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~ ". ., .ROAD RACE .' . Final round: Firebird International Raceway . AMA HP4 600cc Supersport Series AliA 250cc Grand Prix Filice fleeces field By Henny Ray Abrams CHANDLER, AZ, SEYf. 24 T Miguel DuHamel (117) leads Thomas Wllson (2), Pascal Picotte (112) and Mike Hale (23) In the 600cc Supersport final. DuHamel won after a close race with Steve Crevier (4). By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams CHANDLER, AZ, SEPT. 24 l hail the King of 600cc Supersport - Miguel DuHamel. Okay, so DuHamel had won more 600cc Supersport races than anyone else in AMA history. But it was Doug Polen who held the record for consecutive race wins in the class when he captured seven straight in 1987. Not any more. Now that record also belongs to DuHamel, the undisputed King of the Oass, with the French Canadian and his Smokin' Joe's Honda CBR600 F-3 logging their eighth straight victory and ninth of the year, this one coming. at Firebird International Raceway. As always, DuHamel was stunning. With the championship clinched one race ago at Sears Point, DuHamel didn't need to win on fu;s hot day in the Valley of the Sun. But win he did after getting the best of Muzzy Kawasaki's Steve Crevier in a race that went the full distance. This one appeared to be Crevier's at least momentarily late in the race. The Canadian was able to pull a gap over DuHamel, but it all went away rather qwckly when the pair encountered lap traffic. "It was pretty tight racing," DuHamel said later. "Steve (Crevier) was aggressive out there; he really wanted to win. He was showing me the wheel a lot of times. 1 think the move that really put it over the top was in the chicane with that slow rider. He (Creyjer) was caught a bit by surprise by that move on the outside and 1 was able to sneak in front of him." And that was it. Crevier couldn't retaliate in the final few laps and DuHamel recorded his ninth win of the year, by just 0.277 seconds. DuHamel's win also made it a perfect 11-win season for the Smokin' Joe's Honda team and ~ the all-conquering CBR6OOF-3. Third place on the day went to the ever-improving Thomas Wilson on the Kinko's Kawasaki. Wilson worked his way around DuHamel and led the race for six laps before giving way to both of the Canadians. Wilson then had his hands full with Muzzy Kawasaki's Pascal Picotte and Erion Racing's Michael Baines, but Picotte crashed on the final lap, allowing Wilson to streak home hook up on that stuff. It was a bad start, but definitely 1 was riding real strong and confident. Some bikes have it in other places, but my bike was right on today. If it wasn't for a lapped rider I think I would have been on top today. Miguel rode real smart today, as he has been all year. It's a textbook ride for Miguel." Crevier thrilled the fans with one of his patented rear-wheel wheelies: "Hey, if you can't beat 'em, try and out-show third. 'em." Barnes held on for fourth, his best 600cc Supersport result of the year, with Smokin' Joe's Honda's Mike Hale fifth. DuHamel further stretched his enormous lead to lead the final standings with 377 points to Hale's 282 points. Wilson and Mota Liberty's Jamie Bowman, sixth at Firebird, ended the -season tied for third with 273 points. Barnes and Hikaru Miyagi filled the top five in the standings with 264 and 251 points, respectively. An eight-rider group qwckly pulled free from the rest at the start of the 22lap race - giving Phoenix race-goers an up-close look at classic 600cc Supersport racing. Across the strip for the first time, the order read: DuHamel, Wilson, Picotte, Hale, Crevier, Larry Pegram, Barnes. That order would swap continuously. DuHamel led laps one through five; with W Uson taking the point on laps six through 11; then it was DuHamel for laps 12 through 16; before Crevier finally took his turn at the front for a single lap on the 16th go-around. A lap later it was DuHamel pushing back past when the pair encountered lap traffic; and the Honda rider was able to hold the KawaSaki off on the run to the flag. "The pole wasn't the place to start on this race track," Creyjer said. "t was on that crappy rubber (on the dragstrip) 'lnd it just spins. Nothing is going to Wilson took third, with Picotte's crash spreading the field behind him. Barnes was fourth with Hale fifth. "We've had a really bad front on the 