Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128334
was still going for it, but m aybe I wou ld
have tri ed a little harde r. I was actually
glad Kenny got back around me. because
he d eserved the w in."
All t he w hile. Po ovey cont inued to
st ring so lid lap s together on his w ay to th e
podium .
"These are my kind o f ra ce tracks,"
Po o ve y said . "T he motorcycle w as good.
eve rything w as good, I'm happy. I wasn't
real su re abo ut 25 lap s. bu t o nce I go t
going, I just took deep breaths and t ried
not to t hink abo ut it."
Roeder and Hac ke r re eled in Poovey
as Carr and Mu rphre e closed the gap.
"I jus t w as n' t fast e no ugh to m ak e any
pass es." Roede r said. "I ha d to hope fo r a
mistake by somebody, and those three
guys in front of m e , I was pretty sure they
weren't going to make any. I just had to
keep her on the notch. The bike worked
really good ."
Hacker said t ha t aft er he caught u p to
Roeder, he couldn't put a move o n him .
" I think in th e process of catching him.
I abused my t ire," Hac ker said . " I started
fightin g the bike. tryi ng to hold it down.
and then it starte d hopping."
Carr continu e d to hold off a fast closing
Murphre e whi le Jo hnson got by Pearson
o n the last lap. Jared Me es w as ab le to
hold o ff Paul Lynch and Carr 's Q uality
Checked Certified Pre-owned Ford team mate . Willie McCoy, fo r 10th.
eN
MI SSISSIP PI VAL LEY FA IRGR O UN DS
DAVENPORT, IO W A
R ESULT JU L 17 , 2004 (ROUND
S:
Y
7
OF
19)
GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps. 18 rid ers): I. Ken ny
Coolbeth (H· D): 2. Joe Kopp (H-D): 3. Te")' Poovey (H. D):
1. Geo Roeder (H · D); 5. Mike Hacker (H· D) ; 6. Chris Carr
(H· D): 7. Joh nny Mu']>h, ee (H-D): 8 . Jake [obnscn (H- D):
9. Rob Pearson (H-D): 10. J ed M"", (H- D): I I. Paul Lynch
ar
(H- D) : 12. Wi llie McCo y (H·O); 13. Rick Wi nsen(H-O); 14.
Chris Hart (H· D); IS . Sam Lowe (H- D); 16 . Kevin Atherton
(H-D): 17. Boyan B;gelow (H- D): 18. Shaun lW" ell (H-D).
Ti me: 10 rnin., 46.609 sec.
AMA PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT
TRACK CHAM PIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (aft er 7 of 19 rounds): I. Chris Carr (1 19 points/2
wi ns); 2. Joe Kopp ( 109/ 1 win ); 3. Ken CooIbeth (8811 win );
.... Johnn y Murphree (73); S. Mike Hacker (69): 6. J.R.
Schnabel (6 2/2): 7. Jake John>on (6 1): 8 _Wolhe McCoy (59):
9. Shaun Russell (52): 10. Gee Roeder (49): I I . Jay
5pringsteen (40): 12. jared M"", (39) : 13. Boyan Smith (3 7):
14. Paul Lynch (3S): IS. Rob Pearson (32): 16. lOCh !Gog
(3011 wi n) ; 17. Brett Landes (2 7); 18. Terry Poove y (26); 19.
Kev;n Atherton (23); 20. Bryan Bigelow (2 1).
UPCOMING ROUNDS:
Round 8 -OakR T
idge, ennessee, Ju~ 24
Round 9 -H
agerslawn, Maryland, Ju~ 31
How They Got There
505(( SUPPORT
Coming out of the qualifying heats. johnny Murphree appeared to be the man to beat. but
it was Terry Poovey leading the charge into turn one in the first heat. Rick Winsett latched
on to second with Rob Pearson and Murphree looking for a way around. Pearson and Murphree sent Winsett to the semis and close d on Poovey to no avail.
"ln the heat race we got into a little bit of a battle." Murphree said. "Ro bbie Pearson
and I were wedged in there behin d Terry (Poovey) . Poovey is just so smooth off th e corners: there was nothing I co uld do. Every time I'd get a run on Terry. Robbie would get up
under me ." Pearson took a har d-earned second.
The second heat saw Suzuki's A.j. Eslickget the holeshot, but Coolbeth wasted no time
taking the point and racing off to the win. Eslick gave up second to Goo Roeder II, then the
last transfer to Chris Carr as the champ worked his way into the National afte r a slow start.
Chris Hart led heat three into turn one over Shaun Russell and Mike Hacker, but on the
second lap Aaron Creamer fell hard in turn one. bringing out the red flag. Russell got the
holeshot on the restart over Hacker and Hart. Hacker shot to the front and left Russell to
fend off jared Mees and Hart, and that 's the way they finished .
