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/128337
I Briefly... i The AMA Prog ressive Insurance Flat Track Cha mpions hip has now reached the halfway point for 2004 , and defending Champio n Chris Carr is busy re-establishing a points lead that, just a couple of weeks ago , looked to be slipping away. Solid wins on each side of the rained out Hagerstown, Maryland, race have pushed the Q uality Checked Certified Pre-owned Ford-backed Carr to a 29-point lead over his chie f nemesis, Joe Kopp. Kenny Cool beth continues to close in on his teammate, now trailing Kopp by just 13 points. Chris Ca rr pretty much had the track figured all day. "The sun went down and the mo isture came up," Carr said. "Plus, they added a little moisture to the track. The first heat race was wo n at the top. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night." Joe Kopp's night was almost dis astrous, several times. " I think I was the fastest guy out the re in practice, according to our Harley-Davidson 5portster Performanl:e McDermitt Perseveres It took a couple of tries to get the Harley-Davidso n Sportster Performance National going, as the first start saw Clayto n Riggle crash hard in turn three. Riggle walked back to the pits, done for the night. Merle Scherb bro ught ou t the next red as he fell in turn two. Scherb was able to make re pairs to his Dad/Mo m/D oc's Harley-Davidson backed Sportster and made the restart. Defending series cham pion Scott Scher b got the holeshot on his Doc's Harley-Davidson/Illinois Buell Harley. Scherb held the point for four laps before fading back. Uma Harley-Davidson/Koneta Rubber Seal's Cory McDermitt then stormed to the front, bringing FFRlGlo bal Product's Scott Stump with him. Stump was replaced by Gutterridge Harley-Davidson/Reiman's Harley-Davidson's Josh Toungett , as Stump's Sportster went off-song, McDerm itt went on to take the win, while current points leader Chris Hart moved his Lombard i Harley-Davidso n/Schott Harley-Davidson mount into the action and took secon d on lap II of the 12-lap race . Toungett held o n for third, wh ile Scott and Merle Scherb filled the top five. West Bend Harley-Davidso n/Mack Daddy Racing's Jeremy DeRuyter got the holesho ts in bo th aborted starts but didn't fare as we ll in the one that counted. DeRuyte r wo rked his way arou nd Stu mp for fifth, on ly to have Me rle Sche rb pass him on the last lap. Cape Fear Har leyDavidso n's Rob ert Lewis followed Stum p ho me in eight h. F&S Harley-Davidson/KK Supply's Ricky Marshall and Wo lve rine/Laursen Racing's Brando n Laursen ro unded o ut the to p 10. HARL EY·DAVIDSON SPORTSTER PERFORMANCE MA IN (12 laps; 17 r iders) : I. Co ry McDerm itt ; 2. Chris Hart ; 3. Josh Toungett ; 4. Scott Scherb ; 5. Merle Scherb ; 6. Jer e my Deruyter; 7. Scott Stu mp; B. Rob ert Lewis; 9. Ricky Marshall; 10. Brando n Laurse n; I I. Brian Vincent; 12. Brett Pankey; 13. Jo hn C lark; 14. Travis Sprong ; 15. Shane Fox; 16. Darre n Carter; 17. Clayto n Riggle . Tim e : 5 min., 05.360 sec. HARLEY·DAVIDSON SPORTSTER PER· FORM ANC E SERIES POINTS STAN D· ING S (Aft e r 3 of 8 rounds): I. Chris Hart (6 1/1 w in); 2. Scott Scherb (46); 3. Ricky Marshall (H/ I w in); 4. Cory McDermitt (42/ 1 Win); 5. (TIE)Jeremy Deruyter/Merle Scherb (39); 7. Robert Lewis (38); 8. Josh Toungett (3 1); 9. Shawn Baer (27); 10. (TIE) Scott Stump/Bran don Laursen ( 19); 12. Rick Winsett ( IS); 13. WiliiamSeyle (14); 14. Brett Pankey ( 13); IS. Brian Kromroy ( 12); 16. (TIE) Ron KimmeVClayton RigglelTravis Spro ng ( I I); 19. Brian Vincent (B); 20. Todd Perkins (7). www.cyclenews.com sto pwatches," Kopp said. "I felt co nfide nt going in there. I felt like I was doing the same thing in that comer whe n I crashed in the qualifying heat as I was in practice. I kept getting back on th ro ttle , kept feeding it throttle. When I went in there a little higher than [Aaron] Creamer, and he went in there a little low, I squared it off and went under him. I was getting some trac tion and things were gripping good, then instantly the back end went out from under me . I was hitt ing bumps. T he back end came around and spit me olf the high side. I started my night olf on a bad note. We tried to fix the backup bike the same. We didn't have the same rear shock on there. We had different forks because I had bent the other ones. We tried to put the other pipes on that I like. We tried to make it, but it still felt like a different bike. I sure was comfortable on the other one. We'll go out in the next day or two and ge t it ready for Tuesday night at Rapid City for sure. I just wanted to get through this deal. We'll take it, and we 'll go on. " Recent ly retired Harley-Davidson factory tuner Bill Werner was in attendance at the Farley event. Werner was sporting a walking cast on his right foot . '" tripped in my own backyard ," Werner said. "It was on the Fourth of July, and I was setting off some fireworks and moving away fast. I broke a couple bones in the arch . It should heal in about eight weeks." "Every week this team gets a little bit bet ter and a little bit better," Rich King said after finishing third at Farley. "When Bill left, it left a pretty big void. It's co ming around. It's not something that I didn't expect. These guys are mak ing improvements by leaps and bounds. We're getting the dialog that I want, and we are getting better and better. We were a little bit off for the first two practices, but by the third practice we were pretty well dialed in. Fo r the qualifying heat and the heat race we were good . It was a rea l racy racetrack. For Continued on page 2 r CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 18, 2004 19