Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

all fell apart as his Harley coasted to a stop in turn four, just short of completing the 10th lap. ''A hose clamp that holds the carburetor on broke," Bigelow said. ''A 50-cent part cost me a lot of money." Kopp settled into the lead, but all was not well as the former series champion looked for his first 2005 National win. Cool beth was reeling Kopp in at a terrific pace, and it looked like the battle would be on shortly. Unfortunately, that battle never materialized. Lap 19 was Kopp's undoing. ''About seven laps earlier, before halfway, the bike started slowing down," Kopp said. "I started going halfto three-quarters-throttle down the straightaway, trying to save it. I thought it was slowing down, and I needed to baby it. Then, all of a sudden, it went. Larry [Zumbrun] said it was a valve. I tried to get away. I ran my butt off the first 10 laps. I had a pretty good lead there for a while. I didn't know who was back there. I didn't know it was Kenny back there. I knew [that] whoever it was, they were going to be catching me." Coolbeth said that he could see he was catching Kopp, although Kopp still had a pretty good gap on him. "I just rode as hard as I could and tried to stay smooth," Coolbeth said. "By the time I caught up to him, he blew up. I wish I could have raced with him. I glanced back a couple times. I thought Jared was way closer than he was. He was quite a ways back at the end." Defending AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Champion Chris Carr had qUietly worked his Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford-backed Harley into the mix by then, and he took over third. "I got a couple gift spots," Carr said. "I probably didn't have anything for Kopp. It's a shame that his bike broke." Mees recovered and attacked the champ, grabbing third on lap 13. "I got by Chris, Chris got by me, and then I got him back," Mees said of his second-place finish. "Beating the champ is something I've always dreamed of. It's starting to happen." The Mees-Carr battle became a battle for second after Kopp coasted to the sidelines. "Bigelow blew up, so that was rough luck for him," Mees said. "Then Joe blew up, and I was thinking, 'I'm getting up there.' Once I kind of settled down, I matched Coolbeth's pace, but there was no catching him. He was on rails. Congratulations to him. I know how pumped up he must be. I know what the feeling is now." Carr admitted that Coolbeth and Mees were better than he in the main. ''At least Coolbeth was, the first 10 laps," Carr said. "I kept pace for a while once I got going, but I couldn't make a dent. I tried to force the issue a little bit and made some mistakes about halfway through, and lost all my time. Basically, I pretty much settled in. I had a battle with Jared. He made a mistake, and I got by him. Then I made a mistake, and he got back by me. I was trying to run his pace, and I got into the corner hot. He was down low, and he gapped me. It's just one of those things. They were a little bit better than me." After getting the holeshot but then stumbling, King recovered for a fourth-place finish. "We have a pretty good motorcycle," King said. "I was getting excellent drives off the corner. I was just struggling a little bit in the middle of the corner. I hate to admit it, but I got tired. I've got to get back and train a little harder and not let that happen again." Bartels' Harley-Davidson/TNT Harley.com's Shaun Russell was glued to King's rear wheel at the end but could not get by him. "It was pretty uneventful, really," the fifth-placed Russell said. ''All I could see was Rich. I tried everything I could to get by him. I was a ways back; then I just kind of caught up to that little pack. Rich kind of worked his way to the back of it. I just followed Rich and tried everything to get by him. Fifth in the main is not too bad." Moroney's Harley-Davidson/Content Control's Bryan Smith worked his way up to a hard-earned sixth place. "I was right behind Shaun Russell and King," Smith said. "I couldn't really do anything with them." The other half of the Quality Checked Certified PreOwned Ford Team, Willie McCoy, followed Smith through the pack to a seventh-place finish. "I didn't get the greatest start," McCoy said. "I was bunched in with those guys. I had a hard time getting by O.R.] Schnabel. Then everybody else got away. I was try- ing to get by J.R., and Henry [Wiles] was running the low line. It kind of messed me up. Once I got by those guys, I caught Rich and Bryan [Smith] and Shaun. By the time I caught them, the race was over - I couldn't pass them. It kind of sucked, but it could have been worse." SJS Racing!Tramontin Harley-Davidson's Paul Lynch put his new ride into eighth, over Memphis Shades/Parts Unlimited's J.R. Schnabel and Team Suzuki Flat Track/Part Unlimited's Jake Johnson. Coziahr Harley-Davidson/National Cycle's Johnny Murphree, Zanotti Racing! A&A Racing's Jethro Halbert, KK Supply/Winchester Harley-Davidson/Eddie Adkins' Henry Wiles, White's Harley-Davidson/Scott Powersports' (Top) Coolbeth (31) ran Kopp (3) down and was just beginning to mount a serious challenge for the leod when Kopp's engine let go, sidelining him on lap 19. Coolbeth led it the rest of the way. (Above) Series champion Chris Carr sneaked his way into third place before the finish of the race, although he did lose some of his series points lead to Cool beth ond Mees. CYCLE NEWS • JULY 13,2005 25

• Cover