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/128235
R ST O RY BY S COTT R O USSE A U P HO T O S BY D A VE H O EN IG/ FLAT T RA K F O T O S SPRINGFIELD, IL, SEPT. 27 he stars were ali gned fo r Memphis Shade s Yam ah a's J ,R, Sch nab el an d Q uali ty Ch ecked Certified Pre own ed F ord Racing 's Ch ri s Ca rr at th e Springfield Short T rack on th e Ill i n oi s S tate F a i r g r ound s , a s b o th ascended to new ca ree r pl ateau s. Whil e S c hn ab e l do m i nated t h e m ain event, lead ing eve ry one o f the 25 l a p s t o e arn h i s sec o n d Gra nd N ational victory of th e sea son - and third of his career - Carr fin ish ed fifth to lock u p hi s fifth c aree r and th ird consec utive A MA Prog ress ive In su ran ce U.S. Flat T rac k Cha m pi ons h ips series titl e. T he 36 -y ear- o l d Carr, w ho spe nt th e b et t er p orti on of h i s c a ree r as b ri desm aid t o Sc o tt Parker , sho we d tha t he is still at th e top of hi s ga me. He face d th e ad ve rsi ty o f fai ling to qu alify o ut of h is heat race by w in ning his semi and land in g a spot on th e back row of the 16-m an field for th e ma in eve nt. Carr then p ro ved his moxy by sto rming through the pa ck fr om th e ba ck a fte r th e g reen li g ht flash ed . He wa s 10th at the co m p letio n of th e fir st lap , but he c aug ht and passed hi s sole rema in in g ti tl e ri v al, Co zia h r H arl ey -D a v id so n ' s Jo hn ny Murp hr ee , w ho appear ed to str ug g le T o n the n arr ow , ra in -moistened short tra ck layou t w hi le attempting to work hi s way to the front aft er a six th- place st art. Ca rr stalked Mu rp hree for about a l ap before b lasting past both h im and Fasthog. com's J ak e Joh nson on his way to fifth . Wit h Murphree fin ish ing eighth , the title rac e was ov er. His fifth c aree r title puts Carr in a fam ili ar positi on , th ough thi s o ne i s m uch more eli t e. He has surpa ssed racin g legen d Carroll Resweb er an d is now seco nd to h is lon gt im e nem esis and fo rme r Harl ey - David son fac t o ry te a m ma te . Pa r k er, o n t he all - tim e Gra n d Nationa l C ha m pio ns li st as we ll as on th e all -tim e Grand N at io nal w inn er s li st. Th e n o rm a ll y st on e t o ugh Ca rr had to f ig ht to keep h is e mot io ns i n c he ck wh en h e w as awa rde d the number -on e plate on the podiu m aft er the ra ce. bu tt off, and I m ig ht have a cha nce at beati n g th at reco rd that Sc otty has, but befor e I get tha t far, I'm j us t go in g to co nce ntrate o n wi nni ng next year. We 'll wo rry abo ut the rest dow n t he road. " W e h ad a pre tty good b ike a ll night lon g. I made a si lly mistake in my heat ra ce, and I got c aught ou t for a wh ile. But we go t a decent start in th e sem i and were able to wo rk ou r w ay th ro u g h the m ai n eve nt. I j ust ki nd of bu ckl ed down . Havin g J ohnn y [Murph ree] up th ere as a carrot rea lly worke d g o o d for m e. I was a b le t o m ake a lo t of p as ses up h igh ea rly o n , and th en as th e track came back d own to the bottom , we w er e goo d down th ere , too . We were set pretty goo d fo r the final. " Schnabe l never had to worry a bout pass ing an yon e save for a few lap per s. He jumped from his spo t in the middl e of row o ne and pulle d clea r of T eam KT M/ Jon es Pow ersp o rts ' J o e Kopp and 19 -year-ol d M ich igan p riva tee r H enry Wil es d o wn t h e ba ck stra ig h t aw a y o n th e o pe n ing lap . Fro m th ere he fl at chec k ed o ut on th e fi eld . Schn ab el wa s as fa r as a fu ll st raig htaw ay ahead of Ko pp for much of t he rac e , th o ugh he d id ba ck off a nd a ll ow K o p p t o e a t i n to th a t adva ntag e with about fiv e lap s to go. '" f e el r e a l ly goo d r i g h t n o w ," Sch na bel sai d . " I k new that th e fir st 10 laps were goi ng to be critica l, so I j ust we nt fo r it as h a rd as I co u l d . After a wh il e, I st arted look ing aro und to see w ho wa s the re, and I probabl y sh ou ldn 't ha v e b e ca use I st a rt e d m ak in g mistak es. I ju st backed off a "T his is one of th e things that I' ve l o ok ed forward t o doing my wh o le li fe, to be abl e to accom p lish some thin g as a flat tr ack er ," Carr sa id . "To be able to do something th at Carroll Resweber was n' t ab le to do is pretty coo l, and it' s reall y sta rti ng t o hi t m e now . I'm go ing t o k eep wo rk ing m y cue I e n e vv S • O CTOBER 8 , 2003 13