Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I'm just working on things for these groove tracks." "I was thankful for the restart," Carr said. "I got a terrible start the first time around. We switched things up and I tried a whole different way to get off the line. It was much better the second time. I got kind of a gift there with Jared going out. I don't think I would have caught him. Schnabel and I traded mistakes. He made a mistake in the middle of one and two early in the race, and I got by him. I did the same thing later in the race and he got back by me. Then, I got the gift into third." "When Chris got by me I was just thinking, latch on and learn what you can," said Schnabel. "Chris is a master at these slick tracks. He got away a little bit, then I kind of saw what he was doing and I started doing it. I actually caught up and put a little pressure on him. I knew that coming into turn one, if he came in a little too low there was a certain spot, I don't know what, - it was if it was a little off camber or it was the groove or what - if you hit it just wrong, it made you slide. Chris heard me coming and he kind of went down to protect the inside line. He caught that spot and stood up and went high and I got him back. I didn't think I was going to get him back, I fig- ured I would hang with him. When you're behind some- body, it's a lot easier to be smooth. Especially [with] a guy like Chris, who is smooth; you just follow his lines and do what he does - normally it works out. When I got by him I thought, 'Okay, now it's your turn to try leading.' I was proud I-96 Speedway Lake Odessa, MI Round 4 July 1, 2006 JULY 12, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 32 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship MY OWN RACE 80 Rich King 4th Place "I think I'm pretty fortunate to end up where I ended up," said Rich King after finishing fourth. "We had a little shock issue in the heat race that kind of put us behind the eight ball. The guys made some really good changes. I was fortu- nate to win the semi and start on the third row. To come out fourth on a track like this is a gift. I felt fast and felt good. I'm pretty happy with the whole night. When they lined up the back row, I took the outside. It was only a cou- ple feet from the groove as the line comes down from the corner. As soon as I dropped the clutch I was on the groove so I got about half the field. They watered outside the track and I could really run it in hard on the outside for the first three, four or five laps. I passed a bunch of guys that way. I got up to about sixth then I about busted my butt in three because the line went away. It was just circumstances. Once I got up there to around sixth I just kind of settled in there on the groove. Then I was good enough to get a couple more guys. I could see Chris [Carr] and [J.R.] Schnabel up there. I could see I was catching them, little by little. All in all, it felt good to get a top five off the third row - with a track like this, it is pretty good." 42 Bryan Smith 5th Place "I'm pretty happy with fifth place," said Bryan Smith. "I got some good points out of the deal. We'll move on to West Virginia. I think the West Virginia track will suit my style a little better. I'm just trying to stay consistent every week and get some points and stay up there. I'm trying to not let [Chris] Carr get too many points on us. I was behind Hacker, then King passed me. I got King, then I got Hacker all within a couple laps. I pulled away from King, then the last couple laps I started to struggle. I don't know what it was. It felt like the motor slowed down, but I'm not really sure. Maybe our gearing just started to go away there at the end or something. King got back by me. I don't know if it was me or what, but I just started to struggle around the last eight or nine laps. With my family and friends here, probably half the grandstands were cheering for me. I wish we could race here more often, not necessarily here, but in Michigan." 43 Sam Halbert 6th Place "Me and my brother were kind of working together," said Sam Halbert. "My brother is a really smooth rider and it was nice to come out on top of him. I found a good line out of four and I was just picking people off one by one. I felt really fast. I didn't realize how far up I was because it was kind of hard to tell. I'm really happy with getting a top-10 finish. I'm looking forward to next week." 19 Paul Lynch 7th Place "I had a good night - I've been waiting for these Half Miles to start," said Paul Lynch. "We were doing all right last weekend at Lima, then I ended up getting tired really quick in my heat race and just couldn't finish. I had some good lap times last week, but I guess I'm still healing up from Springfield. I picked up the training a little bit this week to make sure I got my wind back up. Coming into a clay Half Mile I was expecting to do well. A top 10 was defi- nitely a goal of mine, I'm definitely happy with a seventh. It's something to build on. It's the first time we were in the main event this year. We've got a lot of Half Miles coming up so I'm looking for good things. I didn't even know where I was to be honest - the racing was so tight. I got by Jake somewhere around the middle of the race. Then I got by myself and I think I might have slowed down a little bit too much. The Halbert brothers came by me at the same time. I stayed with them and then got one of them back. I got Hacker on the last lap. We kind of got messed up a little bit." 67 Mike Hacker 8th Place "I know I lost a lot of spots there at the end," said Hacker. "It's the first time I've done 25 laps in about three years. It's a whole different deal. It's as much training as it is a mental deal. You just have to keep going, keep going and keep going. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a lot to keep focused that Rich King (80) finished fourth in the Grand National. Steve Beattie (26) gives chase.

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