AMA Progres s ive Insurance Flat Tr ack Cha mpio ns hips
Briefly..•
How 1:hey got 1:herE
There was much antidpation as the first
heat raced rolled to the line. Fast qualifier
and last year 's TT winner Brett Landes
would face off against the winningest rider
in the Grand National TT category, Chris
Carr. At the Cow Palace earlier in the
month the Carr/Landes duel was worth the
price of admission as they battled for the
win.
Landes, on the AudiovoX/Quaker State
Honda, surprised many when he chose the
outside pole for the heat race, with Carr
lining up just to his inside. Carr got the
holeshot, and Landes went right with him.
Landes followed for several laps before
miling his move on the outside of the
right-hander. Carr got back arou nd a lap
later. After the lead swapped hands several
times, Landes opened up a five bikelength
lead and appeared to be on his way to the
heat race win and the final. Instead, with
two laps left, he cut the right-hander too
dose, and his fro nt brake lever hit a hay
bale, lockingup the front tire and sending
him to the ground - and to a sem i. Carr
won it, with Brian Bigelowsecond and
Jared Mees third .
In heat two Jethro Halbert nailed the
hoIeshot, but Shaun Russellmade a pass for
the lead in the infield. On the next lapJoe
Kopp hit the jump hard and passed Halbert
in the air for second. Kopp then went after
Russell. The two battled most of the race,
with Kopp finallyable to make the pass on
the infield straightaway. Once by, Kopp
moved out to a comfortable lead over Russell. On the last lap Henry Wiles made an
aggressive pass on Halbert in the right-hander to take third and the final transfer.
Kenny Coolbeth dropped the hammer
early in the third heat, with Mike Hacker in
tow. Coo lbeth and Hacker ran in close fo rmation, with Hacker unable to get by Cool beth. Gary Rogers, in third, was under
heavy pressure from Rob Pearson . As the
laps wound down , Pearson made an
incredible pass over the jump. Pearson flew
higher and farther than anyone else and
appeared to pass over the top of Rogers,
coming down just inches in fro nt of him.
Coolbeth held on to first, with Hacker and
Pearson getting the other direct transfers .
JoR. Schnabel wasted little time in getting
to the front of the final heat race , with Jake
Johnson and Johnny Murphree giving chase.
Schnabel pulled out to a IO-bikelength lead
by midrace . Murphree pulled right up on
the back wheel of Johnson and applied
"The heat race d idn't go as goodas I would
have liked, but a d irect transfer to the main
you can't beat unless you ge t a front-row
start," Pearson said. "In the main I had a seco nd-row start_I got a pretty goodstart, Iwent
to the inside. I worked my way th rough some
traffIC and picked off a couple guys. Pretty
much settled into fifth. I worked so hard getting up there, Igot a little tired . W ith about fIVe
laps to go , I put it into cruise. It's one thing to
catch someone, but it's another deal to try and
28
pressure at every corner. Finally Murphree
made an outside pass for second in the
infield right-hander. Schnabel cruised horne
the winner, with Murphree and Johnson
earn ing direct transfers.
The first of three semis that only transfer the top two finishers saw fast qualifier
Landes with the last starting position on the
second row. Wh ile AJ. Eslickand Brandon
Cartwright led the field, Landes charged his
way to third. As the laps wound down,
Landes tired desperately to get around
Cartwrigh t, but it was not to be. Lastyear 's
winner would watch the final.
In only hissecond Grand National start,
Nick Cummings won the second semi, with
Riffi King coming home second. Gary Rogers
won the last semi with Illinois boy Josh Buder
earning the final ticket to the bigdance.
HEAT I ( 10 laps; 12 - . . . top ] _er): I.
Ovis Carr (KTM 2. 8eth (KTM); 2. Ml \bit< (Hen~ I I.
Nick Dri!Is ('f.hree (Hon ); ] . Jake
JoIroon (Hoo ); ~ . AJ. EsIKk(Sul); 5. Rkh IGng (H-D ); 6.
Dan Stanley (Hon); 1.
Gedeon (Hoo) ; 8. Donn",
Mullen (Hoo) ; 9 . JoY> Ilude.- (Yam 10. rom E3des (y"",);
);
I I . 8Gedo:oo(Hen~ 5. &y.n ~ (HenX6. jam
Hlobo • (Hen); 7. Roy MoIt:r ('f.n1ey (Hoo ); 7. Shawn C1arlt (Rot); 8. Rick w."..,
(Hon); 9. Jam Toungett (Hon) ; 10. Justin Vo;ght (Hon );
II . Will", McCoy (KTM); 12. Doug La,,",",," (Yam).
