Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Despite his early speed, Beaulac settled for a fifth-place finish. "I don't know why the AMA didn't dig up the track," Beaulac said. "Like that, it's kind of rough and dangerous a little bit. I made a bad choice of tires. I thought the track would be more loose. At halfway, I almost crashed. After that, I found another line that worked for me and finished fifth. At the beginning, it was good, but at the end, when I tried to slide the turns in a big are, I think I messed up there. I turned and saw Chris [Carr] right there, but there was nothing I could do. I'm happy with fifth. It is the best finish of my life. I get better each year. Last year I got ninth, this year fifth." No doubt Memphis Shades/Parts Unlimited's J.R. Schnabel passed the most riders on the night as he worked his way from last to sixth. "In the first start, I was the last guy going down the backstretch, and two guys crashed," Schnabel said. "On the restart, they were on the fourth row, and I was still the last guy going down the backstretch. I came from 18th all the way to sixth. We had a good charge." American Suzuki/Parts Unlimited's Jake Johnson battled the last half of the race with crowd favorite Geo Roeder II. "The first start, I had a horrible start," Johnson said. "I was kind of glad that I got a second shot at it. On the second start, I came off of turn two in fifth I think. I started working my way back a little bit. The lead pack kind of got away. I had a good battle with Roeder there for a little while. We were just kind of going back and forth. Toward the end, with about six to go, J.R. [Schnabel] got by me. He was like on a mission KK Supply/Las Vegas HarleyDavidson/Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson's Roeder had a long night. In the fourth heat, Roeder fell in turn three on the last lap while in a qualifying position. Forced into a semi from the penalty line on a Thiel's Wheels Harley-Davidson, jim's Harley-Davidson, Lima Harley-Davidson, Mid-Ohio Harley-Davidson, Harley-Davidson Sales & Service of Napoleon. Roeder Harley-Davidson and F&S Harley-Davidson contributed $500 for each heat winner and $333 for each semi winner. Although the final results were not what he was looking for, Johnny Murphree took some positives from his long night. "We backup bike, Roeder blasted through the field and into the National. Although far from the win he wanted, his eighth-place finish was hard-earned. Coziahr Harley-Davidson/National Cycle's johnny Murphree fought his way up to sixth, when a near get-off almost ended his night and dropped him back to ninth. "I went over the bars, I highsided and did everything but crash," Murphree said. "I had both feet off the pegs, then gassed it back up. I got passed by a couple guys. After that near crash, I couldn't get the motivation to get the throttle back on early, but I felt totally comfortable all day." Moroney's Harley-Davidson/Control Content's Bryan Smith got up off the ground and rounded out the top 10. "On the first start, Henry [Wiles] and I both kind of hit the same rut," Smith said. "He hit it first. He was already going down, and then I hit it. He had no control of his bike, so I kind of laid it down. I laid it down quicker because he was on the ground. Basically, we both just got in the same mudhole. He just got there first. ''That's the hardest I've worked for a 10th-place finish in a long time," Smith added. "I started going into the corner MY OWN RACE 1 Chris Carr 4th "After the rains I just wasn't as good as I was earlier," Carr said. "I had a couple close moments In the heat race and was a little tentative. A second-row start on a track like this, I feel like I stole a couple points tonight. We made some changes to the bike for the main event; it was better. The bike worked a lot better. It took less effort for me to go the lap times that I was going. I lust wasn't as good as the guys up front. We improved from the heat race, just didn't improve enough." j.R. Schnabel 6th "In the main event, I was last off the start," Schnabel said. "That was my biggest problem all night. I can't get off the starting line. The bikes are so good. I was lust disappointed. We had a bike that was ready for the podium tonight, and I was riding it good. You can't spot these guys I0 feet off the starting line then get sprayed and pushed back. My conditioning Is good - that is what saved me. The guys were really coming to me about the I5-1ap sign. I was just catching them. I kept passing guys and passing guys, I lust ran out of laps. If it would haw been 50 laps, I would haw been on the podium possibly." rea I qUick in the beginning, and I thought I was going to get past a whole group of five guys and messed up. I stayed in 12th until the last lap, then