps later. I knew that was where I had to make the pass, going in low apd kind of blocking." "I wasn't sure where J.R. was going to go, but I knew I couldn't go low; my bike just wouldn't work there," said Carr. "He just got in under me and made a good, aggressive block-pass. He ran me a little wide, but I would have done the same to him." Although he would end up on the podium, Murphree was having his problems, too. "One lap, over the jump, my foot slipped off the peg and hit the ground. It felt like I broke it," said Murphree. "I gathered it back up after both Chris and J.R. passed me. I passed them back, and then Jake fell, and I was leading, but I got messed up, and they got by me. But I thought I had plenty of time to get them back. Then I stuck my foot into a hole going into one, and it was already sore. That pretty much took it out of me." American Honda/1stLegal's Bryan Smith was a closing fifth as he had worked his way up from 10th. "That's the most fun I've had in a long time," said Smith. "This is the first time I've made the main here. The last time I was here was my rookie year in 2000, and I didn't make it then." Dan Stanley made his first National main event appearance a positive one as the Aupperle Racing/Maryott's Honda-backed veteran brought his Skip Eaken-tuned Honda home sixth. "A real good day," said Stanley. "A good motorcycle - we didn't have 28 AUGUST 27.2003' c u e I e nevvs any problems, we just kind of sat back here in the corner and got the job done. This is just a superfast bike. Skip's [Eaken] really done his homework." Seventh went to Henry Wiles after the Simpson/Wiseco-backed youngster had run toward the front for most of the race. "We were running sixth most of the race, then Bryan got around us with about five laps to go," said Wiles. Despite riding with a torn rotator cuff, Bartels' Harley-Davidson/Hap Jones' Shaun Russell finished inside the top 10. "My shoulder felt fine the whole time," said Russell. "The KTM felt good, but it's a 450, so it would have been fun to have a 500 like the rest of them. This was pretty good for me at least we're getting out of here in one piece. It was a pretty good race. I didn't get much of a start and got held up in traffic a little bit. I worked my way through. I passed a few guys, but it took quite a while; I had to work at it." Dirt tracker-turned-road racer Larry Pegram returned to his dirt roots to finish a solid ninth on his L&L Builders/Competition Accessoriesbacked KTM. National Cycle/Kersting-Perry Harley-Davidson's Kevin Atherton rounded out the top 10. eN Peoria Race Park Peoria, Illinois Results: August 11, 2003 (Round 11 of 111 HEAT I (10 laps; 12 riders, top three transfer): I. Bryan Bigelow (Hon); 2. JlIred Mees (Hen); 3. Rob Pellrson (Han); 4. Rich King (H· D); 5. R.J. Overholt (Vern); 6. Don Mullen (Hon); 7. Shane Vance (Hon); 8. Jeremy Deruyter (Hon); 9. Mike Hacker (Han); 10.

• Cover