Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

struggled throu gh their he ats . Mech an ical problems plagued both riders. "We lost the clutch in our heat race, it didn 't se em to bother me , ex cept off the line," sa id Kopp of his thi rd-place heat-race finish. "I lost another clutch off the line in th e m a in e ve nt, than k God we didn 't ha ve t o s h ift. I kept waiting for it to sta rt slipping down the straightawa ys , but it didn 't. " Davi s ' pr obl ems s ta rte d during his qual ify ing heat. Da vis held a c o m manding lead until his Harley stopped going into turn on e . Co incidentally a rid er fell jus t behind him c a us ing a red flag . "So m e t h ing tied up in t he lo we r end , righ t befor e the re d fla g ," Davi s said. "Whe n I went into one it tie d up a nd as I coaste d out of two I s a w the re d lights come on . I was a fra id I'd o iled th e track , but I d idn 't, it just all happene d a t the sa me time," Da vis was for ced to ride his number-three b ike the rest of the nig ht. As the evening moistu re ca me up , vis ibility beca me an issue , wit h the m oi s t d ust cli ng ing t o every t h ing , especia lly the rid ers ' face shi el d s. Th is p r om p t e d AMA officials to redu c e the 25-lap Nationa l to 20 la ps. C o zi ahr H-D /M em p h is Sh ad e s ' J ohnn y Mu rphre e co ntin ued to flex h is la te -s e a s on m usc les . The fla shy Murphree led the first la p befor e King took c ha rge. The m ad scra m ble right beh in d King incl u ded Mike Hacker (S ad d le men Ra c in g /L an ca ster HD/Dod ge Br oth e rs ), Murph re e , Ge o Roe de r II , Ke vin Varnes , Nic ky Ha yden a nd Ko pp. Ha ck er wa s qui c kly re eling in King , but it wa s n 't to be for th e s na ke -b it cha rger. " I' m n ot s ure wha t h app en e d , som e t hing started go ing bad for six la p s , it sta rte d s lowi ng d o wn , t h en someth ing popped lo o s e ," said t he dejected Hac ke r. "It was really runn ing good , I guess somebody 's hexing me." Ha c ke r's race ended , after la p 14 . Ro e d e r was nex t to ch alle nge King , moving into second on la p six. "I was righ t there , I thought if I co uld get in behind King and hang on to him for awhile , I'd have a shot at winning - Oh , well ," sa id Roeder. "As fast as we came , we went. We blis te red that tire , the thing was spinn ing all the way around the race track . You don 't want to get on the gas too hard . but it's hard not to get on the gas at a place like this . Ea rly I ra n t he m dow n, th e n I got into t rou b le down in turn th ree , I slip ped ba c k a nd th en j us t co u ld n't get it b a c k . It's been the story of o ur season , as soon as we figur e o ut ho w to g et to th e fron t. someth ing e lse takes us ba ck ." "I kinda' dropped down at the e nd , but yo u could run high, low , whateve r," sa id King . "I though t I wa s getting around good on th e edge of the cushion , but I looked back a co upl e . of t imes and those g uys were right th e re. I dropped down in o ne and two and seemed to pull out a pretty good lead - I had three and four dialed fro m t he s t a rt. That was the b ig k e y fo r me, to get o ut fron t and make them find a way around me. I fe lt real good all night. It wa s o ne of t hose da ys , yo u jus t un load the bikes a nd yo u're ready to go ." Murp