Team Harley-Davidson’s Rich King took 15 laps to serve notice that the marriage between he and 13-time Grand National Championship-winning tuner Bill Werner is a good one by earning the win at the first of two nights of AMA Pro Short Track racing at Daytona Municipal Stadium.
King bagged this one in trademark fashion, dropping to the low line to come forward and run down leader Terry Poovey and second-placed Joe Kopp some two thirds of the way into the race. The winning pass came in turns three and four.
“I just started idling around the bottom,” King said. “The line that Joe and Terry were running was a little faster, but I think it created more mistakes. I was just able to ride around the bottom and capitalize on it when they got out of shape.”
Kopp also managed to get by Poovey to land second place at the finish. Poovey hung on for third. Reigning AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr had a rough night, changing motorcycles twice during the program. He started from the penalty line in the main event and was later forced to lay it down to avoid another rider while coming through traffic. Carr was unhurt.
Here is the complete rundown of the Hot Shoe main event, which was shortened to 15 laps by AMA officials in the interest of avoiding wear and tear on the track so as to provide a better racing surface for Saturday night’s AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships series opener.
HOT SHOE MAIN EVENT (15 laps; 16 riders): 1. Rich King (H-D); 2. Joe Kopp (Rtx); 3. Terry Poovey (Rtx); 4. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 5. Will Davis (ATK); 6. Brett Landes (ATK); 7. Willie McCoy (ATK); 8. Mike Hacker (H-D); 9. Mike Varnes (Rtx); 10. Kenny Coolbeth (W-R); 11. Greg Tysor (Rtx); 12. J.R. Schnabel (H-D); 13. Ricky Winsett (Rtx); 14. Steve Beattie (ARK); 15. Bryan Bigelow (H-D); 16. Chris Carr (Rtx).
