Monday's weather was good, and the teams took to the track for practice and learned the brand new track.
Brothers Tommy and Nicky Hayden battled for the lead in the main event, with the elder Tommy, aboard a modified-for-dirt-track YZ426 taking the win, just ahead of Rotax-mounted Nicky. Chris had to settle for third, winning what he jokingly titled the 'non-Hayden race.'
Points leader Kopp finished fifth, moving Carr two points closer to the championship lead, now a mere two points away. The team travels this weekend to Joplin, Missouri, another new addition to the schedule in 2001.
"I wasn't really ready to run their (Tommy and Nicky Hayden's) pace. They were going after each other, and I knew that Kopp had started on the third row. I knew he wasn't going to catch me no matter how good a start he got from there. He had a good ride, he came up to fifth."
How was the track?
"Considering it was day race, and it was a little breezy, and a little sunny, the track was pretty good - it maintained well. I wouldn't say it was a great design - I think the design needs a lot of work. Not to take anything away from Tommy Hayden - Tommy rode a really great race - and Nicky rode really well just to stay with him, and he actually passed him a few times, but I fell when you design a TT track for a Grand National series, you need to be able to run the Grand National equipment. I did well, but a 426 ain't gonna work at Peoria, it's gonna get spanked. When you go to Springfield, you need something different - so now you're going to have a bunch of teams having to buy 426's or CR450F's for the Springfield TT next year. I just think it's unnecessary that they have a track designed that way. Again, Tommy rode the heck out of that thing. I believe that if he was on a Rotax, he wouldn't have been nowhere near that, and Nicky would have had a runaway win. The 426 Yamaha is what put Tommy in contention. It's one of them things.
"I gained a couple of points on Joe. He did good to come from the third row to fifth, but there was a but of attrition, a few guys going down, and this and that. He did a good job from where he was."