Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~I AMA/Pr o g r e s s iv e In s u r a n c e U. S . F la t T r a c k Cha mpio n s h ip s R o u n d 1 0: M issouri State Fair Speedway (Above) Johnny Murphree (2 0) earned hi s second runner· up finish of the year at Sedalia. (Bel ow ) Ke n Yoder (5 7) qua lified for his first Gra nd Na tiona l of th e year aboard a borrowed mo torcyc le . Unfort unatel y, the e ngi ne expired, an d Yod e r finished 16th. (Left to right) Murphree, Kopp and Bigelow are a ll smiles on t he w inner' s ro st ru m . BRIEFLY••• Besides the $477 5 that Joe Kopp picked up. the 23 points moved him into second place in the Progressive Insurance U .S. Flat Track C hampionship Series points standings . Defending champion C hris Carr. who was not present in Sedalia. is just six points up. with Will Davis now 13 back. Mike Hacker and Bryan Bigelow round out the top five, 20 and 24 behind Carr . After much speculation on where the to p riders wo uld be this wee kend lAMA/Seda lia v s. Formula U SA/Fort Worth) . seven of the top 10 ended up in Sedalia. Dave Burks felt he held a clue to many of the riders' decisions. ..A Pace official called me several times wanting to know if we wo uld send one of our riders (Joe Kopp/Kenny Coolbethl to Fort W orth . I told them after what they did wit h our points in that Indy race there was no way either wo uld be there. Aft er hearing what is going on down there tonight I'm sure it was the right choice." This was before Kopp went out and won , with Coo/beth grabbing fifth. · We ' re g ettin g th i s th in g ro lli ng a g ai n . It' s ta k i n g a l i t tl e tim e , b ut M ik e Hacker ( H ·O) ; 4 . Paul Lyn ch ( H -O) ; 5 . Co ry Roth (H- D); 6 . Paul Normand in (H- O); 7 . Kyle Long (H-D); B. Chris Boone (H·D): g. Shaun Russell (H·D). we 're g etti ng t h is c h a ss i s w orking , · Tim e: No T ime - Jenn em an sai d . · W e' ve got t o g et John Nickens III (H-D); 2. Ken Yoder (H-D); 3. Mike read y fo r n ext w e ek . A t least I don 't h a v e to ru n . Th a t ' s w h y th e y p u t wheels o n th e se th ing s .' JAB Co m p uti ng / S uperT ra pp- b ac ke d Pa ul L y n ch cam e hom e a n un e v entful 13t h after qua lif y in g f or Red Flag. SEMI I (8 laps; 8 riders. top two transfer) : 1. Va rne s ( H - O); 4 . Sha un Russell ( H- O); 5. Paul Normandin (H·D ); 6. Roger Lee Hayden (H -O); 7. Shawn Clark(H-D); B. Yuhiko Hira (H-D). o Time : 3 min.. 32 .041 sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps; 8 riders. top tw o transfer): I. Jess Roeder (H -O ); 2. Chris Boone (H- O); 3. Cory Roth (H-O); 4 . Jaime Aguilar (H ·D) : 5. Eric Rickman (Hon): 6. Brent Armbruster (H -O); 7 _ Steve Gill ( H- D); B. Victor McAnally (H·D). his ei ght h m ain event of t he y ear . lime: 3 min.. 34 .129 sec. SEMI 3 (8 laps: 8 riders. top two transfer): 1. Paul Morgan III (H ·D ); 2. Paul Lynch (H-D); 3. Willie J o h n Nic ken s III, w ho is a ls o b ecom - McCoy (H·D); 4. Brett Landes (H· D); 5. Rick y Winsett (H -D) ; 6 . Tom McGrane Jr. (Hon); 7. Kyle ing a r e gu l ar i n the N a ti on al f in a ls, Long (H-D); B. Jim Sumner (H-D). f inished 14th , ah ead of L a s Ve gas H arl e y - D a v i d s o n / R o e d e r H a r l e y - lime: 3 min.. 30.830 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps: 18 riders): 1. Joe Kopp (H· D) ; 2. Johnny Murphree ( H-D) : 3. Bryan eN Jr. (H-D); 6. Kevin Varnes (H- D); 7 . Nicky Hayden Davidson' s J ess Ro ede r. A couple of riders jumped bikes for the night. K e n Yode r parked his personal Harley and got on Chico Bedner's back-up Harley. Yoder made his first National of the year and was running 13th when the engine expired on lap 15. The news was even worse for C hico's number-one rider as Geo Roeder destr oyed their number-one bike. " it' s a bad situation." Roeder said. " No w we 're behind for next weeke nd. That' s our good engine. W e made some suspension changes after the heat race and man, we were dialed in. " said Roeder. "Then we were dialed out, ~ added a deject ed Bednar. Bigelow (H-D); 4. Rich King (H-D); 5. Ken Coolbeth Also making a change for the night was Yuhiko Hirao. The man they call "Y ou ' parked his Suzuki that he has been campaigning all year and got on the M &J Racing Harley that Phil Libhart has been on. Libhart had hillclimb obligations. giving