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/128623
~I F o r nn u la USA Wre nchead .conn N ational Dirt T r a c k Series Round 2 : Dklahonna State Fair Speedway Formula US A / W ren ch ead .c o m Okla homa City Hal f Mile . By the wa y , does anyone remember what a p iece BY STORY AN D P HOTO S S COTT R OUSSEAU OKLAHOMA em, OK, JULY 15 T ea m Harley -David son's Rich K in g was as co o l as ice en route to victory on a hot su m mer night at the of ice did to the Titanic? Similar circumstances p la y ed o ut at Oklahoma St at e Fair Speedw ay , as the37 -y ear-old K ing , w h o ha s stru g - gled sin c e being handed a semi-hollow w in at the aborted Wrenchead.com Indy M ile over two months ago , assumed the role o f t he iceb erg to reigning AMA G rand N ational Cham p io n C h ri s Car r 's r end ition of a steaming ocean l iner th at wa s comin ' t h rough. Aro und the 12t h la p of t h e 25 -lap final, a collision occurred in turn four and, well, Carr we n t do w n . Fasthog.com rider Will Davis mi ssed the Oklah om a City Half Mile, and may be sidelined for several weeks after suffering serious head inj uries in, of all things, a church softball game. The 33·year-old Davis was playing softball on Thursday evening, July 13, when he collided head to head with another player while attempting to catch a pop fly. Davis was taken to the hospital , where he was diagnosed with a temporal skull fracture and a ruptured eardrum . "Will was conscious the whole time, but he is pretty sore right now," said Davis' wife Rhonda from the couple's Goldsboro , North Carolina, hom e. "The good news is that there is no brain damage, but the neuro-surgeon who looked at him is saying that it may be 4 -6 weeks before he can race again. But we're going to see another neuro-surgeon on Mon day and see what he has to say. The first doctor was concerned about a loss of balance, but Will hasn't experienced any of that ." Davis was lead ing the points in both classes of the Wrenchead.com National Dirt Track Series prior to Okl ahoma City , and he had scored two consecutive wins in the last two AMA /Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships rounds, mov ing to withi n one point of the series lead in that champ ionship race. Forever Young: Dirt track veterans Rich King (80) and Jay Springsteen (9) battled for the Oklahoma City Half Mile win in a race that came down to the wire, even though King led It the whole way. B ut th e race continued, and King had more work to do, fe nding off the fi n is h e d second , w ith Kopp tak ing third. A fterwa r d, K i ng w a s ce rta in ly h appy to g et a soli d win u nde r his belt. "W e j ust got a good ho les hot and then just ki nd o f held ' e m up: K in g advan ces of Corbin Racing 's Joe Kopp fo r much o f th e rest of th e ra ce. sa id . " I d idn't know how fast I could He then had to hold up under heavy go. Every time I tr ied to go harder I'd pressure from none ot he r than Bart els' H - D / C o r b i n Ra cing rider Jay start to sli p out of the groove, a nd I thought, 'Well , if they're gonna pass Sp ri n gsteen on th e last two laps to me, they're gonna pass m e on the out- t ak e the win on th e narrow-grooved side.' They tr ied , but th ey did n ' t get JULY 26, 2000· c ue I e n e vu s there. I'm rea l happy . I've actua lly got capacity crowd in an eve nt t h at may a pretty go od ser ies goi ng i n th i s 'm ark a t u rn aro un d f ro m th e two lac k - PACE t hing, a nd I'm sta rting to li ke it. " lus te r Wrenc head .co m dirt track What K in g di dn't like w as hea r ing events run previous ly . S pri n g st een 30 Ok lahoma City track before a near- th at t here we re fa cti ons in t he Carr