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
F o r m ula USA K &N F ilt e r s Pro Series R ound 6 : P owercom Par k ride r Je remy D eRu y t e r , who were both using th e low line, before fi nish in g in th e last transfer sp ot. Greg Teague led th e fi nal Pro Sin g les h e a t r a c e into tu rn one w it h KTM ' s J o e K opp and A merica n Hon da's Br yan Smith sha do wing him do wn th e bac k stretc h . T eagu e began pullin g away from K op p , both using th e h igh line, whi le Smith was usin g th e lo w li ne to catch up. Before lon g . Kopp and Sm ith were waging a textbook short-track du el th at was worth the pric e of ad miss ion alone. Smith w ou ld d i ve und er K o p p going in t o turn a corner and drift high to block, o nly to ha ve Ko pp k nife un dern eath at th e ape x and lead down the fo llow ing straig ht away . In th e end, Teag ue cla imed an easy vi c t o ry o ver series po int leader Smith , K o p p , and D an Sta nley. "T his reminds me of a lot of tracks back hom e," Teag ue said after the win . " We unloaded th is KTM , and we haven 't tou ched it all night long ." D u rell e sp e nt m os t of th e time after w inning his heat rac e di aling in th e suspen sions o n h is co m pe ti to rs ' machines. "I' m her e as a businessman firs t , and all of th e heat -race winners ha ve my suspensi on and / or wh e e l s, " Dure lle said . "If I were yo unge r and more ser ious abo ut racing , I might not h elp these o t he r gu y s o u t so m uch, but I'm just out raci ng for fun ." Pearson admitted that he wa s still surging off the adrena line of his podi um perfo rmance the night before but commented that the track wasn 't as bad as a lot of rid ers felt. " It's reall y cho p py goi ng into th e co rne r s, an d that ' s be atin g m e up p r ett y bad , " Pears on sa i d w hi le wa t ching Dur ell e adju st h i s r e ar sho ck . When asked about hi s secr et for running so co ns is te ntl y f a st all By B E RT SUMNER PH OTO B y D EWA N NA C OMER A N D T IM H A NDR ICH BEAVER DAM WI, AUG. 30 , ob Pearson ca pped off the g reat 1/\ est wee ke nd of hi s yo ung p ro fessio na l caree r ton igh t by runn ing away with the Pr o S in g l e s Main a t th e Snap -On Too ls N at ion al , ro und six of the K& N Fi lte r s Nati on al Dirt Tra ck Seri es sa nc tioned b y Formu la USA . Pearso n served notic e ea rly th at h is podium f in i sh at th e Hales Corner s AMA GNC ev ent th e ni ght befor e was no flu k e b y p o stin g fast quali fyin g la ps all ni ght lon g , winn ing his heat race wi re t o wir e a nd cha rgi n g thro ug h tr affi c to score the wi n in the 2 5 -lap m a in . In sco r i ng hi s fi rs t Nation a l w in . Pearso n joins Jennifer Snyd er and Brya n Smith as the on ly riders ever to win F ormula U S A N at io nals in thei r roo k ie years . U H EAT S/S EMI S The first heat race bla st ed off at 8:04 p .m. , w ith Michigan ro okie Logan My ers leading the fir st ] 6- ride r he at ra ce up th e banking into tu rn o ne of the three-ei ghths -mile clay ova l, with Okl ah oma Cit y w inner D avey Durelle in hot pursuit . Durell e pass ed M yers in turn fou r, th en set sai l up o n th e bank ing t o sc o re th e w in and claim the po le for the main event. Top qu alifi er Kevin At herton rec overed from a bad start to cl aim second , with Myers and defending Fo rm ula USA National Champion Terry Poovey c la im ing the last t icket to the main eve nt. Pea r so n g ra b bed th e holes hot in heat two and ne ve r looked back , running up nea r the hay bales all the way around to win the sec on d -fast est heat of th e nigh t. Brand on Ca r t w r i g h t sta rt ed out in second but ga ve way to K T M ' s K enny Coolbe th and lo c a l 44 S EPTEMB ER 2 4 , 2003' cue I e n e vv s ni gh t on a tra ck t hat ma ny r id e r s voca lly dis lik ed, Pearso n co uld n't put h i s fing er on anyo ne thing , but sco ffed at the suggestion tha t he was k eeping his eye s closed . " It' s the sam e for everybody ," he said . Jake Jo hnso n to p ped the firs t se mi, fo ll o w ed by J a red Mees and Willie McCoy. John Hlebo III wo n the secon d semi ; He nry Wiles and J .R. Schnabel cla