hree resurfaced in sec on d with Kopp in to w. "I th ought I had s econd tied up , it s e emed lik e e ve ry tim e som e on e , oth er than Rich , would pass m e I'd zap 'e m right back ," said Murphre e . "It was no pro blem getting right ba ck by , eithe r in the corne r or blow ing by dow n the stra ight. The b ike was run ning awesome to night." "I saw Will, in front of me the first co up le of laps ," s a id Kopp. "I found a good low lin e in o ne a n d two a nd started wo rk ing it . Ev e ryb o d y e lse was go ing into turn one pretty high , I just kept wo rking one and two . I was passing guy after guy a nd p retty soon I saw I was in third ." No t satisfied w it h third , Kopp c harged on a fte r Murp hree. "Murphre e and I we re going back and forth, " Kopp s aid . "I shou ld have settled for third , b ut I kept thinking second would be nic e be ca us e of the three extra po ints. " Murp hree wa s ho ld ing Kopp at ba y un til the last lap. "Eve ry t ime J o e wo uld go by , I'd pass hi m rig ht b a c k - e ith er end," said Mur phr e e . "I thou gh t I ha d both e nds pretty we ll figure d out, the n th at last la p I dove off into one too hard and off the groove I we nt. J oe we nt by and th ere was nothing I could do tha t la st half lap . I gu ess thir d is better th an fou rth, whi ch is better than not m a king th e ma in at a ll." "T he tr a ck dried o ut in th e ma in event a nd I rea lized the re was s ome rubber down the re ," Kopp added . "I d idn't kn ow if Will [Dav is] was in fo u rt h , b e h in d m e o r what. That's wh y I kept after Johnny . When he drifted off the groove that was all she wrote , I got a good dr ive off and he couldn 't get me the last lap. I had a better line in one and two . but he had a better line in three and four. I jus t wasn't willing to stuff it into three as hard as he was ." Inst ead of Kopp 's challenger Davis in fourth it was h is Co rb in Racing teammate Kenny Cool beth . Coolbeth wa s just off the le aders' pace , but well ahead of a tight ra c e over fifth . "I caught rig ht u p to them, pretty ea sy ," sa id Coolbeth . "I don't know wha t happened , th e th rottl e sta rted to h a n g up a litt le and th e fron t en d sta rted pu sh ing . I looke d back a nd s aw I had some room , s o , just kind of played it cool fro m there ." With five laps to go Kevi n Varn es had his Co ziahr H-D/Memphis Shades Harl ey in fifth, but he had his hands fu ll as Roed er , Ha yd en a nd McC o y were kn ocking on his ba c k door. Hayden moved by Varnes on la p 17. "I got a pretty good sta rt, but the first few la ps I ju s t went ba ckwards, ba c kwards , backwards , " Ha yden sa id . "I just a bo ut work ed myself ou t o f the to p 10, but then aro und ha lf wa y , I started really co m ing . Towards the e nd I wa s re a lly good in thre e and four, bu t I was ha ving a lot of trouble' in one and two . I'm a little d isappointed; I wo n m y scratch heat, m y heat a nd ha d a fro nt- ro w start in the main. I wa s definitely hoping to do better in th e main. I was hoping to get up ther e with th ose guys , in the beginn ing I just couldn 't go anywhere." Varnes had a simila r adventure on his way to the front. "I had a go od start, but we sta rted to s lip back ," Varnes sa id. "We ha d a bra nd new t ire on a nd it too k a bo ut five la