Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Fo r mula U SA/Wre nchead .com N a t io n al D irt Trac k S erie s Round 6 : Portland Speedway (From left to rightj Brett Landes, Jay SpoihySlee.. and Chris Can' celeb: ate after the Portland Speedway Half Mile round of the Fonnuia USAlWrenc:head.com National Dirt Track Series. Can'took the win, his first in Formula USA competition, with Springer second and Landes third. Pacific Northwest, Carr scored that first victory of t he series in fron t of a ca pacity crowd of 12 ,0 00 on the half mi l e ova l at t he in augura l Portl and LI GHT PH OT OS BY D A VE G O GA N " A PORTLAND,OR,SEPT.10 t th e sta r t of th e s easo n, wh o would ha ve eve r imag in ed th at it wo ul d' ve tak en Chris Carr bey ond th e h alfway poi n t in th e F o rmul a U SA /Wr en ch ead .c om N ati onal D i rt Tra c k S er i e s b ef or e th e Gr and Natio nal Cha m p ion's firs t w in wou ld com e to p ass? Surp risi ng? Yes . B ut also indica tiv e of j ust how close th e com pe titio n is in thi s f irst-yea r series . Ho wev er , on a cool , c loudy eveni ng in the 26 S EPTEM BER 20. 2000' c ue low Grand Na tiona l ca m paigner Br ett Landes to fi ni sh runn er up to Carr. C arr st irr ed the re vved -up c rowd even fu rther when he m ad e th is sta te- Sp eed way eve nt , the six th round of the 12 -ro und PA CE-p rom ot ed ci rc uit. It was only fit ting tha t Ca rr , a lon g - By CLA Y m ent fro m the rostrum: "I' m now t wo fo r two as an Expert in Oregon . I love co ming back her e [t o Portl and]. and h av e a lot o f fond memo r ies - b u t time No rthwest favorite , wo uld put hi s nam e in the record books b y pos ti ng a sta rt -to -fi nish vi ct ory in t he 25 -la p Na tio na l. Carr 's win p laced the tw o time A MA Grand National Champion atop th e p od iu m , while t h e e l de r sta te sm a n of th e tour, 43 -y ea r -old Jay Springsteen, narrowly edg ed felI e n Ie vv S what m akes thi s spec ia l is th at I' m und efeat ed in thi s state." It ha d been 14 years si nc e Ca rr ' s last victory in th e Beaver Sta te, w inni ng his first race at t he lo ng since defunc t Sid ew ind ers AMA Pro Clubgrounds in 1986 . So it was a lo ng t ime coming for t he rider wh o most had seen prog r ess fr om Nov ic e to Expert amassin g a st ring of vic t or ies on the Northwest TT c i rc u it b ef o r e moving on t o becom e a fixture on t he AMA Grand Nation al circuit. Carr's fin est m om ents thus far in the series sta rte d off du rin g qualify ing , w hen he poste d th e eve n ing' s fas te st t ime of 24 .5 86 o n th e newl y surf ace d , c lay -base d oval. T h e W renchea d .com/ Harley- Da vi dson of S acr amento - supp ort ed C ar r , w ho op ted to rid e a 600cc ma ch in e, led a trio of 750cc riders in q ualifying with Springsteen (24 .642) , J .R Schn abel (24 .704), and Gary Rogers (24 .79 9 ) lo g g ing the next -fastest po siti on s . Lan d es , w ho also chose to ride t he sm all er 600c c mach in e, was th e fin al r i d er t o brea k i nto t h e 24 - se c ond bra ck et at 24 .9 8 7 . D esp it e runn ing aga i ns t t he conf l ic ti n g Vern on , N ew Y or k , AMA G r and Nat i o n a l , th er e w er e 3 6 ent ra nts for the National class , sl ightly le ss than th e 4 8 rid ers that would norma ll y fill o ut a Nat ion al program . No net hele ss, it was c ons idere d a su c cess fu l show ing in a regio n that once had been th e hotb ed of ra cing on th e West C o a st. H o w e v er , b y t he la te 1980s, it was all but dead, and with th e Chr is Agajania n and PACE effort , dirt tr ack co ul d have a new resurrec-

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