I got by Nick Cummings and Shawn Baer." HARLEY-DAVIDSON SPORTSTER PERFORMANCE NATIONAL The last race of the night was the HarleyDavidson Sportster Performance National. Doc's Harley-Davidson/jim Wagner's Merle Scherb grabbed the holeshot and led the first two laps. Harv's Harley-Davidson Racing's Chris Hart, KK Supply/F&S Harley-Davidson's A.j. Eslick and F& S Harley-Davidson's Ricky Marshall were all pressuring Scherb for the lead. Eslick and Marshall exchanged the lead on laps three, four and five, and Marshall was finally able to pull clear of teammate Eslick and the rest. Scherb was able to keep defending series Champion Hart at bay and came away with the last podium spot. Pure Attitude Active Wear's Bryan Hazel was able to hold off Lima HarleyDavidson's Scott Stump for fifth. The points race in the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series is very tight, as Hart and Scherb are all tied for the lead after three rounds, with 54 points each. 14 jake johnson 7th "It was better than I expected," johnson said. "The track was slick. and we kind of struggled a little bit. I'm happy. I saw Johnny almost get off. He passed me in one and two. He went into three and before he got back on the gas; he hit a rut, it turned the bike straight at the hay bales. I shut off, and somehow he saved it. It was kind of a lonely race. Me and [Geo] Roeder battled for a little bit, but when j.R. [Schnabel] got by me, I didn't haw anything for him. I'm happy with seventh. The Suzuki just keeps getting better and better. Usually, we struggle on this kind of stuff. Tonight, it was really slick, and it got really hard In the main event. I was lacking a little bit of traction, but not too bad. I had to come from the back, but to be able to beat a guy like Roeder on a track like this Is pretty good." 4 2 Bryan Smith 10th "I thought I had something at the beginning of the day In praetlce," Smith said. "I had to run a semi and had a good line for the semi. The line I had In the semi really didn't work In the main. I had to run the bottom, and I did the best I could. Plus, I fell on the first start and had to start on the fourth row. I was a half stralghtaway behind right off the start." made some changes within our team this week," Murphree said. "We had some really good positive thoughts going all week long. I was more excited about coming to Lima this trip than I've ever been in my life, and it showed. We made some progress on our cushion track program, setup and everything else. I can hardly wait to get on my Harley next time. Up until this week, it wasn't any fun. Now I feel like I can do anything, I can go anywhere I need to go." Chris Carr suggested that the vintage Lima pea-gravel racing surface that made the race such a thrilling affair for generations might be a thing of the past. '~fter the rains, I expected the track to be deeper and wetter'" Carr said. "It came right back to the same track we had in practice. It was pretty dry and dusty throughout the main event no cushion. The track has changed in the last few years. I guess the fairgrounds doesn't buy any more pea rock. What pea rock there is has been piled up around the hay bales. If you get up into it, it's too deep to ride in. Down on the bottom is pretty much pure clay, with a little bit of what rocks are left down there. It just sits on top, and it's like riding on ball bearings. There's just not a whole lot of grip when this thing gets wet." A number of riders were missing from the program. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company's Rich King stayed home with his ill mother, while Kevin Atherton and Nichole Cheza are still nursing their injuries from last week in Syracuse. All are expected to be back next week in Michigan. Chris Carr's pursuit of his seventh Grand National title continues to roll along as he maintains a 23-point lead over Kenny Coolbeth. Coolbeth, Joe Kopp. Jake johnson and jared Mees are all within I I points of one another. Two riders who had qualified for the first five Nationals this year failed to make the main in Lima. American Suzuki's Kevin Varnes came up just short in the second semi, finishing third. On the other hand. it was a bitter pill for White's Harley-Davidson/Scott Powersports' Raun Wood, who was safely into the main in the first heat when his Harley gave up. Back in the last semi, Wood was trying to come from the back when he ran out of racetrack in turn three and his night ended in a hard fall. One rider who did make his first career Grand National main event was SuperTrapp/Lombardi Harley-Davidson temp Shawn Baer, whose efforts were undoubtedly bolstered by his new riding coach, the injured Mike Hacker, for whom Continued on page 32 CYCLE NEWS • JULY 6,2005 31

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