Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

For m u la USA Wrenchead.c om National Dirt T r a c k Series R ound 2: O kl a h o m a State Fair S p e e d w a y fro m t h e en d, h e w o u l d try ag a in , sl i p again, and allow Sp r i n g st e en t o g et unde rneath him and take sec ond p l a c e away. " I kept t ry ing t h e outside o n h im ," Kopp said. " I tried it once right after the r e s t a r t , but th en I sa w th a t Sp r i n g er was rea l close , but I sa id , ' O h we ll , I've got to try it aga in .' But I'm real pumped to come o ff the sec o nd row i n the m ain. W e st r u g g le d earlier, but I think that w e cou ld ha ve won it if w e w o ul d've gotten a good start. " Almost unnotic eable was th e fact that Poovey had hi s Rot ax single flying, and he was m aking tim e on the top thre e riders all the w ay to th e f inish, nettin g fourth p la c e after h av ing rounded the fi rst t u rn in sixth p la ce. Poovey d ispla ced t he XR of Co olbeth d own t he ba c k straig htaway on lap 13, provi ng th at h is deci sion to leave hi s H ond a RS 7 50 at home was a good one. Kenny Coolbeth put in another consistent top-five finish in the main event. " I was real happy , because I knew tha t I cou ld run with th em on th e Rotax here," Poovey said . "I 've rea ll y been enjoying m y self th i s seaso n, an d it makes me feel reall y g o od that I can still do th is , b eca u se I n e v er would h av e thou gh t I 'd b e d oing it this long . But I wouldn 't trad e it for anyth ing." W ith Poovey pulling c lear o f h im , Coolbeth st a yed sm oo t h in t he second hal f of t he ra c e , fin i sh in g w ell ahead of Orr to la nd anothe r to p -f ive finis h in a yea r o f c o ns is tency th at ha s b een lo n g overdue for the Con necticut-based ri d er. "I t hi n k t ha t I ' v e g o t m y head toget her fin ally ," Cool beth sai d. " I' m just going to put my head down for t h e rest of t he season and see w hat ha p pens . I ki n d of got a bad start, and the res tart messed me all up, but F&S Harley-Davidson/ Kh Racing's Willie McCoy pulled off the win in a thrill ing Pro Singles finale, besting rookie upstart Bryan Smith and fellow AMA Grand National campa igner Dan Stanley , once again proving the merits of the class: close com petition that mixed veterans and unknowns. The Gardner Racing-backed Stanley grabbed the holeshot in the 18-rider, 12-lap final, leading McCoy , factory Husaberg rider Kenny Noyes and Smith as the front four quickly pulled away from fifth-placed J.R. Schnabel. McCoy then took a turn at the lead on the thi rd lap when Stanley slipped off the groove, with Smith also displacing Stanley off turn four one lap later. Stanley went on to' hold off Noyes for th ird place. "I was having such a good time racing with Willi e out there," Stanley said. "We were passing each other back and forth, and then I slipped off the groove j ust once - lost my concentratio n - and I j ust couldn't gain it back. I was really surprised when Bryan Smith came up there. Then Kenny and I had our own battle, and that didn't help us catch up either. It was a lot of fun. It was almost like 883 racing." An aggressive Smith wowed the crowd by maki ng the same move on McCoy to take the lead on lap five, and then attempting to protect the bottom for the remaining seven laps. It didn't happen. but Smith was more than happy to come away with second place anyway. "That was cool," Sm ith said. "I got into the lead and just tried to maintain a good pace around the bollom. I was think ing that he [McCoy] was going to try and get around me on the outside, and sure enough, he did. Oh, well. I'll get 'em next time." McCoy's move around Smith came in tum one, j ust two laps from the finish, "Bryan's a real good rider, and I was out there having fun with Dan too, trying to kick him and push him and having lots of fun," McCoy said. "Then Bryan came up, and I did the same with him , having fun and puttin g on a good show. Then he started getti ng away, and I realized that I'd better figure out a way to get by him. But my KK ATK worked awesome. Karl and Pancho did a great jo b on the bike.Noyes finished fourth, with Powell Racing/W est Bend H-D' s Schnabel finishing fifth. 