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trying to run down the leaders. "Well, that was it right there," Schnabel surmised. "I just blew my chance. It was a good ride. It was awe- some for Dominic. You know that guy can ride a cushion. He deserved to get the National win - that was great for him. He had us covered tonight. When he got by Joe [Kopp] he starting putting a little gap on us and he had a little cushion. - awe- some ride for Dominic." After Carr dropped to sixth on the 17th lap, the order of the top six was set. Smith was half a second in front of Cummings, with Carr about a second back from him and half a second up on Harley-Davidson's Rich King. The night ended with Carr leading the Grand National Twins Championship after three of 12 rounds with 37 points, 26 for King, and 25 for Kopp. "I finished seventh?" King asked. "Didn't any of those guys get tore down or nothing? I really wanted a sixth. The restart killed me. I was right behind Springer [Jay Springsteen] in ninth or so. Somebody got bogged up in front of him and he swerved to the left. I had a really good run and I ran my hand into the back of his seat. He went down and about took out the lights in the infield. By the time I got back and gathered mine up, I think I was about second or third from last." H-D Canada's Steve Beattie finished eighth after stumbling off the restart. "I almost took Springer into the start- ing light," he said. "It was a mess. I was stuck in the back again and had to start all over. I guess getting back to eighth is all right, but we were better than that tonight." Roeder ended up just behind Beattie in ninth. Coziahr H-D's Johnny Murphree was 10th, about a second back, with Canadian Chris Evans landing in 11th after being sent to the back of the field. On the restart it was ruled that Evans had worked on his bike after time was up and he was sent to the rear of the single- file restart from his fifth-place position. The former Lima winner was able to charge up to seventh on the 15th lap, before fading to 11th. Last year's winner Jared Mees bounced up and down all night and ended up 12th. Eaken Racing/Dick Ford/Bates' Ricky Marshall, White's Harley- Davidson/Iron Valley Harley-Davidson's Sam Halbert and Schaeffer's Harley- Davidson/Spirit Harley-Davidson's Brian Phillips all made their first Twins National and finished 13th through 15th. Bartels' Harley-Davidson/TNTHarley.com's Shaun Russell and Bartels' Harley-Davidson/ SuperTrapp's Jay Springsteen were both caught up in the restart blues and finished the race at the back of the field. PRO-SPORT INVITATIONAL It took two starts for the 16 riders to get away cleanly for the 12-lap Pro-Sport Invitational. The first start ended with Bobby DesCenna highsiding in turn three and collecting four more riders. DesCenna had to be transported to the hospital, where he was treated and released. Kyle Wyman blasted his Harv's H-D Honda to an early lead that he would never give up. But Steve Bonsey (Suz) never gave up, either, the ABA Racing rider chasing Wyman to the flag, only to come up short by .485 seconds. The pair finished a straightaway - offi- cial 9.93 seconds - in front of Brock Schwarzenbacher (Innovative Technologies / Moose Racing Honda), who was a lonely third. Rhinehart Racing/Dave's Cycle's Ben Evans (Yam) and Johnny's Vintage Motorcycle's James Cahlik (Hon) filled out the top five positions. CN ALLEN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS LIMA, OHIO RESULTS: JUNE 24, 2006 (ROUND 3 OF 12) HEAT 1 (10 laps; 13 riders, top three transfer): 1. Bryan Smith (H-D); 2. J.R. Schnabel (H-D); 3. Brian Phillips (H-D); 4. Chris Hart (H-D); 5. Henry Wiles (Apr); 6. Willie C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 5, 2006 33 The George Roeder Dash For Cash was a preview of the National to come. Dominic Beaulac won the five-lap, six-rider race, with Geo Roeder second and Chris Carr third. The night's fast qualifier Nick Cummings came fourth, with Ricky Mar- shall fifth and Dan Gedeon (Fatzinger Rac- ing/Tweato Racing) sixth. Gedeon was rid- ing his new Triumph, as his Harley had broken earlier in the day after setting sixth- fastest qualifying time. Under the new AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship format, with two shorter series instead of one, race results are much more critical. "Sixth was the best we could do tonight. It's not too early to think about points," said current Twins series points leader Chris Carr. "There's no doubt that this is a shorter series and get- ting goose eggs is not a good thing. You've got to be consistent and you've got to be up front. You can't have bad days on a shorter series. I think it's more critical to have good solid finishes every week." "I was here today [11th in points] and now I'm here tonight [third in points], so that's good," said Joe Kopp. "It's way good, I needed that, I'm happy. I know what I can do on these kinds of tracks. I saw that Kenny [Coolbeth] struggled earlier and did- n't get in the National. I beat Chris in the heat and thought, 'This is my night.' I need- ed to get some points back right here, after Springfield. This definitely helped me out a lot here. I closed it up. I was 18 back on Chris and now I'm only 12 back on him. I'm sitting in third. I'm happy - going to a bunch of Half Miles." Kenny Coolbeth had a heartbreaking night as he was running away with the first heat when his Harley-Davidson Motor Company Screamin' Eagle backed Harley quit. Forced to a backup bike for his semi, he had to start on the penalty line. At the end of eight hard laps he was only able to grab a third- place finish and was done for the night. Also in the first heat, fast qualifier Nick Cummings was closing on the leader Kenny Coolbeth. As Coolbeth coasted to the infield in turn two, Cummings lost his Harley in turn one. Cummings was up quickly, but out of any chance for a direct transfer. Bryan Smith received the birthday present and came away with the win. "In the heat race Kenny got the jump on me," said Smith. "I actually reeled him in a little bit. I tried down low and that was a mis- take, then Nick got by me. I was running their pace, then one lap Kenny blew up and then Nick crashed so I'll take it any way I can get." "I came out of here in fourth and I think I'm tied for fourth in points," added Smith. "So I'm not sitting too bad there. My shoul- der still hurts from Springfield, on the last couple laps it was getting a little sore from getting jerked around out there. I was start- ing to drop my elbow. I was just hanging on, but I survived. It's my birthday - I'm walking out of here and I'll take it. I'm going to my home crowd next weekend." "My day started off really good," said fast qualifier Nick Cummings. "We were fast coming out of the gate and I got fast time. My heat race kind of bummed me out going down as soon as I get the lead. It dampened the spirits a little bit, but the semi was Briefly... Joe Kopp got a break with the restart and was able to reattach his seat and finish second. Chris Carr (1) ended up battling through to a sixth-place finish. Shaun Russell (28) ended up 16th with Chris Evans (15) taking 11th. Steve Beattie (26) finished third in his heat race and eighth in the National. (Above) Beaulac (center) stands tall between J.R. Schnabel (left) and Joe Kopp (right) as the top three celebrate in Lima.