Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ryan Anderson (Rot); II. Roy Miller (Hon); 12. Roger Lee Hayden (Han). Time: 4 min., 32.743 sec. HEAT 2 (to laps; 12 riders, top three transfer): I. Jake Johnson (Hon); 2. Kevin Atherton (Yam); 3. Shaun Russell (KTM); 4. Bryan Smith (Han); 5. Wes Brown (Hon) 6. Ronnie Jones (Han); 7. A.J. Eslick (Suz); 8. Jeson Tyer (Hon); 9. Ben Carlson (KTM); 10. Mike Hinds (Hon); II. Eric Rickman (Rot); 12. Josh Toungett (Hon). Time: 4 min., 31.005 sec. HEAT 3 (10 laps; 12 riders. top three transfer): 1. Chris Carr (Rot); 2. Henry Wiles (Hon); 3. Steve Beattie (Han); 4. Jae Kopp (KTM); 5. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (KTM); 6. Willie McCoy (Han); 7. Terry Poovey (Han); 8. Cory McDermitt (Hon); 9. Sam Lowe (Hon); ) O. Mett Burton (Yam); 11. Merle Scherb (Hon); 12. Dustin Crow (Hon). Time: 4 min., 28.096 sec. HEAT 4 (10 laps; 12 riders. top three transfer): 1. Johnny Murphree (Han); 2. J.R. Schnabel (Yam); 3. Dan Stanley (Han); 4. Gary Rogers (Hon); 5. Larry Pegram (KTM); 6. Kevin Varnes (SOl); 7. Greg Tysor (Han); 8. Raun Wood (Han); 9. Bryan Douglas (Han); 10. Jerad Cheney (Han): 11. Ken Yoder (Han); 12. Garth Bastian (Hon). Time: 4 min.. 27.981 sec. SEMI I (8 laps: t 2 riders. tap two transfer): 1. Gary Rogers (Han); 2. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (KTM); 3. Wes Brown (Hon); 4. Roger Lee Hayden (Han): 5. Cory McDermitt (Han); 6. Greg Tysar (Han); 7. Don Mullen (Han); 8. Jason Tyer (Han); 9. Mike Hacker (Han); to. Merle Scherb (Han): II. Jerad Cheney (Han): 12. Eric Rickman (Rot). Time: 3 min., 39.900 sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps: 12 riders, tap twa transfer): 1. Larry Pegram (KTM): 2. Joe Kopp (KTM): 3. Ronnie Jones (Han): 4. R.J. Overholt (Yam); 5. Terry Poo....ey (Han): 6. Ben Carlson (KTM); 7. Matt Burton (Yam): 8. Jeremy Deruyter (Hon): 9. Raun Wood (Han); 10. Roy Miller (Hon): II. Ken Yader (Han): 12. Josh Toungett (Hon). Time: t 2 min., 38.276 sec. - Red Flag SEMI 3 (8 laps: 12 riders, top two transfer): I. Bryan Smith (Hon); 2. Rich King (H-D); 3. Willie McCoy (Hon): 4. Ke.... in Varnes (SOl): 5. A.J. Eslick (Suz); 6. Shane Vance (Han); 7. Mike Hinds (Han); 8. Sam Lowe (Hon); 9. Bryan Douglas (Han); 10. Ryan Anderson (Rot); 11. Gerth Bastian (Han); 12. Dustin Crow (Han). Time: 3 min., 39.782 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps, 18 riders): 1. J.R. Schnabel (Yam); 2. Chris Carr (Rot); 3. Johnny Murphree (Hon): 4. Jake Johnson (Hon); 5. Bryan Smith (Hon); 6. Dan Stanley (Han); 7. Henry Wiles (Han): 8. Shaun Russell (KTM); 9. Larry Pegrllm (KTM); 10. Kevin Atherton (Yam); 11. Bryan Bigelow (Hon): 12. Steve Beattie (Han); 13. Jared Mees (Han); 14. Gary Rogers (Han); 15. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (KTM); 16. Rob Pearson (Han); 17. Joe Kopp (KTM); 18. Rich King (H,D). rllTle: 11 min., 10.141 sec. AMA/PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS (llfter I 1 of 17 raunds): 1. Chris Cerr (200 pts/4 wins): 2. Johnny Murphree (163); 3. Joe Kopp (157/2); 4. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (129); 5. Rich King (111/1); 6. Joke Johnson (102/1); 7. J.R. Schnabel (80/1): 8. Kevin Atherton (73); 9. Jay Springsteen (72); 10. Bryan Bigelow (67): 11. Mike Hacker (62): 12. Shaun Russell (59): 13. Paul Lynch (51); 14. (TIE) Brett Landes (43/1 )/Geo Roeder II (43); 16. Willie McCoy (39); 17. Steve Beattie (38); 18. Jared Mees (36); 19. Terry Poovey (34); 20. Raun Wood (32). (Above) Johnny Murphree styles off the Peoria TT jump on his way to finishing third. Murphree is second In the championship point standings behind Chris Carr. (Below) J.R. Schnabel celebrates his win. BRIEFLY••• For the second time this year. Jake Johnson let a n National win slip through his fingers. "Maybe we have a curse," said Johnson. "This