Hirao his first ride on an XR750 Harley. He failed to advance out of the se mis. Chris Boone had his race race end on lap fo ur when he slid dow n in turn two . W hat was unusual was the cause of his get-off . ' 1gal hit with about three dirt clods, one right in the stomach," Boone said. " It took my breath away, and while I was trying to recover, I hit a hole and down I went. " Aft er a night like Will Davis had. there is always room for second guessing. "What I'm having a hard time accept ing is I think it starte d slipping in the heat race," said Davis. "We put it off that I was getting into the marbles on the back straight and spinning the tire. W e we re borderline on ' time and made the decision to not pull the clutch out. It' s l ough, I guess . That' s why we race these things . It' s so bad here. to know that we had it wo n and lose because of something like that. It was my fault. We put a new clutch in every week. and I didn't get this one burned in right. " (H-D); B. Dan Stanley (H·D); g. Mike Hacker (H·D); State FairSpeedway Sedalia, Missouri Results: August 26, 2000 [Round 10 of 151 10. Will Davis (H-D) ; 11. Paul Morgan III (H-D) : 12. Dale Jenneman (H -D ); 13. Paul Lynch (H-D) ; 14. John Nickens III (H-D) ; 15. Jess Roeder ( H·D); 16. HEAT I ( t o laps; 9 riders. top three transfer): 1. Ken Coolbeth Jr. (H-D): 2. Dan Stanley (H·D): 3. Odie Jennema n (H ~D); 4 . Mike Varnes ( H- D) ; 5 . Eric Rickma n (Han ); 6. Brett Landes (H -D ); 7. Yuhiko Htre o ( H~ D) : 8 . Brent Armbru ster (H ·D ) : 9 . J im Sumner (H ·D ). Time : 4 min., 16.639 sec. HEAT 2 ( 10 laps; 9 riders, top three transfer): I . Geo Roeder II (H-D); 2. Rich King (H-D); 3 . Nicky Hayden ( H· D ); 4 . Paul Mo rgan III ( H-D) ; 5. Ken Yoder (H· D); 6 . Jaime Aguilar (H-D ); 7. Ricky Winsett Jr. ( H- D); B. Shawn Clark (H·D); g. Victor McAnally (H-D). T ime: 4 m in.. 18 .073 sec. HEAT 3 ( 10 laps; 9 riders. top three tran sfer): Ken Yoder (H-D); 17. Goo Roeder II (H-D); l B. Chris Boone (H-D). • lime: 10 min.. 39.4 80 sec. AMA/ PROGRESSIVE INSURA NCE U.S. FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONS HIP SERIES POINTS "The points race has tightened up some. but I've got to win some races .' said Rich King. STANDINGS (after 10 of 15 rounds): 1. Chris Carr ( 147 pts/ 3 wins); 2. Joe Kopp (14 1/1) ; 3. Will Davis " I'm gettin g hungry. hopefully we'll do really we ll next week . that' s a big weekend for the team.added Johnny Murphree. (134/3); 4. Mike Hacker (127/1); 5. Bryan Bigelow (123); 6. Rich King (116); 7. Ken Coolbeth Jr. (102); 8. Jay Springsteen (94 /1) ; 9. Dan Stanley (86); 10. Terry Poovey (83/ 1): 11. Kevin Varnes (65) : 12. Geo Roeder II (64) ; 13. Johnny Murphree (63) ; 14. J.R. Schnabel (60); 15. Paul Lynch (50); 16. Nicky 1. Will Davis (H-O); 2. Bryan Bigelow (H-D); 3. Kevin Varnes (H-D) ; 4 . Je ss Roeder (H·D): 5 . John Nickens III (H·D); 6. Tom McGrane Jr. (Han); 7. Steve Gill (H-D); B. Roger Lee Hayden (H-D); g. WillieMcCoy (H-D). Time: 4 m in.• 17.363 sec. HEAT 4 ( 10 laps; 9 riders, top three transfer): 1. Joe Kopp (H·D); 2. Johnny Murphree (H·D); 3. 14 S EPTEM BER 6 , 2000' c u e I e The point s race is tight and with three races next weekend it figures to be a pressure cooker. "An ythi ng can happen," Mi ke Hacker said. "l'm not going to wo rry about the points anymore. just worry about racing each race. " Hayden (43 ); 17. Willie McCoy (42); 18. Mike Varnes (25); 19. Chris Evans (23); 20. (TIE) Paul Morgan III/Brett Lan des(21). Upcom ing Rounds: Round 11 - Spr ingfield, Illinois, September 1 Round 12 " Spr ingfield, Illino is, Septe mber 2 neVU's ' It's going to come down to Springfield," Will Davis said. "That's what we've thought all along. That's a long weekend. and we can't have any excuses. W e go plenty fast there. I just have to do my job . I have to make sure that when the checkered flag falls, I'm somewhere where it counts . We just have to be solid and come away with a podium every day." Because of the weather scare, the Harley-Davidson Sport ster Performance National was put on hold until the Grand National was com pleted . Fortunately, the weather held off . and a cornplete program was offered to the large spectator turnout. said to the largest in the seven-year history of the event.

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