ps to come in, we drifted back to about 10th. Once the tire sta rte d to hook up, my lines were wo rk ing . We caught u p to Da vis and got by h im and Roe der too . Th en Hacker dropped o ut and I was ru nn in g a bout fifth . I thought , was all rig ht , then Hayden c a m e back after me. , b attl ed with him a little , but I starte d slipping in three a nd fo u r. , don' t know where Willie came fro m - he just blasted by." Indeed McCoy ha d come from way back to slash his way up to fifth. '" cam e from 4 2nd pos it io n in the ma in," McCoy expla in ed . "I've been getting te rrib le st a rt s on these pea gravel tr a c ks and I go t another one tonight. I was running down low a nd it was working, so I ju st stayed there. I was racing with Nicky a nd Poovey and we were pa ss ing p e o ple . Every t ime I'd pas s Poo ve y , Nicky wo ul d pass a coup le of peop le. The n I'd pass th em a nd catc h ba c k u p to Nicky. I t h ink I p a s s ed four guys d o w n the b a c k stra ig h t o ne time. It was like, 'Here we go, I'm not stoppi ng , I' m go ing to keep go ing.' The la st gu y I pass e d was Nicky . I wanted a good top five tonight, my best finish of the ye a r, and I got fifth. I'm pretty happy ." Schaeffer 's H-D / Las Vegas H-D / KK-backed Roe der finished up e ighth ove r the USC Rac ing /lstleag le /Hap Jones Honda of Poo ve y. "I couldn't steer about the last five or s ix la p s ," Poove y said. "T he tire we nt away and I was chasing the front e nd all ov e r. I was going forw a rd till then. The Honda is just hard to ride at pla ces like th is. It would have been a go od t rack for us if t hey hadn 't watered it out. I was good when it was dry , then we wo uld have been rea l good whe n it took rubb e r. 'I' m just glad I'm doi ng th is a ga in . I ca n 't believe I d idn't do it for so lon g ." Rounding ou t th e to p 10 was a dis a ppo inte d Davis. "We had two fra mes tha t we wa nt e d to ride on t hi s t rac k," h e sai d . "Something wa s wrong with the clutch on one of them , then we blew up the other on e . T hat left us o n n u mb e r three a nd I hadn 't e ven practiced on cue I e n tha t bike. We knew it wasn' t go ing to handle. I had ne ve r rac ed the b ike , I h ad tri ed to pra cti c e it a co u p le of times , but I knew it would just handle terrible . It held true to form , it trie d to kill me the whole m a in ev e nt. If the fro nt en d ho o k e d u p, it would run s ideways . If the rear would hoo k up , it'd try to push m e thr ough the fence. It wasn 't good , bu t tha t's th e way it go es . We 've still got a sh ot, but it's a littl e one . We ' v e just g o t to wi n DuQuoin and se e what happens. " White 's H-D /S chaeffer 's H-D / KK/Myers Truc king 's Mike Varnes j u st missed a t op -10 fi nish after exchanging positions with Davis sev e ral tim es in the closing laps . Kev in At herton con t in ued h is re hab, finishing 12th on th e Ga rdne r Racin g/Wa lte rs Bro thers H-D/AFAM Ha rley . "It fe lt really go od, the Gard ne r Team gave me a good motorcycle," Atherton sa id . "I'm grateful for that, s o I could jus t get out there a nd ride. We d idn't d o mu ch to th e bike , we just wanted to get out there a nd m ake the ma in . Do som e laps , that's the best th ing fo r me . We we re go ing fast, tha t's what I like to do ." CN Veman Dawns