Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

McCoy (H-D); 7. Sam Halbert (H-D); 8. Nick Cummings (H-D); 9. Doug Lawrence (H-D); 10. Ken Yoder (H-D); 11. Kenny Coolbeth (H-D); 12. Tom McGrane (Suz); 13. Steve Murray (H-D). Time: 4 min., 26.497 sec. HEAT 2 (10 laps; 12 riders, top three transfer): 1. Geo Roeder (H-D); 2. Chris Evans (H-D); 3. Steve Beattie (H-D); 4. Rich King (H-D); 5. Jake Johnson (H-D); 6. Jess Roeder (H-D); 7. Josh Toungett (H-D); 8. Nick Evans (H- D); 9. Joe Hartrich (H-D); 10. Jeff Landrum (H-D); 11. Shawn Baer (H-D); 12. Charlie Italia (H-D). Time: 4 min., 26.036 sec. HEAT 3 (10 laps; 12 riders, top three transfer): 1. Joe Kopp (H-D); 2. Shaun Russell (H-D); 3. Chris Carr (H- D); 4. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 5. Paul Lynch (H-D); 6. Jon Cornwell (H-D); 7. Nichole Cheza (H-D); 8. Scott Stump (H-D); 9. Jethro Halbert (H-D); 10. AJ Eslick (H-D); 11. William Seyle (H-D); 12. Dan Gedeon (H-D). Time: 4 min., 25.482 sec. HEAT 4 (10 laps; 12 riders, top three transfer): 1. Dominic Beaulac (H-D); 2. Jared Mees (H-D); 3. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 4. Ricky Marshall (H-D); 5. Mike Hacker (H-D); 6. Tim Eades (H-D); 7. Logan Myers (H-D); 8. Rob Pearson (Yam); 9. Raun Wood (H-D); 10. Bryan Bigelow (H- D); 11. Gary Rogers (H-D); 12. Kyle Whitis (H-D). Time: 39 min., 44.247 sec. —RED FLAG— SEMI 1 (8 laps; 13 riders, top two transfer): 1. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 2. Nick Cummings (H-D); 3. Kenny Coolbeth (H-D); 4. Tim Eades (H-D); 5. Jake Johnson (Suz); 6. Henry Wiles (Apr); 7. Raun Wood (H-D); 8. Nichole Cheza (H-D); 9. Shawn Baer (H-D); 10. Steve Murray (H-D); 11. AJ Eslick (H-D); 12. Kyle Whitis (H-D); 13. Nick Evans (H-D). Time: 3 min., 34.547 sec. SEMI 2 (8 laps; 12 riders, top two transfer): 1. Rich King (H-D); 2. Mike Hacker (H-D); 3. Willie McCoy (H-D); 4. Scott Stump (H-D); 5. Paul Lynch (H-D); 6. Gary Rogers (H-D); 7. Rob Pearson (Yam); 8. Doug Lawrence (H-D); 9. Josh Toungett (H-D); 10. Jeff Landrum (H-D); 11. William Seyle (H-D); 12. Tom McGrane (Suz). Time: 3 min., 37.199 sec. SEMI 3 (8 laps; 12 riders, top two transfer): 1. Sam Halbert (H-D); 2. Ricky Marshall (H-D); 3. Chris Hart (H- D); 4. Jon Cornwell (H-D); 5. Logan Myers (H-D); 6. Bryan Bigelow (H-D); 7. Jess Roeder (H-D); 8. Jethro Halbert (H- D); 9. Joe Hartrich (H-D); 10. Ken Yoder (H-D); 11. Charlie Italia (H-D); 12. Dan Gedeon (H-D). Time: 3 min., 37.643 sec. GEORGE ROEDER MEMORIAL DASH FOR CASH (5 laps; 6 riders): 1. Dominic Beaulac (H-D); 2. Geo Roeder (H-D); 3. Chris Carr (H-D); 4. Nick Cummings (H-D); 5. Ricky Marshall (H-D); 6. Dan Gedeon (Tri). AMA GRAND NATIONAL (25 laps, 18 riders): 1. Dominic Beaulac (H-D); 2. Joe Kopp (H-D); 3. J.R. Schnabel (H-D); 4. Bryan Smith (H-D); 5. Nick Cummings (H-D); 6. Chris Carr (H-D); 7. Rich King (H-D); 8. Steve Beattie (H- D); 9. Geo Roeder (H-D); 10. Johnny Murphree (H-D); 11. Chris Evans (H-D); 12. Jared Mees (H-D); 13. Ricky Marshall (H-D); 14. Sam Halbert (H-D); 15. Brian Phillips (H-D); 16. Shaun Russell (H-D); 17. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 18. Mike Hacker (H-D). Time: 27 min., 21.600 sec. (Red Flag) AMA FORD QUALITY CHECKED FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 3 of 12 rounds): 1. Chris Carr (37/1 win); 2. Rich King (26); 3. Joe Kopp (25); 4. (TIE) Dominic Beaulac (1 win) /Bryan Smith (24); 6. Jay Springsteen (22); 7. Jared Mees (19); 8. Shaun Russell (18); 9. Kenny Coolbeth (17); 10. (TIE) J.R. Schnabel/Willie McCoy (16); 12. (TIE) Nick Cummings/Johnny Murphree (14); 14. Jake Johnson (13); 15. (TIE) Steve Beattie/Chris Hart (11); 17. Geo Roeder (10); 18. Jason Tyer (9); 19. Chris Evans (8); 20. (TIE) Terry Poovey/Tim Eades (7). PRO-SPORT INVITATIONAL MAIN (12 laps: 16 riders): 1. Kyle Wyman (Hon); 2. Steve Bonsey (Suz); 3. Brock Schwarzenbacher (Hon); 4. Ben Evans (Yam); 5. James Cahlik (Hon); 6. Thomas Englehart (Hon); 7. Scott Clevenger (ATK); 8. Ron Kimmel (Hon); 9. Eric Whitis (Hon); 10. Scott Lowery (Hon); 11. Spencer Rose (KTM); 12. Robert DesCenna (Rot); 13. John Olmstead (Hon); 14. Kurt Cerwinsky (Rot); 15. Bob Wills (Yam); 16. Chad Rall (Suz). Time: 5 min., 32.068 sec. UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 4 - Lake Odessa, Michigan, July 1 Round 5 - Mineral Wells, West Virginia, July 8 JULY 5, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 