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/128627
Formula USA,lVVren c h e ad .c o m N a t io n a l D irt T r a c k S e r ie s R o u n d 4: Black Hills Spe edway the c h ips were on the line , scoring not on ly th e Nationa l win , but also th e Pro Single s m a in ev ent win - thus b agging t he double on his facto ry Harley -Da vidsons. It m ight be eas y to co ncl ude th a t King is starting to d ig this PACE stuff. Afte r all , it ha s be e n very, ve ry goo d for his po cketboo k. "Like I' ve sa id before, PACE tre a ts me righ t , a n d t hey tr eat th e rid ers right," King sa id in th e winn e r' s ci rcle. "It's just my o p inio n, but I think that they tre a t the riders re ally good , and I enjoy coming here . Wee k after week , they keep getting better and better. The track was good , considering that we had thunderstorms off to the north and they couldn 't do any more prep because they were afraid of it ra ining out. I thought they did a good job with the tra c k." Fasthog.com/Racing for Kids' Will Davis led th e field into the first turn when the 18 -rider, 2 5 -lap finale got underway , but King wen t to work quickly , charging up t he outside on the widening groove and beat ing Davis in the drag race down the back chute toward turn three, with Saddlemen Racing/Lancaster H-D /Dodg e Brothers ' Mike Hacke r, Las Vegas Harley-Davidson/KK Motorcycle Sup ply 's Geo Roede r II a nd Ga rd ne r Rac ing /Waiters Brothers Harl e y -Da v id son's Dan Stanley ste pping up to challenge King in the ea rly going . Hacker led briefly , but King was in control from lap four to the checkered flag, staving off c halle nges from S T O RY AN D PHOT OS BY S COTT R OUSSEA U RAPID CITY, SO, AUG. 10 lt h o u g h h e h a s y et to win a n AMA Nat ion al a g ainst the same com pe t itors with the sa me tea m a nd on th e sa me e q u ipment, Ric h King h a s flat o wne d ' e m in t h e Fo rmul a USA / Wren ch e a d .c o m Nation a l Dirt T rac k S e rie s , a fact t ha t he prove d again whe n he stormed to victory in fro n t of a n e a r -c a p a c it y crowd at Bla ck Hills Speedway to win his third straight main event in the PACE-pro moted series . S o wha t's the difference? Well maybe the tracks for one thing . Two of King's three wins in Formula USA competition have come at former AMA facilities , p laces where he has won before. At the last round, it was the Oklahoma City Half Mile, which King has captured twice before. This time it was the Rapid City Half Mile, an event that he bagged whe n it was AMA-sanctioned in ' 9 7 . As for the Indy Mile, King now has the win, the points and a few enemies after winning his appeal regarding the race (see Briefly ...). Controversy or no, what was cert a in is that King had the smooth , grooved Rap id City track wired pra c t ically from t he start. Although he had timed only fourth q uickest in qua lify ing, and posted the third fastest time when winn ing his Nation al -class heat race , the 37 -ye a r-ol d Iowan was up to the challenge when A 18 AUGUST 23,2000ยท cue I .. n e .... s Rich King (80) got the Jump off tum one to pass Will Davis (21 ) at the Rap id City Half Mile. That was all the advantage that King would need as he went on to score th e win In front of a packed house. Roe der in th e middle o f the ra ce a nd Ha cke r a t the e nd of it. King 's mar g in of victory would be a bout th ree b ike lengths at th e finish . "I just kept runn ing ar o und th e to p edge of the groove for most of the night," King said. "The deal with the Pro Singles was that it was 12 extra laps , but it also helped me find that line . Come main-event t ime , I knew where the line was at, and I was able to use it and get right out front. Mike got by me early, but he was running on the ragged edge of the groove and he s lipped off, and we got right back up fron t. I knew he was there. When I tr ied t o put my head down and charge, it seemed like I went slower, and when I just relaxed and made laps. I'd pull a.way from him ." For Hacker, who was clearly out to prove that his win at the AMA Charlotte Half Mile was no fluke , second place was a bit of a disappointment, ma inl y because he had shown the speed to win the race a ll evening and had even managed to wrestle the lea d away from King on with a move down the back chute on the third lap . The n the 24 -year -old Virginian sli pped o ff the groove and n e a rly unloaded in turns three and four , dropping behi nd King, Roeder a nd Gardner Racing/Wa l- te rs Brothers H-D's Dan Stanley. Hac ker wou ld retake second for good , ou tdriving Roeder off tum two whe n Roed er bega n ex perienci ng t ire problems around la p 10. "I' m kin d of upse t at m yself fo r screwing up when I got past him tha t first time ," Ha cker sa id. "After that, I'd catch him a little and then screw up , ca tc h him and screw up. It' s st ill really a good feel ing to be ra cin g for the win: th ou g h. I'm re ally happy with the way e ve ryth ing is go ing. I'm really ex cited to be wo rking with J ohnny Goad. He h as hel ped m e so much , a nd we keep kn ocking a t th e do o r. We' re go ing to win a nothe r o ne p retty so oo ." USC Raci ng/! s tlega l.co m 's Te rry Poove y m ad e the decis ion to run his beloved Rotax single in the Na tional class pay off in a big way, as the 4 2ye a r-o ld Texan ca me from a seventhplace start to run third by th e ch ec ke re d flag . Poovey engage d in a t hree-way b attl e with Cor bin Racing/Burks Motorsports' Joe Ko pp and Ba rt el s ' H- D/ Cor bi n Raci ng's Ja y Spr ingste en du rin g the firs t seven laps . Poo vey g ot some assi s ta nc e wh en S p r in g e r p u ll ed o ff on lap s e ven , t h e vi c ti m of a b r o k e n swingarm bolt that left the rea r wheel of his XR750 flopp ing back and forth down the ba c k straight like a wounde d m arlin. Kopp then crashed away his cha nc es for victory with a harmless lo ws ide in turn two on lap I I. Poovey th en s h o t by S tanley an d p icked off th e struggl ing Roeder fo r th ird, just having enoug h to hold off a c harging Chris Car r at the finis h. "I needed it to be 50 la ps ," Poovey said. "I c ha nge d so me st uff a fte r the heat ra ce . We took a to oth off and c ut th e tire , a nd it made a big differe nce. I got a n o ka y start, and I wa s running j us t off th e g roove wit h ' e m . I'm happy with third. " For t h e Wrenchead .co m / H- D of Sacramento-backed Carr, who struggled a board his Kenny Tolbert wrenched machine off the start, find ing success was simply a matter of finding t he right line. Locked in a scrum with Corbin Racing/Burks Motorsports ' Kenny Coolbeth , Carr hunted high and low before finding a line just off the groove in turns one and two that launched him clear of Coolbeth and past the failing Dav is to la nd him on Roeder's rear wheel with five laps to go. Carr shot past Roeder in three and four on lap 21 and began gobbling up the real estate between himself a nd Poovey . The AMA c ham pion was right on Poovey's rear wheel whe n they crossed under starter Scott Zimmerman 's checkered flag . "Coolbeth go t by me out t here ea rly in th e race, and he was ge tting rea lly good drives off the top of turn two, so I wen t up there, a nd it started working for me: Carr said. "I ac tually used it to ge t back by him later in the race. My la p times the last five la ps