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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128232
Formula USA K & N F ilt e r s P r o S eries Round 5 : State Fa ir S p e e d w a y MINATES Ok ahoma City DureLLe By N IC A LE E S O WD E RS P HOT O S By KE NNY S EA LS OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, AUG. 23 avey Durell e started his day at the Ok lahoma City ha lf m il e much lik e h e did at th e pr ev i ou s round of th e K £, N Filters Pro Seri es in Topek a, Kan sas , but he ende d it differentl y . Durell e was the fast qu alifier, afte r ra in and high wi nds interru pt ed t he practice sessions brie fly. When the rid ers finally were able to get back on the track, D urell e was at th e top of the class , having th e fastest la p . Du relle d idn't w in his heat race; alt h ough it was a close one, J ared Mees ov ertook the vete ran at th e lin e. The ma in event was a sh o w d o w n between Top eka winner Terry Poov ey and Topeka run ner -up Dur ell e . To th e c r o w d 's approval , th e two veterans raced each other on every part of the half-mile cou rse , from start to fin ish . Durelle pulled out the win, with Poo vey taking secon d place. The runner- up position put Poovey seco n d in t he p o i n t s c hase , beh ind h is t eamm at e, Bry an Sm ith, wh o ca me home sixth. Jared Mees sho wed hi s muscle in th e tw ins clas s on thi s XR750 Harley-Davidson , tak ing a con v in c ing win over Jason Ty er and Willie McCoy, the latter rall y ing to third pl ace afte r a nasty spill on lap four of the m ain event. Fa st qu alifier Durell e lined up on the pole for the start of the first heat rac e. He got the holeshot to start th e race as Mees followed in second. The D 54 S EPTEM B ER 17, 2 0 0 3 ' CUll: 2002 Fo rmul a USA Grand Natio na l Ch am p i on , M at t Wait , was in third place . Durelle led the first lap. but coming down the front stra ight for th e second lap, he was gr eet ed with th e red fl ag . Fourth -p la c e ride r J ethro Halb ert slid d own in th e mi d dl e o f turn four , and a c omplete rest art was o rdered. Th e co mp lete rest art helped o ut Mees, wh o g rabbed the holes hot whe n t he g reen light flashed . Wai t was in second , usi ng the insid e li ne; J oh n Hlebo III got up to th ird w it h Durelle stuck in fourth . Th en Scott Beck ley fell in the tuff blocks in turn four, bringing out a caution flag . Me es contin ued to speed away from sec o n d-place d W ai t. D ure ll e took the ou t si d e line a r o u n d Hl e bo to take third away from th e Californian . With in on e lap, Durelle caught and passed Wa it, putting him self i n t o se cond place . Mees continued t o pull awa y , this time with Durelle in tow. Durelle clos ed the gap on Mees but c ould never make a pass stick on the slick track. Merle Scherb passed both Wait and Hlebo fo r th ird p lac e with a few laps r em a in in g . A five-way battle h ea t ed up fo r th e fo u rt h a nd f ina l transfer spot, Wait cont inui ng to hol d h i s po sit ion from Gr e g T e a gu e . Durell e and Mees had a drag race to th e ch eckered flag , and Mees edged out Durell e , w ith S ch erb finish ing th ird. Teague got around Hle bo and Wait for th e final transfer pos iti on . In heat two, Logan Meyers got the holeshot. Rob Pearson followed in second place, with Henry Wiles third. Ie ne_s Mc Coy and Ky le Ragsd al e ro u nded o ut the to p five. Coming out of fo ur, Pea r so n was a ll ove r the p lace but kept the bike on two wheels and held hi s position. Meyers continued to lead Pear son . wh o had his hands full w ith Wiles. McCoy pulled away fr om Ragsdal e to j o in in th e seco nd place bat tl e. Suffe ring fro m a bad sta rt, Br yan Smith was up to sixth p lace and tryin g the outside o n Ragsda le. Com ing out of four, Pearso n and Meyers got tog ether, with Meyers g oi ng down and Pearson t ak ing over first pl ac e. Rem ounting in las t, Meyers sped off to c a tc h the tail end of the pack . Pearson conti nue d to lead with Wiles in second be fo re McC oy passed Wiles to take that position aw ay . Pear son w en t on t o wi n . M cC o y f inishe d in second . Wil es came home third , and Smith made the pass on Ragsdal e fo r th e fina l transfer. Po o ve y g ot the holeshot in th e th ird and fi nal heat race. Poovey led lap one , with Tyer in second pla ce and Nicholas Cummings in third . Tyer went around the 2002 National Dirt Track Cha mpio n to ta ke the lead on lap tw o. St ev e Murray , ra cin g his fir st race back aft er surg ery , was set tl ed in fo urt h . B y lap three, Poov ey was back in co ntro l, and Tyer was in second aga in . Cumm ings st ill h e ld onto third but wa s wi th in striking dist an c e o f the second -pl a ced Ty er. Cumm ings found an opening on th e inside of Tyer and too k ad vantage of th e second place spot. A battle for fourth was on between Murray and Will Sawhill. Saw hi ll got into M u rr ay and took the t r a n sfe r f ro m Mu r ray. Jar ed Cheney and Scooter Vernon were next to get by M urray , wh ose bik e suffered me chanica l failure. Back up front Cum mi ngs closed in on lead er Poovey . Th e two lead er s ran away fr om T yer. Sawh ill still held on to the las t tr an sfer, w hile Cheney and Verno n rac ed bet w een t hemselves t o c hase d ow n the fi na l trans fer spot. Early front-r unner Murray pulled into the pi ts wit h shifte r pr oblems . On the very last lap in turn three, Cumm ing s went for it all and railed around Poovey on the outside to take the heat -race win . Poovey salvaged second . with Tyer thi rd an d S aw h ill hold i n g off all other ch al le n ge r s to m ak e t he m ain eve n t. Ch eney and Vern on head ed off to the sem is for on e m ore sho t. In the first of two semifi nals, Hlebo g ot the hol e sh ot , but Stan le y got around Hlebo t o lead th e first lap. Hlebo was second , with Scooter Vernon th i r d . Battling for fourth were Jared C he n ey and B r i a n Lehfeldt. Sixth was Br andon Laursen, who was try in g to get by Le hfeld t but n ev e r co u l d . Stan l ey co nti n ue d t o pull a lead over Hlebo. Vern on edge d closer to Hlebo and beg an p ressuring th e Californian into a mist ak e. With Ver non a n d Hlebo r ac in g fo r seco n d, Ch en ey was abl e to ma k e ground on Vern on in hopes th at the Washington ia n would make a m istake. Laursen was still working on Lehfeldt ; then came Brett Pankey and Bret Sowders.