Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

guy s w ere st i ll getti ng it , an d I said , ' O h no , I sc rewed up. ' W e got ba ck to ' em there at th e lin e, bu t tha t' s th e way it goes. I did th e same thing he re in the sp ring, thinking that the whi te fl ag was th e checkered flag. I've got to sta rt c ount in g down a litt le better , I guess. It seem s like we' re o ut th ere forev er. " W ith Mu rphre e and Ca rr effectively o ut of it , K o p p saw h is g olden op p o rt u nity as he slid up under t he pa ir in t u rn o ne, then tail ed K ing , setting up f o r a d o u b l e draft u p the front straight. K i ng sp oiled that p la n when h e m ad e a mist ak e tha t was more to h is ad vantag e th an Carr's . Th at w as it for Kopp. " I th ou gh t I h ad a hec k t o wi n it , bu t t h en Ri c h si d ew a y s a wh o le b unch o f t u rn f ou r and k i lle d o f a c h an ce s p u n it u p comi ng off m y dr i v e , " K o p p said. " I gu ess th at he still h ad eno ug h t o ge t by Atherto n. I j us t t r ied to m aintain fifth fo r t he w ho le race . If you ge t back further than that, you 're givi ng away too much , I think ." King did just beat Atherton to the line , likel y a id ed b y th e fac t that Atherton's bik e w obbled terribly on the run to th e fl ag . K ing said that h e wasn't both er ed b y it , or anyon e else. " T h e re was som e stuff tha t was close out the re ," King said , " but bei ng close with guys you can count on is not a prob lem. I fel t comfortable with e ve ry body I wa s a ro und . T he re w a s some late d raft ing going on - not so mu ch b ec au se g uys w anted to do it but pro b abl y m ore b ec au se o f th e y w ere ge tti ng k noc ked ar ound b y th e wind up eit he r straig ht aw a y . Ev ery b od y w a s prett y cool a bo ut e ve ry- th in g . Th e whi te flag ca ug ht m e o ffguard and kind o f th rew m y plan out th e wind ow. I wante d to le ad it o ff fou r , b ut I didn 't. K e v i n dra ft ed m e down the back stretch , but he had such a wo b b le that I k n ew he couldn't hold it wide open ." A thert on w as m ore th an awa re of th e wobb le , but h e was n ' t b oth ered b y it either. "T h e thing just t urned into a fl ex i fl ye r , " At h e r t o n said . " I t was th e fastest th in g t hroug h t he corners b ut th e slowest t hi ng u p t h e f r ont stra ightaway becau se I wa s go in g t wi ce a s fa r [ l a u g h s] . I d o n ' t k n ow wh at is causi ng it. It's got to be the fork s. It m ight sc are o the r g uys, b ut it' s not t ha t bad ." BB3 NATIONAL N ew l y c ro wned AMA Ha rl e y - D a v id so n Sp orts ter Pe r fo r ma n ce Se r ie s C hamp io n , D o c 's Harl e y - D a v i d so n / Nalli n Rac in g ' s Scott Sc he rb , fi n ished hi s year off w ith a spec ial w in in th e 12 -la p HDSP feature , as h e led hi s so n, Merl e. across th e st ripe to ma k e for the first fath er -s on AMA Nation al dirt tra c k p odium. There was near carnag e o ff th e start wh en Cory McDermitt missed a gear whil e c o mi n g o ff the line and was rear -ended b y Jess Roeder. Both ri d ers re covered qu ickly and set out after the field. The elder Sc herb . who dominated hi s h e a t race ear l ier in th e d ay, ap pea re d to b e eq ually a s stout as he pull ed aw a y fro m the W agn er/Do c ' s H a r l e y -D a v i d s on-ba cked M e rl e Sch erb an d for m er HD SPS Ch amp ion Scott Stum p ea rly in th e 12 -lap rac e. Th en D an S tanl e y c a me ca ll i ng, m own RAce y @ Jay Springsteen 7th The Springer rode like the wind during the 25 -lap main, running as close to the front as fifth as late as lap 18, but breaking into the top four was j ust too much to ask. "That was a heck of a race: Springsteen said. "The last five 1 was fifth , sixth , seventh, up in there somewhere. All these guys were just darting back and fort h, and it was so windy, it was like they'd be all in a line, and then they 'd take a hard left, and poof, it' s like you're in a 50 mp h headwind. You could feel the motor j ust slow right down. It was a good race, but they weren't giving an inch. I guess that' s what it tak es to win races these days, but we're rolling around there pretty