Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

My OWN RACE "That's a win for us," Roedersaid. "We started off good; we qua lified good. I think that was the key. I got to sit on the front row all night. I got off the line fourth in the ma in, and that's where we finished. I could get a run on those guys at different times. I could get through one and two real good - that was my best comer. When I did that right, I could close in. Skip's (Eaken) got the bike working really good, and that makes it easier. When you tum the front wheel, and the front wheel turns, and roll the gas on and don't spin, that makes things eas ier ou t there. I could really get off into turn one hard, steer with the front wheel and break it loose a little bit, kind of pea-graveling it a little bit. Once I caught them. I couldn't do that any more, not without running into somebody. I just had to carry so much speed going in. I figured somebody was right beh ind me . It was that way all night. I was trying to watch the guy in front of me , and I figured if I could keep up with him, there wasn 't going to be anybody pass me ; there wouldn't be enough room. The track was different. It seemed to get real sharp, and I think that's where I was able to gain on them." about eight laps it seemed like we were making some headway, then I made a mistake going into turn three, got a little wide andlost a lot of ground. We were as fast as the leaders, faster at times , but we weren't fast e nough early in the race, and they got a gap on me . The track was hard to pass on and was kind of inconsistent." 20 "It was just a sta lemate," Murphree said. "I was stuck beh ind Robbie [Pearson] early. He got by me w hen I was trying to pass Chris [Carr]. I got him back, but there wasn't any way to go after Chris, because as soon as you tried to do anyt hing, so mebody would make a move on you . The whole track was fast, but the bottom line was the fastest . We were catching the leaders, but I still felt like Chris was holding me up . We could haul the mail when we had an open track, but it never happened." 14 "I would have been better off on the front row," Johnson said. "It was pretty tough to pass. I guess I got eighth . That's not too bad . It moves me up two spots in the points. I'm pretty happy with it. With five to go, I saw it was Robbie (Pearson) in front of me. Me, him and Johnny (Murphree) went riding this week, so I guess we had a little rivalry going on there . I really wanted to pass him. I put on a pretty hard charge the last five laps. I probably shou ld have do ne that the whole race . I ran it into three real hard with about two laps to go and made it stick. I wish I'd found that line a little earlier, but it was still good. There wasn't much excitement going on with me . I guess there was in front of me . There was a bike laying in the middle of the track, Shaun's I guess . It was pretty crazy. I kind of rolled out of it. I saw Chris had a gap on Johnny, but he rolled off too, th inking there would be a red nag, and that bunched things up quite a bit. I got around Robbie. After that there wasn't much I cou ld do . I usually struggle on slick half miles, but we got eighth and have made every main this year, so I can't complain. When we got here this morning. "T hat was a wild main event ," H acker said. "everybody was pretty competitive. I was hoping I could get up there , but I over - cooked my tire. and at the end I was just trying to keep what I had the last five laps. Everybody was going so hard . It was so hard to make up time on anybody. The groove was kind of big, but you had to guard your line because everyone was just railing. Some- the shape of the track looked funny, but it didn't seem to affect me too much. There just w asn't very many places to pass . You had to get a good drive off the corner was the best way I could pass. It was a quick 2S laps." 21 I "Getting a start here was so cru cial, and I don't know what it was, but we really strugg led with our starts tonight," Mees said. "That' s not like me , but we have our bad days and good days. Johnny [Goad] had the bike working really well. We had a little front-end push here and there, but I think everyone was having that . By the twentieth lap I was really chasing the front end and the back end, the tires were wearing down so bad . Oh well , you take the good with the bad, I was real happy to be in the main event, get some more points and some more experience.,. 59 body had to screw up or you really had to get a good dr ive to pass anybody." "G oing into turn "We didn't have a great night, but it wasn't terrible," Carr said. "We started with a lot of lug on our tire . and it took 'til about lap nine or 10 trol ," McCoy said. about 10 guys ready to highside. "We ended up twelfth." Third- for it to come Briefly... It was announced at th e rid ers' meeting that the Honda Contingency bonus m o ney will still be doubled at next week's rescheduled short track National in O ak Ridge, Tennessee. The original race , scheduled to run d uring the Honda Hoot, was rained ou t the end of June . Th e eve nts of the last co uple of weeks have closed th e po int s race up co nsiderably. Joe Kopp's points from Lima were re instated, and that , along with his sec ond -place fi nish at Davenpo rt , leaves him just 10 points beh ind de fend ing Cham pion Chris Carr. Kenny Cool beth is a distant third, 2 1 po ints behind Kopp . "When the checkered flag fell. I turned around and saw that red helmet, and I knew that was Poovey and we had to have picked up some po ints on Carr, wherever he was ," Kopp said. "I'd like to keep catching him all year long and have it come down to the last few races . I'lltake it any way I can, but that would be my choice . I've just got to kee p my mind set that I do n't have to get 10 po ints on him eac h week. I have plenty of time. What is ther e , I I races left? I'm going to be the conservative guy. I'm ready." Kenny Cool be t h was dom inant most of the night but d id have a concern going into the main event. "I had a hard time picking a tire for the National," Coolbeth said. "In my heat I just blistered the tire, wore it right out. I think I was just backing it in so hard. In the main I made myself dr ive it in a little more. It wo rked pre tty good. The tire lasted the whol e 2S laps, so we must have done something right." Besides be ing an excellent groove track rider, Terry Po ov ey may have had ano ther advantage, as he was one of the few riders in attendance to have raced on the oddshaped Davenport racetrack before . "I won races at th is track years ago," Poovey said. "O ne night I cam e here w ith Mike Escue. We got here late , and I didn't have a bike to ride. They only had 10 or I I Experts, so I borrowed a bike from Mike Caves. and they let me run the main from the pena lty line. I won the race fro m the back row, and then they threw me out." Terry Poovey also claimed to be well rested, as it has taken this long fo r him to heal from his Memorial Day Weekend spillat Springfield. "Everyth ing went real good tonight," Poovey said. "I've had a lot of time to think about racing while I healed up from Springfield. I hurt myself bad o n that TT. I hurt my ribs, ste rnum, shoulder, shoulder blade and my wrist. It was like a month before I felt good . I wan ted to corne back and do good . Maybe next week I'll do better." row starts don't three on the first lap of the Natio nal was out of con - in. When it did, I saw I was matching the pace of the leaders. I was actually gaining for a while. For "T here were help on tracks like these. I probably did all my passing on the first lap. After that I was just following somebody. I didn't have e noug h to pass o n the outside, and I didn't want to stuff anybody. I was waiting for a screw-up, and nobody screwed up ." After winning the fastest qualifyingheat, Jo hnny Murphre e looked like he might tum aroun d his year, but it was not to be. "Tough night ," Murphree said. "We were really going good right o ut of the truck . We were fast. Other guys were struggling, and I cou ldn't understand why they we re struggling. We just had a battle in the heat race and it co st us big. It was the kind of tra ck ' Continued on page 31 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE N EW S • JULY 28,2004 29

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