Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

F o r mu la U S A K & N F ilt e r s P r o Se ries R o u nd B : D e l M a r F ai r g roun ds Jared Mees 116A) t ook the long way around Tommy Hayden (2 21 t o win th e De l Mar Short Track while J .R. . Sc hna be l (33) came from row two to finish third. It was Mees' first career Formula USA victory. By It' s a little frustrati ng . I wa nt to wi n a short tr ack , and I feel li k e I sho uld be able to win one o f th ese th ing s. I've been fai rly close a few t im es, b ut I haven 't gotten a w in . I like thi s trac k, and I like eve ry thing abo ut it , so I'll be ba ck next yea r. for su re." After pass ing Sm i t h fo r fo ur t h pla ce in turn one o n lap 10 . Sch na be l go t under Hlebo for th ird on l ap 16 . He was ab le to pu ll cl ear of th e Ca li fornian . and he attempted to run Hay den and Mees down . b ut he sim ply ran out of laps. "We had som e bad luck in our heat race and had to co me thro ug h a sem i, so th at put us on the seco nd ro w for the m ain eve nt." Schnabel said . " Poo r K yle Ragsd ale - he fell off in front of m e o ut there and I ran right over his legs. I wa s g lad to see that he walk ed aw ay , bec ause it felt li k e I went off a m otocr oss jump , m y bik e was so high in the ai r. W e en ded up third , bu t ' think we had m ore than enough speed to w in it tonig ht . We caug ht th e leader s fr om t he ba ck , and I'm a little p issed th at we didn 't w in it. Our bike wa s g o od e n o u g h , and w e shou l d ha ve been able to do it ." KTM / Jones Powers p o r t s . J o e Kopp m ad e a lat e c h a rge to fi ni sh fo ur th , d is plac ing H l e bo to fif t h . KTM / J on es Powersports ' Kenny Coo lbeth , Ameri can Hon da's Roge r le e Ha yd en . American Ho nd a /! st Ra cing ' s Terry Po o ve y, Rod la k e Rac i ng ' s Rod S p en cer and Smith rounded out th e top 10. Despit e drop ping to 10th, Smith was the Fo rm ul a USA K& N Filters Nati onal Dirt Track Ch ampion . While he sai d that he was relieved , he was n't satisfied. " W h at k ind of a c ha m p i o n f a lls down an d then ends up 10th?" Sm ith said . "T hat's no way to wi n the cha m p io n sh ip . I' m going to show ev ery bod y how a cham p io n is sup po sed to look to morro w on th e m il e." eN S CO T T R O U SS E AU P H O T O S BY D O U G K A RCH E R DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 4 ith th e sport of dirt-tra ck racing a lready ben ef iting fr om a tremendous infl ux of new ta lent, 17 year-o ld Ja red Mees co uld j ust be the nex t b ig gun in a sea o f hot young guns. Sadd le me n Ra cing /lancaster Harley -Davidson 's Mees proved that he has the mett le to mi ng le with the best sho rt -trackers in th e business by scoring his firs t career Formula USA Nation al Dirt T rack Series vi ctory in a th rille r of a Pro S ingles Nati on al at th e Sk ip Vanleeuw en Sho rt Tra ck on th e tight De l Mar Rodeo Arena ci rc ui t. Mees eng aged in a seesaw battl e th at s a w him tr a d e t he l ea d w i th Team K aw asak i/WKR 's T ommy Hayd en f ro m a bo u t th e halfw ay p o in t onward in th e 3 0 -lap Nati onal. Mees was able to work the o utsi de to pe rf ec t i on , w hi le Hayd e n cl u ng to th e pol e, the t wo swap ping pos itions of f e v e ry co rner ; M e e s w a s b ett e r i n tu rn s o ne a nd t wo , Hay den in three and four. In the end, Mees wa s ab le to sw ing th e battl e in a way th at all ow ed him to lead th e race across th e strip e during the last few laps . He wo n the race by a m ere bik elen gth . Ha y d en w as sec ond , w it h Memphi s Sh ad es / Parts Unlimted Yama ha' s J.R. Schn abel fin ish ing third . "Man , I still c an't be lieve what happen ed o ut th ere," Mees said aft er w in ning th e race. "Wha t a gr eat race! My bike wo rk ed good every w here. Righ t off th e bat , I we nt up hi gh and ju st tried to k eep m y m omentum goin g. It fee ls so good to win in m y first [F ormu la USA] main. I ra ce a lot of short tr acks ba ck at hom e , a nd tha t w as one of th e best o nes I have ever been W in . It was so cool to be abl e to battle with Tommy ." Hayd en had the pol e by v