The last heat saw Joe Kopp quickly take command as j.R. Schnabel and Paul Lynch led
jake johnson and Rich King. Kopp pulled away as Lynch moved into a safe second. The battle for the last transfer was just that - a battle. Schnabel held it most of the race with Johnson and King nipping at his heels . Schnabel made one last bobble, and Johnson pounced.
Schnabel , Kingand Dom inic Beaulac were close behind but semi bound.
The first semi proved to be the biggest problem of the night. Kevin Atherton had his
Gerencer's Harley-Davidson/Kersting's Cycle-backed Harley out front . but McCoy, King
and Garth Bastian were all over him. On lap seven of the eight-lap race. McCoy tried to
slide under Atherton with almost disastrous results.
"I just couldn't get by Kevin," McCoy said. "He was doi ng everything he had to do to
win. I got a good run on him, and I ran it off into tum three. but I couldn't make it. He kind
of slowed down, and I thought I was going to get close to him, but I ended up getting into
him. When I did, my oil filter go t hooked on his frame, and it poked a hole in a line . I didn't
mean to get into him. I just got in there hot and got into him. Tracks like this. you think
you've got a good run on somebody, th en they slow down, and there's no place to go ."
josh Toungett appeared to ge t into the oil and took a nasty fall coming off tum four. The
race was red-flagged and res ta rted with two laps to go . After a le ngthy de lay to clea n the
oil from the track, Athe rton and McCoy picked up w he re they left off and sent HarleyDavidso n Moto r Co mpany's Rich King hom e fo r the night.
The sec ond se mi was another tight affair as J.R. Schnabel got the holesh o t but was
quickly se t back by Goeken Racing's Sam Lowe . Gard ner Racing's Bryan Bigelow grab bed
sec ond. ove r Sch nabel and Gary Rogers , as the top fou r ran nose to tail. T he last semi went
to Lombardi Harley-Davidson/Schott Harley-Davidson's Chris Hart . Patriot Harley-Davidson' s Rick Winsett withst oo d the late-rac e charge of Aaron Cream er for the last spot in the
main event.
H EAT I (1 0 laps; 9 riden. top J transfer): I. Terry
Poovey (H-D): 2. Rob Pearson(H-D): 3. Johnny MU'J'h'"
(H-D): 4. Rock w;"",,, (H-D): 5. BoyanBigelow (H-D): 6.
Garth Bastian (H· O); 7. Tim Eades (H-D); 8 . Bre( Sowders
(H-O); 9. Scott Scherb (Bue).
Time: 4 mfn.• 21.818 sec.
HEAT 2 ( 10 laps; 10 riden, top J t ransfer): I. Ken
CooIbeth (H-D) : 2. Geo Beede- (H -D): 3. CIvU Carr
(H-D): 4. W,lIie McCoy (H-D): S. AJ. Eslick(Suz): 6 . Boyan
Smith (H· D): 7. Kevin Atherton (H-D): 8. Sam Lowe
(H-D): 9. Kevin \'arne> (Suz): 10. Jeremy Deruyt... (H- D).
Time: 4 min. , 18.350 sec.
HEAT J ( 10 la ps; 10 riden. top J transfer): I.
Mike Hack... (H -D): 2. Shaun IW>... (H -D): 3. [ared M"",
(H-D): 4 . C tvi, Hart (H-D): S. Chari.. ltal.. (H-D): 6. Ga.-y
Ragen (H- D): 7. Chm Boone (H-D): 8. ]o>h Tounge"
(H-D ): 9. Tom MtG....... (Suz): 10. Aaron C""""" (H- D).
Time: 4 min., 20.558 sec.
HEAT 4 ( 10 laps: 10 rid..... op 1 tramf...): I.Joe
Kopp (H-D): 2. Paul Lynch (H-D): 3. Jake John>on (H-D ):
4. JR. Schnabel (H-D ): 5. lOCh !Gog (H-D): 6. Dom;nic
Beaulac (HoD); 7. Raun Wood (H-D); 8. Henry Wiles
(H·C ); 9. Clint Ericksen (H·C) ; 10. Ken Yoder (H-D) .
Time: .. min., 18.7JS 1eC.
SEMI I (8 laps; 9 riden. top 2 transfe r): I. Kevin
Atherton (H-D): 2. Wom MtCoy (H -D): 3. RKh !Gog
.
(H- D): 4. Garth Basrien (H -D ): S. Hen')' W;1ti (H-D): 6.
Jeremy Denryt... (H-D): 7. Scott Schert> (Bue): 8 . Chari i.
ltalia (H- D): 9. J",h T"""gett (H-D ).
