Joe Kopp Wins Round Eight of K&N Filters Grand National Flat Track Championship

K&N rider Joe Kopp literally found the tracks groove in order to win.
K&N rider Joe Kopp literally found the tracks groove in order to win.
Round eight of the K&N Filters Grand National Championship was contested at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan, nicknamed the "the fastest half-mile in Michigan." AMA's pro racing elite flat-trackers were on hand, after overcoming two re-starts and furious competition, it was Lloyd Brothers Motorsports and K&N rider Joe Kopp, taking the checkered.
K&N Filters Grand National Championship was contested at I-96 Speedway and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports came away with the victory.
K&N Filters Grand National Championship was contested at I-96 Speedway and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports came away with the victory.


"Joe was pretty strong all day, as were teammates Kenny Coolbeth, and Jake Johnson," remarked team owner David Lloyd.

"For this race, and the following two half-mile races, Joe is riding his Latus Motors/ENI USA R&M backed Harley-Davidson XR750. Even though Joe has won on the Ducati, it is still a very new motorcycle, under constant development, and we did not have any time to test the bike on clay type half-mile tracks."
This was Kopp's second win of the year and along with his other top-ten finishes, he now sits firmly atop Grand National Championship points race.
This was Kopp's second win of the year and along with his other top-ten finishes, he now sits firmly atop Grand National Championship points race.


Kopp and the rest of the team felt the most confident riding the Harley's at this point, being they all have far more experience onboard them. Kopp alone has over 20 years riding Harleys, and collectively it was a good decision, considering Kopp is leading the overall Grand National Championship.
Team LBM's Kenny Coolbeth had another excellent showing too.
Team LBM's Kenny Coolbeth had another excellent showing too.


"I knew I had to get out front and not make any mistakes," said Kopp. "I was the veteran, I should be able to keep the 'kids' behind me."

"The track developed a very narrow groove and was really hard to pass on unless someone made a mistake. Joe rode perfectly getting the hole shot each time and riding perfect laps to finish first and extend his points lead," said Lloyd.

So far overall the season has been going great for the Lloyd Brothers team, Kopp now has two wins and solid top-ten finishes at all the other races, keeping him atop the points chase.

The team dynamics are totally unique this year explains Lloyd, "Basically we were able to put together a deal where Joe Kopp Racing and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports teamed up, combining our sponsors and resources to build a well equipped team that offers Joe more options than the other teams that we compete against."

"We were able to combine our marketing partners financial resources - Joe Kopp's long-time title sponsor Latus Motors, and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports' title sponsor - ENI USA R&M," adds Lloyd.

"We were also able to combine our equipment and personnel so that Joe now has a full stable of Honda CRF450s, Harley XR750s and Ducati 1100s, and people to take care of them. Where a lot of teams have had to really cut back - we were able to find a solution that combined what we had - allowing us to do even better."

The Lloyd Brothers team depends heavily on K&N products. Professional Flat Track racing is an extremely dirty and brutal environment for equipment.

"With K&N air and oil filters, we know that the inside of our engines stay as clean after the race as they were when we unloaded them from our transporter," says Lloyd. "Thanks K&N, for your support of our team, and the AMA Pro series."

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