Time: .. min ., 8.052 sec.
o.n
o.n
pass them. It was a little tougher to pass them
when it got brushed off. I had a couple of battles - one with Henry Wiles. I went over the
jump totally sideways one time, and I thought
for sure I was going to hit the ground. But
these Hondas are incredibl e ; I pulled right out
of it. I lovethis track; this is one of my favorite
races ."
Wiles, Kenny CooIbeth, Bryan Bigelow,
Nick Cummings and Jake Johnson rounded
out the top 10 Shaun Russell, who carne into
.
JUNE 9, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS
lWo yearsago Mike Hacker had a tough day at
the SpringfJeld
suffering a spiralfracture to his
lower legoff a kicker jump coming off tum four.
"It's beena long road backfrom that injury," Hacker said. "Totell you the truth, when yesterday we
rode by the hospiQJ Iwas in after that injury my
,
girlhiend pointed it out to me, and I broke out in a
cold sweat. Igot a sick feelingin my stomach right
away, and I have never experienced a reaction like
that before. But I am not worried about it here
because that kicker is what broke my leg, and it's
not here any more. The American Supercamphas
reallyhelped me, and I am getting more comfortable ridingthese mateo ass-based bikes,so I am
looking for a good result."
n:
Leo Castell of the Motorcyclist's Post,in conjucdon with the Ch ildren Miracle Network put
together a meet-and-greet session called"Racing
lOward A Miracle" for racersto visitthe kidsat St.
John's HospitalPediatric Department in Springfield
on Friday afternoon. The event was attended by
manyriders and teams induding Aaron Creamer,
the factorySuzuki team of Kevin Varnes, AJ.
Esr.ck, and Danny Eslick. Robby Pearson, Paul
Lynch and Shane Vance. AaronCreamer's team
mascot, "Egorthe Eagle," madethe kidssmile.
AHA Proracingand the IMDAsuppliedgoody
bagsfor the kidswith lotsof racingstuff L..ocaI
.
media covered the event. Castellhopes to continue theseappearances at other Progressive Insurance Nationals.
Team Suzuki is lookingfaward to addinga 0eY'I
weapon to their arsenal. 'We havebeenracing
the DRZ400 - we converted it into a SOOcc, and
that's what we are running right now," said Kevin
Varnes. "It's a good package, but it was builtto be
a trailbike, not a pure racer, so it's a little heavy,
and we are at a bit of a disadvantage. But Suzuki
tellsus we are going to get a 0eY'I bike, the
RMZ450 that isdue to be released the end of the
season. Hopefully we willhave it before Peoria.
We willdefinitely have it for the Short Trackin
SpringfJeld Labor Day weekend . The 0eY'I RMZ is
a full-fledged racer. We should be on even ground
with other guys then."
A 0eY'I flattrack website has beenlaunched by
Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford,
www.fordftattr.Kk.com. The sight offers fans
Wleo highlights from every AHA Progressive
InsuranceGrandNational, in additionto timely
race results.Italso has the firstcomputer flattrack
racinggame, the Chris Carr Challenge where fans
can race Carr on the SpringfJeld Mile.
Defending Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Champion Scott ScI-t> showed up with
a 0eY'I brand at the
Husqvarna. 'We are riding a Hall'sHusqvamaTT 450 from right here in
Springfield," Scherb said. 'We reallyappreciate Jay
Hall puttingit together. The Husky is plenty quick
right out of the box. The track isa littlebit differ
ent thanwhen we practiced here 1 days ago, so
0
we are tryingto sort the suspension out, but ~'s a
reallyneat bike that's a lot of fun to ride. I likeit, '
In its first foray into Grand Nationalracing, Scherb
n:
the race second in points, had a tough night.
While running in fifth in the final, his Honda
suffered motor trouble on lap eight, causing
him to pullout of the race. Russell was credited with a 17th -place finish, which dropped
him to fifth in the points .
01
IUN:lIS STATE fAlRGROUNDS
5PRINGRnD, IUN:lIS
REsuus: MAy 29, 2004 (ROlN> 4)
GRAND NATIO NAL (2S laps; 18 riden~ I.JR Xt-rnbeI
(y"",); 2. joITny Mt.eth (KTM); 8. 8,g(H-O).
Time:12 rnn.,30.734 sec..
AHA PROGRESSIVE IN SURANCE FLAT TRACK
CHAMPIONSH IP POI NT STANDI NGS (Alter ~ d 20
.......~ I. Ovis c.r (/512 wO"os); 2. Joe Kopp (53); 3. J.R.
_
(4612wO"os); ~ .pkeJolroon (~ 3); 5. SIan R=eI (~ I);
6. MikeHrler(oOO); 1. ICert (13); 18. (TIE)JrnnylM>od (12l'll
