Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

mer Rookie of the Yea r. " I wa s go in g b a c k w ard s b efore th e re st a rt . I w a s c a tc hi n g Rich , th en I sa w J.R. go down , a nd I lo st a lot of ground o n R ich . If th e y would n ' t ha v e r e df lagged it, it w o u ld h av e be en a big ro w to hoe." On the rest art Mu rp h ree w ent fro m e leve nth t o sev e n th r ig ht off , then ca ught Sprin g st een . "It w as fun , I g ot to r a c e wi th S p r i n g e r a co u p le of laps, " Murphree said . " I was o n t he outside , and he k e pt looking ove r at me. I k ne w he wasn 't going to g ive it up ve ry easy." said M urp hree. " D av is was d own o n t h e b o t t om , sl id i ng ar ound , and I th ou g ht I was goi ng t o get h im , b u t I screw ed u p . Ro e der mad e a big m ista k e w it h ab out three laps t o g o and th at' s w h en W ill got hi m. I c a u g h t h im [R o ed erj. but b y then I was just w antin g t o m ainta in . M y t ongue w a s sta rting to dr ag. I hadn 't r idden a main e vent i n s o long ." [Above) CarT (1) made a pass for the lead on local rider Geo Roeder II (66), and was not challenged after that. Roeder slipped back to a disappointing fifth in front of his home crowd. (Left) Chris Evans rode an Eddie Adkins-tuned XR to second place. The Canadian took advantage of a laterace red flag to get a good restart and take his first career GNC podium fi nish. I f Murphr e e was the happ iest , Spri ngsteen wa s just th e o p po s it e , and the veteran made it very clear. " I g ot sc rewe d," Spri nger sa id. "T h at' s j u st bu llsh it. If I would have kno wn t hey w er e goi ng t o water t he tr ack , I would h av e c h ang ed my t ir e. That' s bull shi t , m an. Scott Par k er comes to o ne race a nd they listen to hi m , I g uess. T h ey wai t until th e t ime is up to wo rk o n t he b ike, and then t h e y w ate r th e track . You co ul d n ' t Possibl y the happ iest rid er o f the day w as Coz iahr H .D /M e m ph is Sha d es' J ohnny M urphree. " T h a t ' s t h e f irst t im e I 've ever m ad e o ut o n a resta rt : sa id th e fo r- c ha ng e a tire the n . I just g ot sc rewed . Scott Park er is a budd y of m ine , bu t th at's j us t no t right . It w asn 't a safety d e a l ei ther. It was n' t tha t bad , but th at water su re he lp ed t hem ." [§)&Jl!lD~ g)[JiJD@rz@~ Park er w a s m akin g h is first appear- always t ak e s care o f m e . I d o n 't an c e o f 200 0 , and despi te c o mi n g from row t h r ee on t he sta rt , h e held k n o w ho w h e k n ows . Tw o ye a r s o n t o th ird ove r a f a st - cl o s i n g W ill D av is. ago i n L a s V eg a s , he h e l p ed m e to the t itle . D a v is also brough t h is Mo ron e y 's " I t h in k I woul d ha v e b ee n fine : Park er conti nu ed . " I t ho u ght m e an d H -D /Fasthog. c o m H arl e y f rom ro w E vans we re catc hi n g those guy s even three and was closi ng o n Parker w hen th e c h eckered fl ag came out. before t he red flag . I thought pote n t iall y w e h ad a good shot at reel ing " T h at restart did h elp out, " Davis sa id . "T h at ' s just th e w ay th is deal is . them in . I k now Chris w as a little b et ter, but I think he w as better afte r t he re d flag. " You c o m e from t he th ir d row and you l o s e tra c k o f t he l e a d er s. Th a t bun ch ed u s b a c k u p a n d gave u s Ro ed er ' s f ifth p la c e f i ni sh fell fa r short o f hi s expecta t io ns. another sh o t. I rea ll y di dn 't p ass any - " B efo re th e red f lag, I was struq- b od y th e first lap. But just be ing ab le g li ng a l ittle b it, but the y weren 't g et - t o get back u p t her e to th em , I p a ssed K o p p first, t h en picked o ff t ing away : Roeder sa id . " I tho ught I could ho ld o n and m ak e a charge th e Spr in g e r a nd ca ught R o e d e r. W e las t fiv e l a p s . I pushed so hard th e fo u n d a li n e a n d f in a ll y got clear of Ro e d e r an d got t o mak e a run at Scotty , but he rode good ." first five la p s, I st arted to we ar m y self Parker drew a rath e r odd persp ec ti v e o f the ev e nts t h at h ad unfol d ed dur in g th e race . " J. R. [Schn ab elj d id m e anothe r o ut. I was try in g to fin d a smooth li ne. I think w e wou ld ha ve definitel y done b etter if it h adn 't been red -fl ag g ed , but tha t' s t h e w ay it goes . F ifth is a good finish, but coming into here w e r e all y wa n t ed bette r. Yo u get your fav o r, " Parker sa id . "H e g a v e me a h opes u p, an d we 've r e a ll y w ork ed littl e b r e a k @&J[Jf fo oog)@r;11 @(J The first heat looked to be a runaway for Will Davis until tell tail smoke began pouring from behind his Harley . . "A little alumi num spicke t that held an oil filt er on, brok e and dumpe d all the oil out of the engine" Davis said. "The engine started kno cking , and I shut it down." Polesitt er Chris Carr inherited the lead and finished well ahead of J.R. Schnabel and Kevin Vames. Scott Parker led heat two into the first tum only to give way to Geo Roeder II. Parker was leading George Richtm eyer, Terry Poovey, Paul Morgan and Paul Lynch around early. By lap four Parker's mount was coming up lam e and Poovey was hold ing second over Lyn ch, Morgan, Parker and Rogers. Rogers was' chargi ng, but on lap seven he got into turn three too hard and fell bringing out the red flag. The race was called complete, and Roeder, Poovey and Lynch were headed for the main . Rogers mad e the trip to the hospital for observatio n. Mike Hacker, Joe Kopp , Rich King and Ja y Spring steen chased the three transfer slots into turn on e of the th ird heat. King and Springs teen soon pu lled clea r and began exchanging the lead between themselves. Springsteen took over with two laps to go. but the last transfer was decided in tum three of the last lap as Joe Kopp powered around Hacker for thir d. Johnny Murphree and Dan Stanley led the last heat away, but were soon replaced by Bryan Bigelow and Chris Evans at the poi nt. Bigelow and Evans battl ed back and forth the whole race before Evans edged to the win. Stanley ended up a lonely thi rd. Jason Sentell and Murphree were semi bound. Murph ree did come back in the first semi and chased down Shawn Clark for the win. Both moved on to the main event. Scott Parker was forced to a backu p bike and had start the second semi from the penalty line. "The other bike had some junk in the carburetor and we didn't know how long he ran with it that way, so rather than tak e a chance we j ust put him on the back up ," said Parker' s long tim e tu ner Bill Werner. Mik e Hack er led Willi e McCoy and Parker into the first turn , but by the halfway mark Parker was in control. Hack er finished a relatively close second. Uke Parker, Davis was forced to start from the penalty line on his backup bike. Paul Morgan led Jason Sentell and Davis into turn one, but like Park er, Davis was soon in cornmand . Sentell got by Morgan for the last seat in the National. ha rd to g et read y ." i n t he mi d dle . He cue I e n e _ S • .J ULV 5 .2000 19

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