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AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship 00 e on pos Coo/beth pulls to within five points of Carr after second win of the year STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLATTRAKFOTOS.COM he AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship returned to the Farley Speedway's half mile for round 10 of the 16-race series, and KTM/Mid-American HarleyDavidson/Jones Powersports' Kenny Coolbeth once again demonstrated that he is on top of his game by charging into the lead on lap four and taking his second T win of the season. '" looked back twice and I saw I had a pretty good lead," Coolbeth said. "I just kind of put it on cruise control. It was easy, but it was stressful. It would have been easier to lead the last five laps instead of all the laps I led." It marked the fifth consecutive race that Cool beth has been on the podium and the fifth race that he has finished ahead of defending Grand National Champion Chris Carr, cutting the champ's points lead down to a mere five points. After winning the last two Nationals, Joe Kopp pulled his Latus HarleyDavidson/Jones Powersports-backed Harley-Davidson into the pole position for the 25-lap National. Kopp was joined by fellow heat winners Carr, Screamin' Eagle/Harley-Davidson Motor Company's Rich King, and Coolbeth. At the flash of green, Kopp shot into the lead, but for the first time this year Cool beth gated right with the leader. "I was surprised on the start that I was second behind Joe," said the normally slow-starting Coolbeth. "I almost got him coming out of two on the first lap. I passed Joe pretty easily down the front straightaway. I thought he would be right back by me and we would have a pretty good race. I was kind of surprised. I put it on cruise control when I saw I had a pretty good lead. I don't know if Chris caught me at all. I was playing it pretty conservative. I just put my head down, and around 12 laps into it, I looked back and saw I had a pretty good lead. It was a lot of throttle control tonight." Kopp admitted to making mistakes during the race. "I kind of fouled that up," Kopp said. "I don't like leading off the get-go, really. I felt somebody pressuring me; I knew they were close. I didn't know if it was Kenny or who it was. I don't know what lap he passed me, it seemed pretty early in the 26 AUGUST 17, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS race. Once he passed me, I thought, 'Okay, I'll follow him and try to get him back later on in the race.' He just flat split from me. I couldn't keep up. I was having a heck of a time down in one and two, just keeping it down on the groove." In the first seven or eight laps, Kopp and Coolbeth gapped the field, but as Coolbeth pulled away, Kopp was being run down by the wolves. Uma Harley-Davidsonlldeal Environment's Bryan Bigelow held down third, with King and Saddlemen/Lancaster HarleyDavidson's Jared Mees challenging. Bigelow bobbled one too many times, and King took over third. "I had a tough time getting a rhythm; there were a bunch of little bumps in the track," Bigelow said. "The track was real good and all, but I had a tough time get- ting a rhythm. The biggest problem I had was that I'm not used to running up with the front guys. I did it for a few years, and I've struggled for the last couple years. So to run their pace, I'm making mistakes. I got passed every time I made a mistake. I didn't get passed because I was going too slow, I got passed because I was trying to go too fast and couldn't keep it on the groove or whatever." King got by Bigelow and into third on lap 10, and die local hero was now closing rapidly on Kopp. Bigelow immediately came under fire from Mees. "I was right there in fifth and felt really strong," Mees said. "I thought I could get the last two guys and get on the podium. I came into turn one, pressed the brake lever down, and there was nothing there - I lost the brakes. It's probably the scari-