Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

ti re c ho ice and it d idn 't work th e fi rs t half of the race, but it really came on the second hal f. The race was lost for me righ t at the start. I botched the start. I didn 't get throug h th e first tum clean. I was like 12th the first lap and tha t's just too far to come on a race trac k like t h is . I really tho ug ht I h ad a b ik e th at could w in th is race. I'm I li t tle b it d i sappo i n t ed . Th e b ike w as rea lly worki ng o n th e low side of th e tr ac k a nd everybody was running o n th e top si de o f the gro o v e, so I ha d a l i n e al l t o m y o wn . O n c e I c a ug ht p eopl e, I j ust ro d e r ight und er t he m a nd ke p t ri ght o n g oing ." Coo lb eth al so m o v ed by th e fading Dav is with three la ps left. " I th ought w e had a pretty go o d shot," a no t -sa -ha p p y Co olbeth sa id . " I g u ess I'm happy with a top five. " The laps j us t cou ldn' t m ov e by fast enough for Da vis , and th e last o ne (A bo ve) Will Dav i s (21) l e d the race to the first tum. leading Ke n ny Coolbeth (3 1) . Kopp (4 3 ). Bryan Bi g e l ow (11) a n d Dan Stanley (10 ). Bi g e l o w wound up third. (Right) Kopp (4 3) ra n down Davis (21 ) after Davis began to ex pe rie n c e c lutch woes. re st of the race. I just couldn 't get a rh y thm g o ing. , ha v e a hard time w h e n it g et s rou gh l ike t h at , I don't understand it. I'v e got to work on it . t hat' s f o r sur e . It ' s b een m y weak po int fo r a lo ng ti me, but w e've been fortun ate to ha v e really good tracks l at e l y , t his one w a s a l ittle bit groove . Gr eg [C r ow ] s a id m y lap t imes were running w ith th e lea ders , then every three o r four la ps I' d screw ro ugh er. and it show ed. " up o r bl ow the turn. I'd g et r ight b ack T rapp ' s Pau l M org an III made a ra re into it, but I j ust w ish every lap could a p pea ra nce have b een quick ." II tho M oroney 's Harley -Davidson /Superco u n t a s h e c a m e i n Afte r being the fa ste st guy in the neighborho od fo r the last few weeks , Ha ck er w a sn't too pl e as ed wi t h h i s da y 's w ork . " I just didn 't have it t o g e t h e r , " dirt clod on his kn ee in his heat. Dale Jenneman was able to coax his " l got a m edi o cre start a n d r an mid -pack, " Hayden sa id. " I w a s movin g up a little bit, but then I bl ew th e groove in o ne an d tw o . I g ot up into th e m arbles and lo st a bunch of time. Harley -Davidson Central/Frontier HarleyD avi d son into twel ft h , after catc h ing a That j u st screw ed my h e a d up the think I w as d oing abou t 10 mph . " rid e e ve ry week end ." Ha cker said . " I fe lt pretty go od ea r ly in the ra c e, th en I b lew the gro ov e. was di s a s t r o u s . " T h e l as t l a p it wou ldn 't h ardl y pull ," D av is sai d . " I " We've got goo d eq ui p m e nt, and I' m read y t o g o when I g et here . " Morg a n sa id . " It' s n ot li k e having to D av i s lo st fo u r po sitio n s f rom tu rn fou r to th e fin ish lin e. Coziahr Harley -Dav id son /Mem phis Sh ad es' Kevin Va rn e s ha d one of his better o utings of th e yea r , fi ni shi ng sixt h . "We were k ind of holding our own, " Varnes said . "After Ro ed e r bro k e it seemed like we were in c h ing up , but I knew King was all over me. I went into turn three a little high and but I m ov ed back up a few spots . E arly in the day I was going p r etty goo d . Th er e w a s m o i s t ur e in th e ground. T he track was reall y dry and I was just spi nning a lot. We j u s t w eren't ro lling as fast as I needed to . It 's a l itt l e bit f r u st r at in g , bu t now we're starting to get back into the sw ing of dirt track ." there was a little d ip. I hi t th at and it D a n