34 good. The Dash For Cash was all right - I learned a little bit. It's our first National this year so far. I've kind of struggled so, hopeful- ly, this will carry us into the next weekend and put us on the box in Michigan. Usually I struggle in the morning when I get here and it's good toward the end of the day, but to come out fast and be fast all day is like something that's never happened." Ricky Marshall was another rider who was almost snake bit. In the fourth heat he was dueling with Jay Springsteen for the last direct transfer. Marshall charged into third and looked poised to qualify for the main when the red flag came out. The race was further delayed as the setting sun was right in the riders' eyes in turn three. As for Mar- shall's problems, it was ruled that there was still work being done on his motorcycle after the eight-minute time limit was up. The youngster would be sent to the back of the line. When the race did restart, he blasted his way to the front in four short laps, but still fell one position short of making the main. He would eventually get in through the third semi. "I came from the second row which wasn't too far back," said J.R. Schnabel about the first start. "My starts on these cushion tracks - I don't know if I spin it too much or what. I didn't get the best start. I just started work- ing forward. I always know at Lima it gets rough and everybody starts running low. There were some clear lines if you were willing to put it in the cushion a little bit. I did and I got by a bunch of guys. Luckily, we had that restart because, boy, I was eating a lot of dirt. I had something unfortunate hap- pen. I had a rock hit my helmet and it blew out a part of it so I was just eating dirt. There were some laps when Chris [Carr] was in front of me and all I could see was that orange helmet and that was it. So we got that red flag and I was able to put on another Arai helmet and was good the rest of the night. I could see great." Johnny Murphree just can't get enthused about pea gravel. "I think that tornado missed a really important part of this town," said Murphree of the storm that passed through Lima midweek. "I do like this place early in the day when the track is good and fluffy and smooth - I can get it on. I love it. In that semi I turned some crazy fast laps on a fresh track. In the middle of the day it's a mental thing, I think. I don't know what to do about it. In the heat race, up around the hay bales, was the only smooth line I could find - everything else had ruts through it - we'll learn. It's a struggle - an ongoing battle with me on cushion tracks. That's just the way it is. I don't ride enough of them. I never grew up in it. I don't have any desire to ride around with chunks of dirt in my eyes and sh— blowing in my face. I would just as soon ride a wet, loamy Ascot-type cushion than one of these; but they are on the circuit and we've got to be good on them. It's one step at a time. In the semi it was a fresh track and I just drove around. I've come here and been as fast as Geo Roeder in practice. He and I were the only guys last year in the 24s or 25s, in the first session of practice. That's because the track was smooth and fresh. I was flying. That only lasts for one session - it's that way here a lot. We'll learn what we can and take on I-96. The track goes away and then it comes back. Right now the track is perfect to me." J.R. Schnabel was really looking forward to riding the Memphis Shades Yamaha on a Half Mile for the first time this year, but had to settle for taking his Harley to a third-place finish. "We got only a little bit of practice out of the Yamaha on the first practice session," said Schnabel. "We're not sure what hap- pened. One cylinder just went dead on it. So we don't know if it was electrical, or if we dropped a valve or what; it's just running on one right now. It was kind of unfortunate, because I only got one lap of qualifying on it, but that one lap was a pretty good lap on it. With a little more time we might have been able to do all right on that bike. That's the tough thing right now - trying to develop it. A little gremlin will come up and get us like it did tonight. Luckily Rob (Pearson) got to ride his all night and he ran well on it. We're get- ting there slowly. It was great, we pulled the Harley out and it did the job for us