32 J U LY 26, 2000' cue I e n eVIl's I didn ' t have t o do any passing out th ere . We 'll just see what h a p p en s next w eekend ." Orr would go on to finish a distant but solid sixth on his Adams Racing Rotax. " I' m j ust glad to be here," Orr sa id. " I like to c ome out and run with the big d ogs. T h is Orvin Ada ms -tuned Rotax is always competitive if I can st a y on it long enough . T h is is only th e th ird rac e that I've run this year, so far. I'm ecst at ic to be ab le to get in there an d get on th e front row and run w ith the gu y s." B eh ind the front fiv e, the b est rac e on th e track took p lace among Schn abe l, Murphree and Ha cker , with Murphree pu lling awa y to leave the other two fighting it out for eight h p la ce. " I fel t like a p inb all ou t th ere , " M urphre e sa id , " I ' d m o ve f o r w a r d, and th en slip o ff th e groov e an d m o ve backwa rd. B ut w he n I m ad e th e m ain even t , t hat was my go a l. I had a d ec ent fin ish at Lima , and t he n I fe lt like I had to win th e next one, and I crashed at Joliet. I just want to make th e mains. Once I was in th e main , I figured I'd just go forwa rd from t h ere and do all I could ." Hacker got by Schnabe l wit h a power move down the bac k straig htawa y just after Murphree passed Schnabel on lap nine, b ut he couldn't shake the Wisconsini te , a nd whe n Ha ck er made a mistake two l a p s from the finish , Schnabel was there to make a pass t h at st uck. "What helped me t he most was getting hit in the back [see Qualifying sidebar], " Schna be l said . " I was kind of riding like a puss. Instead of usin g my nuts, I was u s in g my head and no t wa nting to crash. Just r idi ng s low, we ended u p eig h t h , j us t by playing it smart." Ha ck e r was d is ap p o i n t ed , as h e h ad ap pea red to b e o n a p ac e to run fo r the wi n ea rlier in th e evening . " I j us t co u l d n' t put t o g eth e r a bunch o f go o d lap s ," said H ack er , Willie McCoy (59) caught Bryan Smith (84) late in the race to win the Pro Singles main event. Sm ith was still an amateur racer j ust two weeks ago. w ho fin ishe d se c o n d at Oklahoma City in his first full ye ar o n the AMA Grand National tour in 1995. " I' d do a good lap , th en I'd h av e a b ad lap , I j u st c o u ld n' t get a rhythm going . I had better ex pect at ion s for tonig ht. I never c ou ld figure out a wa y to get it on and d o it consistently ." Two laps fr om the fi nish , Springstee n took ad va ntag e of sli p by K opp t o run under him in t h r e e and four and c hallenge K in g . It d idn 't make a differen c e. " I t w a s kind of ha rd to p ass . beca u se the track w as so fa st and it was k ind o f a o ne-l ine dea l," Sprin g er said . "T h at's h o w I got J o e . He h ad m ad e an attempt to p ass Rich ea rl ie r i n the r a c e . b ut h e slid off [t he groove ]. Ric h was h o ldi n g hi m up . T h e seco nd time h e slid off again, and t hat was when I got h im . But I' m happy with the way things are going . H a v i n g a good woma n be hi nd me makes all the d ifference in the world . It re ally he lps you get you r head in th e right place ." Afterward , King agreed with Sp ringsteen 's assert ion t hat he maybe wasn ' t quite as fast as his p ursuers , but that's the name of the game on slick, narrow tracks . " It' s definitely easier to run second or t hird than it is to lead at a p lace like t hi s , " K ing said . " T h o se guys have nothing to lo se. T hey can ru n around the ou tside of yo u an d take shots at you , and if you screw u p you go from first to fourth . If t he guy in fo u rt h sc rews up, he 's st ill in fo u rt h. Th e y had everything to gai n and not hi ng t o lo se . I h ad everything to lo se, so I did wh at I th ou ght I h ad to do to w in. " Wh atever K ing 's tactics , they w ere go o d enoug h this w eek . eN

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