6/29/02

Sixth Place Enough to Improve Championship Standing Vastly for Carr at Lima.

With three wins in the last three years, Chris Carr was an overwhelming favorite to win again at the pea-gravel half-mile in Lima, Ohio. Fate did its usual intervention and cut the streak short at just three, with the Ford QCCPOV Team struggling home to a sixth-place on the night.

All wasn't lost, however, as the team's closest rivals also floundered. Second-placed Johnny Murphree failed to qualify, and Kenny Coolbeth, third in points entering the round, had a mechanical problem right before the green flag, relegating him to last. Carr gained twelve points on his pursuers, the new runner-up spot seeding to Kevin Varnes, who passed Chris late in the main to finish an eventual fifth.


"Well, it wasn't a great night for us, but it wasn't a bad one, considering we finished in sixth place and went from five points in the lead to seventeen in the lead. I'd say it was a pretty good night overall.

"Condition there were dryer than they'd been there in the recent past. They had no threat of rain - in fact it hadn't rained hardly at all in that area all year, so we were left with a pretty hard and dry track with very little cushion on it.

"Chris Carr couldn't come to grips with it. I never felt comfortable all night long, and got beat by a better bunch of dudes at Lima, that's for sure.

"That's pretty much it.

"We were disappointed, but I wasn't very comfortable, and I didn't stick my neck out, because the closest guys in points - Murphree, he was on the truck for the main event, and Coolbeth didn't make the start of the race because something went wrong with his bike, and I knew he was only going to get one point. The only guy -fourth in points - Kevin Varnes gained one point on me. He passed me late in the race.

"So we didn't get hurt too bad points-wise. For a night when things didn't go well, we were pretty happy."


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