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/128233
B v S COTT R O USSE A U P HOT OS BV M IKE D O RAN /D&W IMAGES SACRAMENTO,CA,SEPT.13 f this rea ll y was the last Sac ra m ento Mil e, then the factory-back ed t eams from Hon da , KTM, Suzu ki and Harley David son will all have pleasant m em o ries o f the fi na l running of the leg ' endary Ca li fo rnia race . A ll grabbed a pi ec e of the spotl ig ht at the Cal Exp o St at e F a irgrou nd s o n a rem ark ab ly warm late-summer eve n ing. Th e 1st Racin g Honda team m ates, Bry an Smith and T erry Poovey , took ce nter stage in the m arqu ee Pro Sin gles main event, with Sm ith taking the w in and piling o n the po ints as h e zero es in on his first caree r Fo rm ul a USA National Dirt Track title. The 20year-old Michiga nder sta rted off on the rig ht foot by posting the fastest t im e in qualifying t hen an d win ning h i s heat race - each ca rries with it bon us c hampionship poin ts - befo re scoring the Pro Sing l es m ain ev e nt vi ctory on a mile tra ck that he lists as on e of his favorites. Smith got off th e li ne t hird bu t quickly m o ved to th e front of the pa ck al ong w ith Poovey . Th e tw o then pulled cle ar of the field , drafting inch es ap art from each other at sp eeds up ove r 125 mph , all b ut gu arant eeing a 1st Racing Hon da 1-2. "I di d everything I c o uld tonight ," Sm it h said , " I p ick ed up two poi nts for fast qualifi er, m ore poi nts for the heat race win and then wo n th e ma in. I 'd h a v e l ik e d it b et t er i f Te r ry [Poovey ] and [Dave] Durell e had run about ninth and 10 t h , but I'm still h a p p y . Th is is one of m y f av ori t e I 12 S EPTEM BER 24, 2003 ' cue I tr a c k s , a n d I wo n , so w hat more could I ask for? I couldn 't ask for a better team . Roy Plattel an d Ameri c an Honda are beh ind m e. J also ha ve to tha nk Ron Hamp and Fitz Raci ng. T hey he lped me a t on this w ee k . I had, by fa r, th e fas test bi k e o ut th ere. I co uld lead or dr aft any on e. I' m real ly happy wit h th o se guy s," T ru e eno ug h. Wi th eac h la p it wa s clea r th at Smith wa s be tte r at the lin e m ost of th e tim e, thou gh he y ield ed t o Po ov ey on lap 1g . Smi th si m p ly r e m ai n e d ca lm and follow ed th e Texan aro un d on th e last lap , timi ng th e slingsho t dra ft perfectly to w in the rac e by a bik ele ng th at the lin e. " I k n ew tha t howev e r it w o rk ed out, I could get him, " Smith said . "I would rathe r have drafted him, whic h I did , but even if I had to lead it off four , I k new I could get him. Eith er way that it p layed out, I would ha ve been all rig ht. " Th e wi n gave Sm ith a command in g lead in the series points st an d ings . With o nl y th e Del Ma r Sh ort Track and seas on finale Del Mar Mile left on the sch edu le , he 's not out of th e wo od s yet , b ut he c an see day ' light. Smith now leads Poov ey 218 to 15 6 . Da ve Durell e finishe d th ird at S a cr am ent o a nd s i ts t h ir d i n t h e po ints, with 152 . Ult im at e Edge Racin g /Sil k ol en ebacked 16-yea r -o ld L o g a n M yers snar ed the ho leshot at the start of the ma i n e v e n t , l e a d i n g 1st Ra c i n g Hon da's Merle Scherb, Poovey , Smith and Willie McC oy . McCoy and Scherb we re quickly shuffled backw ard whi le Au p perle Ra ci ng / Ski p Eaken / D i ck e ne vvs F o r d Raci ng' s D an Stanl ey t r ied to move int o th e lead d raft. Smit h too k over the point on lap two . Smith and Poovey then dropped Myers by lap six. Stanl ey was already 15 lengths behind Myers by th en but wou ld ca tc h up and pass M yers with in tw o lap s. Du rell e did n't fig ure into things until th e ha lfw ay p o in t , w he n he la t c hed onto Myer s after d rafting past McCoy o n th e b ack st ra ig hta way. He th en m ade sho rt work of My ers and Stan ley to move into a lo nely third o n lap 13 . "I got a terrible sta rt, but I was able to wo rk m y way th rou gh the p ack ," Du rell e said. "It was tough becau se it seemed lik e every tim e I passed somebody, th ey'd pass me right back, and I w asn't getting anywhere. I got u p to th ird , but then with nobody out there to get in line with and push m e, th ere was no way of catch ing those guys. But I feel good because I know that I ran the ir pac e. I was up to speed." Up fr o nt, Sm i t h and Poovey ran side by side on the front straight away with greater reg ul arity , th ough Smith still ha d a clear advantag e at th e str ip e . That c h a n g e d when t h e y rece ive d the white flag . Poovey sud den ly surge d ahea d. Smith later said that it was all part of hi s plan . "I ju st rolled off and st ayed bes ide T erry so ma yb e he th oug ht th at he b eat m e t o the l in e an d t he n h e 'd wan t to go ahead and tr y to lead it off of turn fo ur," Sm ith said , " It was j ust a little strate gy, but yo u have t o have a plan if yo u want to bea t an o ld g uy like him ," Poovey wa sn't buy ing int o Smith's p loy , and the ve te ra n had a tric k of his ow n up h is sleev e. It j ust di d n't quite pan o ut. " B r y a n ha d a li t tle m ore st ea m tha n m e , but it wa s a g ood ra c e ," Poovey said. "H e let m e do that [lead], so th en I tried t o lead it down the front straigh tawa y and fo rc e hi m o ff int o the fuzz [off th e gro ov e], but hi s bik e wa s so fast th at it didn' t m atter. He just went back by m e any how ." Durelle, who rides his own Du rell e Racing Prod ucts -b acked Hond a, ulti m atel y fini shed third, abo ut three sec onds behind Poov ey and anot her thre e ahea d of t he Stan l ey /Mc Co y /M y er s battl e that raged fo r the fo urth spot. "I t was [ ab o u t n o t m ak i ng m i s tak es]." Dur elle said . "T he groove was so narrow to night. I wasn 't ha vin g too much trouble in one and two. I ran o n a foo t -wide li ne that was out side of all the c rap [b umps] and just insi de th e fuzz. I hit that line eve ry ti me ." Du rell e now fi nds himself with an outside shot at his fi rst c areer Na ti on al title, eve n as he prepares t o celebrate his 4 0th birthday. "Yeah, I'll b e 40 next week , b ut still I had to co me out so th at Ter ry would n' t be th e only o ld guy out he re - eve n th ough h e sti ll is," D u re ll e sa id. " I ju st li k e ridin g these singles bikes because yo u do n 't have to work o ut to rid e them . I can go home and wo rk w ith my suspen sio n bus in es s du ring the week , and then I can come out here on the weeke nds and h ave a grea t time. It 's fu n." Stanley finished fourth , j ust beati ng McCoy and Myers in a draft war at the line. Th e result was one of the better ones this year for the Washingt on rider.