Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

were starting in the back , so we m ade sure we fix ed e v e ry t hi n g we could. W e made a go od run t o th e front, w e j u st came up sh ort on th e strateg y at the end ." In a photo fi ni sh. Carr wa s award e d seco nd ove r Harl e y -Dav idson Motor Compan y' s Rich King , wh o had mix ed feelin g s over hi s re su lt s. " T h e trac k was pret t y slic k , a n d I was t ryi ng t o s ave my tire ," K in g said. " I d id n 't see the halfway s ign , if there w a s o ne . I was j ust k i n d of cruis ing around in eig h t h o r ninth . All of a su dden I sa w the five la ps to go sign an d I thought, ' O h no .' I just got ca u g h t m es si n g aro und in th e bac k an d co u ld n ' t g e t t o t he f ro nt quick enough. I ki nd o f panicked . I got to the fron t, b u t I burned my ti re up I got it hot an d j ust couldn 't get o ff the c o r ners. I wish I had got second , but I'm glad J a y won it." Saddlemen Raci ng/La ncaste r H- D / D o dge B ro t h er s ' M ik e Ha c k er wor ked h is way to t h e front , f inish in g fou rt h a ft er a terribl e st a rt. " T h a t was o ne heck of a r ac e ," Hacker said . "I got off the l in e dea d l a s t, then I came through th e pack , a lm o st like I was the on ly r id er out there ." Hacker w as 16th o n la p o ne, an d sixth w h en th e red fl ag ca me o ut o n Carr (1' was involved in a brutal fourth.lap cras h tha t collected rIVe ride rs. He shook it off to finish second. Coolbeth (3 1' wa s ninth. lap fo ur. ® Gf]&J D o1JJJoUD[j) Just when it looked like the day woul d pass without an ambulance hav ing to move, all hell broke loos e in turn two on the fourth lap of the Nati onal . with Larry Pegram at the center of the storm. "The swingarm bo lt sheered . and 'when I went int o turn one it just lock ed up the rearend, " Pegram said after triggering the specta cular crash. "We've just got to have better luck . It' s not a matter of m aint enance or anyth ing. A hardened titanium bolt j ust broke. What are you go ing to do?" Four othe r riders were gathered up. with Steve Beattie 's Gardner Racing Harley cartwheeling over the fence onto the road outside th e race track. Beatt ie and Paul Mo rgan III were transported to the hos pital , whil e Beattie 's t eam m at e Dan Stan ley and defending Grand Nationa l Cha m pio n Chris Car r were left shaken, but they m ade the restart . "I' m pretty sore all ove r," said Stan ley, who is still recover ing from his back injury from last year. "Paul Mo rgan was laying on t op of m e and he was k noc ke d out. I was afrai d to move, in case he had something broken. His legs were over my stom ach , and I figured I'd bette r not move. He finally wok e up, but he didn 't know where he was, it was just really a bad deal. I thou gh t I was goi ng to get aroun d it , but Carr' s bike boun ced off Pegra m 's and got int o me. It shot m e straight into the wall and flipped me over. I think Mor gan' s bike hit me and kept fli pping. then Paul landed on me." After crashing into th e bales Carr was up quickly trying to assess the dam age to his bike. "I was lay ing face firs t in the hay bal es, so I counted to three and noth ing hit me , so I got up ," said Carr. Bigelow ca ug ht a br eak , " Larry wa s right in front of m e when we went into the turn and for some reason, the only time all day , I went to the bottom ," Bige low said. "Thank God I did. When his swingarm brok e, he laid it down and slid to the outsid e. Twenty four of 25 laps that's where I would have been." »» [fJ&J@OUD@ f1!iJ®f]!JD@[f fJ!}&Jf]Gf] Because of th e weath er conditi ons, whi ch had already caused the event to be delayed by one day , the race format was changed. The re were no qual ifying heats . Instead , the 43 riders were plac ed into six heats , wit h th e top two finishers moving directly to the Nat ional whil e every one else moved to thr ee sem is where the first two th ere would also mov e on. Close finis hes were th e rul e as every heat was decided at the line. Rarely was th e leader out of tum four decl ared the winne r. Rich King, Dan Stanley and Terry Poo vey fought for the win in the first heat, with King and Poove y sending Stanley to a semi. Ki ng' s winning 1O-Iap time of five m inutes, 56 .205 seconds was th e fastest of the day. The second heat featu red anoth er th ree way battl e. Joe Kopp , Steve Beatti e and Nicky Hayd en each took a tu m at leadin g. with Kop p at the po int when his ride went sour at th e whit e flag. Gardner Racing fW alters Bro thers H-D 's Beatti e edged Hayden for the win . Heat three had Willi e McCoy and Paul Mor gan III up front. Chris Boon e joined th e battle until his bike deve loped a m iss on lap seven. Th e MAX Leath ers/Fast Plates/TJ Cab le-ba ck ed Mor gan came aw ay with the win ove r F&S HD/Shoei/MSR 's McCoy. Five riders were battling over the two trans fer spots from heat four. Mike Hacker, Jay Springsteen, Kevin Varnes. Gee Roeder and Bry an Bi gelow were all scrambling for th e win . Vames got his foot hung up und er his footpeg and twisted his knee, dropping off the pace. but the rest battl ed it out to the end. The Michigan duo of Springsteen and Big elow came out on top . The fifth heat, once again, saw four riders trying to fil l the two spots. Chri s Carr , J ohnn y Murphree, Ken Coo lbeth and Larry Pegram were up front. Carr came away with the win over Competition Accessories/MC Stu ff -backed Pegram . The last heat brought out the first red flag Dale Jenn eman blew an oil lin e exiting tum four and dumped oil down the front straight. After the cl eanup Will Davis jumped into the lead over Gary Rogers and J.R . Sch nabel. Davis and Schn abel pulled away , only to have Rogers run them down. A ll thr ee hit the fin ish line together. Davis and Rogers mov ed to the main , Schnabel wo uld have to try agai n in the sem is. Schn abel did co me back in the first sem i, as he led Stan ley early. Th e tw o were j oined by Paul Lyn ch until a flat tire sent Lyn ch t o the sidelines . Gard ner Racing/Springfie ld Arm or y' s Stanl ey ca me away with th e win ov er Team Powell /W est Bend H-D 's Schnabel. Corb in Racing/Dave Burks Motorsp orts/H -D of Missour i' s Kopp easily won th e second semi , whil e Allen Racing /Best H-D back ed Ja son Tyer pull ed a last-lap pass on Mik e Varnes to qualify for hi s first Nati onal. Ther e was a maj or log j am in the last semi. as five riders battled all the way over the last two tickets to the main. Hacker, Vam es, J ohnny Murphree, Ken Coolbeth and Gee Roeder wanted it , but it was Hacker and Coolbeth who moved on. cue I e n e vv S • JUNE 7. 2000 19

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