Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

th ere o ff two , and I c au ght h im . He go t a littl e w id e o ff of two , and he spra yed me d o wn , but I got i n his d raft and I was j u st able t o get h im at the li ne . I'm happy with t hi rd, but I'm sure that Rogers ain 't too ha p p y with me getti ng thi rd. " Carr stormed to the head of th e pack as the field fanned o ut throug h tums o ne and two at the start of the fi rst leg . At first , th e Wrench ead .com/ H-D of Sacra-: m ente -backed AMA cha m p appeared to be all set to steam away fro m th e fie ld aboa r d h i s Ke n ny To lb ert -t u n e d Ha rley-Da vidson XR750 . B ut t ha t all cha nged just as qui ckly when Carr's bike sudd enl y began to sputter. T o make matters wors e, h e manag ed to severe ly tw eak h is left k nee by catch (Above) K opp (4 3) battled with Ch r i s Carr (i) in the first leg of the 20-lap f inal. Carr would eventually f inish s e c o nd. (Right) Coulda been: Ge o Roeder II ran w it h Kopp for m ost of t he second leg before suffering a m echanica l fail u re and fi nishing last. K o pp led th e maj ority o f th e first 10 - l a p se g me n t a bo a r d hi s Denni s T o wn-tun e d S uz uki TL I 0 0 0 , and then , after a " p it sto p " break in th e acti on to m aintain the tra ck su rface , he engaged in a drafting w ar with La s Vega s Ha rl ey -Davidson /KK Motorcy cle Supply 's G eo Roeder II . That war came to an end wh en Roed er's m ount brok e a few l ap s b efore th e finish , allowing Kopp to c rui se to v ictory , well ah ead o f Wr ench e ad .com /H-D of Sa cramento 's Chris C arr and Ba rtels' H-D/Corbin /VH T's Ja y Springsteen . Kopp's win wa s so m ew hat h istoric , as it marked the first t ime t hat a Suzuki T L 1 OOO- ba sed S uperTra ck er h a d defeated th e m ighty Harley -Davidson XR750 s. C arr , the re ignin g N ation al his left knee during t he fi rs t 10 -lap leg . ing a hol e in o ne of th e t urns, w hich u p spot in th e second leg , even aft er "T h e secon d half of the race really we re b reaking u p qu ickl y . Carr contin- suffering po ssib le lig am ent da mage to h elp ed u s, " Ca r r sai d . " I just t o ok u ed t o nurse the b ik e and t he k nee , care of m y knee, t ri ed not to push my Ch ampi o n , actual ly im p ro v e d fro m fifth in th e fi rst leg to t ak e t he runne r- but he was q ui ckl y o vertaken by Kopp foot too ha rd into the g ro un d . I sta rt- - w hose TL machine clearly had more ed ru n ning Kopp d own , bu t th en I just st ra ightaway speed than an y one - on la p three. ran o ut o f tear-o f f s at a bo u t t he Though he may not be considered the king of heavy- track riders, Chris Carr never lets the opportunity to hang it out on the cushion go by if he gets a clear track in front of him . That was certainly the case when he roosted his way to the pole position in the ma in event by winnin g the opening heat with a fast time of thr ee min utes, 59.188 seconds. Carr led the openi ng heat race from start to finish, gett ing the holeshot and worki ng the first comer, before letting Kenny Tolb ert's tun ing prowess take over and launch him away from second-placed Kenny Coolbeth , who was aboard one of those potent Dennis Town-pr epped Suzukis. Coolbeth was unable to cut into Carr's increasing lead, and he finished some 20 lengths behind the current AMA champ by the finish of the short, six -lap heat race. Dan Stanley finished thi rd, some 10 lengths behind Coolbeth, to lock up the final transfer spot. Heat two was actually the slowest, as Springsteen repeated Carr's efforts, pulling clear of rooki e Jason Tyer for the first three laps. But then Tyer made it interesting, hustling his XR750 into the turns aggressively in an attempt to run Springsteen down. Springer was faster off the corners, however, and he took the win by a comfortable margin . Tyer was just as happy to finish second, pumping his fist across the line as he earned the direct tran sfer. Jess Roeder finished third , about another 15 lengths behind Tyer, to also transfer. it was Joe vs. Geo in the final heat; Kopp and Roeder set the tone for later encount ers by battli ng it out for the lead in the final six -lap heat race. Kopp led the first lap. but Roeder burned it in underneath the Suzuki rider in tum one and then snapped the throttle open to spray him down off turn two. Kopp refused to give up, however, and with one lap to go, it all came down to the final pair of comers. Kopp was faster down the straightaway , but Roeder had ample corner speed, keeping Kopp at bay to take the win. Schnabel ran a lonely third but earned the final direct transfer in the main event. With the main event cut to j ust 12 riders, the two semis and Last Chance Qualifier took only the winner to the big show. Gary Rogers scored an easy win in the first semi, getting throug h to the final. Jay Springsteen's teamma te Shaun Russell bagged a solid win in the second semi. Hinting once again that he migh t j ust be the next real deal from the state of Mich igan, "Flyin'" Bryan Smith rode his borrowed BBRP/ Circle F Rotax to the win in the LCQ, taking the last available spot in the field . h a l fw a y po int. I w e n t th roug h eig ht Ro ed er q ui ck ly beca me a fac to r on tea r -offs in six la ps . I sta rted to gain o n Joe, but I knew th at h e ha d th e t hi ng c o v e r ed . W e ga ve it o ur b e st t h e h e a v y track , j ust as h e a lw a y s does. Th e O h ioa n was th ird o n the s hot, a n d we ca me up sec o nd . We just co ul d n' t see th e li ghts from the D a v id so n p inn ed t o the st ops as he b a r r el e d into t he co rne r s, bl ow ing ground . T h at ca n ge t p retty sca ry w hen it' s li k e that . We 're e ither the past Car ron lap fou r an d t he n settin g off in pu rsu it of K opp . openi ng la p , b ut he h ad hi s H arl ey - best dirt-tra ck racers in the wor ld or Rogers passed Carr for fou rth on the d u m best, I' m not su re wh ich." lap six , while Springer , w ho was d own S pringst een's t hi r d - p l a c e finish in sixth p lace, sh ot by Ko p p ' s Co rb in came at the expense o f Rogers Lake Ra cing /Custom Chr ome's Gary Raci ng / H -D o f M i ss ouri t e am m ate Kenny Coo lbeth, who was a l so aboard a S uzuki TL . T h at was th e Rogers, as the ve teran and f ormer A M A Grand Na tional Champ ion c apit a liz ed o n m ista k es ma d e by the way that th ey w ould cross th e line t o e n d th e fi rs t leg , w ith Kopp several lengths ahead of Roeder, and Rogers ever-improving Rogers o n the last lap to get a run on him a nd beat h im to the line by less than a wheel a nd steal th ird. In the b ottom ha lf o f t he pack , th ere was quite a bit of j ostling g o ing o n as well. BBRP/ C ircl e F rider B rya n Smi th c h a ll eng ed Tea m Po we ll / West the sp ot. " T h e last co uple l a p s , i t r eally B e n d H a r le y -D a v id so n 's J .R. Sc h n- started getting ro ugh ," S p ringstee n sa id . " Ro g e r s g ot a littl e wide o u t c ue I e n abel for the seventh spot, while Ga rd - e vv S • S EPT EM B ER 27 , 2000 13

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