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/128624
Mike had th e be st bik e a nd was the b est r ider . but I was n ext in li n e beca use we ha d pulled a way from the other guys . On th e restart. I figured that as long as I got a dec ent brea k. l'd be a ll rig ht. The way Mike went a ro und me the first time . I didn 't think I'd have a shot at him. bu t I was a ctu a lly clo s e r t h a n I t hought I'd be . I think it wor ked out the be st. He was way out front , a n d fair is fa ir. Of c ou rs e I'd like to ha ve won it. but I'm hap py with second . Now . I've just got t o get back on the b all for n e xt we ek ." T he two le a de rs p icked up whe re th e y had left off. but it wa s a scra m ble behind th em . Ni cky Hayd en looked to make the bold es t mov e as he s q uirte d int o th ird. "I got up to third right a wa y. but I ju st kind o f ove r rod e , tr yin g t o o h ard ." Ha yd en sa id. "I went b a c k wa rds a nd e nded up six th , but st ill. co nsi de ring how th e night start ed . I'm not to o disappointe d with th at. At fast. I'm going to make a few cha nges to the b ike to com ple ment th a t .' He di d. a nd as I ca me off t he tr a c k I th ought . ' Ma n th at was al m os t too e asy . I wis h we woul d ha ve h a d 10 la ps.'" Alth ou gh h e co n t in ued a tre n d tha t has see n h im e njoying his best sea so n e ve r. Coo lbeth was o bv io us ly dis appo int ed with his fifth-pl a c e finish. "T he re sta rt reall y sc re we d m e up. " Coo lbeth s a id . "We had a good lead . bu t the y ca ug ht u p. It s e em s like we 'r e a lways up there . bu t some thing happen s . I jus t ne ed to kee p m y h ead o n s t ra igh t . It's ou r tu rn ne xt. I'm kind a bummed o ut. It' s one of those things ." Mic h iga n H-D De a lers / Ro d La ke /M ik e Spo n s ell er - b a c k ed Ha y d en fini sh ed s ixt h in h is s e cond Nationa l of th e year. "Be fo re the re st a rt I wa s m o vin g up good. the n they swept th e tr a ck during the red flag " Ha yden said . "I (Above) After taking the win, Hacker was only too happy to take his father on the victory lap. (Left) The youngsters charged to the front at the start of the 25-lap main. Johnny Murphree (20) took the eal1y lead, followed by Kenny Coolbeth (31) and Bryan Bigelow (11). Bigelow would wind up eighth. (Below) Murphree (201 was caught by Hacker (67) eal1y, w ith the two pulling aw ay from the rest of the f ield, only to be reined in by a red flag w ith two la p s to go . Hacker led the restarted event to the end, with Murphree hanging on to second place. least I was up there ra cing with the g uys ." Spr ing st een gr abbed th ird on lap 24 of what wa s now a 27 -lap ra c e, but he c o uld not hold o ff a c ha rge b y Team Harl ey-D a vid s on 's Rich King . "Ric h got me th e last lap ." Sprin gsteen sa id . "I just kept gettin g wh e elspin more as th e ra ce wen t o n. I ha d a traction ized tire th at I was go ing to pu t on. I saw Chri s Ca rr had one on. a nd he wasn 't running up with us . so I th ought , 'I better just stay with wha t we 've go t. ..· King was helped by the re start "I wa s pic king guys off slow ly but s ure ly. but th e fro nt g uys we re j us t too far o ut." King sa id. "I wasn't go ing to be able to do anything with th em if we wou ldn 't hav e had th e red flag. Bill made a few ch anges . a nd it was night and da y. We were pretty good befor e . but Bill sai d. 'Whe n you were high-lowing it out there. you were really going think ma ybe th ey swept off som e of the rubbe r. and it wasn 't a s go od fo r me . We mad e a bunch of c ha nges . Davey [Watts I wo rked re a l hard o n th e b ike , and Will Da vi s gav e m e so m e advi c e . Aft er my heat I wa s wondering. 'Wha t a m I doing he re ? ' I was in th e ba c k. doin g terrible . I ha d fun in th e main . th ough . I s ta rte d on th e third ro w a n d m o ved up a lo t. T h e t rack wa s co mi ng to me . I ca ught up to Chri s . a nd the n he we nt down a nd I jus t ba re ly m is sed him . I ne ve r saw or fe lt any o il, but I s a w Coo lbeth get re al s ideways." Bryan Big el o w c a me home se v e nt h on his USC Rac ing / Lan caste r HD Harl e y. "We we re n 't go ing as fast as we needed to tonight. I ju st couldn 't get it ro lling ." Bige low sa id. "It was better aft er the restart. I felt a little more c omfortable . I wa s p retty co nfused o n line s . the re were so ma ny. I just never found one I rea lly liked . I was tha t 's better fo r us (in po ints race) . We ha d a good bike ton ight. The ride r just wasn' t as tu ned in as the motorcycle was. " JA B Co m p uting /S upe rT rap p's Paul Lynch 's eighth wa s h is be st finis h of th e year. "We los t a moto r last week. So we had to thrash a ll week. but got another on e tog eth er." s a id Lynch . "T h e tra ck wa s b ea utifu l. b ut you had to ru n on th e e dge of g o ing fa st jus t nev er roc ket fas t ton ig ht. It wa s kinda fru stra ting . It's not th e way we like to come to the s e type of tra cks. I gu e s s J oe Kopp had some bad luc k . cue I e n e vv S • AUGUST 2 .2000 19