visits....THE Mile

   Editor's Note:    The Fan's Favorite... When I first saw Nichole Cheza race she was extremely talented and only 16 years old. While shooting hot laps that day a few years ago, I caught her diving into turn one at speed tucked tightly between Chris Carr and "Springer" without even a thought of giving either of these two legends an inch I was sincerely impressed. A nicer young lady you will never meet, more about her below in Terry Young's report and photos.

   Chris Carr...once again shows us why he is a legend in this business. A lot of riders have learned a valued lesson, Chris is a legendary rider and an extremely great guy, BUT, if you plan on one-upping Chris you better get up really early and bring a lunch because you will be there for a while. The old NASCAR-nudge may work once but that only means you have to deal with the many talents of Chris on Monday and the rest of the season. Great job Chris, you will always ROCK! I am really sorry I could not be at the race, but you can bet this CHAMPION will be on fire so be watching. I hope you enjoy the great coverage and photos by Terry Young below...Ted Connolly

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CARR collects Springfield Mile win for an even dozen!

...Story and photos by Terry Young                                    

   Chris Carr said in victory lane on Sunday that he had business to finish on Labor Day before leaving Springfield, Illinois. He proved on Monday that he is a man of his word. Carr went to work on Labor Day and when the checkered flag fell over the field, it was Carr taking it first for his 12th win at the legendary Springfield facility

   On Sunday Carr was leading off of turn 4 on the final lap and he and Kenny Coolbeth made contact in a scary finish that would see Carr come in as the runner-up. Carr was not going to let that happen again on Monday as he dominated the event and finished .201 ahead of Coolbeth as the duo again took the top 2 honors , swapping their respective finishing positions.

   The top 3 podium was a mirror of the previous day as Shaun Russell again claimed a third place finish to claim his spot on the stage. The top 10 was rounded out by Jared Mees, Jake Johnson, Nick Cummings, Bryan Smith, Joe Kopp, Bryan Bigelow and Jethro Halbert. Preliminary heat race events were won by Johnson, Carr, Russell and Coolbeth.

   In an attempt to help those racers who did not qualify for the main event, 2 local Springfield businessmen put up a $1,000 to win purse for non-qualifiers. The event turned out to be a fan favorite and may have been a more popular win than Carr claiming his twelfth as Clio, Michigan resident Nichole Cheza took the lead on lap 4 and never looked back, leading the final two laps capturing the win and the $1,000 winners share.

 

...file photos by Ted Connolly                

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 COOLBETH takes the checkers ahead of Carr for Sunday Springfield Mile Win!

   What better way to spend Labor Day weekend than taking in the history laden AMA Labor Day Springfield Mile event..... taking in two Springfield Mile events in one weekend. After rains plagued the Springfield area over memorial Day weekend forcing the cancellation of the first of 2 events during the year at the historic Midwest speedplant, a double bill was scheduled for Labor Day weekend.

   On Saturday, in what was probably one of the most exciting races ever held under the American Motorcycle Association banner at the mile, Kenny Coolbeth and Chris Carr traded positions nearly a dozen times in the 25 lap race. In a scary finish in which a blanket could have been thrown over the duo, it was Coolbeth coming out on top of the event finishing just .177 seconds ahead of Carr after the duo made contact off of turn 4 heading for the checkered flag. The victory was Coolbeths second victory at the Springfield Mile facility. Rounding out the top ten in the event were Carr, Shaun Russell, Jethro Halbert, Steve Murray, Nick Cummings, Sam Halbert, Willie McCoy, Jared Mees and Robert Pearson. In preliminary heat races Carr, McCoy, Bryan Smith and Jake Johnson claimed victories.

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WILES claims second SPRINGFIELD GNC Singles win in dominating fashion

Defending event champion Henry Wiles of Blanchard, Mi. dominated the AMA short track feature at the Multi-Purpose Arena at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Friday night August 30. The AMA contingent invaded Springfield for an action packed weekend with dual Mile events scheduled in addition to the flat track event.

Wiles claimed the win by a straight away over three time winner J.R. Schnabel, Joe Kopp, Sam Halbert, Robert Pearson, Chris Carr, Shaun Russell, Jake Johnson, Jethro Halbert and Kenny Coolbeth completing the top 10.

Wiles also laid claim to the $1,000 dollar Dash for Cash over the other 5 heat race winners, showing early on that he had the bike to beat. Preliminary heat race events were won by Halbert, Wiles, Russell, Schnabel, Kopp and Pearson.

 

 

 
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