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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127215
.... Q.) .c ·5 ,> o Z Tommy Lynch (84) defeated Doug Chandler (6 0) . J am ie James (1 0) and David Sadowski for his first Supersport win at Talladega Superspeedway. W inner Kevin Rentzell (37) leads Larry Schwarzbach (9 ), Scott Zampach (2 1 ). J ohn Ashmead (4) and Jeff Farmer in the 600cc Supersport final. The 600cc Supersport winner's circle with (left to right) Mike Barnes, Kevin Rentzell and Jeff Farmer. AMAjCCS Yokohama 7S0cc Supersport Series: Round 9 Lynch by an inch in Alabama By Cindy Bowen TALLADEGA. AL , OCT. I:; Seventeen -year -o ld Tommy L yn ch of Bakersfield, California, came ou t on top of a five-rider drag race to the finish line to claim his first-ever AMA/ CCS Yokohama 750cc Supersport National win at the fast ; high-banked T al ladega Superspeedway-. T h e yo u n g Yo shim ura 10 Suzuki rid er had wo n his heat race th e day befor e, defeatin g Kawa saki 's Doug Cha nd le r a nd th e Suzu k imoun ted trio of Da vid Sadows ki. Mike Harth and Mik e Sm it h. Series poi n ts leader J am ie J a mes follo wed his Yosh im ura teammat e SCOll Russell a nd drafted by a t the fin ish to - win hi s hea t race. in th e process q ua lifying on th e po le. At the start o f the final . Lync h led into the first turn a nd th rough the cha lle ng ing infi eld co urse foll ow ed by C ha nd ler. James a nd Ru ssell.· Sad ow ski didn't co mplete one lap as th e vacu u m lin e to hi s fuel petcock was p inched, and he reti red to th e side of the trac k. Cha nd ler was th e first rider to use the draft o n the high bank s, p u ll ing a lo ngs ide Lynch. James went to th e hi gh side o f th e bankin g beside Cha nd ler and a t th e com pleti o n o f lap o ne it was Ly nc h , Cha nd ler a nd James side-by-side across the start/ finis h li ne. Ru ssell, Ha rth a nd Smith ban led fo r the fou rth -pl ace sp ot, Lyn ch repassed Cha nd ler going into turn one and once again led into th e infi eld. Ch andler th en repassed Lynch go ing into th e chica ne, bu t Lyn ch repassed him . followed by J am es a n d Smith , re legating Chandler to fifth . On lap four , Ch andler repassed Lynch for the lead a nd began to pu ll aw ay from th e battle for seco nd. But Sm ith dropped down Iow a n the banking while Lynch took th e top s ide, a nd th e two pu lled a long o p posite sides of Chandler to once again mak e it three abreas t at the start/fini sh line. By la p five, the order through th e infi e ld esses wa s Lyn ch , Smith . Chandler, H arth and Russell, The five-bike bail ie for the lead began slow ly pulling a way from J am es, wh o rode conserva tively in sixth to maintain his lead in the seri es point sta ndi ngs. Although Jam es had qualified on the po le, he said that his bi ke was n ' t handling qu ite right and had considered rac ing hi s back-up bike. But ' when hi s back-up bike blew a motor in morn in g practi ce, he was for ced to rid e the o ne he qua lifi ed o n. None o f th e rid ers wanted to be at th e front of the pack, sin ce th e lead er wo u ld -be unabl e to tak e adva n tage o f dr afting. They were o bvio us ly tip-toein g throu gh th e in field, as th e race tim es were low to mid- 2: ID despite th e fact that th e s. morn in g p rac tice tim es were 2:09s. ' As the five-rider pack came o ff th e h ig h ba n ks o n to the fron t stra ig h t o n the fina l la p . eac h sh uffling for the best draftin g po sition, a ll eyes focused on the stan / finis h line. Russell pulled ou t o f H arth 's draft to pa ss him just befor e th e line, but Lynch ca ug h t th e tail of Russell 's draft and was launch ed to the front of th e pack , taking th e win by the . narrowest of margins. Rus sell was cred ited with seco nd, foll ow ed by Ch andler, Sm ith and H arth. Th ere were no more th an 12 in ches separat in g the top-five riders a t the line. J am es fin ish ed a co m fo rta b le si xth, so me three seco nds ba ck , all owing him to maintain his seri es lead by 17 points over Chandler and Russell, wh o ar e now tied for second. Craig G lea son , SCali Zampa ch , Oliver' .Billingsl ey and SCOll Willia ms ro unded ou t th e top 10. " I kn ew th ey were ba ck there," said Ch andl er. " Yesterday, in th e heat race I was running second a nd go t blasted pretty go od, so going into th e race I figured as lon g as I could stay from fourth o n up to first, it would be a goo d posi tion to be in . 1 knew 1 co uldn ' t get aw ay. Coming o u t of th e last co rne r 1 was in second a nd had a good draft go ing so 1 thought 1 was in a gr eat position . When thos e guys came by ri ght at the end 1 th ought, 'Oh well - that's racing.' " " I thought about trying to race with the guys, but 1just sa t back there and got sandblasted ," said Russell. " I thought I tim ed it j ust right, bu t Tomm y (Lync h) ca ugh t the tai l of m y draft a nd that was a ll he needed to put him a head abou t a n in ch. It didn 't mailer what you did in th e 'in field, because you co uldn ' t get away. There might be a couple of guys that co uld get away in the infield , but it's all done right there o n th e banking. " "This is my firs t tim e o n a highbanked speedway," excla im ed an ecsta tic Lynch , who' s sponsor ed by Yoshimura, Mi chelin, Th e Wax Shop, EBC Brak es, F&L, Motul and Sh oei. " T his is reall y an experience ; especially wh en you 're running with g uys lik e Chandler and Russell. I kn ew th at Chandler would be fast and would be coming by , so 1 wanted to stay with him . This is gr eat !" Results AMA / CCS YOKOHAMA 750 S/SPRT FINAL: 1. Tommy Lyn ch ISuI ); 2. Scan Russell (SuII: 3. Doug Chandler IKaw ); 4. M ike Smit h (SuII; 5. M ike Harth (SuII; 6. J amie J ames (SuII; 7. Craig Gleason (SUI): 8. Scan Zampach ISuI); 9. Oliver 8ill ingsley (SUI): 10. Scott Willia ms (Suz); 11: Larry Schwarzbach (YamI: 12. Natha n Lee Donohew ISuII: 13. J ed Kimla (SUI): 14. Mike Reed (SUI): 15. Dann y Rober ts (Suz). AMA/CCS YOKOHAMA 750 S/ SPRT SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. J amie J ames (124); 2. (TIE) Ooug Chandler / Scott Russell (107 ): 4. M ike Harth (96); 5. David Sadow ski 1861; 6. Scott Zampach 169): 7. Tommy Lynch (64); 8. Cam Roos 153) 9, Mike : · Sm it h 1291 10 . Orti s Lanc e 124 ); 11. Joh n : Eidenberger (22); 12. Kye Gunn (I 9): 13. (TIEl Larry Schwarzbac h z'Garv D'Alu isio (13): 15 . Ric ky Orl ando (15): 16. Chris Harton e (I 3): 17. Ray Yoder (12): 18 . Tad Hebert II 1); 19. (TIE) Scott Williams/ Tom Kipp/ Scott Gray / Andy Fenwick (10).