Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

main. After the first couple of laps, I settled down and pretty much cruised in fourth. I gained a little on Jake Uohnson] and Henry [Wiles], but not close enough to do anything." For the second week in a row, Honda Pro Lubes/Sunoco-backed Cummings had a solid ride as he fended off the advances of Latus Harley-Davidson/Jones Powersports' Joe Kopp and Coziahr Harley-Davidson/National Cycle's Johnny Murphree. "It was a good night," Cummings said. "I had a great start, got around some guys on the front row right away. I just tried to keep my head down and stay consistent. With five or six laps to go, I saw Joe coming up from behind. I could see him, I could hear him, and a couple of times I could feel him, so I knew he was right there. I knew if I just held my line, I'd be all right. I just had to keep charging." Kopp's and Murphree's night had been star crossed at best, and they both worked their way up from the back row. "I got a good start from the back, but it was just really hard passing," Kopp said. "I felt faster than the guys in front of me, and maybe they felt faster than the guys in front of them. I felt like if I could just get by this guy, I could catch the guy up there, but it was just hard passing. The first few laps, I got by about three guys - I think it was Uared] Mees, [Bryan] Bigelow and [Willie] McCoy. He [McCoy] and I got tangled up, and he went down in that deal. I think I got Murphree in the first corner. I made a couple of good passes, but once we got going, it was pretty single file. "I chased down some of the leaders," Kopp added. "I kept thinking I would get around Nicky [Cummings], but that little guy is riding good. I thought, 'The track's getting slicker and slicker. Come on, Nicky, grab that throttle,' but he was riding smart. There was probably a dozen times where I could have stuffed him, but I wasn't going to do it. Nobody was doing it to me. I knew Johnny [Murphree] was there the whole time." Murphree was very disappointed with his seventh-place finish on a bike he felt was capable of winning. "We [Murphree and Kopp] hooked up in the main, and we were working our way forward," Murphree said. "I could tell we were catching J.R. You could tell by where we were meeting on the track. When we caught up to Shaun [Russell] and Nick [Cummings], there was just nowhere to pass. The IMDA did a great job on the track, keeping it moist and dug up, trying to give us different racing lines, but until they bank this thing, it's just going to be one line. It doesn't make for very good racing. There's a lot of drama, a lot of bar banging and knocking down, but not very good racing. I got up there with the fast guys, and the only way around was to knock somebody down." Team Suzuki Flat Track/Parts Unlimited's Kevin Varnes worked his way up to eighth, towing Saddlemen/Lancaster Harley-Davidson-backed Mees past Ideal Environment/Marshall Distributing's Bigelow. "We had a pretty good start from the second row, then it got funneled down in the first turn, and I got shuffled back in that left/right-hander," Varnes said. "I worked my way back up and caught Bigelow. We were in a pretty tight group there, and it seemed like it took me forever to get by him. The track was fun to ride, but it really wasn't that racy; it was so hard to pass." Mees agreed with Varnes' assessment of the track. "This TT was so tight and so technical, it was really hard to pass, because there was really only one line," Mees said. "You could get up under somebody, but then they would just take off. It was just really frustrating. " Mid-America