S ta nley pushed his Gardner j us t unl o a ded everything . I was talk ing to Ric h , and he sa id the wheels Ra cing /Walte rs B r othe rs Harl ey D av idson -backed machine to eighth in were off the ground and m y a ss was o ff th e sea t. Th at' s w hen he squ irted a photo finish over Mike Hacker. Origi nally , th e Saddlemen Racing/La ncast- und er me . I hung with him for a little b it , b ut I h it a rut o r something in turn o ne an d it abo u t put me over t he bars. I saw W ill com ing backwa rds , a nd I was ab le to get h im o n th e la st lap for sixth ." er Harley- Da v idson/Dodge Brothers sponso red H ac k e r was listed eighth, b ut a revi ew of th e fin ish li n e c am era clearly sho wed Sta n ley to be eighth . " W e h ad to come a long way w ith Nicky H a y d e n (M ichiga n Harl ey Dealers Assn ./Rod Lake] struggled the b ike to get it going , but we g o t it du ring t he main event ," Stanl ey sai d . " I thoug ht sure I was g etting t h e t h r o u g h m o st of t h e m a i n , b ut still came home seventh . holes ho t, then I pu lled a wh eel i e goi ng into the turn . I settled into a Due to the threatening weather. the qualifying heats were replaced by the lottery, and the points standings to set the line ups for the four heat races. Dan Stan ley , Dale Jenneman and Mik e Varnes led the first heat into tum one. Stanley held the lead until Kenny Coolbeth stor med back from a horrible start to tak e the lead at the halfway point. Stanley , Varnes and Jenneman conti nued their war, but Varnes was odd m an out and sent to the semis. Despite having to work his way through the pack , Coolbeth's 1O-lap time was the fastest of the night. The second heat saw Paul Morgan hitting tum one over Rich King , Gee Roeder, Ken Yoder and Nic ky Hayden. King was the first to set Morgan back , quickly followed by Roeder and Hayden. On lap four Roeder dove inside of King going into tum one. Hayden was making an outside line work and led laps seven. eight and nine. However it was a 10lap race, and Roeder repeated his inside charge into turn one, then King mirrored the move on Hayden in tum three. Roeder came away with the win. King and Hayden were right on his rear wheel. Heat three was a runaway for Will Davis, despite the first indication of his clutch problems . Willi e McCoy gave up second to Kevin Varnes, then came under attack from Bryan Bigelow and Jess Roeder. Bigelow moved all the way to second by the halfway mark, with Varnes a comfortable third. McCoy dropped out with a flat tire , leaving Jess Roeder to lead Jo';n Nickens III into the semis. Johnny Murphree led the last heat away, but Joe Kopp quick ly took the point. Murphree and Mike Hacker settled into second and third . The race was red-flaqged and called complete when Shaun Russell and Chris Boone fell in tum four. Both would return for semi action. . Three riders battled over the two transfer spots in the first semi. John Nick ens III, Ken Yoder and Mike Varnes all had a shot, but it was Nicke ns and Reds Racing/Ch ico Bednar's Yoder moving into the main. Steve Gill led the second serni into tum one before giving way to Jaim e Aguila r. Aguilar's tum at the helm was short -lived also, as Chris Boone mov ed his Art Skaggs Racing/ Bob Berry/In glewood Machine-backed Harley into the lead. Jess Roeder grabbed second and the transfer positions were set, but Roeder decided he wanted more and sli pped inside of Boone in tum three and took the win. Ricky Winsett led the last semi into turn one, but was quick ly set back by Paul Lynch and Paul Morgan. On lap five of the eight lap race, Morgan got a drive off tum two and took the lead. Willie McCoy was a distant third. cue. e n e vv S • S EPTEM B ER 6 . 2000 13

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