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complete. After all, one win, a season does not make . Kipp erased those questio ns at Road America by winning his second straight 750cc Supersport race, rea sse rting his position amongst the very best in Supersport racing . Kipp came out on top of a three-rider duel that went the distance at the fast and picturesque Road America. It was Kipp and his Yoshimura Suzuki vs. his teamma te Br it t Turkington and the Muzzy Kawasaki of Fred Merkel. The three fought throughout the 12-lap, 48mile race, with Kipp edging Merkel by 1.266 seconds. Turkington held on for third place after a last-lap braking gaff in tum five thwarted his cha nces of a final attempt for victory. Still, th e defending class champion was able to hold on for third keeping damage to his championship points lead to a minimum. After five of 10 rounds, Turkington leads new second-place man Kipp by 17 points, 162145. Jason Pridmore, sixth today, is third with 141 point s, 10 clear of James Randolph, seventh at Road America, and 16 ahead of Gerald Rothman Jr., the fourthplace finisher. Merke l vau lted himself to sixth in the series with his second-place finish, Th e rac e began, as usual, with the fast-starting Turkington lead ing the p ack d own the fast back straight and into the left-hand tum five . Kipp and Merkel wer e in tow, leadin g a secon d group that consisted of Rothman, Pridmore, Jim Leslie, Randolph, Aaron Yates and Owen WeicheL By the end of the first lap, the lead trio had pulled clear of a second group of three - Rothman, Pridmore and Randolph. That gap started to stre tch immediately and at this point it became clear that the race would be won by ei ther Turkington, Merkel or Kipp . All three riders took turns leading the race: Kipp on lap two; Tu r kingto n laps three through nine; Merkel on lap 10 - much t o the delight of the pro-Merkel Road America crowd. It came down to the fina l lap , wi th Turkington over-exerting himself out of contention in tum five. As the three flew down the hill, Turkington held second behind Kipp, but the Texan waited too long before getting on the brakes - and his momentum carried him way wide in the left-hander. "I just ran it in too deep: ' Turkington said later. Merkel snuck underneath, and he and Kipp pulled clear. Though the Californian was able to stay close to Kipp, he kne w he was beaten. "There was no way I could pull those gu ys on the stra ightaway - much less up a hill:' Merkel said la ter. "Tha t's all she had. They had to make a mistake and 1 had to do it perfect ." Was his bike that mu ch slower than the Suzukis? "Ask them: ' Merkel said . "I think the Suzuki had a little more top end," Kipp answered . " It was a fa ntastic race: ' two- time winn er Kipp said. "There were a lot of lead changes and a lot of passes for second and third. And it was nice and safe. 1 wasn 't sure how it was going to unfo ld; it was hard to come up with a strategy." "There is no strategy in this clas s," Merkel added . "I'rn really proud of Tom . At the Decembe r tire test he didn't ha ve a job. Now he's wo n the two mos t important races. I really wanted to win Laguna Seea and here, but if I couldn't win, I'm glad Tom won. 1 think having Tom back in the cla ss has upped the tempo: ' The race for fourth ended up being a (Above) The 600cc Supersport final gets underway at Road Ameri ca with Trip p Nob les (32) leading Mike Smith (68) and the rest of th e fi eld. (Right) Tom Kl pp (16) leads Fred Merkel (27) and Britt Turkington (1) In the 750cc Supersport fi nal. (Below) Aaron Yates (19) led the Harley race until his B83 ran Into mec hanica l problems; the race was won by Shaw n Higbee (2). (Hon); 33. SIeve Cottrell (Suz) ; 34. Robert Wright (](aw); 35. Ma rk Miller (Kaw); 36. Kelly Lacount (H on ). Tim e: 28 min., 56.053 sec. Disuncr: 12 Laps, 48 miles. A ver ege Speed: 99.536 mph. M~rgin of Victory: 1.266 sec. 750« SUPERS PORT CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS, J. Britt Turkin!:l<>n (162/2 wins); 2. To m IGpp (145/ 2 wins); 3. Jason Pridmore (141); 4. James Randolph (131); 5. Ge rald Rothman Jr. (125/1 w in); 6. Fred Mer kel (122 ); 1. Thomas Wilson (99); 8. Dean Mizdal (74); 9. Aaron Lanningham (73); 10. Aaron Yates (61 ); 11. (TIE) jacques Guenette Jr . /Owen Weichel /David Roy (58); 14. Anthony Lupo (57); 15. (TIE) Mark McDaniel / Mike Krynock (48). Upcoming rounds . Round 6 - loudon, New Hampshire. June 19 Round 7 - Lexington. Ohio, July 17 AMAICCS Harley-Davidson883 Twin Sport Series Hogs and lonely one for Rothman. The Kawasakimounted pri vateer pull ed clear from the group behind him, but couldn't make an impression on the lead trio. Kinko's-backed Pridmore and Team Suzuki Sport's Randolph were locked in a duel for most of th e ra ce, but th ey were caught by Pridmor e's tea mma te Thomas Wilson on the sixth lap . At the finish it was Wilson edging his teammate, with Randolph taking seventh . Yates, Jim Leslie - who ran strai gh t at least twice in turn five - and Weichel rounded ou t the top-10 finishers. a Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Resu lts: June 12, 1994 (Round 5 of 10) 750« SUPERSPORT FI N AL: I. Tom Klpp (Suz); 2. Fred Merkel (}(aw ); 3. Britt Turkington (502) ; 4. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Ka w) ; 5. Tho mas Wilson (Yam); 6. Jaso n Pridmore (Yam); 1. Jam es Rando lph (Suz); 8. Aaro n Yates (Suz); 9. Jim Leslie (Ka w); 10. O wen We ich el (Han); 11. Bra d Dun kel (Yam); 12. Russ Katze nberger [Kaw]: 13. Sean Sween,')' (Suz); 14. An tho ny Lupo (Suz); 15. Aaron Lanni ngham (}(aw); 16. Dean Mizdal (Yam); 17.lohn larob (Yam); 18. Glenn Curtis (Ka w); 19. Mi ke Krynock (Kaw) ; 20. Cary Lenzmeimer (Ya m); 21. Da vid Roy (Kaw ); 22. Rand y Renfrow (Ho n); 23. John Murph y (Kaw) ; 24. Mark Barlow (Yam); 2S.lim Dickenson (Suz) ; 26. Ron Foye (Suz); '17 Wa lter Sakowski (Kaw); 28. T. . David Porter (Suz) ; 29 Brad Morehouse (Yam) ; 30. Joe Kniesly (Yam) ; 31. Jim Lester (Yam); 32. Mike Murphy r Slammers I By Paul Carruthers Photos by George Roberts ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 12 T here ' s a popu lar child 's game that .fea tures ca rd boa rd bottle .. tops called pogs. The pogs are won and lost via the use of a slammer, a metal version of th e p og which is thrown down in an effort to flip the pog upside down, thus giving the child who tossed the slammer a victory of sorts. At 11