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Round 1:Daytona loternational Speedway e Wait is over (Above left) Matt Walt (95) rides around tlie outside of David Estok (12) In the TwlnSports final at Daytona. (Above) Wait won. (left) Scott zampach led 3' sp irted battle for fourth place. By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEAQI, FL MAR. 16. , att Wail is starting to get this w inning thing d ow n p a t, especially at Daytona International Speedway . Fo r th e fou rth race in successio n, Wait wo n a Har ley-David son 883 race at Daytona, a d ding this - the o peni ng round of the AMA series - to his NASB • vic to ry on Ma rch 3 and h is tw o wins, includ ing the World Ch ampionship, last October. As always, th e SuperTwi n s race at Dayton a came d own to a draftin g wa r on the final run th rough th e tri-oval to the finish line. And, aga in, it was Wait a n d hi s Mit ch ell s' Mod esto Harl ey Davidson who were in the right plac e at . th e righ t time, narrowly defeating th e tw o Bartels' Harley-Davidson s of Ben Bostrom and Dave Estok . O kay, so where was Scott Zampach? . Th e undi spu ted king of Harley Da v id son 883 ra cing e n ded .t h e da y fourth, but it was a struggle to get there. Zampach a n d h is Su b u rban Motorsbacked Harley got a bad ju m p off th e line an d su rvived a harr owing incident in the chicane while trying to catch up. Zampach completed the first lap in 12th place, bu t managed to mo ve back int o contention, eventually winning a close race with Nate "Gator" Wait, Matt' s M you nger br other, Chuck Blackm on , class d ebutante Hikaru Miyagi, Brian Gibb s and Tripp Nobles - with fourth throu gh ni n th crossing the lin e in close formation . Tenth place went to Aust ralian Rob Herm ans on h is Avon Tires-backed Harley. The seven-lap final started with Ben Bostro m taki ng the hol eshot fro m th e pole position he earned du ring qualifying, wi th Wait, Eric Bostrom, Herm ans, Matthew Guidera, Estok and Miyagi all giv ing chase in to the Internationa l Horseshoe for the first time . Wait moved to the fron t on the back straight, . but Bost rom grab bed it back heading int o th e chicane . By this time the to p three had al rea dy opened a gap on the rest , wi th Bostrom, Wait and Estok flying in form ation a round th e tri-oval. Zarnpach , meanwhile, co m plete d th e first lap well back in 12th place and wi th a quicker heart rate. "I'm a little set back," h e exp lained later . "I'm starting out with a new team - Suburban Mo tors - but cons id ering the start I had, it isn 't that bad. I got a bad start off th e line and then I was riding h ard on th e first lap . I got a grea t run up the back stretch an d I caug ht up to th e fir st th ree bikes. I guess I go t too good a run be cause I go t int o th e chi can e really fast. With the combi na tio n of the green track and th e cool tires; I almost went down. Luckily, I collected it, but th at' s about the scari est thing I've ever d o n e in roa d raci ng . Tha t'put m e b a ck to a bout 15th place and I spent the res t of the race tryin g to catch up ." The le ad was changin g hand s seve ra l tim e s a lap: Estok led going int o th e Internati on al Hor seshoe on the third lap, with Wait leading into the chicane an d Estok back in fro nt on th e ex it. Lat e in the race, Wait 'started using a late-braking move into the Internation al Horseshoe, but it would send him wi de, allowi ng the others to co me u ndernea th . Still, he was able to get a good d rive on the exit so things always equaled ou t by the tim e they arrived at the second ho rseshoe. It was there that Estok was pu tt ing on a show. "I was actu ally lau ghi ng in my helmet watching him (Estok) dirt trackin g around the second horseshoe," Wait said later . "It