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David Sadowski took his first-ever 750cc Supersport win at Daytona. Here. he enjoys a huge lead over Tommy Lynch on just the second lap. Doug Chandler (leading) battled over second place with fellow Kawasaki pilot Kevin Blais for the entire race; Blais nipped Chandler at the stripe. Jeff Farmer (52) leads Jon Roberts (71). Tom Kipp (66) and eventual 600cc Supersport winner Michael Barnes (64) before the red flag . AMAjCCS Yokohama 750cc Supersport Series: Final round Sadowski finally wins, James takes title 'at Daytona By Brian Catterson DAYTON A BEACH , FL, O CT. 29 There was not a rider more deserving to win a road race in 1989 than David Sadowski. All season long, Sadowski has been in the hunt, winning heat races and leading Na tiona ls o n th e Va nce & · H Ip es SU ZU ki b U t W h e~ th e 1, ChIpS were down he was m variably ro bbed by mechani cal 10 woes or by hi s o wn overexubera nce (read crash) . So wh en Sadows ki wo n th e fin al ro und of th e AMA/ CCS Yoko ha ma 750cc Supersport Series, th ere were two facti ons - th ose wh o were surprised, and th ose wh o said he was sim p ly doin g wh at was expected of h im all alo ng. Sadows ki turned in a mas terfu l performa nce, lead in g all bu t th e dash to turn two on th e opening lap of the wet , 10-lap sp rint race. Doug Chan dler on th e Mu u y Kaw asaki gave valiant. chase. but he ha d hi s hands full wit h Pal metto Kawasaki Suzu ki ZX 7-m o unt ed Fl o r i d ia n Kevin Blais wh o n ipped the dirt tracker-tum~-road racer for second at the fin ish line. Scott Russell led hi s Yoshimura Suzuk i tea m ma te J amie J am es home for fou rth and fifth, respectively. J am es' fifth-pl ace fin ish earne d him th e 1989 750cc Superspo r t Ch am pi on sh ip , hi s second titl e of th e year (he also won th e AMA Su perbike Ch ampionsh ip ). J am es o n ly n eed ed to fini sh 11th i f Chandler or Ru ssell (who were tied for second afte r the previous Tallad ega, Ala ba ma, round ) wo n. Ch andl er' s thi rd -pl ace fini sh bet- tered Ru ssell 's fourth, so Chandler wound up second in th e final poin t sta n d i ngs with Rus sell third. Sado wski's win moved h im past privateer Mik e Harth for fourth, with H arth fifth . Sado wski served noti ce in Friday's sunny five-lap heat race, defeating the Yosh im ura Suzuki triopoly of Ru ssell , j am es and young T omm y L ynch (who betw een th em have won eigh t of th e 10 series ro unds) and clai mi ng pole position for Sunday's fina l. Bu t few were surprised; after all, "S ki" had won heat races before. T hings will be different come Sunday, th ey said. " T hey" were wrong: Sadow ski ou tbra ked Harth into th e Internatio na l H orseshoe 10 tak e the lead o n lap one, and wh en the " Georgia Bulldog " fell two turns lat er in the west end infield hors eshoe, th e race became a David Sadowski benefit. Sadows ki arrived ' at th-e International H orseshoe on lap two wi th a full infiel d straightaway lead over the pursu in g pack of Lynch , second heat race-winner Ch andler, Russell and Blais. The second-p lace fou rso me staye d cl ose, running four abreas t o n th e high banks until lap three wh en Lynch cras hed at th e ch icane. Lap th ree also saw the dem ise of Ri chard Moore, wh o was trying hi s hand at Na tiona l Supersport co mpe tition for the first time. The AMA 250cc Grand Prix -class stando u t had finis hed eighth in his heat race after coming from the last row, and was on th e cha rge in th e final until tossing away