Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

edge o f. O n th e last lap I de ci de d to g o thr ough i t and th en we ' d b oth have to turn. Lu ck il y he lo o k ed down and saw m e. He m o ved up a nd g av e m e a li ttle room ." Th at wa s a ll D avi s needed a s h e led t he last t h ree q ua rters of a lap fo r the w in. Co r b in Raci ng / Dave Bu r k s M o to r spo rt s/ Ha rl ey - Da v idso n of M issou ri 's J o e Kop p passed Car r o n la p fiv e and then in her ited thi r d w h e n Murph r ee had h is engine p ro b le m s. " O nce I got by Ch r is , I fel t p retty co mfo rta b le," K opp sai d . " J o h n n y w as k i n d of ge tt i n g in the way . I c aug ht him for a wh il e, but he started t o pull aw a y . A fte r he blew up , I though t I cou ld reel in Hac ke r and Davis be caus e th e y wer e battling . each o t he r so hard. " (Above) Th is close: Hacker (67) and Davis (21) battled within a bike length or two of each other for most of the 25-lap Grand National f eature. (Left) Kopp put heavy pressure on t he rear t ire en route to th ird. (Below) Rich King (80) outgunned Chris Ca rr (11 for fourth place. T h ird was Kopp's destinati on, with Harley -D av idson of Sac ramento/Wrenchead.com/Phoenix Rac ing's Chris Carr givin g up fo urth to Rich K ing . Carr admitted th at h is t eam may have missed the setup a bit. " I don 't t h ink we made th e r ig h t changes for t he way th e r ac e tra ck " I c hoked in t h e h ea t , got o ut of was ch ang ing, " Carr sai d . " I h ad so me shape a nd l et C hris g et by , " K in g good laps ea rly on and 1 found a li ne op en fo r Ri ch . 1 knew he was running K opp wi cked it up on t he last lap a low er line. E ver y time I tr ied t o ride j ust to be su re that no o ne would pass down there, I wo uld jus t s pi n and h im. "I looked b ack q u it e a fe w ti mes, could n 't keep my m o m ent um u p ." K in g was able to get Carr, but th at's a n d I co u ld see I w as g etti n g away fro m Ch ris ," K opp said . "Then, about as cl ose as he got to the podium. said. "T h at put m e in t he b ack ro w for tha t was working , then I lost it . I wa~ " W e we re c om ing , b ut I ju st r an th e l a st four or five la ps, I st art ed the main. I was li k e sevent h or eighth t rying a lot of d ifferent t h in g s, t ry i ng o u t of time ," K i n g said . " T h e t r a c k guarding m y line too m uc h . I loo k ed o n th e fi rs t lap, and it w as tou g h to to g et th rough the corner and o ff the was so smooth, a nd e verybody was b ac k and saw t hey we re comin g , so I pass. 1 got under Chris in thr ee and co rne r. g o ing fas t. T he re we re a lot o f fa st rod e the last lap pretty hard. I d idn't w an t to get p assed on the last la p ." Wh ate v er I did d idn ' t h elp fo ur. My l ap t im e s never cha n ge d that. A te nth o f a second ad ds up here guys in th at ma in event. 1 thin k 1 was m uch th e w hole race, so I think Chris over 25 lap s. Yo u end up a straight - closing on Joe at t h e end , b ut catch - US C Racing / La n cas ter H a rle y - was proba b ly struggli ng . He was ge t - away beh in d . T ha t's w hat h a p p en ed ing h im and passing h im would have D av id so n ' s Brya n B ig el ow ca me from ti ng pretty sideways off the corners ." here. I didn 't really leave th e doo r been two differen t things. " w ay bac k to finish a so li d six th . Mike Hacker turned in the fastest four-lap qualifying heat, then backed it up with the fas test 10lap heat. Hacker finished well ahead of the Michigan Harley-Davidson Dealers Association/Rod Lak e-backed Nicky Hayden and White's Harley-Davldson/ Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson's Mik e Varnes. Varnes' brother-in-law Willie McCoy and Tim Eades battled their way into the semis. In the second heat Rich King took the lead over Geo Roeder, Chris Carr and Shawn Clark . King appeared to have the race wrapped up as Roeder and Carr battl ed over second . Carr slipped into second at the haif way mark and surpr ised King with a last -lap charge that carried the number-one rider to the number -one finish. Roeder was an easy thi rd over J .R. Schnabel and Gary Rogers. USC Racing/l stl eagle.com's Terry Poovey led the third heat into the first tum, but it was Joe Kopp in the lead at the end of the first lap. Kopp, who was looki ng to atone for a qualifying -heat slip started to pull away . Johnny Murphree worked his way around Poovey, but was unable dislodge Kopp . Poovey held off Dan Stanley for the last direct transfer, Will Davis shot to the front of the last heat over Kevin Varnes, Jay Springsteen and Bryan Bi gelow, Bigelow quickl y dropp ed Springsteen to fourth and was all over Varnes, when the red flag came out on lap three. Dale Jenneman had bailed off in tum three. Jenneman was able to make the single fi le restart. Davis picked right up where he left off. Varnes was a close second early , but drop ped back and was severely challenged by Bigelow. On the last lap Bigelow tried to ride into one deeper but slipped high, letting Varnes back by. Springsteen then challenged the scrambling Bigelow , but came up j ust short. John Nickens III put his Larcom-Nickens Racing/ K&N / Saddlemen-backed Harley into the lead in the first semi, but by lap two Larry Pegram had taken over. The two finished ahead of a clos ing Willie McCoy . Pole sitter McCoy had a horrible start and came from well back to finish one position out of the National. JAB Computing/S uperTrapp's Paul Lynch led the second semi off over Shawn Clark , Tim Eades and Dan Stanley. Gardner Racing/Wa lters Brother's Harley-Dav idson's Stanley was on the move and took first from Lynch on lap three. Lynch 's problems were not over as Tim Eades moved up to challenge. On the last lap Eades squared off turn two and the pair rode side by side down the back straight. Lynch dove into tum three first and sealed Eades fate. The last semi saw Jay Springsteen lead Dale Je nneman, J .R. Schnabel and Kenny Coolbeth into turn one. Jen neman too k over for two laps before givi ng the lead back to Springsteen. At th e halfw ay poi nt Corbin Racing/ Dave Burks Motorsport s/H arley -Davidson of Missouri' s Kenny Coolbeth explo ded into second. Schnabel and Jenneman battled over third with the nod going to Schnabel. cue I e n e uv S • A UGU ST 3 0, 2000 15

• Cover