600 all year," Picotte explained. "I was too close to the podium to let them go. 1 just lost it." Honda's HP4 line of lubricants presented DuHamel with a check for $5000 for winning the title, with Hale earning $3000 and Barnes getting $2000. "The money will help this winter," Barnes said. "It'll help with Christmas a little bit." a Flreblrd International Raceway Chandler, Arizona Resuns:SephKnber24,1995 600cc SUPERSPORT FINAL: 1. Miguel DuHamel (Han); 2. Steve Crevier (Kaw); 3. Thomas Wilson (Kaw); 4. Michael Barnes (Han); 5. Mike Hale (Han); 6. Jamie Bow",an (Hon); 7. Larry Pegram (Hon); 8. Tripp Nnbles (Kaw); 9. Hilcaru Miyagi (Hon); 10. Rad Greaves (Hon); 11. Brian Parriott (Han); 12. Dale Kieffer (Han); 13. Oint McBain (Han); 14. Stu Morrison (Hon); 15. Greg Perry (Kaw); 16. Pascal Picotte (Kaw): 17, James Cox (Yam); 18, Dale Whelan (Han); 19. Steven labant (Han); 20. Marcus Hubbard (Han); 21. Sam Camibucd (Yam); 22. Roger Heemsbergen (Han). Time: 26 min., 39.566 sec. Distance: 22 laps, 35.2 miles. Average Speed: 79.22] miles. Margin of Victory: 0.277 sec. FINAL AMA 600« SUPERSPORT C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 11 of 11 rounds): 1. Miguel DuHamel (377/9 wins); 2. Mike Hale (282/2); 3. (TIE) Thomas Wilson/Jamie Bowman (273); S. Michael Bames (264); 6. Mikaru Miyagi (251); 7. Steve Crevier (247); 8. Pascal Picotte (225); 9. Larry Pegram (214); 10. Brian Parriott (169); 11. Dale 'Keiffer (157); 12. Owen Weichel (ISO); 13. Gerald Rothman Jr. (136); 14. Rad Greaves (129); 15. Andy Milton (107). his was the rubber match, Ross Baron Racing's Jimmy Filice having won at Gateway Park with rival Rich Oliver of Team Oliver Yamaha returning the favor at Sears Point. Neither race was very close; the showdown would come at Firebird International Raceway. Rich Oliver had already clinched the the 1995 250cc GP championship, but he wanted fu;s' win as much as any other, jetting into the early lead, Filice hard on his tail and waiting to pounce. The move came on the seventh of 22 laps, Filice and Oliver splitting a backmarker with Filice getting the better deal through traffic. Now it was Oliver's turn to press, but Filice didn't ilinch and he gradually edged away to win his second race of the year and end the 1995 season tied with Oliver for career 250cc GP wins at 22. "I just wanted to keep myself calm and not make a mistake because I knew he'd eat me up," Filice said after beating Oliver to the checkered flag by 1.038 seconds. "It was just close ra.cing between two guys that are at the top of their game," Oliver said. "One guy squeaks out a win. I'm not ecstatic, but I'm happy for my team to race Jimmy Filice for 22 laps in this heat." Filice won the 22-lap, 35.2-mile race in 25 minutes, 32.506 seconds, at an average speed of 82.688 mpr. He earned $2000 from the $10,000 purse. Oliver's cut was $1500 and his teammate Chuck Sorensen, third today after making a bad gearing choice, pocketed $1000. More importantly, Sorensen lost out on second in the championship to Zero Gravity Racing's Nick Ienatsch. Ienatsch came into the race four points in front of Sprensen, who would need help if he hoped to keep the number two on his bike. He didn't get it, and lenatsch rode a smart race to fourth place, and second to Oliver in the championship. "We came here doing what we had to do; finish behind Chuck Sorensen," Ienatsch said. "We've been top-five all season. The Zero Grayjty Yamaha does not break and does not fail. I'm consistent; now I have to get fast." Ienatsch finished the season with 286 points, two better than Sorensen. Oliver's final tally was 324, with seven wins. Filice's Ross Baron Racing teammate Mark Foster matched his season best with a fifth-place finish, all by himself, though fighting an ill-handling bike that he had put the wrong rear spring in. Sixth went to AI Salaverria, the San Franciscan again on the Mota Liberty Honda, though struggling with a power deficit to the Yamahas. Salaverria came out the best of a three-way battle with Champion Land & Development's Mike Sullivan, who ended up seventh, and Randy Renfrow Motorsports' Randy Renfrow, who fell back to eighth. World Sports Imports Bobby Keith and Performance Machine's Roland Sands filled out the top 10. In all, there were 16 finishers out of 19 starters. The first attempt at a start ended very quickly with a red flag after John