Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128616
AMA/Progre s s ive In s u r a n c e F la c k T rac k Champio n sh ips R o u n d 3 : Illinois S t a t e Fairg rounds SPRINGFIELD, IL, MAY 29 h e Illino is Motorc ycl e De a le rs A ssoc iat ion ret u r ne d th e Springfie ld Mile to the AMA' s Gra nd Nationa l s c he dule in 198 2 , and sinc e that time Jay Springsteen has c hased a n elusi ve victo ry . Man y tim e s, th e thr e e - t im e AMA Gr and Na tional Champ io n h a s c o me up jus t s h o rt , s ev era l times just inc hes s ho rt. Tod a y was diffe rent. The Bartels ' Har ley-Dav idson/C orb in Ra cin g/ Re al McC oy's -backed Spring steen broke away from a 12-rider pack with on e lap to g o a nd held off th e swarm to cla im the 43 rd win of his sto ried career. He a vy rain s mov ed through th e Springfield , Illinoi s area , forci ng th e AMA and the IMDA to dela y th e third round of th e Progre s s ive Insuran c e Grand National to Monda y . But for the approximatel y 12 ,000 fans wh o were abl e to s it out the de lay, th e results were worth every minute. The roaring c heer of the large crowd to ld the tail as Springer led ou t of tu rn two a nd d own th e ba ck s t ra ight o n th e last la p. It go t even louder when he he ld th e point into turn thre e . Exiting tu rn fo ur it wa s almost certa in th at th e c hallenge comi ng fro m Chris Ca rr a nd Rich King was go ing to come up s hort. Th e g ran dst ands s t arte d t o ro ck , a nd the c e lebrat ion bega n. "Wh e n I g o t the lead, I tr ied to re ally bake it into the corne r a nd get the ga s ba c k on as quick as I cou ld ," Springsteen sa id . "I ke pt loo king out th e c orn e r of m y e ye fo r somebo dy, a n d th e re was n ob od y , s o I j u s t push ed it in t o th r e e a s h a rd a s I c ould . I ju st ran it in so hard a nd got righ t back on the gas ." T he race wa s marred b y a five rider c ra s h on the fourth lap . Larry Pegram was ma king a c ha rge to the fron t when a bolt broke o n h is Harl ey Dav idson 's sw ingarm , se nd ing th e 18 n By D A VE H O ENIG P HOT OS BY F LA T T RA K F OT OS .JUNE 7 ,2000' c u e • e e vv s ro ad racer s liding down in hea vy traf fic . Also invo lved were Chris Carr , Dan Stan ley , Steve Beattie a nd Pa ul Mo rgan III. Carr a nd S tan le y were abl e to restart, but Morgan a nd Be at t ie were t ra ns porte d to the hos pital. Be a tt ie s uffe red inju rie s to his rig ht leg , wh ile Mo rgan wa s kn oc ked o ut and ta ken in for gene ra l obs ervation. Peg ram wa s unhurt , but una bl e t o restart. "I can 't belie ve how luc ky I a m : Pegr am s a id. "God wa s watc hing over m e , t h a t' s fo r su re . I do n 't h a ve a scra tc h , n ot e ve n a b ru is e . I k no w Be a tt ie and Morga n got banged up , a nd I reall y feel bad a bout tha t. . "I ha d jus t found a re a lly good line down in turn four ," Pegram sa id. "I pa ssed about fo ur guys and m o ve d up to fourth . I ran up the in s id e of Nicky [Hayden] going into turn o ne , a nd the n it locked up. I jus t m issed Nicky , but I was clear a t th e bottom wh en it happened, and all those guys o n t he outs ide had nowhere to go . Typical Spri ngf iel d : A packed grandstand looks o n as Will Davis 1211, Nicky Hayden 16 9) Ch ris Carr 111, Kenny Coolbeth Ibehin d Carrj, J ay SpringS1een 1 9), M ike Hacker !behind Springsteen) and Bryan B igelow 1111 banzai into tum one at over 130 mph. When all was said a n d done , Springer emerged w ith h is first Sp ringfield M ile v ictory. Chris a lmost got arou nd , but I c a ught his bike , a nd th en h is b ike got those othe r gu ys : Once the tra ck wa s cleared, typical Springfield a ct ion returned , wit h 12 riders in th e lead draft. Chri s Ca rr's t eam was abl e t o ge t h is Ha rl ey Dav ids on of Sa cramento /Wren chhead .com - backed Ha rley repaired , and th e reigning AMA Gra nd National Cha mpion wa s on the move . "It' s tou gh ," Carr said. "It' s nev er fun having to pull straw out of you r butt and get ba ck on th e motorc ycle, but the guys did a gr e at jo b getting the bike back together . We knew we