KOPP LOOKING FOR LIMA THREE-PEAT
20 June 2005 - AMA Pro Racing

Joe Kopp comes to the Allen County Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 25, hoping to score his third win in a row at the famous Lima (Ohio) Half-mile in round six of the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship.

The Latus Harley-Davidson/Jones Powersports-backed rider could join Chris Carr and Scott Parker as the only riders to earn three victories in a row at Lima.

Kopp has called Lima’s crushed limestone oval one of his all-time favorite tracks and it shows. In 2003 Kopp scored his first Lima win in a dominant four-second win. Last year he broke the hearts of local Ohio fans by edging local favorite Geo Roeder II. Kopp sees series leader and defending champ Chris Carr and Roeder as likely front-runners this Saturday.

“Chris is starting to pull away a little bit and he’s tough to stop when he’s on a roll,” Kopp said of Carr who is coming off a hard-fought victory last week in Syracuse, N.Y. “Geo (Roeder) is going to be there and going harder than ever. I think this is his farewell race at Lima so he’ll be the sentimental favorite for sure.”

Carr stretched his points lead to 24 over Ken Coolbeth with his Syracuse Mile win. The Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford rider is another rock solid rider at Lima. He’s scored four victories in all at the track dating back to 1991.

Kopp says at this point in the season his focus needs to simply be on racing.

“I think I get caught up worrying about the points too much sometimes and forget to just get out there and race,” he said. “I’m coming off a bad weekend in Syracuse, but I’m looking forward to racing on the cushion at Lima. I did well recently at Dayton, a similar track. Another win at Lima would definitely give me a big boost.”

Roeder, a 20-year veteran of the AMA Grand National Championship and son of the late-great racer George Roeder, is giving it one last shot to win his home race. Roeder has scored six podium finishes on the Lima Half-mile. He’s come excruciatingly close to victory there, being the runner-up each of the last three seasons at the fairgrounds circuit, so there’s no doubt who the partisan crowd will be rooting for.

The event will also feature a round of the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series. Defending series champ Chris Hart, of San Jose, Calif., leads the series by a single point over young Texan racer Merle Scherb. Former series champ Scott Stump is a close third.

Lima is one of the favorite stops in the series among fans. Situated inside a typical Midwestern county fairgrounds, a high percentage of fans ride their motorcycles to the event enjoying the warm early-summer evening air. The smell of baking corn and cotton candy wafts through the packed stands.

www.amaproracing.com

More News
  For June 2005
  From AMA Pro Racing
  For Racing General
  Biker247.com Home Page