Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

track got too big. Johnny was putting arou nd the bo tt o m , and he caught me. Eventually, I had to drop down." Murphree got his 2004 campaign only one spot worse than he did in 2003, finishing third at Daytona instead of second , but the 25-year-old Coziahr HarleyDavidson/National Cycle rider showed once again that he has his game face on and is ready to battle it out with anyone and everyone for the number-one plate. Murphree set fast time of the night in winning the second of the six heat races to sit on the pole fo r the ma in event. He led the field down the back straightaway and was attempting to ' run a midway line on the track when Smith went underneath him off turn two on lap three. Schnabel went around the outside in the ne xt pai r of turns to drop Murphree to th ird, and that's where the hard-riding Californian stayed for the rest of the race. "We were goi ng good right at the beginning," Murphree said . "That first stretch, fro m the starting line to the first turn, we had that one wi red, and then after that it was all downhi ll. Brya n was going for it early, and I thought that maybe I could learn something from his line and not let him get away too far. Then here came o ld West Bend Wisconsi n [Schnabel] around the outside. I'll tell you what, when the track gets rough or there's some kind of adversity out there, that guy is as tough as an o x. Congratulations to J.R. Schnabel and Brya n Smith for sure." Dallas Harle y-D avidso n/Ad vance d Wall Systems' Willie McCoy may have been the fast e st man on the track late in the ra ce . The 34-year-old series veteran put on a show in the late laps , slinging his ROlaX aro und the high line with reckless abandon to pick off the most riders of Contrary to rumors, l ay Spri ngs teen isn't retired, and he sure isn't done. So, it was no surpriseto see the three-time former AHA Grand Natio nal Champ io n on the track at Municipal Stadium, a track where he earned a th ird-place finish in last year's race . "But then the two years before that I didn't even make the main event," Springsteen said. "I just thought I'd come back here because I did finish third last year, and this is probably the only short track that I'm going to do this year." Springsteen was looking good in his day qualifier, leading the race when his Rotax broke a tim ing belt, fo rcing him into the second ro und of q ualifying, where got through and made the 60-rider cut. As far as his activity, Springsteen says that he is going to be selective. "I'm going to ride Springfield and most all the miles, and then I have the AHRMAroad races that I'm going to ride, maybe five or six of those," Springsteen said. "I can't just quit completely, but I'm just going to have more fun racing. I've got a cabin in Michigan, and I haven't been there twice in I0 years. After 30 years of going in circles, sooner or later I'm gonoa have to start doing some of the things that other families do in the world rather than pounding the pavement every weekend." Springsteen finished eighth in the main event . After posting stellar season results in the past two years, most dirt track fans might be surprised to know just how close Kenny Coo lbe th came to not racing on the U.S. Flat Track tour this season after talks with KTM broke down. "They wanted me to do the Formula USA Series, and I told them no," Cool beth said. "I want to win the AMA title ; that's my goal." Cool beth said that without the KTM deal , he would have been parked. "It was really scary," he admitted. "I was calling everybody and their brother: ' But the collapse of the Formula USA series was a stroke of luck for Coolbeth, who was able to work a deal with KTM to keep representing the Austrian manufacturer in the AMA series. "It's pretty much all the same as it was, only now it's being done out of my hometown," Coolbeth said. "Myoid mechanic from when I was real young, Gary Edmunds, is helping me out. He used to help out Jason Fletche r. I am really happy with everybody. KTM is backing us again, and hopefully next year they can step it up more with the KTMV-twin, and we can just go from there." Cool beth was 12th in the know, it's just a matter of time:' Bisha said that he is already moving onto other projects, such as his assistance of Canadian racer Dominic Beaulac. "I can't get away from it either," Bisha said. "Th is year we're going to he lp the Canadian [Dominic Bea ulac] get going, and then we'll just go from there." Spea king of Dominic Beaulac, the Canadian has a tremendo us o ppo rtun ity to further his career with the assistance of Bisha, someth ing that is not lost on him. "1get to work with a Jim Kelly engine and a good tune r in Joe Bisha," the 27-year-old Beaulac said. "This is perfect fo r me . We have good bikes. This should be my best year:' Beaulac's career best finishes are a pair of ninth -place runs at the Uma, O hio, Half Mile in 2003 and 2004. "I am going to win Uma this year fo r sure ," he said. Although his team strugg led at Dayton a, Team Suzuki's Kevin Varnes did have some good news - and it had nothing to do with car insurance. Rather, Team Suzuki has picked up Monster Energy Drink as a major sponsor for the 2004 season. "We just picked that up at the beginning of this year," Varnes said. "They' re going to be helping us out , and we're going to have coolers available in our pit area to hand out free Monster Energy drinks to everybody. It' s a great outside-industrysponsorto have come in, and it' s good stuff, but we can't give too many to AJ. [teammate Eslick]. He 's hyper enough as it is." Paul Lynch has cut a deal with Edd ie Adkins Racing that will see him aboard Adkins' Harley-Davidsons in 2004 . "It' s a nice change of pace, coming from a three-rider team to a one -rider team and being the main guy," Lynch said. "I'm on about the same equipment, but now I have twice as much of it and all of the attention." Lynch's careerbest finish was a fourth at the Sharon , Pennsylvania, Half Mile last season. He is anxious to build on that in 2004, hopeful to shake off his journeyman reputation once and for all. "This is my seventh or eighth season, and I need some good finishes th is year," Lynch said. "I have got some really good guidance with Eddie. Hopefully this will be a good building year and something that we can use to go for it next season." main event . Springsteen's mechanic, [oe Bisha , said that he has mixed emotions about seeing the end of the Springer era. "Jay will be aro und mo re tha n he thinks he's going to be ," Bisha said. '~ctually I'd like to collect my reti rement tha t I've got coming to me so med ay. I did work before I started doing this stuff. But, you Gee Roede r, Ho nda ride r: Roeder was o nce brought a Skip Eaken-prepared, stockframed Ho nda CRF450R to the party at Municipal Stad ium, and he appeared to be very fast on it, making both 60·ri der cuts ove r the two days. "It's working really good," Roeder said. "I like the stock frame . Maybe it's more built for my size or someth ing; I Continued on poge 3 4 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 17,2004 33

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