hi s Kaw asaki at th e tra nsition to th e bankin g. T he du o's cras hes emp has ized a poi nt (no, not th at sou thern Ca liforn ian s can't ride in th e rain !) - but th at the Michelin Hi -Sport radia ls were below par in th e wet. Ru ssell , a no ted rai n ri der, wa s clear ly struggli ng for traction, and j am es lat er said, " It was like riding in oil." T he Du nl ops of Sad ow ski a nd Cha ndler, on the other hand, were wor king as good as could be expected in th e slick conditions, as were Blais' Yokoha mas . With Ly nc h gone and Ru ssell fall in g off the pa ce, Ch andl er was left 10 fend off Blai s for second. Cha nd ler clearl y had th e upper hand, bu t Blais ' in creasin gl y frequent advances forced the pace, and car ried the duo to with in sigh t of Sadowski. On lap nine it a ppeared that they mi ght catch th e leader, but Chandl er overshot th e International H orseshoe, almos t tak in g to the grass while lett in g Blai s pas t. Chandler wasted no tim e in retaliat in g, go ing past Blai s in the infield and leading o u t o nto th e bankin g , a n d n ot show i n g a ny s i ~n s o f how "embarrassed" he said he was to be " ra ci ng Su perspor t for no purse money." As th e pair emerged fro m th e chicane for th e final time, Blai s drafted Ch andler, th en p ulled alongside and nipped hi m at the fin ish lin e with a slings ho t pass. Blai s, who finished 12th here in th e spr ing, took th e runner-up position by mere inches, 4.02 seco n ds behind Sado wski. Russell comp leted his lonely race " for , four th, whil e J ames kept a com fortable mar gin over th e Ireight : train behind him to clai m fifth pl ace and th e series titl e. j am es kn ew he couldn't afford to be ca ugh t by th e pack : " I kept looking over m y shoulder, and when I sawall them guys back there it made me twi st th e throttle th at m uch harder," he said. This was a banner day for both Kawasaki and Dunlop, marking as it did th e first time Kawasaki had two riders in th e typi cally Suzukidominat ed winner 's circl e, and that Dunlop sh u t arc h-riva ls Michel in o u t (though it a lso m arked the arrival of a capable new rival in Yokohama). Floridi an j ohn Choate iced Kaw asak i's cake by puttin g his ZX7 into six th pl ace, th e thi rd green machine inside the to p 10. Mark Reynolds of Co n necticu t finished seventh on a Suzuki, while French Canadian j acques Gu enett e took eig ht h on a Yam aha FZR600. Suzuki riders David Smi th of Pennsylvania and Mark Wal sh of Florida ro unded ou t th e top 10. • Results AMA/CCS YOKOHAMA 750 S/SPRT FINAL: 1. David Sadowski (Suu); 2. Kevin Blais (Kawl ; 3. Doug Chandler (Kaw); 4. Scon Russell (Sull; 5. Jamie James (SUI); 6. John Choate (Kaw ); 7. Mark Reynolds (SUl ); B. Jacqu es Guenene (Yaml; 9. David Sm ith (SuII; 10. Mark Walsh ISul); 11. Scon Williams (SUl); 12. John Jacob (Yam); 13. Sean Osowski (SUl); 14. Jose Xavier Soares Neto (SUl); 15. Manhew Winnaeker (Kaw). TIME: 24 min .• 13.39 sec. AVERAGE SPEED; BB.1BOmph AMA/CCS YOKOHAMA 750 S/SPRT SERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS '1 . Jam ie James (134); 2. Doug Chandler (120); 3. Scon Russell (11B); 4 . David Sadowski (106) ; 5. Mike Harth (96); 6. Seon 2ampaeh (69); 7. Tommy Lynch (64); B. Cam Roos 153) 9. M ike Smith (29); 10 . Ortis Lance (24); 11. ; John Eidenberger (22); 12. (TIE) Kevin Blais/ Kye Gunn (19); 14. (TIE) Larry Sehwarlbaeh/Gary D'Aluisio (16); 16. Ricky Orlando (15); 17. Seon Williams(14); 18. ChrisHartone(13); 19. Ray Yoder (12); 20 . Tod Hebert (11).