10/21/01

Carr Shows He Can Still Go Fast on Asphalt.

Making the switch from dirt tracking to road racing once again, Chris made the trip to Daytona International Speedway this past weekend to participate in a one-race deal for Blackman's Cycle of Emmaus, PA aboard one of their Aprilia RSV1000 superbike twins.

After getting used to putting a knee down instead of a foot, Carr got up to speed quickly and outshone both of his teammates, Tray Batey and Mike Himmelsbach during the two-leg F-USA format, finishing eighth in leg two and an impressive fifth in leg one.

The all-too-short off-season now begins in earnest, with Chris currently on the lookout for new sponsors for 2002. We'll keep you posted here.

"I did real good in the first leg. Started off and was running about seventh for a while, and Higbee came by me and then he blew up, and then I got by Michael Barnes. I guess Josh Hayes was leading, and he crashed in the Kink. So, I found myself sitting fifth, but I was about three-and-a-half seconds out of the next group, which was Lee Acree and Eric Wood and Brian Parriott. I started reeling those guys in, chipping away at them, and I got close to them at the end of the race. I ended up finishing fifth, but I was only eight-tenths of a second out of second place.

"We had a really good run. The Blackman's Aprilia was real good, it was in the 140s in the horsepower for the 145 (horsepower) limit, and we had a competitive bike, there was just a few things keeping that thing from being a front-runner all the way around, I think. Put the thing on a diet, and it could be a good package for whoever rides the thing next year."

Was it difficult for you to make the adjustment to road racing as little as you've road raced this year?

"As little as I've road raced the past three years, yeah. It took me time to get going and get confidence in the tires and confidence in the motorcycle, and up to speed. I rode on Thursday and rode a couple of CCS classes, and I got on the track as much as I could from Thursday on. I felt pretty decent. I went faster - my fastest lap of the whole week was the fourth lap of the second leg. It went pretty good for us, and I was pleased."

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