tonight. Babe DeMay and Tryce Welch work hard in the shop getting the stuff ready for us, so if stuff like that happens, we can jump on the backup bikes and still run upfront." Briefly... Allen County Fairgrounds Lima, OH Round 3 June 25,2006 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship MY OWN RACE 42 Bryan Smith 4th Place "I was looking for a podium," said Bryan Smith after finishing fourth. "I was just looking to get off the line clean and kind of look for a podium. I knew I didn't have anything for Dominic [Beaulac] or Geo Roeder. When I saw them checking out I was kind of leery. I didn't know if there was going to be a red flag or not because both of those guys go for blood. Sure enough, there was a red flag. I almost had [Joe] Kopp when his seat fell off, so I was kind of bummed when the red flag came out. I thought I could have gotten third and got up on the podium. I thought I could still make something happen off the restart, but I got real sideways and [Chris] Carr got by me. It took half the last laps to get by him. Carr was struggling so I got by him. Nick Cummings was all over me. I wanted to be the first Michigan guy I guess, so I couldn't let him pass me. It was a good fourth." 22 Nick Cummings 5th Place "In the main event until the restart I couldn't even see anything," said Nick Cummings after finishing fifth. "I was pretty much just rolling around there. After they had the mishap I could get up there and really feel where I needed to be. I got by Chris [Carr] the same way I got by a lot of them. Down in three and four I had the bottom working really good. I kind of got underneath him and I got it to stick. I think I tried it on Bryan [Smith] one lap too early. I wasn't quite close enough. He finally figured out what I was doing. He start- ed blocking a little bit, which, you know, is normal. I just wish I could have gotten a better drive off of two and carried it underneath him going into three. All in all, the end result is a blessing for us." 1 Chris Carr 6th Place Defending Grand National Champion Chris Carr finished sixth, admitting that he didn't have the speed of the leaders. "In the main event we just kind of trucked right along," he said. "We picked our spots. Those guys up front were hauling the mail. I couldn't run that pace. After the red flag I got a real good restart. I got up into third - that restart probably guaranteed me sixth, I guess. (Bryan) Smith and (Nick) Cummings were running good. (J.R.) Schnabel was on the gas. He was going really good there at the end. I got about as good as I felt I could get. I was hoping for better, but it didn't work out." 80 Rich King 7th Place H-D's Rich King got a horrible jump on the restart, finishing the first of the final 16 laps in 15th. Then came the charge, which accelerated in the final five laps to net him a seventh. "The last five laps felt really good," he said. "I'd like to see my times com- pared to everyone else's there. We started clicking off some good laps on the last five. All in all, I struggled early; I just couldn't get comfortable up high all night. I don't know if it's me or the bike - it's probably me. I just couldn't get comfortable on the cushion. I felt better on the slippery stuff on the bottom. I knew it would come my way toward the main event. I really thought it would take some rubber coming off of two, but it never really did. I just felt better mid to halfway down the track. I felt I could get in way deeper than most guys I was run- ning with in the corners. My problem was getting through the mid- dle. I would slide up and bump the cushion and I wasn't comfortable with that, that's where we struggled. The guys on the team changed shocks and links and everything on that motorcycle trying to make it work. We got closer in the semi. We went further in that direction for the main. We were looking for something mainly just to get me comfortable." 20 Johnny Murphree 10th Place In the restarted race Johnny Murphree went from eighth to 12th and back to 10th by the finish. "At the end of the main event the track came back to us and we were going forward," said Murphree. "It's better for me when it all starts polish- ing off. It's got a solid groove and you don't have to go up into the stuff. Just ride around on the polished-off stuff. I just struggled."

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