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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1546039
A pparently there is a fourth "H" to the summer axiom of Hazy, Hot and Humid. It is Hagerstown - as in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of round eight of the 2006 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the place where Chris Carr b e c a m e t h e f i r s t t w o - t i m e w i n n e r i n t h e 2 0 0 6 series. Under sweltering conditions and in front of a large crowd, Carr not only became the first two-time win- ner of the season, but he also joined the late Will Davis and Steve Morehead as the first three-time winners on the red clay of Hagerstown Raceway. Carr led the race from wire to wire, though he was under constant pressure from Harley-Davidson Motor Company/Screamin' Eagle's Kenny Coolbeth. However, Coolbeth was forced to settle for second. "I got a good start," Carr said. "Kenny and I were about dead even going into the corner. I figured he'd be the guy I'd have to deal with after the heat races." Third place at Hagerstown went to Supertrapp/Doc's H-D's Mike Hacker, the Virginian beating Harley-Davidson Motor Company 's Rich King to the line. King ended up fourth, with Screamin' Eagle Lancaster Harley-Davidson's Jared Mees rounding out the top five finish- ers. Carr's second win of the season puts him 12 points clear of Coolbeth, 108-96, with Mees third on 92 points. Bryan Smith, who placed seventh tonight, is fourth in the points standings, four points ahead of Latus Harley- Davidson's Joe Kopp. Carr got the holeshot in the 25-lap National, with Coolbeth, Memphis Shades' J.R. Schnabel, and American Suzuki's Jake Johnson right behind. Mees charged into third on lap two, but Supertrapp/Doc's Harley-Davidson's Mike Hacker was on the move, and he nabbed third from Mees on lap four. Carr was cutting extremely fast laps as he pulled away to a small lead. However, sensing the race was getting away from him, Coolbeth also picked up the pace. "I don't know what it is with this track, but I ran some really good laps early," Carr said. "I made a conscious effort to try to not go too hard too fast, because of the problem we had a year ago. We heated our tire up. Looking back on the lap times, we blistered it early, with a couple 23.50s and .60s. We didn't do anything better than .80s in the heat races. I just tried to ride smooth and not let the tire get too hot." "I had to make up time; he [Carr] caught me off guard," Coolbeth said. "He took off like a bullet. I wasn't really com- fortable with anything yet. I had to just put Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD Round 8 July 29, 2006 AUGUST 9, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 30 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship CHRIS CARR BECOMES THE SERIES FIRST TWO-TIME WINNER STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLATTRAKFOTOS.COM Chris Carr (1) gets the jump on the National during the Hagerstown Half Mile to lead Kenny Coolbeth (31), Jake Johnson (14), Mike Hacker (67), Jared Mees (21) and the rest of the pack. Carr (1) and Coolbeth (31) ran close together for the duration, but it was Carr taking his second victory of the season.