King (10 0 ) has Ke nny Coolbeth
(hidde n). Atherton (2 3) . Carr (1) and
Kopp pl aying catch-up in the m ain
e vent.
T he 40-year-ol d K in g re t ire d his
specia l Har ley -D avidson anniversary
numb e r 100 in fi ne st yl e wh en he
drafted h is wa y pa st anot he r fo rme r
S p r i ng f ield Mi l e wi nn er, N at i on al
C y cl e Su p p l y / K e r s t i n g ' s C y cl e s '
Kev in Ath ert on , t o c laim v icto ry in
the AMA Pro g ress ive Insur an c e U .S.
Flat Tr ack Ch ampio ns hi p s sea so n
fi nale Sp ri ng fiel d Mile and ea rn the
first Sp ri ngfield Mil e swee p (a w in in
both the sp ring and fa ll ru nn ing of the
eve nt) of his 2 1-year GNC ca reer.
K in g ra n a t o r ne a r th e front of
what was often a 15- ri de r lead pack ,
taki ng th e stripe fi rst in 10 of the 25
la ps , including th e one tha t co unte d
m ost . In do in g so , Kin g laid cl ai m to
a sweep of th is ye ar 's Springfield Mile
race s, w hi ch account fo r bo th of his
2003 seas on v ictories as well as the
17th a nd 18 t h GNC wi n s o f his
care er.
K ing had a fi erc e battl e w it h A th erton , T eam KTM/ Jones Pow ersport s'
Joe Kopp , reig ning AMA Pro gress ive
Insuranc e U.S . Flat Track Champ io n
Chris Carr o n the Q u a lity Ch ec k ed
Cert i f i ed Pr e- o wn e d F o rd R a c i n g
entry and Cozia hr Harley -D avi dson's
J oh nny Murphr ee fo r m ost o f t h e
ra c e. Despi t e having lost h is brak es
blaste d p ast t o t a k e th e w in b y a
Will i e G . an d N an c y Da v i d son and
thei r son , Bill Da vidson .
ea rl ier in th e ra c e , Atherto n pu ll ed
w heel. It was a pop ular w in in front of
"Y o u k now, fi nishing o ut with th e
int o the lead off th e fi nal co rn er, set-
good -siz ed Spr in g fi eld c r o w d th at
incl ude d Harley -D avidson fi rst fam ily
la st race with the nu m ber 100, to be
o n top of the box at Springfield , that's
ting up for a cla ssic Springfield finis h.
Kin g fo ll owed hi m off turn fo ur th en
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O CTOBER 8 , 2 0 0 3
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