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Daytona Beach, FL . March 10, 2000 AMA National Hot Shoe Series - Rounds 3: Daytona Municipal Stadium Florida Flat Track Series- Rounds 5: event, and I just kind of went to that game plan. I just kind of bounced around, and the next thing I knew, I By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY FLAT TRAK FOTOS AND KINNEY JONES was leading it." King's bouncing took him right past race-long leader Poovey on lap 11. Up until that point the Texan had appeared to be unstoppable, as he got the holeshot from the second spot left of the low pole on the front row and set sail, just as he had when claiming victory in both Hot Shoe and Grand National short tracks here in 1997. Things went bad, however, as Poovey's line appeared to burn out a bit, rutting up and actually slowing him down despite the fact that he looked to be running about twice as umblings of doubt were being heard throughout the dirt track community almost after the announcement was made. Rich King, the best rider who didn't win the AMA Grand National Championship last season, was tabbed to join the Harley-Davidson factory team, taking the place of retired nine-time champ Scott Parker to collaborate with dirt track tuning legend Bill Werner. Sure, King was good, they said, and Werner's wrench-spinning abilities without question, but could all of Bill's horses and all of King's man put the Harley factory's dominance back together again? After witnessing King's comefrom-behind victory in round three of the AMA National Hot Shoe Series at Daytona Municipal Stadium, the answer is clear: They're gonna give it hell trying. In truth, King didn't come from that far back, running third off the start and hovering there for several laps before making his move. But, then again, he had less time to do it, as the AMA shortened the main event from 25 laps to 15 laps in the interest of track preservation. After chasing leader Terry Poovey and runner-up M (Top) The baton has been passed: Rich King celebrates after scoring his first win as a Harley-Davidson rider. lAbove) All of the top Daytona short track contenders went to the front early. Joe Kopp (43) leads here, ahead of King (80), Terry Poovey (18) and Jay Springsteen (9). (Left) Kopp (43) got by Poovey (43) right at the finish to take the runner-up position. faster than me," Poovey said. "I couldn't get through the middle of the corner, and they were eating me up bad in the middle of the corner. The racetrack just kind of went away on me. But we've still got tomorrow night. This was just a tune-up for me." Joe Kopp, King simply thought it out, dropped to the bottom and rolled right underneath both riders with just about four laps to go in order to claim his first National victory as a HarleyDavidson teamster. "I started out running where everyone else was in the beginning, and I thought, 'Man, I'm not going anywhere,'" King said. "Me and Bill had talked about a setup before the main 38 MARCH 22, 2000' eye • fast as King, who slipped underneath Poovey in turns one and two on lap 11. Poovey fought back down the back straight, but King sealed the deal by running around practically on the grass through three and four. Kopp waited until the last lap to scoot by Poovey and take away second place, leaving the third-placed Texan a bit frustrated. "Rich and Joe were just going e n e "" Sii Runner-up Kopp appeared to show the greatest amount of patience despite the fact that this was a shorter race than usual. Running second off the line after starting to the left of King in the middle of row one, the former Peoria TT winner and champion of last year's Dallas Mile simply bided his time, hoping to zap Poovey for the lead late in the race. That was the plan, anyway, until King came by around the bottom in turns one and two. It forced Kopp to pick up the pace, and that ultimately carried him past Poovey for second. "I was pretty much concentrating on sneaking around Terry, and the next thing I know, I could hear Rich trying to sneak a wheel in underneath me," Kopp said. "I knew that he was gaining on me in the middle of the turns, because I was going up so high, but I felt like I had a good line on the cushion. Rich finally got by me, but I knew that was two older guys in front of me. I kept thinking, 'they're gonna get tired, they're gonna get tired,' but that never quite happened. I ended up taking a chance on that last lap and it worked out." Behind the front three was a frantic pack of riders headed by three-time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen, who got off the line fourth and stayed there for the rest of the race. All in a day's work for the veteran of the circuit. "Not too bad," Springer said. "The bike's working good. I was glad that