Harley-Davidson/Jones Powersports' Kenny Coolbeth finished I Ith, over the RJ Performance Yamaha of Matt Burton, who was in his first Grand National main event. Far from his usual resuits, defending Grand National Champion Chris Carr (Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford) finished in 13th just ahead of another first-timer, Sam Halbert (Zanotti Racing/A&A Racing). "It was a tough night for us," Carr aid. "I was in the middle of the second row, and there was all kinds of chaos going on. I got kind of jammed up and decided, 'I'm not going down now!' and just tried to get through the first comer. I just didn't get the start I wanted. I needed to beat my row to the corner, and I didn't get it done. Guys flew around the outside of me, and guys flew up the inside of me. There was a bunch of banging, and I didn't want any part of it." Heat winner Raun Wood held fifth for two laps before dropping his White's Harley-Davidson/Scott Powersports Honda. Wood was able to get up and come back to take 15th from Zanotti Racing/A&A Racing-backed Jethro Halbert. Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford's McCoy was another rider down early, losing a lap while getting restarted. Reggie Amos Custom Homes' Tim Eades had mechanical problems, dropping him to last. eN IWNOIS STATE FAIRGROUNDS SPRINGFIELD, IWNOIS RESULTS: MAy 28, 2005 (ROUND 3 OF 17) HEAT I <10 laps; 12 riders, top 1 transfer): I. Henry Wiles (Hon); 2. J.R. Schnabel (Yam); 3. Chris earr (KTM): 4. Jim Wood (Suz): 5. Nick Daniels (Hon); 6. AJ. Eslick (Suz); 7. Chris Hart (Hon): 8. Jethro Halbert (Hon); 9. Greg Tysor (Hon); 10. John Hlebo (Hon); I l. Nichole Cheza (Hon): 12. Josh Butler (Yam). Time: 5 min., 58.861 sec. HEAT 2 (10 laps; 12 riders, top] transfer): I. Shaun Russell (Hon); 2. Kevin Varnes (Suz); J. Nick Cummings (Hon); 4. Cory McDermitt (Hon); 5. Ricky Marshall (Suz); 6. Bren Landes (Hon); 7. Matt Burton (Yam); 8. Shawn Baer (Han); 9. Eric Rickman (Hon); 10. Gary Rogers (Han); II. Justin Voight (Hon); 12. Rob Pe~n (Han). Time: 6 min., 00.805 sec. HEAT 1 (10 laps; 12 riders, top 3 transfer): I. Raun Wood (Han); 2. Willie McCoy (KTM); 3. Joe Kopp (KTM); 4. Tim Eades (Han); S. Jason Isennock (Han); 6. Steve Beattie (Han); 7. Merle Scherb (Han); 8. Brandon Cartwright (Hon); 9. Shawn Raggio (Hon); 10. Roy Miller (Suz); II. Johnny Murphree (Han); 12. Chris Boone (Hon). Time: 6 min., 01.521 sec. HEAT 4 (10 laps; 12 riders, top 1 transfer): I. Jake Johnson (Suz); 2. Bryan Bigelow (Hon); 3. Ken Coolbeth (KTM); .of. Sam Halbert (Han); 5. Jared Mees (Han); 6. Paul Lynch (Yam); 7. Dan Gedeon (Han): 8. Ken Yoder (Suz); 9. Eric Mischler (Hon); Ia. Bryan Smith (Hon); II. Sam Lowe (Han); 12. Shane Vance (Han). Time: 5 min., 54.373 sec. SEMI I (8 laps; 12 riders. top 2 transfer): I. Sam Halbert (Han); 2. Jethro Halbert (Han); 3. Nick Daniels (Hon); 4. Dan Gedeon (Han); 5. Ricky Marshall (Stn); 6. Steve Beattie (Hon); 7. Justin Voight (Han); 8. Chris Boone (Hon); 9. Nichole Chen (Hon); 10. Shawn Baer (Han); II. Shawn Raggio (Han); 12. Bryan Smith (Han). Time: 4 min., 49.364 sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps; 12 riders, top 2 transfer): I. Jared Mees (Han): 2. Johnny Murphree (Han); 3. Ken Yoder (Stn); 4. Jim Wood (Suz); 5. Eric Rickman (Han); 6. Jason lsennock (Hon); 7. Chris Hart (Han); 8. Sam Lowe (Han); 9. John Hlebe (Hon); 10. Brandon CartWright (Hon); II. Brett Landes (Han); 12. Rob Pearson (Han). Time: 4 min., 43.389 sec. SEMI 1 (8 laps; 12 riders. top 2 transfer): I. Matt Burton (Yam); 2. Tim Eades (Han); 3. Merle Scherb (Han); 4. Paul Lynch (Yam); 5. Cory McDermitt (Han); 6. Eric Mischler (Han); 7. AJ Eslick (Suz); 8. Roy Miller (Suz); 9. Shane Vance (Hon); Ia. Gary Rogers (Han); I I. Josh Butler (Hon): 12. Greg Tysor (Han). Time: 4 min., 46.440 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (2S laps; 18 riders): I. J.R. Schnabel (Yarn); Henry Wiles (Han); 3. Jake Johnson (Suz); 4. Shaun Russell (Han); 5. Nick Cummings (Han); 6. Joe Briefly.