Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

and he'd gain 10 lengths on me. I could be right back on him again in a lap. Catching them is one thing, but passing is another. Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I think that if I had been able to get up there and put some pressure on Terry, it might have changed things. But to come from the second row and make the box, I can't complain. I guess I'll have to wait until next year, but I will win it next year. You can put that in your book right now." Just out on another of his typical Daytona cruises was three-time AMA Grand National Champion Jay (Right) All the top contenders were up front when the race began. Joe Kopp (partially hidden) actually got the holeshot, with Poovey in second. Third-place finisher Brett Landes (41) came from the second row to finish third. (Below) Poovey (18) set leader Kopp (43) up in turns one and two before blasting up the inside to take the lead on the back straight. Kopp could not mount a challenge to retake the lead. @@710 66fj)@@f!J@f)f) DfiD 71DD@ @[f@@I!l@ @@[fD'll Springsteen, who started on row two with Landes and bided his time, letting the competition come to him as they made mistakes or just plain missed the setup. After a morning thrash that had culminated in his Bartels' Harley-Davidson/Corbin/ McCoy's team making an engine swap, ai' Springer took a Saturdaynight joy ride on the notch to land fourth place. "Everything worked great except for that motor blowing up this morning," Springsteen said. "My other bike was so much better, so that's why we switched [engines]. but it was worth it. I'm glad we switched now. I wanted to start out running up top, but usually the first lap, guys push each other out, so I just pole-putted around the bottom. I tried to go up top, but Bigelow was spraying me down when I was up there, so I just dropped back down. I've got a lot of good people helping me this year, so we'll be on the gas." For the Harley-Davidson of Sacra- mento/Big Valley Ford-backed Carr, fifth place was a hell of a lot better than his run on at the Hot Shoe event on Friday night, where he landed on the ground and out of the main event early. He started fourth, and was in the thick of the chase during the heavy action that punctuated the first five laps before dropping spots to Landes and Springsteen. He would get one back before it was over, passing Fasthog.com rider Davis, who bobbled in turns one and two and fell off the cushion, dropping to seventh, behind Carr and solid-riding J.R. Schnabel on the Team Powell/Sunoco Wood-Rotax. That was as good as it got, and good enough for Carr on this night. "That was a lot better than yesterday," Carr said. "The track seemed to be a lot more conducive to good racing, but in the main event it just turned into a one-line job. I don't know if what they did with it was better or not. But we got out of here with It would seem as though AMA track operations man Steve Morehead was playing this one into Terry Poovey's hands early. The track surface for Friday night's Hot Shoe National was actually anti-Poovey in its typical rough and rutty condition, which made for exciting racing, lots of passing and plenty of spills. So many, in fact, that the AMA elected to shorten the Hot Shoe final to 15 laps in order to get a head start on preparations for the Daytona Short Track. Sure enough, while the surface was smoother than the previous night's, it also gave the racers less opportunity to pass, placing more emphasis on getting the holeshot and getting out front. That's the way the Texan likes it, and it showed as he blasted to a poletime of three minutes, 15.254 seconds en route to winning the second la-lap heat, the low- to mid-19-second lap times adding up to better second-fastest heat winner Joe Kopp's time by over one and a half seconds. Winner Kopp and second-placed Jay Springsteen had a fresh track in the opening heat race of the night, but Poovey took advantage of his starting spot on the bottom in heat two and ran away from J.R. Schnabel and the rest. He made it look easy. "I ain't even tired," Poovey joked after winning. "I just got lucky to be in the second heat race. They brushed the race track off for me. That's probably the best that that race track is going to be tonight, so that was good for me. I'll just try to adjust for what it's going to be like lin the main.]" Bryan Bigelow and Dan Stanley waged war in the third heat of the night, as the two distanced themselves from their competitors. Bigelow bumped the cushion to take the win and lead Stanley into the main event, his riding style perhaps costing him a few ticks as he posted a 3:21.522. By comparison, Will Davis was faster on what should theoretically have been a slower track, by turning in a 3: 18.909 win after squaring both bends and beating Brett Landes to the line in heat four. Paul Lynch surprised everyone - maybe including himself - by getting the holeshot of the night against Saddlemen Racing rider Mike Hacker and Roy Miller. Lynch stayed out front to the finish while Miller out-gunned Hacker to take the all-important direct transfer to his first Grand National final. Lynch's time was a slow 3:24.245. Chris Carr bettered that when he blasted around everyone in turn one to take the lead and win, cutting the 10 laps in three minutes, 23.122 seconds. some points, and I feel good for the eye I e n e _ s • MARCH 22, 2000 21

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