Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~I AMA,/Progressiv e Insurance U .S . F lat Track Championships Round 1 0 : M is souri State FaIr Spe edway p ing about the third la p of the main eve nt. It s tarted s lip p ing , Coolbe th ca ught me a nd I ch a nged my line . I stopped using my br a ke and I kept my corner speed u p . I p a s s e d h im ba c k a nd pull ed away ." At the start of t he 25 -lap race, Davis had roared into turn one ahead of Ko p p , Bryan Big el o w a nd Coo lbeth , but as lap two started . Kopp dived under Davis in tu rn one. Kopp couldn't get turn ed an d ba re ly avoided disaster. "I got into turn o ne too hot and a lmost got into Will: s a id Kopp. "It made me pretty nervous , I didn 't think I ha d th a t g o o d a b ik e , unt il then. I felt like I was go ing to have to p ush it hard , bu t after I made that m ist a ke I settled down a nd realized I did ha ve a pret ty good bike ." Kopp sli pped a ll th e way back to fift h b ehind Da vi s , C o o lb e t h , USC Ra cin g/L an c aste r Harley- Davidson's Brya n Big elow a nd Geo Roeder II . Cool be th gr abbed th e lea d on la p five as Roede r and Ko pp moved by Bigelow. Coo lbe th an d Da vis got a little brea th ing roo m as th e Scha effer's Harl e y -D a vid son/La s Vega s Harl e y Dav idson ba c ked Harl ey of Ro e d er grenad ed down the back stra ight. "I got behind Roeder a nd th en he blew up : sa id Kopp. "Tha t wa s really sca ry. he mu st have heard it goi ng, becaus e down the back straig ht. he STO RY A ND PHOT OS BY D AV E HOENIG SEDAUA, MO. AUG. 26 edalla , Missou ri, wa s sitti ng right eJ in th e m iddl e of s e ver e s tor m warnings. with predictio ns of 60 mph winds , he avy ra ins a nd large ha il. Fortunately, non e of th at came to pa ss , and the large crowd of spectators was treated so me excellent ra c ing . It was a huge night for th e Co rbin Racing/Dave Burks Moto rsports jHa rley· Dav idson of Miss ou ri team. Less than an hour from the team's hom e base, Joe Kopp ca m e u p with the thi rd National win of his ca reer on the Missouri State Fairgrounds half-mile. "Th is is l Ovti mes better than m y Peoria w in o r Da ll a s , th is o n e is g rea t," said Kopp. As excited a s Kopp was, his Corbin te a m ma te , Kenn y Coolbeth , and Will Davis were deject ed. Da vis led early , o nly to g ive wa y to Coo lbeth fo r a couple of la ps . Cool beth made a m is ta ke and slipped just high enou gh to le t Da vis recaptu re the po int o n th e se ve nth la p. Th e Moron ey's Ha rle y Dav idson /fasthog .com /Gould Er e c to rs backed Davis was primed to ta ke the win and th us the po ints lead fro m the absent Chris Carr, but fat e , once again, slappe d Da vis down . "Lost th e clutch , man! " Dav is sa id a fte rwa rd . "T he cl utc h started s lip - ~ 12 S EPTEM BER 6 , 2000 · cue I e nevvs Joe Kopp eam ed hi s third career Grand Na tional victory at the Sedalia Ha lf M ile. Kopp's Harley-Davidson of M issouri team is based just up the road from t he track . loo ked over. I saw so me th ing fly out th e left side a nd I j ust d r ille d his elbow. I thought, 'Oh my god , he 's in th e guardrail , ' but he saved it. I thought there would be a red flag . I was s ure t here wo u ld be a pi leup behind m e. " "We broke a rod: Roeder said. "I was feeling real good . I was just tak ing my time. I kinda screwed up and got high one time and' thought, 'Ma n I can't throug h this th in g away ,' I moved down and s tarted pick ing some guys off. I heard it start to ratt le , b ut it wa s ru nning so good, I didn't want to let off." About the same time Da vis retoo k the le ad , but Ko p p was now on t he move. "I was gett in g a re a lly good b ite out of the tu rn s and ev e ryb ody wa s really s pi nni ng of f t urn four. It was h ard to do , b u t I sett le d do wn a n d sta rte d p ick ing 'e m off. I s t a rte d c atch ing Kenn y and onc e I got by Kenny I was sure I co uld get by Will." Da vis ' race wa s sta rting unravel. "I tu rn ed th e [clutch] a djuster in a nd it st a yed right th ere, ju st slipping d o w n t he s t ra ig h taw ay for a lo n g time." Da vis said. "With a bout nine to go it started sl ipp ing worse a n d worse." Kopp closed on Davis while Coolbe th s lipped back into a battle with Big e lo w and Coziahr Harley -Davidson /Memphis Shades' Johnny Murphree. Kopp was a ble to take the lea d for good on lap 18 . "I fo llowe d Will for quite a wh ile , but I felt faster tha n him , so I wanted to make su re it was a ni c e clean pass: Kopp sa id. "I got him down in three and on ce I g ot the lead , there was no wa y the y we re gett ing it ba ck ." One lap later it wa s Team Co rbin hold ing th e top two s lots, but Coolbeth slipped off th e gr oove one more time . " I just went in a little too ho t ' guess, got out in th e marbles: Cool bet h said. Johnny Murphr e e sw ept by Bigelow and Cool beth a t the same time, taking second on lap 21. "I thought I'd get by Bigelow a lot qu icker than tha t, but he he ld me up for a while: sa id Murphree. "I got all those guys in one smack. , looked up and saw Joe. I thought I could catch him , and I started getting a little greedy." On lap 22, Bigelow, Davis and a new p la ye r, Harley -Davidson Motor Company 's Rich King , slipped by Cool beth . W ith the laps wi nd ing down , Kopp 's small lead also d ec reased. "I looked back a nd saw I was getting away, then I started to ride cau tious : Ko p p said . "I saw Murp hree ba c k th ere a nd I tho ug ht, •Do n 't do this, they' re go ing to catch yo u." "I cha nge d my line o nce I go t into second a nd I was all don e ," sa id Murphree . "I was trying to dive in too dee p a nd messed up my line . O nce a ga in we ha d the fastest bike on the track a t the end , I just didn 't do what I had to do . This is a rea' turning point fo r me. I'm real happy ." Afte r running in the top five all night, Bigelo w earne d his secon d po diu m finish of the year. "All da y I was work ing the outside. from pract ice until the first part of the main: Bige low said. "Th at way ' coul d squa re it off, come back under them an d get a good run down the straight." sa id Bige low. "In the main they would get un de r m e and b lock pass me. I had to c ha nge m y line . J ohnny Murphree pass ed me and it was the be st thing th at could have ha p pene d. He s ho we d m e a re a l good line , up real high in one and two. I worked my butt off to ge t by Will a nd Coolbeth for the long est time, then Murphree swooped us a ll in o ne turn . Th a t was kind of frustr a t ing to wor k s o h a rd, b ut he showed me a rea l good line," On c e aga in King used a late-race c har ge to come to the fro nt. "We were rea lly good the second ha lf of th e race ," King said . "I m ad e a

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