imed the last two trans fers to the ma in even t. P R O S INGLES N A TI O N AL Pole sitter Durelle chose the third gate from th e inside, with Sm it h and Coo lbeth o n h is left , Pea rso n, Ath e rt o n and Teague o n his right. Stanle y chose th e inside pole of row tw o , w ith Kopp , Poovey , Cartwrig ht, DeRuyter and Myers li ned up alongside . Hleb o , Johnson , Wil es , Mees , McC o y and Schnabel fill ed o ut row three. K in g used hi s provi sion al start ca rd to join th e main eve nt as the sale occ upa nt of row four. " We bl ew up o ur pr imary b ik e last ni ght [at Hal es Co rne rs]," K ing sa id . " That was the b ik e tha t was be st suited t o my style . So we st arted he re a bit beh in d the eig ht ball tr y in g to get th e back -u p bike set up like the ma in on e wa s. I j ust nev er fe lt co m fo rta ble o n it. For th e sem i, I switched to th e b ik e tha t J ay [Sprin gsteen ] ro d e in pra cti c e , so I h ad to st art o n t h e fourth row th ere , bu t I felt co m fo rt ab le on tha t on e right away . I passed q uite a fe w guys in that e ight-l ap semi (he finished seventh ) , so I kn ew we had a good chance of doing well in the mai n, so I used th e provisional sta rt ca rd. " Durell e led th e ] 9 -rid er pack int o turn on e but fo und himself relegated to third off turn tw o wh en Teagu e and Pear son bl ast ed by on th e high li ne . Teag ue led afte r o ne lap, riding up n ear th e h a y ba les whi l e Pea r son dove unde r in turn two t o ta k e th e lead. After fiv e laps, the lea d trio had lea pt o ut t o a hal f -st rai ght way le ad over a batt le among A th erto n, Coolb e th a n d S mit h. On l a p seven . Teagu e renewed his challenge for the w in b y h oun di n g Pearson th ro ug h t urns three and fo ur by run ni ng th e lower li ne. A lap later, Teague made his move going into th ree bu t ca ught his foot in a hole and nearly lost his left bo ot in th e pr oc ess. He fad ed to third , th en rod e th e rema inder of the ra c e in su r vi va l m ode t o sal vage a th ird -place fi nish . Du relle cla im ed th e runner -up spot when Teague bobbled , and he moved up to t he h igh l ine in an effort to catch Pears on , who had m oved down to t h e low lin e . On l a p ] 5 , as the leaders encountered l ap p ed t raffic , Du relle cl osed to Pear son 's rear fender and sho wed him a whee l up high in turn one . Pearson moved back up to the high line a la p later and beg an p ulling away agai n. He ski llfully na vi gated throu gh the lapped traf fic and scored his fir st Na tiona l win unc hallenged. On the podium , Pearson than k ed his fa m ily for their s u pp ort a nd D urelle for setti ng up his suspension . "The high line was wo rk ing for m e early, but it sta rted to go away, so I m ov ed down low in one and two ," Pearson said. " I hea rd Davey c atc h ing me up high, so I moved up to his line, and it was a lot sm o ot her than the line I was running , so I used it to pu ll away aga in. After that, I j ust con centrated o n rid ing aro und , hittin g m y lines, and it all worked out. I was wo rried about all t he lappers, but they all got o ut of my way without any problems, so that help ed ." Durelle felt he had be tter lines th an Pearson , but afte r nearly losing his stee l shoe in a h o l e, he decided t o coa st t o the fini sh in second rather than risk injury . " Robby didn 't m ak e any m ista k es to nig ht, and th at was the diffe rence, " Dur elle said . " I built th e suspension o n eve ry bik e o n the po d iu m , a nd t hat's reall y n eat. It su re i s fun to co me o ut h er e and p lay with th es e guys ." Teague w a s limping badl y o n a swo llen left ank le afte rward. " I had gr eat lines, and I wa s sizing Robby up when I stuc k m y foot in a ho le in turn th ree ," Tea g ue sai d. " I thoug ht fo r sur e I'd broken my ank le right th en and th ere . After that, I j ust held o n to th e fini sh. I went to the ambu la nce after the race , a nd th e med ic s say m y ank le's not bro k en , so that's good news. We d id n't tou ch the bike all night long , and to fi nish third , I' m ha ppy as a la rk ." J ohns on m eth od i call y us ed th e