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
t he race afte r th at , finishing as the last ride r on th e lea d lap . "We got a good sta rt, a nd I fe lt like everything wa s going to go good , a nd then Kopp and Co o lbe th got by m e , a nd I st ar ted to push it bec au s e they we re going to get away. Th en it fe lt li k e I h it o il. Th e fr on t e nd jus t wa s he d o ut on me bigt im e . It was jus t gone . But this wa s th e first tim e that I wa s o n th e fro n t ro w in th e m a in ev ent all y e ar . Th at's a b ig c o n fi den ce booster . Everything 's work ing good. We're getting the re, but it' s just taking a little time." King once again s hot to the front , with Carr, Kopp , Spring s teen , Corbin Ra c ing/Bu rk s rid e r Kenny Cool beth an d 1st Le g al. c om ' s T erry Po ov ey pu lling a way from Ad a ms Ra cing 's Charlie O rr , who had g otten cle a r of an e ighth -pl ace battle among Coziahr H-D/Memph is Shades' Johnny Mur phree, Saddlemen Ra cing/Lancaster H-D / Dodg e Br others ' Mik e Hacker and T eam Po well /West Bend H-D's J .R . Schnabel. Wh ite 's H- D/Shaeffer ' s H-D rider Mich a el Varnes had s lid his wa y into th e top 10 , severa l lengths back a s the fie ld began t o (Abovel Joe Kopp (43) chased Ki ng (80) after Chris Carr crashed while attempting a pass fo r the le ad. Kopp eventually slipped to th ird. (Right) Springsteen (9) and Terry Poo ve y (18 ) charged forward al l nig ht, with Springer making It all the way to se cond pla ce, while Poovey was fourth - and f irst sing le. cam p who felt th at King had actua lly turned into Carr , ta king his bars a way a nd ca us ing h im to crash . "If Ch ris Ca rr th in ks th at I kn oc ked h im dow n on purpose , t h en C hr is Ca rr n eeds to co me and tal k to m e a bo ut it ," Kin g sa id . " I h ad th e groove, I ha d the line . I don't know if he thoug ht tha t I s hould ba c k off a nd give him the g roove . He was on th e ou ts ide . He tried to p a s s me o n th e ou tside a nd then come down on th e groo ve , and I was on the groo ve. T here 's a m ark o n m y ta il sectio n that m ust have co me fro m his clutch leve r. I d idn't even know we h it. If we did, he hit the back of my m otorc ycle , s o ma yb e I wa s loo k ing in my re a r view mirro r and I knock e d him down ? If that's what he thi nks , then I'm so rry he thinks th at way, but that a in't wha t happened. " While Ca rr did not initiate the cr ies of foul, his take on the incid e nt wa s ve ry different than King 's . "Hey, aliI know Is th at I was on the edge of the groove , I s lipped a litt le bit a nd all of a sudden m y handlebars we re taken o ut from m e ," Carr said . "It was his m otorc ycle, whether it was h is handlebars , his ta ilsection or what - it happened so fa st. I got knocked on the g ro und , and I didn't fall do wn on m y own . When I went around him on the outside goi ng into three , I we nt around hi m c lea n. Then we came off the co rner. If I'm off th e gro ove , then wh y d id h e h it me? I didn 't co m e down on the groove.. . Well , I did try a nd come d own o n the gr oo ve , but I'm in fro nt , right? S o a gu y comes from behind and hits yo u a nd knocks yo u dow n, a nd th at m ak e s it okay becau s e it's m y fa u lt now? No . I'm do ne ." Wha te ve r the case, with Carr down a nd n o red flag being t hrown , Kopp h ad his Co rb in Racing/Burks Motor- sports Harl e y-D av ids on in the rig ht pos ition to take up the sl ack . The 31 ye a r-o ld Washingtonian had b e en runn ing with King a nd Carr s ince th e ver y e a rly la p s, af te r he had pass ed Coziahr H-D/Memphis Shades' Kevin Va rn e s for th e fo urth th e th ird spot. Varnes s lid out in between turns one and two on th e e ight h lap , ca us ing a s top p age . T he Pen nsy lv a ni an was uni njured a nd re sta rted at th e tail of th e field, but he wa s not a fac tor in cue I e string o ut in the middle stages of th e race . Then c a me the Carr/ King clash, with Ca rr wal k ing his moto rc ycle off t h e tr a c k wh ile t h e race pro gressed . Kopp began tak ing his ow n sh o t s to th e o u tsi de of King while Sp ring er c lose d up t o make it a t ight t hree- ride r battl e as th e y ra n nos e -t o -ta il. Kopp t ried King once in turn s one an d two, but n e a rl y sli p ped off t h e g roo v e . Two la p s n e vv s J U LY 26.2000 31