5/21/05

Carr Blasts Through the Pack to Win at Joliet

After an interminable break in the schedule following Daytona Bike Week, the GNC circuit returned to action in Joliet Illinois at Route 66 Raceway last Saturday night. Following last year's rainout, the racing was worth the wait, giving the fans their money's worth on the clay half-mile oval just outside Chicago, home of the Blues Brothers.

Chris was fast all afternoon, but after a mediocre start, he was forced to put on a passing clinic, which he did with gusto. After ten laps, Carr took over the lead from Michigander Bryan Smith and never looked back, winning his 69th Grand National event and moving to the top of the point standings.

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional Springfield TT/Mile double header, and Chris is prepared to defend his championship lead there, with the new KTM TT weapon more ready than ever to carry him to the front. As for the Sunday Mile, any follower of AMA dirt track knows that Chris is a favorite no matter what at the Illinois Mecca of Speed.

"Joliet went real good for us. In practice, there were a handful of guys that were quicker than us, and the track was changing a lot, with a 750 class and a bunch of 500s out there - the track changed quite a bit through practice. No two track (conditions) were the same for us when we went out, but we were in the hunt, and we made a couple of changes right after practice prior to the scratch heats. We went out and I basically put in my fastest laps of the day in the scratch heat. The track was decent, I got a good start, and I was able to rip around there pretty good, so I ended up having the fastest scratch heat. We were pretty pleased with the way things were going in the program.

"The heat race comes around, and I got another good start, got out front and checked out on the guys. I cut some decent laps. The track was a little greasy though, because they had prepped it prior to the 500s and put a little water down, so it had changed again, but we were in the hunt, and we figured that the track would come to us, and that's pretty much what it did for the main event.

"The track came in real good, real racy, lots of lines, lots of options, and I like those kind of tracks. I didn't get a great start, but we were able to make some passes on some guys and move to the front by about lap ten, and checked out. It was, overall, a real good night for us, and we were really, really happy."

So, are you looking forward to Springfield?

"It's always nice to go to Springfield, to be able to get two paychecks in one weekend on one set of expenses (laughs). Hopefully things will go well. I think the TT is going to be a bit of a crapshoot. The test indicated that there were a lot of people going pretty fast there and nobody had a clear advantage, so that will either mean a really good race or a real processional event, so we'll find out. Then the Mile's the Mile. We expect a really good show on that one, and it will be a lot of fun."


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