fast, and it should be give and tak e. They ain' t givin' noth ing." @{] Mike Hacker 8th Still feeling the effects of his Springfield Short Track crash [see Briefly...], Hacker rode a game race aboard his SuperTrapp/Moroney's Harley-Davidson entry . He was sixth early and ran at or near that spot until he slipped off the groove in between turns one and two on lap 14. "I was running the high line, and somebody slipped up and ran me out of high line to run: Hacker said. "I got it gathered up and went back toward the front again, but that was the wickedest main event that I have ever been in in my life. The way the wind was blowing for the draft and with people going everywhere, it was wild . 1 was on my backup bike, and I wish I'd have had a littl e more ponies." ~@ Steve Beattie 10 th "It must be the Canadian in me: Saddlemen Racing/ Lancaster H-D's Beatti e said after looking stout all day, right up to the mai n event. "I wasn't looking for a cushion out there. I was just tryi ng to hang with the lead pack . Tenth again - that's my life story here. I'd like to break into the top five, but I need a faster motorcycle to do that. I rode my own stuff all year, and I finished 12th in the points, whic h is my best finish ever, so I'm proud of myself. Next year I'm going to be looking for a little more support out of Canada. If I put on my suit and do my marketing right, I think I can make it happen." 0 ® Willie McCoy 13 th After starting fro m the third row, the Dallas Harley -Davidson/Red line-backed Texan caught the main pack . running as high as ninth. but like many others, he couldn't find any room to run. "I would run a littl e bit low going in. but then I would move up and... I could start knocking people out of the way. but we give each other room and respect out there. I just tried to ease over and be cool about it, but every time I'd set something up, a couple of guys would pass me. I was getting ready to go around Hacker, but I caught his leg with my handlebar and about crashed off the groove. I messed up. Making the main's good. but a top-fi ve would have been better. I'll know I'm doing good here when I come off the last comer and feel like I have a legitimate chance to win it, whether I'm in fifth place or 15th. That didn't happen today ." p assin g Stump an d d ra w i ng a be ad behind St a n l e y , w ho d ra f te d pas t M erle S c h erb o n t he b ac k st ra ight away on lap six . o n M erl e Sch erb wh i l e G utt e r i d g e Harl ey -D av idso n /Aupperl e Racing ' s Stanley m ad e h is presence k no w n to Scott Sc herb w he n he drafted pa st J osh T oungett , Stu m p , Ro ed er an d M cDermitt ta n g le d so m e 20 len gth s th e l ead er d ow n t he back c h u te o n lap 10 . Sch erb go t ba ck around Stan ley up th e fro nt straight. Stan ley the n attem pt ed t o ma k e a n o t he r pas s g o ing into turn t hre e t he n e xt t im e arou nd wh en his m oto r let go , end ing hi s day . T h at all o wed Sc ott Sch erb to c r uise to th e wi n , giv ing h im h is fifth w in in the last six HDSP S rou nd s. His so n fo llowe d h im across the li n e to ma ke for a Sch erb family o ne -two . " I loo ked ba c k an d never saw any body , so I th ought tha t I'd p lay it safe and back off a li tt le b it." Sco tt Scherb sa id . "T h i s year I f inally f igured o ut what it t ook to w in o ne of these ra ces. We g o t cl oser and closer, and t h en we pulled one o ff. Then it wa s t ime t o d o busin e ss . I tol d y o u t ha t there were goin g to be two Sch erbs o n the podium one day. The Ha yd en s did it at Sprin g fi eld with th ree brothers, and n ow we ha v e don e it wi th a father and son ." T oungett fin ishe d th ir d . McDe rm itt and Esli ck ro unded o ut th e top five. CN Illinois Stale Fairgrounds Springfield, Illinois Results: September 28, 2003 [Round 171 HEAT 1 ( 10 laps: 12 riders, top 3 tra nsfer) : 1, M ik e Hac k er ( H · D) ; 2 . Shau n Russell ( H· D ); 3 . Johnny Murphree (H-D ); 4 . Jake Johnson (H·D): 5. Scott Scherb (G8 N) he ld off his son Merle (78NI to win the 883 National at the Springfield M ile. c u e I e n e _ S • O C T O B ER 8 ,2003 11

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