morning I said I"d be happy with a top five. I guess I can't complain. I crashed and still got fourth. It's a lot better than I did last year. I wasn't too confident early on. I knew I was running good, but I didn't think I had a chance to win it. 1"11 just forget that I crashed and remember that I finished fourth." n J.R. Schnabel's win was sweet as it came with some history. MI raced in the Amateur Nationals here in 1989, '90, '91 and -92, and to be able to come back as a Pro and win - it's just great." said Schnabel. "I remember sitting up there in the grass in '92 and watching Chris Carr and thinking, 'Boy that guy is unstoppable.' Now to be able to run 25 laps close to him and actually battle for the lead... it feels good. We had a good scooter. Handlingwise, I think it was the best bike here. I was able to tum under people and get on the gas. It was perfect. We were outhandling those guys, and that's half the battle here. I just can't say enough about this Memphis Shades Team." Chris Carr may have had to settle for second, but his points lead continues to grow, now standing at 37 over Johnny Murphree. "Getting a bad start didn't help any. I had to expend a lot of energy getting to the front.·· said Carr. "Schnabel made a good pass. It was aggressive. but I would have done the same thing if I was in his shoes. I had a good motorcycle, and I wanted to win this on a flat tracker for maybe the last time here, depending on what the rules do. We had a good event. but I wasn't as well prepared as I would have liked. I feel that had we not done that Laguna Seca thing [SupermotoJ we would have been better prepared. I got a little winded there towards the end. and it cost me. We had bruised kidneys from that fall out there, and the doctors told me to not even ride a bike for a few weeks. so I couldn't get prepared. We came out better than a year ago - we had a chance to win thiS thing." Johnny Murphree is st,lI unhappy about podium Finishes - with no wins. "We were fast all day but just couldn't get that break we needed to get out front," said Murphree. "We finally got a good start in the heat, got out front and set fast time - that's the way I felt it should have been all day. I thought we had a chance to get out there and be cool and ride around. I knew J.R. was going to be fast. and Chns is always fast here no matter what. It's the same old thing - we were fast enough to win the race. It's getting on my nerves. not winning any races, but It'll come around. We'll Just keep hammenng away." Peoria native Dustin Crow made his Expert debut and looked fast all day. Unfortunately, Crow's results In hiS heat and semi were the same. Each race ended with falls In tum one. n n Bryan Smith explained hiS newfound powers "A buddy of mine. Dave Sullivan. built a track at his house." said Smith. "I practiced on it last winter. I learned how to tum right and jump there. " Henry Wiles had to make a stop Saturday night at a local short track race to get enough money to ride the Natio11al. "We had to go race in Galesburg." said Wiles. "1 needed to make enough money to buy tires for this race. I knew how they were paying. I knew I had to win - it all worked out. We're still working on bike setup. The 500 I rode today, we just got together on Friday." Wiles picked up $1620 for his seventh-place finish. Bob Meliville of Aid to Injured Riders donated four tires to each heat race. The catch was, after each race Meliville would roll a pair of dice, and whatever number came up, that was the position that got the tire. The oppressive heat and humidity took its toll on more than the competitors. During qualifying, the action came to a halt twice as an electrical "blackout" hit the scoring tower. knocking out power to the clocks. cue' e n e _ s AUGUST 27. 2003 29

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