Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Bv Scon ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BV FLAT TRAK FOTOS '1akeJahn_ fulfilled the promlsealhla move_Team SuzukI Flat Track rior to the AHA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship season-opening Daytona Short Track, there had been a lot of hype surrounding Jake Johnson's potential move to Team Suzuki Flat Track. Rumors swirled for most of the off-season as the dirt track community speculated on where Johnson would be in 2OOS. Those rumors turned out to be true, as the talented 20-year-old New Jersey rider made the switch and then proved to Suzuki that it had made the right choice by running down five-time and defending AMA Flat Track Champion Chris Carr and winning the 200S season-opening Daytona Short Track before a packed house at Daytona Municipal Stadium. Mack Daddy Racing's Henry Wiles finished third. Johnson made history by giving the Suzuki brand its first-ever AMA Grand National victory, the milestone coming in the third season since the Burks Motorsports team received factory backing. It was also Johnson's first Daytona Short Track win and the fourth Grand National win of Johnson's career. "This is great," Johnson said. "First win for Suzuki, first Daytona win for me. I just can't believe it. In my first race with the new team, we went out and won it. I can't ask for anything better." He arguably could not have done much better. After winning the fastest heat race, Johnson sat on the pole for the 2S-lap P 30 ~I';L~ Track. Johnson become the first Suzuki-powered rider ever to win an AMA Grand National. main event, which took two restarts to get under way. KTM/Jones Powersports' Kenny Coolbeth got the holeshot to lead the field into turn one, but the red Rag was thrown when Nick Cummings slugged the hay bales near the pit entrance off turn two and was sent Rying. Cummings was not seriously hurt, but he did not make the restart. The second restart was even more confusing, as 2004 Daytona Short Track winner J.R. Schnabel went down in turns three and four, collecting Johnson's teammate Kevin Varnes in the process. Varnes never actually hit the deck, but he did stall his bike. No red Rag was thrown, however, until Johnny Murphree mimicked Cummings' move off tum two at the start of lap two, crashing in almost identical fashion. The red lights came on then, but Schnabel was already moving again, and he crossed the finish line at the tail of the field. Varnes, however, received outside assistance from his mechanic, who left the work area in turn two and ran across the infield to help him refire his RM-Z4S0. A complete restart was called for, but in a move that defied an explanation by AMA dirt track manager Bruce Bober (see BrieRy), Varnes was allowed to take his MARCH 23, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS original starting position on the grid, while Schnabel was sent to the rear of the field with Murphree, who had actually caused the red Rag to come out. The third start was clean, however, though this time it was Carr who got the holeshot aboard his rather unique Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford Racing-backed KTM (see BrieRy), followed by Wiles, White's HarleyDavidson/Scott Powersports' John Raun Wood and Coolbeth. Wood overtook Wiles for second before the stripe. Johnson was mired in sixth, however, and he had a lot of catching up to do. "The first couple starts, I was right there, but then on that last one, they told us that there was something wrong with the lights, that it was only going to show one yellow and then go on to green," Johnson said. "But it ended up going to both yellows and then to green, and I was just left sitting there." Wiles repassed Wood for second, and Johnson went to work quickly, rocketing under both Coolbeth and Wood in turns three and four to take over third place on lap three. "I know I passed a few guys right away," Johnson said. "I had the fire in my eyes, and I was charging toward the front." Johnson was running a lower line than Carr, and he used that shorter traveled distance to catch him, the two pulling away from Wiles early. Johnson then caught Carr on lap fIVe, drew alongside the champ, and then passed him on the low side between turns three and four to take a lead that he would not relinquish. "I've never had a motorcycle that handled that well," Johnson said. "I just kept it slow and steady on the bottom and picked them off one by one. Before I knew it, I had a big gap. I didn't want to slack off. I lost a race like that last year." Johnson crossed the finish line with an official margin of victory of 1.094 seconds - though it was actually closer to 3.4 seconds - over Carr, who was pleased to

• Cover