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/128630
They turned out in droves t o see him, as hi gh cloud co ve r and a br ief ra i n sho we r h elp ed to q ue l l th e op p ressiv e heat t hat h ad b l an k eted the area for th e previous tw o days . The te mpera ture c hange also m ade the beau t ifull y manicu red track m o re cond ucive to r ac in g , as t he groove wi de ne d up conside ra bly . It was all goo d for the Corbin Rac ing /H -D o f Mis so uri -b a ck ed K opp , wh o lan ded sec o nd ab oard hi s Carl Patrick -owned m iler, earning h is th ird successive podium f inish of th e weekend and edging into the series po ints lead. He now sits a mere five m ar k s ahead of Davis, w ho was fifth on the day, 195- 190. Carr sits in th ird pl ac e, with a 18 7 point s, but w ith th e c u r re n t numb er one sc he d u led to miss the next round at Vern on , N ew Yo rk. it i s p r ob abl e th at t he prest i gious pla te w ill p a s s on to either Davis or Kop p. " I knew Scotty was up to something o u t th er e , so I ju st decided t o tr y and d raft him , bu t it d idn ' t hap pen ," K op p sa id . " S till , w e h ad a g rea t weekend her e - th ree pod ium fi nishes in a row . Now, I g uess we ' ll see what happen s [w it h the champi ons hip ]. I'm fee ling a little pressure. bu t I k now that I j us t have to go out the re and b eat W ill. W hoeve r b eats the o t her g uy wi ll proba b ly wi n th e ch ampi on ship . I wa nt to t ha n k C arl Pat rick f o r g iving m e suc h a great bike her e this wee ke nd . We ro de hi s personal mile bike , and that thing is so fast. " After leading th e first four laps of th e race and th en rema ining in con te nti on for t h e r e st of it , fac tor y Ha rl ey -D avi d son rid er K ing fi n ished third , d ra f ti ng h i s way aro un d t h e pack w it h Parker, Kopp and Mu rph ree in an attempt t o set up his second S p r in g f i el d win . H a d h e fo llowe d Park er an d Ko p p on the final dash to the flag, he m ay have go tten it . " I feel like w e had a ho r se t h at cou ld wi n it today," K ing sai d . "T he only problem was t hat Scotty ha d a b ik e j ust like mine ." Fo r t he M em p h is Shades/C oziahr H ar l ey - D a v i d so n - sp on s or e d M ur phree, fourth place marked a q uan tum lea p i n h is stock as a rider , as the 21 -year -old California ki d w ho has become known as " Sh owti m e " earned the first mile he at -ra ce win of his c ar eer in heat four, pulling a v ery Spring steen -esqu e o ut si de move in turns three and four. That same move wa s h is ca ll i n g ca r d i n the main eve nt , as Murphree pulled awa y with th e rac e lead er s and wa s never out of th e hunt for t h e win . But whe n it c ame tim e t o p ick up the pa ce in t he last fiv e laps , he found t he co m pet iti on le ss th an willing to allow him ba ck in line after he rounded th e to p of the tra ck in three and fo ur. " Fo r the first 20 laps, t hey wo uld let me right b ack in line, " Mu rp hree said. "T he n, all of sudde n , it was like. (Abovel What's he doing down there?: Parker (21 used a totally different line on the la st two laps t o break up the draft and tum the race from dirt track t o drag race. (Left) Parker's t ea m m at e Ric h K ing (8 0) continued t o improve hi s results as a factory rider, finishing third in the main event. (Below) Johnny Murphree proved that he is the real deal at Springfield, ha nging tough to fin ish fourth, his best ever on the mile. 'Uh u h .' I' ll tell yo u what I learned more about m ile racin g to day than I eve r knew b ef or e . We 'll be back . Today, someone ca me up to m e just before the race and told me that they we re pa ying la p m on ey , so I wanted to try and lead as many laps as I could: Desp ite his te nacity . Murphree was only cred ited with t he lead o n lap ei ght. Hall of Fame winner D av is h ad another decent day on the mile, but th er e was no quest i on th at th e Fasth og. c om /M or on e y's H arl e y Da vidson -sponsored North Car o linian m ight have had a better one if he had not been in th e wrong pl ac e at the wro ng time wh en Hack er ' s m ach in e began t o spi t o il around lap 15. "I d idn 't rea ll y get off with th em , but we were making it up wh en all of a sudde n I go t oiled down r e all y good ," Davis sai d. " I started seeing shiny spots on th e groove, and on ce I c u e I e n e _ S • S EPTEM B ER 13. 2000 23