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Since it was the first time the series vis- ited the beautiful half mile, the learning curve appeared to be steep on the wide, smooth oval. Setup was critical, and as the race wore on, it became painfully obvious. Coolbeth wheelied off the line and led the 18-rider strong National into the first turn with Mees a close second. Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford's Carr and Murphree were also upfront as Coolbeth and Mees slipped away at the front. Murphree quickly dropped Carr to fourth and Mees was able to slip inside of Coolbeth going into turn one on lap five, taking a lead that he would never relinquish. "Kenny was on the bottom off the start, I was third off the pole off the start," said Mees. "He came off and was actually faster than me for the first couple laps. Then when the track slicked off, I think our gearing and setup was a little better for the slicker stuff. We just pulled right ahead." Kopp, who is still trying to shake off the effects of his Lake Odessa crash, was also working his way to the front. "I told myself coming in, just because my head was working on me last week, that I didn't want to race with everybody, to just get holeshots and get out of there," said Kopp. "Then here in the main event I was like sixth off the line. I had a bunch of guys to get by. I started charging and wasn't even thinking about my head. The bike was working awesome. I passed Chris [Carr] then Murph [Johnny Murphree] and [Kenny] Coolbeth and somebody else. I was thinking, 'Wow this think is just flat working.' The bike was awesome. I had a big gap to make up. It's easier to override this track and mess up, more than make time. He [Mees] wasn't looking back. I kept thinking 'if he would just look back, I think I can break his con- centration.' As it turns out, Mees could control everything but his neck. "All of a sudden I just came off the cor- ner and my head just did it on its own," said Mees. "I just looked back and thought, 'Damn it.' Then I saw that Joe [Kopp] was gaining on me a little bit. I looked back one time coming out of the corner to see where he was gaining and he was about three-foot lower than I was coming off the corner. So I moved down there and I felt like we stayed the same. I definitely felt like I got faster." It was too little too late for Kopp, however. "He looked back with a couple laps to go, but it was a little late," said Kopp. "There was a narrow spot where you wanted to be on the track. Jared actually looked back. I was killing him pretty good coming out of turn four, I felt. With two or three laps to go he looked and he saw me down about six-feet lower than he was. The next thing I know he chopped down low in that next corner on the next lap." Coolbeth was able to hold onto third behind Kopp until the 17th lap when his race also began to unravel. "I got a real good start. I thought I could kind of break away," said Coolbeth. "I looked back one time and Jared was right on me. We had a pretty good gap of everybody else. I put a brand-new tire on before the main event. I thought it was kind of still wet, but it kind of polished off C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 26, 2006 31 Logan Myers qualified for his first Grand National main event in grand style as he won the last heat of the night on his Motor- cyclists Post/Bruce Transportation-backed Harley-Davidson. Joe Kopp tried most of the tricks in his bag to get by the youngster, but Myers doggedly held on. Not only did Myers win the heat, it was also the fastest heat of the night and the former Horizon Award winner would start his first National from the pole. "It was pretty cool having a start on the pole in my first National," said Myers. "The heat race was tough. I had Joe [Kopp] all over me. I didn't really start rid- ing conservative. I was just doing all I could. I could hear him back there - I knew he was trying high and low. I just rode my own race and did the best I could do. I was really sur- prised I set fast time in the heat." Bill Sawyer's state-of-the-art Virginia Motor Speedway drew rave reviews from the riders and a large enthusiastic crowd of spectators even with the high heat and humidity of summer in full force and under the threat of heavy rain. Heavy rains moved across the track just as the last practice group was trying to qualify, causing over an hour delay, but the wait was worth it for the large crowd. Local teams that are Grand National regulars no doubt played a big part in the large crowd. Mike Hacker and Tim Eades live close by, but it was Jared Mees on his Johnny Goad-prepared Harley-Davidson (Johnny and Sara Goad are headquartered in nearby Richmond, Virginia) who sent the locals home happy. "It was a big win for the Lancaster Screamin' Eagle H-D/Saddlemen team," said Mees. "I want to thank Dodge Bros./Mike Bell Racing and Digger Helm for all their support. In the first practice we were one of the fastest guys. In the first round of qualifying I was second fast time. In the second round of qualifying I was fast time of everybody. It just felt great all day long." Former Grand National Champion Joe Kopp has been suffering through a tumul- tuous year. "I felt good. I just told myself coming into today, after last week that I need to get good starts, try not to think about anything, just be yourself," said Kopp. "I'm happier than heck to get a second here tonight - I needed it bad. Our stats this year are 14th at Springfield, second at Lima, 18th, 16th and second. I've got to get those teens out of there - those aren't good. I had to work my way up. I was kind of nervous. We had a good bike and a good night. I was just thinking about Jared [Mees]. I know it's kind of hard to try to lead on a slick track like this. I was hoping he was going to mess up a little more than he did. I looked back once and saw I had a big lead on third. I knew it was mine to lose. Either get second or go for the win. I was trying to go for that win. The turns were real tight - it really reminded me of Hagerstown. After the way my bike felt tonight, I'm really excited to go to Hagerstown again. We won there last Briefly... Mees (21) moved forward, passing the likes of Coolbeth (31), to win the race. Mees became the fifth different winner in the series. Joe Kopp (3) goes forward as Chris Carr (1) goes backward. Kopp ended up second on the night with Carr slipping back to 16th. Bryan Smith (42) and Johnny Murphree (20) battled over third place, with Smith eventually getting the spot. Continued on page 33