Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

tracked down the fl eeing Carr, only to nearly throw it away in a wild slide off line up the front straightaway that saw Schnabel clout the hay bales that lined the outside of the trac k. "I followed Henry for tw o or three laps when Chr is was third, beh ind me, and I think I got too aggress ive, thinking I was just going to blow by Henry for the lead," Schnabel said. "Henry was going too fast for that , and I went into tum three way too hard one time, and Chris got by me . I followed them for three or four laps, and then Chris got by Henry and started to check out, and I thought, 'We' re in trouble now.' It was time to go." Then he nea rly crashed. "I though t I gave it away right there, but then Chris made his only mistake when he stood it up going Into tum three," Schnabel said. "That allowed me to make that gap right back up. One and two were breakeven, because it brushed offand was n't get as dee p as three and four." In the remaining 10 laps of the race, Schnabel clawed his way back into conte ntion by bumping the cushion in three and four, coming from an easy 20 lengths behind the champ to challenge him down the back stra ightaway after the white flag was shown to the field. Schnabel then took to the inside and put the heart-stopping slide job unde r Carr into turn three, only to slide across the track in front of Carr, who squared it up and dived to low pole. The finish was almost too close to call. "We had 15 feet on the bottom of the racet rack that we hadn't used all night , so I just dove down in the re ," Schnabel said. "I figured what was going to happen was that I would get inside of him and he wou ld just square it up and go right back by me . As soo n as I got midcorner, I grabbed a handful of that Yamaha, and it just took off and carried me to victory. "I'll tell you what : That was all tho se years my dad took me ice riding paying off," Schnabel added, "That' s ice riding: You just bust the thing into the co rner, tw ist the grip and let it turn. It's also setup. With Babe Demay and these Yamahas, I have the best moto rcycles out here, so when I lose at a place like Peoria, it's my fault. If I ride them like they shou ld be ridden , we win thes e [singles] races ." The first th ing Schnabe l did when taking to the podium, however, was to give props to Carr, for whom he has tremendous respect. ''I'm thrilled just to be able to race with that guy," Schnabe l said. "Y know, when ou I'm sitting there with my kids someday, and we 're talkingabout dirt track, I'll be able to say, 'Chris Carr, maybe the greatest dirttrac ker ever? I got to race with him.' Who knows if I'll ever get to his level, beca use he has done so much. He's a great champion . "The whole race, he ran perfect," Schnabel said of Carr's perfo rmance. "I did everything I could to get that last run on him, and sometimes when you are in sec- i Briefly... Rich King was still struggling with a sore shoulder at Springfield , the Screamin' Eagle Harley rider still suffering the effects of his wild Peoria TT tankslapper. "Everybody has been telling me I was stupid for going out [in his semi] after that [Peoria Incident], and that may be, but my crew busts the ir butt to a put a moto rcycle unde r me, and I expect 100 percent out of them , so I want to give them 100 percent." Speaking of Rich King, the factory Harley rider showed up with his HarleyDavidson XR500 for the second singles race in a row, leaving him with more than just the Buell Blast-based 550R - a machine that Harley racing brass had been pushing the team to use at all singles events prior to the Peoria TT - as an option come race time. ':Any time that you can have more opt ions, that 's a good things," King said. "We' re going to try them both, and whate ver is better, that 's what we 'll run. The Blast Is a neat motorcycle. and t here are some situa - tions where It works really well, but there a lot of races whe re it doesn't . When you look around , the other teams , they all have options . Some of them have motocross bikes, some of them have Rotaxes or whateve r, and so they 've got options , and we need to have option s as well." Not surpr isingly, Ki ng rode the XR500 In the race . SillySeason stuff: Rich King also confirmed that he and Harley-Davidson Motor Company have agreed in principle to an extension of his contract that should see him as a factory teamster for at least the next two years , though noth ing has been inked. More Silly 5eason stuff: Chris Carr confirmed that he is in discussions with Ford Motor Company that would see him remain in QualityChecked Certified Preowned Ford livery. "We don't have anything inked," the reigning series champion said, "but I feel positive about the deal." Stili more Silly Season stu ff: No official word yet that the fac t ory Suz uki race program will ret urn for 2005, though the team has been experienc ing much better, more consistent results since making two key changes, the first being the addition of former factory KTM mechanic Travis Smith to the team , and the second being its switch to Traxxion Dynamics suspens ion for both its singles and twins racers . Lead rider Kevin Varnes was excited about his chances at the short track and the mile: "We just missed it here last year, riding a framer, but our stock -frame DR-Z50S has been getting so much better that we' re going to use that tonight [at the Short Track), Continued on poge 5 9 www.cyclenews .com CYCLE N EWS • SEPTEMB ER 15,2004 57

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