Veman, New Yo" Results: September 9, 2000 [Round 14 of 151 HEAT 1 ( 10 laps; 9 riders. top three transfer) : I. Mike Hacker (Ho D) ; 2. Will Da vis (H· D): 3. Ken Coo lbeth Jr . (H· D) ; 4. Paul Lynch (H· D) ; 5. Shawn C la rk ( H · D ) ; 6 . Aaron Cre a m er ( H- D ) ; 7 . Rob Williams ( H-D); 8. Tom McGrane Jr. (Hon); 9. Tim Eades (H· D). Time : 6 min., 08.222 sec. HEAT 2 (10 laps: 8 riders, top three transfer): I. J ohnn y Mu cphree (H-D ); 2. Gee Roeder II ( H-D); 3. Chris Hart (H· D) ; 4 . Chris Evans (H· D); 5. Rick y W insett J r. ( H· D ); 6. Gart h Bastian (HoD): 7 . Bob Knapp (H-D) ; 8. Yuhiko Hirao (Suz). Time : 6 min., 07 .628 sec. HEAT 3 ( 10 laps; 8 riders, top three transfer): I . Rich King (H-D ); 2. Kevin Varnes (H-D ): 3 . Joe Kopp (H· D) ; 4. Willie McCoy (H-D ); 5. John Nickens 111 (H-D ); 6. Mike Varnes (H ·D ); 7. Phil Libh art (H·D) ; 8. Jim Mcllvena (H-D ). Time: 6 min.. 06.26 7 sec. HEAT 4 ( 10 laps; 8 riders, top three transfer) : 1. Nicky Hayden (H- D); 2. Kevin Atherton (H-D ); 3. Steve Beattie (H-D); 4. Jess Roeder (H-D): 5. Terry Poovey (Han): 6. George Richtmeyer (H-D): 7. Paul Normandin (H- D); 8 . Jeremy Thompson (H·D) . Tim e: 6 min.. 13.369 sec. SEMI 1 (8 laps; 7 riders. top t wo transfer): 1. Willie McCoy (H-D); 2. Ricky Winsett Jr. (H-D); 3. Shawn Clark (H- D); 4. George Richtmeyer Jr. (H-D) ; 5. Phil Li bhart (H· D); 6 . Tom McGrane Jr. (Hon); 7. Yuhiko Hirao (Suz) . Time: 4 min.. 59.230 sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps; 7 riders, top two transfer): I. Terry Poovey (Han ); 2 . John Nickens III (H-D) ; 3 . Jim Mdlvena (H- D); 4. Chris Evans (H- D); 5. Bob Knapp (H- D) ; 6. Aaron Creame r (H-D); 7. Jeremy Thompson (H-D) . Time: 4 min.. 57.194 sec. SEMI 3 (8 laps; 7 riders. top two transfer): 1. M ike Varnes (H-D ); 2. Jess Roeder (H -D) : 3. Rob Willi ams ( H- D) ; 4. Tim Eades ( H- D) : 5 . Pa ul Normandin ( H- D); 6 . Gart h Bastian ( H·D) ; Pa ul Lync h (H·D). Time: 5 rn in .. 0 1.230 sec. GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps; 18 riders): 1. Rich King (H· D); 2. Joe Kop p (H· D) : 3. Jo hnny Murphree (H· D); 4 . Ken Coo lbeth Jr. ( H· D); 5. Willie McCo y (H-D) ; 6. Nicky Hayden (H·D) ; 7. Kevin Varnes (HD); 8. Gee Roeder II (H-D); 9. Terry Poo vey (Hon) ; 10 . Will Davis (H-D) ; I I . Mik e Varn es (H· D) ; 12. Kevin Atherton (H-D): 13. Ricky Winsett Jr. (H-D ); 14. John Nickens III (H-D) ; 15. Chris Hart (H-D ); 16. Mike Hacker (H-D): 17. Steve Beattie (H-D) ; 18. Jess Roeder (H-D) . Time: 12 min.. 10.0 14 sec. A MA/PRO G RESS I VE I NSUR A NC E U .S . FLAT TR ACK CHAMPIO NS HIP SER I ES PO I N T STANDINGS (After 14 of 15 rounds): 1. Joe Kopp (2 14 /1 win ) ; 2. Will Davis ( 199/4 ); 3. Chris Car r ( 187/ 3); 4 . Ri ch Ki n g ( 18 5/1); 5 . Mike Hac k er ( 147/1); 6. Bry an Bigelow ( 145); 7. Ken Coolbeth Jr . ( 140); 8. Terry Poovey (1 11/1 ); 9 . Jay Springsteen ( 104/1); 10. (T IE) Nick y Hayden/ J ohn ny Murph ree (97); 12. Dan Stanley (94 ); 13. Gee Roeder II (87 ); 14 . Kevin Varnes (83 ); 15. Willie McCoy (76 ); 16. J .R. Schnabel (73) ; 17. Paul Lyn ch (56 ); lB. Scott Parker (53) ; 19. Mike Varne s (3 7); 20 . (T IE) Chris Evans/Brett Landes (33 ). Upcoming Round Round 15 - DuQuoin, Illinois, October 14-15 e _ S • S EPTEM B ER 20 , 2000 19

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