Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

my Own Race 1] 1] Bryan Bigelow 5th "I got sick on Tuesday when I was runnin g and haven't felt good since," Bigelow said. "I was k ind of slow in practice, but we kept changing the bike and changing the bike. We finally ended up with the setup we had at Qu incy , so I'm happy we learned som et hing fr om there. In the heat I was a little nervous . Terry [Poovey] was going good , and [Kenny) Coolbeth is always fast, and in short track you've got to win because that's the front row. We won the heat, but it wasn't that fast, so we changed the bike again . Th e tr ac k changed so much in th e main event. It got so slippery that the more aggressive I got and the harder I charged, the farther back I went. I pretty much relaxed and rode like I was goi ng upt own for a gallon of mil k - that was as fast as I could go. I was riding as high as I thoug ht I could: and (Mik e) Hacker showed me a wheel an the outside. I moved up, and my lap tim es dropped a couple of 10ths . I wish I could have held on to the guys up front, but they were running a good pace. It sucks that it' s three-q uarters of the way through the season and we just get rolling. I guess it' s just momentum for next year." ®(] Mike Hacker 6t h "I found a good line in the sem i, and it was sti ll there in the main . I caug ht up to Biggs [Bryan Bigelow), and he was running the same line. I wish I could have got by him and went on about my business, but we were raci ng," said Hack er. "I got my norm al 'good' start - last. To come through from last lik e, that I'm pretty happy . The bik e work ed awesome . I ju st ran right around the bales. In the beginn ing of the race there was nobody there to bother me, When I got up to the front runners, they were running the same line, so my work was cut out for me. I think we put on a good show for all these fans. I think the AMA did a great jo b with what they had to work ~ith . It was pretty neat. I'm sure it was a good race with guys runnin g high, low all over. There was good mo istur e in the track; we were able to rock and roll . I chased [Bryan) Bigelow about seven laps trying to get around on the outside. I could pull up alongside but then would have to back off. I finally tried him on the bottom, but my bik e just wouldn 't work down there." @ Jay Springstee n 7th "The track was a lot bette r than I thought it was going to be, and the night ended better than it start ed," said the Bartels ' Harley · Davidson/C orbin·b ack ed Springsteen. "The carb uretor fell off the first two practi ces, so I only had one practice. I guess I didn't need practice. Th e track just kept getting wider and wid er, and pretty soon we were running rig ht at the hay bales. At the start of the race, I tried to ride the bottom , and I passed a bunch of guys , but then I got caught on the botto m. I coul dn't go anyw here, beca use I was on the botto m, and everyone else was up abov e me. Th ey got their mo mentum up and got going; Beattie and a bunch of them got by m e. A s the race went on, I had to pass a bunch of them back. I passed (Terry ) Poovey , [Willie ) McCoy and somebody else. I told Mike Hacker a co uple of secrets, but I' m not telli ng him anything else because he beat me. He needs to respect his elders." @@ Will ie McCoy 8t h "Where I ended up off the line was pretty much where I stayed. I wanted to go forward, but I didn't want to go backwa rd," said McCoy (Dallas Harley -David son/ Redline). "Springer (Jay Spring steen I passed me there at the end. I ju st couldn't get hooked up and go any where. I was happy I was in there , but I wanted to go forward . I was trying to go high, and I was foll owin g those guys, and they were going real high. I just wasn't ready to go that high. I pro bably should have, but I don't lik e rubbing the hay bales lik e that . The track felt like ice to me. Maybe if I had went up high er, it would have been better. I just wasn't com fortable there." ®® Raun Wood M ees' Ro tax was sta rt ing to slow . "I really felt like we wer e going to be u p there , but with about 10 la p s to go th e bik e starte d s lo w i n g d own, " sa id Mee s . " I t h ink it ' s pro b a bl y a broke n r o c k e r a r m . T he bik e was g re at , w e w e re getti ng a lot o f t rac t ion , a nd then it j u st sl owed d o w n . I was there, I t ried eve ryt h in g I coul d to hold