irtu e of his win in the second heat race of the night, in which he posted a tim e o f two m in utes, 9 .819 se c onds. Oth er heat-ra ce w inne rs incl uded Aqu a-F lo Honda ' s J ethro Halbert (he a t o ne) , Ameri can Honda/1 st Rac ing's Br y an Smith (he at tw o ), and Whi te B rother s Hond a ' s J o hnn y M urphre e ( he a t four) . In th e m ai n , Hayd en sho t o ff hi s post on the low side of the fron t ro w to lead th e fi rs t three la p s, but t he ra c e h a d t o b e r e d -fl agged wh en South Soun d Ho nda's Ky le Ragsd ale cras hed o n the front stra ight aw ay and wa s run ov er by Sch n abel. Rag sdal e was unhurt, and he part icipat ed in th e sing le -fi le restart. H a y d e n m o v ed o u t aga i n, w ith Mees co m ing wi th him, as Sm ith tr ied to hol d off Zanot ti Raci ng /A&A Rac in g ' s J ohn Hl ebo III an d Schn ab el. Smith slipp ed ba c kw ard , l eavi ng H l ebo a nd S c hn a b e l t o batt l e fo r third . Up fro nt, Mees be g an at te m pt ing his end -aro und on Hayden by lap 15 . Three lap s la t er , Me es h ad the lin e fig u red out, and th e tw o beg an run n in g sid e by sid e as th ey ra c ed up both straightaw ay s, o n ly to sepa ra te a gai n as M ee s t o ok th e lo ng way around , especially in turn s th ree and fo ur. A lt ho ug h th ey c ontinued to run neck and neck , Mees appeared to be Insid e/ Outside: Hayden (2 2) and Mees (16A) were th is close fo r much of t he m ain event. It was close but clean. more in c ontro l of th e ra ce by lap 24 . It w as a good, cl ean race , th e two n eve r bum pin g eac h other as t h ey jockeyed for positi on. "It wa s so coo l, yo u kn ow ," Mees said . " A ny of th e Hayd ens are coo l to run w ith . espec iall y T ommy . He 's j ust as g ood as an ybo dy. I p assed h im , and he pas sed m e back , and then ' pas sed him and he passed m e back ag ain. It was o ne o f the b est sh o rt tra ck ba ttles th at I hav e eve r seen o r been in ." Hayden ag reed that it was a clea n ra ce . " It was a g o o d b a tt l e , " H a y d en said. " J ared rode go od. Ob vio us ly , I wo uld ha ve li ke d for it to turn a li ttl e b it d iffe rent, bu t I felt li k e I rode har d th e wh o l e tim e, and that' s all that I ca n do . A bou t th e last eig ht laps o r so . the li ne I was usin g ki nd of went away a little bit. I th ink tha t we co uld ha ve been a little mo re ag g ressi v e w ith each other , but I wasn 't going to do th at to h im afte r he had rod e cl ean wi th m e the whole time. " I s t r ugg le d i n o ne a nd tw o a ll n ight," Hayd en co ntinued . "The fron t end wa s p u sh ing a li ttle t oo mu ch . and I was slo w ing down ju st a li ttle t oo mu ch in the m iddl e of th e tu rn s there. I felt like it was bett er when we had a little g rip. bu t.. . I don 't k now. cu e I e Del Mar Fairgrounds De Mar, Ca l lifornia Results: October 4. 2003 [Round 8 of 91 PRO SINGLES NA TIONAL (30 laps; 16 ri ders); 1. Jared Mee s (Han) ; 2 . To mmy Hayden (Yam); 3 . J .R. Schnabel (Yam ); 4 . Joe Kop p (KTM) ; 5. John Hlebo III (Han ); 6 . Kenny Coo lbeth (KTM ); 7. Roger Lee Hayden (Han) ; 8 . T erry Poovey (Han); 9 . Rod Spencer (Han) ; 10 . Bryan Sm ith (Han ) ; t 1. Jethro Halbert (Han); 12. Kyle Ragsdale (Ha n) ; 13 . Kevin Varnes (S uz); 14. Willie McCoy (Hon); 15 . Johnny Murphree (Han) ; 16. Rob Pearson (Ha n) . TIme: Na time . due to red flag. FORMULA USA K&N FILTERS NATIONAL DIRT TRA CK SERIES POINTS STAND INGS (After 6 or 9 ro und s) : 1. Brya n Smi th ( 178 / 2 wins) : 2 . T erry Poovey ( 178/1 win); 3 . Willie McCoy ( 154) ; 4 . Dave Durelle ( 152/1 win); 5. Kenny Coolbeth ( 14 8/1 win); 6. J .R. Schnabel (134 ); 7. Jared Mee, ( 128) ; 8 . Rob Pearson ( 126/1 win); 9 . Nick Cummings (1 26 ); 10. Joe Kopp ( 122) ; I I. Da n Stanley ( 120 ); 12. Jethro Halbert ( 108 ); 13 . Kyle Ragsdale ( 98); 14 . Logan Myer s (90); 15. Rich Kin9 (78 ); 16. Joh n Hlebo III (74) : 17. Greg Teague (62); 18. Merle Scherb (56 ): 19 . Jake Johnson (48); 20 . Henry Wiles (44 ). Upcoming Round : Round 9 - Del Mar. California. October 5 n e vv so • O C TO B ER 1 5 , 2 0 0 3 27

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