Time: 23 min., ""5
.+46 sec. -RED FLAGSEMI 2 (8 laps ; 9 rid er-s, top 2 transfe r): I. Sam
Lowe (H-D): 2. Boyan Bigelow (H-D): 3. J.R. Schnabel
(H-D): 4. Ga.-y Rage" (H-D) : 5. AJ. E>lock (Suz): 6. Raun
Wood (H-D): 7. Ken Yod., (H -D): B. Bret Sowders (H-D):
9. Tom McG rane (Suz).
Time: ) min.• 33.332 sec.
SEMI) (8 lap s; 9 riders. t op 2 transfer) : I. Chris
Hart (H-D): 2. R;ck W msett (H-D): 3. Aaron Creerrer
(H-D): 4. Boyan Smi,h (H- D): 5. CIvU Boone (H-D): 6.
Kevin Varnes (Sta); 7. Tim Eades (H-D); 8. Dominic
Beaulac (H·O): 9. Oint Erickson (H·D).
TIme : 3 min., ) 1. 188 sec.
Twi £:e A §
[00 1
It took three tr ies. but when the 505 race
did get under way. Kenny Coolbeth took
control on his KTM/Jones Powersports'
KTM. and he we nt on to win the race ,
which was the prelude to his Grand
Nat ional win later in the night.
"Riding th e 505 race helped, plus I
made a little money," Coolbeth said afterward. "They've been do ing the ir homework o n the KTM, a lot of dyno time and
it's starting to pay off. No w we just have
to get the chassis as good as the engine."
The first red flag in the main event came
out when Scott Scherb hit the dirt in tum
two on laptwo . Bryan Smith was the next
to find the gro und in tum two, but everyo ne made the restarts . Scherb and Smith
were joined on the penalty line by jump""',
Nichole Cheza, Henry Wiles, BrianVincent,
Danny Eslick and Rob Williams.
Coolbeth's hard riding style led him to
a con vincing win over Gardner Racing's
Bryan Bigelow and Scott Powersports'
Raun Wood. Kevin Atherton brought his
Woody Kyle-built Yamaha home fourth .
Ultimate Edge Racing's Logan Myers held
off Lancaste r Harley-Davidson 's Jared
Mees for fifth.
Rob Pearson, Kenny Coolbeth, jared
Mees . Bryan Bigelow and Kevin Atherton
won the heats
that set the IBrider field.
Briefly.••
Conlinued from page 29
that if you weren't on the front row. you
didn't have a snowb all's chance in he ll of
doi ng anything. We did all we could do from
the second row. I guess. I just got a really
bad start in my heat race . It was my own
fault. There were four guys in front of me .
and I got up to th ird, then got hung up w ith
Robbie. I felt like if I cou ld get clear of him, I
cou ld get Terry beca use I was carrying a lot
of co m er speed. We had a really fast bike,
but we never got a chance to show it. I just
cou ldn't get clean ly through the heat, and it
messed up our whole night. Talk abou t
pulling your hair out - I'm having issues with
a seve nth -place finish on a bike that good ."
Mike Hacker was a fan of the Mississippi
Valley Fairgrounds. "l love the shape of the
track," he said. "It's something differe nt from
what we usuallyrun. It was a little mor e
technical. I thought it was a wonderful trac k, I
had a great time . Y could really burn it off
ou
in there (in to the turns) and still stay on the
groove. A couple of times when we did slip
high. it was forgivingwhen you did that . I
think if I'd gotten a little better start . I might
have been able to save my tire and run with
the lead ers, but I'm happy with fifth."
Chris Carr. on the other hand. was not a fan
of the track. "They've got a reallygood short
track on the infield here ," Carr said. "I think a
lot of us wou ld have rather ridden it - at least
I know Iwou ld. It's a nice-looking track. To
me the half mile needs a lot of work. It's just
too flat. It need s more banking. It was slippery and inconsistent. It was hard to hold on
to . We did what we had to do."
Uke Mike Hacke r, Jar e d Mees did like th e
track. "I can't complain at all," Mee s said.
''I'm happ y with o ur finish. just bring o n
Oak Ridge . When you first look at this
track, you think, 'Man this is going to be
weird; yo u can't go into the corners hard .'
But you cou ld really dump it into the co rners hard . I thought gearing and setup was
go ing to be hard beca use t he front straight
was like a big corner and the back straight
was sLraight , but it was really cool , nice and
smooth. All around it was pretty nice . and I
hope we come back next yea r."
SOS SUPPORT
( 12 laps; 18 riden):
I . Kenny Coolbeth
(KTM):
2.
B