looked awesome ." By the time they started the final lap. Wait was in front of Estok with Bostrom watching from behind. "Th e re was n o d oubt in m y m ind who was go nn a lea d into the chicane on the la st la p," Bostrom sai d la te r . " I wan ted to come ou t th ird . These guys (Wait and Estok ) kind of went at each ot her and I just went th rough there in third. I kn ew my motor was going away a little bit , but I figured if I could catch a two-man draft I believed I could get there into second." He did jus t tha t, with Wait hol di ng on to victo ry - the second of his AMA career and a win that moves him into a tie with Mike Hale for sixth on the alltime TwIDsport win list. Third place went to Daytona lo cal Estok: "I had a great time ou t there," he . said . "Ma tt (Wait) and Ben (Bos tro m ) and I we re rid in g grea t - re al safe together and we had a rea l fun tim e. I just waited until everybody lets off the brakes, then I go in abo ut ano the r ha lfsecond later and lock up the rear wheel a n d ski d it in . So metimes you d on ' t think yo u're gonna make it, but you just let go (of the b rakes ) a nd th ro w it in th ere anyway . Th a t' s w here I h ad to m a ke up all m y time . I was ge tti ng p assed on th e banking beca u se Matt' s b ik e w a s runni ng rea l good on th e straightaways. I was trying to ge t ahead of him eno ugh in the infi eld to where maybe I could pull a ga p. He kept catching m y dra ft a n d passing m e on th e stra ights." Fourth place wen t to Zarnpach, just b arely over Na te Wait, though Blackmon thought he'd finished fifth . " It wa s really close at the finish line, but I think I got fifth ," he sai d . " It was one of those hold -your-breath-type finish es . I w a s lo ok in g at h is wheel (Wai t's), and I believe I w as six inches ahead . If I did ge t sixth, then it was still a good race . It' s a sha me the top three go t away early or we migh t have really had a tight finis h. Scott (Za m pa ch) ran off the tra ck on the first lap, so I figured I didn't have to worry abo ut h im, bu t he came back and surprised me there at the . end ." ('X Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Aor lda Res ults: March 16, 1996 H·O SU PERTWlNS FINAL: 1. Ma tt Wait; 2. Ben Bostrom; 3. Dave Esto k; 4. Scott Zampach; 5. Nate Wait; 6. Chuck Blackmon; 7. Hikaru Miyagi; 8. Bria n Gibbs; 9. Tripp Nobles; 10. Rob Hermans 11. Michael Stoeck er; s; 12 Roger Reiman; 13. Ron McGill ; 14. Richie Morris ; 15. Da vid Suzuki; 16. Tim Le : 17. Eric Lacruze; 18. Tom e Shields; 19. Yvon DuHamel; 20. Jim Whitaker; 21. Lance Jon es; 22. Stephen V1asblom; 23. Mich ael Stoc k; 24. Jon Stauffer; 25. Devin Battley; 26. Th omas Ma rx; 28. Jess Roeder; 29. Matthew Guidera; 30. Mich el Amalric. Time: 15 min., 47.443 sec. Distan ce: 7 laps. 24.92 mil es . A ve rage Speed: 94.689 mph. Margin of Vid Ory: 0.517 sec. H·D SUPERTWIN S C'SH IP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 10 ro un ds): 1. Ma tt Wai t (36/1 win) ;·2. Ben Bostro m (32); 3. Dave Estok (30); 4. Scott Zampach (28); 5. Nate Wait (26); 6. Chuck Blackm on (25); 7. Hikaru Miyagi (24); 8:8ria n Gibbs (23); 9. Tripp Nobles (22); 10. Rob Herm ans (21); 11. Mich ael Stoecke r (20); 12. Roger Reiman (19); 13. Ron McGill (18); 14. Rich ie Morri s (17); IS. David Suzuki (16); 16. Tim Lee (IS); 17. Eric Lacruzc (14); 18. Tom Shields (13); 19. Yvon DuHamel (12); 20. Jim W hi ta ke r (11); 21. Lan ce Jon es (10 ); 22. Stephen Vlasblom (9); 23. Michal'! Stock (8); 24. Jon Stauffer (7); 25. Devin Batt le y (6); 26. T ho m as Marx (5); 27. Eric Bostro m (4); 8. Jess Roeder (3); 29. Matthew Gui de ra (2); 30. Miche l Ama lric (1). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Pomona, California - April 21 Round 3 . M onterey, California - April 28