Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

aggressive. I think we tend to do that too much in main events." Twigg Cycles/KK Supply/M&S HarleyDavidson's Paul Lynch got the surprise holeshot and led his first National for four laps. "That' s the first time I've ever led a National. I just wanted to get out of town," said Lynch. "I didn't want anyone even close to me. I was ready to see the white and checkered nags any time - the race couldn't have been short enough. When the moisture started to go away, I knew those guys would be coming ." Lynch would eventually fade to a fifthplace finish. "Once I settled down, I caught right up with him, and I got a good run off two and got it up inside of him going into three," said Carr. "I was able to pretty much set my own pace from that point on . This is a rhythm track; it doesn't pay to get too aggressive. You had to roll it off into the corners, get off the brake and let it roll through the corner and baby the throttle coming off." KTM/Jones Powersports/Mid America Harley-Davidson's Kenny Coolbeth had proven his groove-track prowess by winning the fastest heat of the night . Cool beth held down second until Carr went by on his way to the lead. Five laps later, Cool beth went by Lynch and head ed off after Carr. "I was closing on him for a while , but it seemed like if he made a mistake, I'd make one too," Coolbeth said. "We just couldn't gain anything on each other. He couldn't get away from me, but I couldn't quite get up there with him. I didn't know what to do ; the last five laps the track got just like ice for me. I passed Lynch low, charging into turn three, so I thought I might as well try it, and I caught him [Carr] a couple of times, but I couldn't keep my momentum up, and he would pull me off the turns." Cool beth never was able to make up that last little deficit. "Late in the race, when Kenny was catching me going into the corner, I'm sure he was getting a little desperate," said Carr. "My theory is the finish line is halfway down the straightaway, not halfway through the turn. We were getting great drives off the turns, and I'm sure we were making up any difference on our exit speeds." "The track really changed during the main; there were a couple of wet lines early, but once they went away, I was pretty well stuck ," said Coolbeth. "I think if I could have got the holes hot or got by Paul first, I think I could have done pretty good. " Lynch lost his pod ium spot on lap I I to Moroney's Cycle/American Honda/Tom Nort-backed Jake Johnson . "I had a hard time getting around Paul; I was a little too throttle happy," said Johnson . "I was trying to charge when I really needed to just cruise around and do my own thing. Chris and Kenny got away, but once I got around Paul, I could see they weren't pulling on me ." Another rider working his way to the front was Coziahr Harley-Davidson/ National Cycle's Johnny Murphree. On lap 16 he took over fourth and closed on Johnson . But then it all went wrong. "I was driving around doing everything I could, and I was catching Jake - I have no idea what happened," said Murphree. " I was getting through three and four real good, but I struggled in one and two all night. I figured if I could figure out something for one and two, I'd catch him. We had like seven laps to go, and I was sure I could catch him. I just got off balance in turn two, I lost the front end, and the rear just snapped around . It happened real quick, and there was nothing I could do to catch it. On tracks like this we've always run a pretty aggressive setup, where you have to ride real hard to make it work, always on the edge. I guess this time it bit us." Murphree quickly remounted and continued on but limped home in 17th place . Johnson was pretty much home free in third . ''At one point in the middle of the race I thought I was gaining on them [Carr and Coolbeth] ," said Johnson. "But then I started getting some wheel spin, and I saw there wasn't anyone behind me, so instead of trying to put a charge on and doing something stupid, I put it on cruise control and put it on the box ." KTM/Jones Powersports/Mid America Harley-Davidson's Joe Kopp squandered his front-row start. "I messed up the start. I spun off the line, then when I went for second gear, I missed it," said Kopp. ''A whole bunch of people from the second row went by, and I had a bad deal going. I made up some ground and got by a lot of guys, but that start was the whole deal for me . You can't spot these guys that much . I felt fast, and our times were right there all night long. You just can't get a 12th- or 13th-place start and expect to run with those guys." Kopp was able to slice his way all the way up to a fourth -place finish, passing Lynch on lap 22. "I picked the very bottom for the start; I had the fourth pick, and the middle of the track looked to be the driest," said Kopp. "I didn't have that bad a start until I missed the gear. It's one of those deals you're just waiting for somebody's handle to get you in the ribs. "It's hard to settle yourself down, you get so mad after something like that, but we were able to salvage some points out of it. I got into a group with [Kevin] Atherton, [Mike] Hacker and I don 't know who else," Kopp added . "That kind of slowed me up for a while. I could get by one, then another would get by me while I was looking to get by all of them. Once I got by them, I caught Paul pretty quick, I don't know if he was getting tired or what, but most everybody was going lower in turns three and four, and I just kept rolling around the top, There was still some moisture there, and I just kept doing the same thing for 25 laps." SuperTrapp/Moroney's Cycle's Mike Hacker was also working his way to the front and would eventually land in sixth. "I'm pretty happy; I just wish I could have got my stuff together earlier in the day," Hacker said. "We were having to play catch-up all day. But we hit the setup right on the nose for the main. We made a lot of changes after the heat , and the bike felt like myoid bike again." Bartels' Harley-Davidson/TNT Action Sports' Shaun Russell was able to pull down a seventh-place finish. Custom Chrome/Revtech/Rogers-Lake Racing's Chris Carr's early-season success has been payingoff with a bigpoints lead onlythree races into the season. "It's still early in the year, too early to worry about the points that much," said Carr. "Igo to each individual race with the attitude of win ifyou can and finish well ifyou can't. We were pretty good at Daytona, but we were capable of winningat the Cow Palace, and here, it's just a matter of doingwhat you needed to do. IfI'm winning the races that I'm capable of, I'm content . The points just happen to be the way they are. Nobody else is running a real consistent year yet; that may change - it may not. We will have a pretty good idea after next week. Bythen we'll have run on allthe different tracks, short track, TT, half-mile and mile." Nonetheless, Carr now holds a 21-point lead over Shaun Russell. Russell had a trying day to say the least, as a hard spill in the firstqualifying heat left him on his back-up bike for the night. "What a hole we had to dig out of. We ruined a motorcycle. so we had to switch bikes," said Russell. "That messed us up in the heat, but we finished good enough to get a front-row start in the semi. We were able to get into the main, and that's the important thing, even if it was a third-row start. Second in the points is neat, but of course it's early,and that's subject to change. It's always good to start up front, and we're just tryingto work hard to stay there . I felt fast allday, but it was just a bad situation, where we probably went out on a track that wasn't ready. I hit a wet spot, and that's what put me down. It's hard to have to change bikes and come from that far back, but I just put my head down and kept charging." While Russell's misfortune made things harder on him, it benefited Chris Carr. Carr had tried an outside line in turn four, hit a slick spot and almost fell, droppinghim well off the pace. When Russell fell , it brought out the red nag. Carr made the most of the complete restart and went on to the win. "Yeah, that might have set us back a little bit," saidCarr. "Towin these things, you have to have good bikes, a rider ready to ride them and a little luck. Tonight we had some luck. I don't think it would have set us back that much, but it was a mini break," Factory woes. There are two full factory teams in the series - unfortunately neither has been able to make a main event yet. Harley-Davidson's Rich King finished a distant third in the second semi, and American Suzuki's AJ Eslick finished sixth in his semi, while his teammate KevinVarnes was alsoa

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