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/128230
fast i n t he b eg in ning ... I d on ' t k now wha t ha ppened ." Quietl y m o v in g in t o the m ix was Ko p p 's teammat e Co ol be t h , t he rid er from Connect ic ut slippi ng by Carr on l ap eig h t. Su pe rTra p p / Mo r on ey 's H a rl ey -Da v id son ' s M ik e Ha c k er and C o ziahr Harl e y - D a v i ds on /Nat i on a l C ycl e 's J ohnny M u rp hr ee j o ined Ca rr in a th ree- ride r battle fo r fourth . " O n the restart I got a decent start, go t up into third an d that was about as far as I could go - t he n guys sta rt e d g o i n g by m e , " sai d Carr. " M u rph ree and I b attled for se v eral laps . He w as better in t urns three an d fo ur, an d I w as bett er in turns one and two . H e was f in ally a b le to drop down in o ne and tw o and gap m e a li ttle. That w as at a t ime when I w as struggling, when I was runnin g sid e b y sid e w ith h im. I was probab ly holding h im up a little bit, which is o ka y. " K opp cont inu ed t o lead w ith Bigelow in hot pursuit. " O n the restart he [K o p p ] g ot away a li ttle bit. I just put m y head down an d went after hi m, " sa id B igelow. " I d idn ' t wan t t o se ttl e fo r seco nd . I c au ght h im , a nd he was bobb lin g around ; I know h is bike wasn' t w orking like befo re. I cou ld drive by h im in the apex of the corner, then he w ould shoot b ack by m e going into the c orner. I th i n k he was j u st in survi val mod e. H e was fumbling aro un d on the g ro ove, a nd it wa s hold ing m e u p , b e c aus e it w a s kind of o ne li ne . I k new the trai n behind w as catching u p , and it's a lot better to race o ne o r two guys in st ea d of 10. So I h ad t o ma k e m y move, a nd I tried to get b y as cl e an as I could. " B igelow d id t ak e t he lead o n lap 14 , but the "o th er" black and o range r ide r - Coolbeth - w as o n t he c h ar ge . "The leade rs w e re runn in g a li ttle h igh righ t o ff the st art, a nd w hile t hey were m essin g a round u p top , I ga t h e re d it up on the botto m ," said Cool- How They Got There Kenny Cool beth posted the fastest four-lap qualifying time, but it was Bryan Bigelow on the pole for the National by virtu e of winning the fastest heat of the night. All four heat times were within eight-tenths of a second of one another. Coolbeth jumped into the lead of heat one with Shawn Clark and Joe Kop p close behind . Kopp got by Clark quickly but could only close to Coolbeth 's rear wheel. Clark was pressured by Jake Johnson and J .R. Schnabel. The Johnson/Schnabe l war carried them by Clark with the Moroney's Harley-Davidson/1800fasthog-backed John son claiming the last transfer . The second heat belonged to Bigelow, as he easily outdistanced Chris Carr. There was a fierce battl e between Califomia buddies Shaun Russell and Jo hnny Murphree. Russell refused to be coaxed off the groove and sent Murphree to the semis. Mike Hacker got away in heat three, leaving Jess Roeder, Geo Roeder and Jay Springsteen to battl e over the last two transfers. Springsteen briefiy grabbed second only to have Jess Roeder blast back by. Jess safely stuck to the groove as his broth er tri ed to dislodge Springsteen - to no avail. Chris Boone grabbed the lead of the last heat with Rich King, Steve Beatt ie and Kevin Ath erton bunched right behind. King took the lead on lap two as Boone and Beattie bat tled over second. By lap four Atherton and Brando n Cartwright had also joi ned in. At the halfway m ark , Atherton tri ed to go around the outside of Beatt ie and spun down. Unfortunately for Boone, he was tryi ng to follo w Atherton to the front and also bailed off. Both riders m ade repairs for the restart. King resumed his lead with Patr iot Harley-David son's Ricky Winsett hold ing down second. Cartwright was all over the Lancaster Harley -Davidson/Saddlem en backed Beatti e but just couldn 't get by. Elka Suspension/ Mike Lynch 's Dom inic Beaulac led the first semi, with Shawn Clark and Jeremy Deruyt er looki ng for the last transfer. Murphree went to the high line that would serve him so well in the main and went str aight to the front. Beaulac held on for second over Clark and Garth Bastian. The second sem i saw Gary Rogers squi rt to the fro nt over Chris Boone and Mike Hinds. Natio nal Cycle /K ersting -Perry Harley -Davidson's Ath erton also grabbed the high line to establish a good lead. Rogers, Chris Hart and J .R. Schnabel fought for the last transfer. By lap seven, Schnabel and Hart had caught Atherton. Schnabel made a bid for the win going into turn three on the last lap, only to come up short and loose the transfer spot to Lom bardi Harley-Davidson/Schott Harley-Davidson's Hart. A.J . Eslic k got the holeshot in the last semi, but KK Suppl y/ Las Vegas Harley-Davidson's Geo Roeder quickly moved to the front. Eslick, Cory McDermitt, Raun Wood and Brandon Cartw right were desperately trying to get into the m ain. It boiled down to a batt le between McDerm itt and Wood. The Scott Powersports/Greenland Masonry -backed Wood earned his way in. Bryan Big elow (111 and Joe Kopp (3) go at it in the battle for the fin al podium spot, a position that ended up going to Bigelow. beth . " I was g et ti ng w ay be tter drives coming off the corners ." Co ol beth to o k over o n la p 19 and left B igelow to fend off a pack m ade up of Kopp, M urphree, Hack er and Car r. " I was able to get into the corners way deeper t ha n an ybo d y I passed," said Co o lbe th . " It wa s pretty stressfu l M u r p h ree was th e o nly r ider t o use the h igh lin e consistently. " I str ugg led with Hacker and Bigelow too long," sai d Murphree. " I thi nk if I cou ld have got b y them ea r lier, I coul d h av e ca ug ht Ken ny ." Mu rphree ' s r id e was i m p re ssi v e, as h e h ad sta rt ed o n th e ou ts ide of ro w three. - it see m s l ike t h e lap s w ent b y so slow. It w as l ike , ' O k a y w here's t he five to go, w he re's t he w hi t e flag? ' I looke d ba ck a co u ple ti m es , a nd I ha d a p rett y good lead. I k in d o f c a lm ed down ; th at last la p I ki nd of pu tted ." cue I e n " I to ld M ik e [W heel er] I' d be happy w ith a to p fiv e, sta rt ing fro m t he last row, so I' m p retty happy w ith seco nd," sa i d M urp h r e e . " O n t h e rest a rt , I thoug h t , 'I've got to p f ive , I c a n ge t e _ S • S EPTEM BER 3 , 2003 23