m y li n e, and th en Beattie got by me , and Pearso n g o t m e ." When the w h it e flag c ame o ut, the Murphree/King battl e was still rag in g . Beattie w as th ird o ve r M ees , Pearson , Bigelo w and Ha cker. The leaders ca me off turn two side b y si de, but K ing app ear e d t o hi t a b u m p. He looked ba c k a nd slowed d ra matically. "I th ink someth ing in t h e top e nd let go : sai d Kin g . " I lo o k ed ba c k , and t here was no body th er e, and th oug ht I m ight be ab le to limp to second." Suddenly Murphree w as unc ontest ed for h i s f irst w in of 2 0 03 an d hi s secon d Gra nd Na tional victo ry ever. " I had a p e rfe c t line co mi ng o ff q ua lifie r , b ut a p oo r st art le ft him with a lot of groun d to ma k e up. " T he b i k e w ou ld n ' t spi n all nigh t lo n g ; it w ould wh ee li e a ll t he way to th e t urn," sa id Mu rp h re e . " Before th e Na ti ona l th ey swe pt t h e t rac k, an d I j ust b uzzed the ti re on the sta rt. I wa s l ike e ighth in to the first turn. " Mu r p h r e e qu i ckly re c o ver ed a nd st arted working h is wa y fo rw a rd . " Yo u' ve got to love it; th at's ge ni us, isn 't it? " said Murph ree. " I j u st started runn ing th e t op , squaring it off a nd coming o ff the bottom. I w ent around som e guys aro u nd the to p of some gu y s going i n , and I ' d turn it a n d come under t hem on th e exit." After C a r r 's p robl em , Mu r ph r e e took up th e ch a rge runnin g much th e same li n e a s Carr had been . " It wa s k ind of one of t hose Super. ca m p d ea ls , I g uess . G et th e thin g stood up stra ig ht o n t h e t ire an d dri v i ng s t rai g h t o f f the b ottom ," s a i d M urphre e . " I c o u l d n't b eli ev e Ch r is C a rr w oul dn't turn th e th in g li k e t h at. The fas test he w ent on t he st o p watch w a s w hen he w as r un ning t hat li ne. turn fo u r, and I kn ew I w as k ick ing hi s b utt dow n the f ron t st ra ig ht," sai d M u rp h ree. " He was getting a roun d t he bottom real well , but I felt like I h ad h im covere d . I was just goi ng to sho w h im a l ittle bit at a t ime. I raced w ith him a t Hag erstown befo re , a nd h e t h re w a m o n k ey wrench into m y p rogram . I couldn 't figure it out, a nd by Then h e did n 't do it in th e main." A s it t u rns o ut, th er e was a reason C arr could not du p l ic ate his fast lines. "I was ro ll i ng around on t o p b e c au se I ha d t o, the first lap th e b r a k e s w e n t out ," said Carr. " I couldn 't do anythi ng but roll around the en d of th e ra c e he 'd beaten m e . the top an d try and keep off th e hay bales ." This ti me I decided I w asn ' t going to show him eve ry t h ing , bu t I felt confident I could ge t h im. It's really kind of Lancaster Ha rley - Davidson /Sad · diem en /Jeff D ambros - b ac k ed Jared a bu m mer that I d idn 't get t o race Mees w a s a soli d th ir d behi nd Carr an d K in g ; M ees th en lost the position t o Murphree as Carr dropped o u t. T hus the you ngst er rema in ed in third o ver fell ow rooki e Rob Pear son. O n la p 16 , Steve B eatt ie split th e r o o k i e s o n h i s L an c a s t e r Ha rley D avi d son / S addl em en /D o d g e Broth - or n o t , b ut one ers -backed Rotax . At th e sa me ti m e, t h i ng f or su re, h im . E v en though he was pushing m e pretty wide in the stra ightaways an d ge tti ng kind of defensive, I think I had hi m good off t he bottom of turn fou r. " " I had o ne line ; I h ad to h it it every lap. I don't know if I had him covered 9th "I think we mis sed the setup for the m ain. We got rolling and won our heat. but I thi nk we should have dropped a coup le of teeth for th e mai n event . U ve and learn ," said Wood (Scott Powersports/G reenland Masonry) .· "My goal for the year is to stay in the top 20 ; hopefully we can keep doing this . The track was defiantly fast for the main. I tried going up top a couple of times, but I j ust couldn 't make that work . I started rid ing the m iddle and squaring off, com ing off the bottom . It seemed like the best place for me to keep from getting passed. I couldn 't go for it; the bik e wouldn't allow it." Ro b Pearson eamed the fi rst p odium positio n of his career when he passed Jared Mees o n the final lap t o fi n i s h third. eye I e n e _ S • S EPTEM BER 10, 2003 35

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