•. The IMDA rounded up its usual sponsors for the $1 oo-a-Iap leader award, with $2S00 all going to J.R. Schnabel. New this year was the $500 holeshot award, sponsored by Gutterridge Harley-Davidson. Henry Wiles pocketed that money in the last setback Schnabel would suffer. "I knew Igot the holeshot and thought I was going to get out and lead some laps, but J.R. came around the outside," Wiles said. "I thought I was going to be able to get back up under him, but he got such a good drive coming off the corner, there was nothing I could do. We started to catch him in the middle of the race; Ithink he was looking for some lines. I think he found them, because then he pulled away at the end." With 78 riders trying to fill the 48 starting spots for the night's program, the qualifying heats provided a lot of fireworks early in the day. The first four-iap race saw Kenny Coolbeth well out in front when he fell in the last turn of lap two. Coolbeth quickly remounted and chased down the two riders that had passed him. Of course, his time was the slowest of the 12 heats. Well not really: The next race saw three riders, including Joe Kopp, down in the switchback. Kopp was up quickly and in pursuit of the leaders. In the confusion of the large pileup, the red lights came on, but then quickly switched off before the leaders could get the red flag. The race was run to the conclusion with Kopp coming from behind and winning with the slowest time. It was later decided to rerun the race because some riders had seen the red lights and slowed. Bryan Bigelow's new deal for 200S has not come without a fair share of work that the Michigan rider has not had to experience in some time. "I was up for almost 37 hours, working on our Harley for the mile," Bigelow said. "We're really shorthanded. It's just me and my dad. I have my father, mother and my girlfriend - that's my team this year. They're behind me 100 percent, it's just that they don't know exactly what to do." Not that Bigelow is complaining, as he added, "I'm having more fun this year than I ever have racing motorcycles. It's kind of cool because it's just me and Dad working together. We don't butt heads like we used to. I don't think I'm a 10th-place racer, but to finish 10th with this deal [TTl isn't bad. For us to build a motorcycle in Au Gres, Michigan, and put it on the front row with all these fast guys, it's pretty cool. I'm having so much fun. It's a lot of stress and a lot of work, but it makes a 10th-place finish so much more satisfying. Before, I needed a fourth or fifth to feel this good." Kopp (KTM); 7. Johnny Murphree (Han); 8. Kevin Varnes (Suz); 9. Jared Mees (Han); 10. Bryan Bigelow (Han); II. Ken Coolbeth (KTM); 12. Matt Burton (Yam); 13. Chris Carr (KTM); 14. Sam Halbert (Han); 15. Raun Wood (Han); 16.Jethro Halbert (Han): 17. Willie McCoy (KTM); 18. Tim Eades (Han). Time: 14 min., 4' .382 sec. AMA FORD QUALITY CHECKED FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 17 rounds): I. Jake Johnson (49/1 win); 2. Chris earr (48/ I win); 3. Joe Kopp (39); 4. Ken Coolbeth (37); 5. Nick Cummings (36); 6. (TIE) Henry Wiles (35)/Kevin Varnes (35); 8. J.R. Schnabel (331l win): 9. Shaun RoS'ell (27): 10. (TIE) Bryan Sm;th (24VB

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