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.R A A E O DR C . . AMA Superbike Nationai Championship series Round 2: Pomona Fairplex the front wheel just took off after hitting one of those di tches." Ca rr was also unimpressed with the AMA's starting procedure: "They seemed to be holding things up for a long time," he said. "T he bike was at 210 d egrees when we fina lly go t going. My gearing wasn't conducive to getting a good start because we h a d a long first gear. It seemed like they he ld the two-minute board up for a long time, then they didn't put the 1 up. He jus t held it at his side. Then they finally put it up. I just thought the namberin g system was a little off. But that's not why I crashed; I crashed because I caught a false neutral." On track, DuHamel was by now starting to hound Pegram, who wasn't showing any signs of faltering under the ruthless pressure. Chandler, too, was hanging in there; ditto for James, wh o was sticking to the Muzzy Kawasaki 's rear wh eel as th ose fou r broke in to tw o som es and pu lled free of the pursuing pack by the news By Paul Carruthers Photos by Kinney Jones POMONA,CA. APR. 21 n 1995, Miguel DuHamel started slowly and didn't win a race until the fourth round of the series. From there he went on a well-documented tear that resul ted in a record six straight race wins and a Superbike National Championship. God help the competition in 1996. DuH ame l a n d his Smoki n ' Joe's Honda won their second successive AMA Su perbike race of 1996 at th e Pom on a Fairp lex, And there' s only been tw o races. Okay, so it ma y be a littl e early to start calling him the next Jeremy McGrath, but of the last nine AMA Superbike races run, DuHamel' s won eigh t. In this one DuHamel chased down the fast-s ta rti ng Larry Pegram - along w ith Dou g Chandler and Jamie James - and stalked the Fast By Ferracci Ducati ride r for several laps before taking the lea d. Then a red flag interrupted the p roceed ings, allowing DuHamel to get new tires fitted to his RC45 and a new face shield to his helmet. Then he went ou t and did the exac t same thing, p assing Jam es, Chan dler and fin ally Pegram to win the L.A. Su perbike Champion ship on the rou gh and tumble Pomona Fairplex layout . Fo r 1996, Du Ha mel is pe r fect, hi s Pomona win following his dramatic victory over Scott Russell in the Dayto na 200 last month . The only thing the French Canadian hasn't done is secu re the extra point the AMA gives out for the man whoJeads the most laps. While he who leads last doesn't necessari ly lead longer, 35 points is better than one and DuHamel now has a perfect 70 after two races. This time that laps-led ex tra point went to Pegram, the former dirt tracker . leading 19 of the 30 laps, but not the one which counted most. Still, Pegram 's ou ting on the Du cat i w as im pressive. The Oh io an was fa st from ·th e ge t-go at Pomona, and he never faltered un der the pressure of racing with some of the very best. In the end he managed to hold off Chandler and his Muzzy Kawasaki by 0.106 at the finish line after 30 laps of racing (in terrupted after 13 laps by a red flag). I \0 0\ ~ Chan dler, too, was splendid, regaining the form he didn't show during an injuryplagued season on the factory HarleyDavidson in 1995. Although the former Superbike National Champion never led, he was always a factor and his battle with Pegram over second place went to the bitter end. Combined with his fifth-place finish at Daytona, Chandler is the man closest to DuHam el's perfect 70 in the cha mpions hip chase; Chandle r has 56 points and Pegram has 55. Fourth p lace at Pomo na was another success story: Fast By Fer racci Duca ti's Sha wn Hi gb ee. The Manhat tan Beach, California, res id ent con tinued to learn on the job, and his fourth place in only h is secon d AM A Supe rb ike race w as h eady stuff. Hi gbee got faster as the wee kend wore on, and he saved his very best for Sun d ay, learning from those he was racing wi th in the first part of the race and putting that knowledge to use to be a t them in th e second part. He en de d up ge tting the best of what was rea lly a five- and sometimes six-way bat tle for fou rth . Fifth pl ace w en t to Australian Ma t Mlad in in his best AMA finish to d ate. Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki managed to h old o ff th e Va nce & H ines Yamaha's of Tom Kipp and Jam ie James and the secon d Smokin' Joe's Honda of Steve Crevier. Mladin's teammate Pascal Picotte finis hed ni n th and Muzzy Kawasaki 's Mike Smith rounded out the top 10 finishers . Springtime in California b athed ' Pomona spectators in sunshine and warm temperatures as the AMA Superbike National got under wa y - unfortunately without the snake-bitten Thom as Wilson. Wilson's Ha rley-Davidson VR1000 had stalled on the gri d, and despite his best efforts the Ohioan w asnit ab le to get it started. With the grid well down the track from the pits, his crew was n' t able to help and Wilson's day was over . "11 qu it on the sighting lap," Wilso n explained later. "I pushed it back in and they restarted it. When I got to the grid it was massively confused and it quit again right there. 1 about got it started. By that point I felt like I'd already raced for 30 laps ." . (Above) Larry Pegram (72) gets the early jump In the Supe rblke National at Pomona . Doug Chandle r (10) gives chase along with Jamie James (hidden), Miguel DuHamel (1) and Pascal Picotte (21). (Right) DuHamel was eventually able to run Pegram down to score the win, his second successive Nationa l victory In 1996. Pegram's start was the com plete opposite of Wilson's as he jetted into the lead from his spo t on the fro nt row, lea ding Chandler, James an d DuHamel on th e open ing lap . Fast qualifier Carr, meanwhile, was the victim of a bad start and . was mired in 10th place, struggling to find a place where he could use his superior cornering speed. With Pomona offering very little in the way of places to pass, tum seven a tight right-hander 'a t th e end of the . long back straight - seemed to be the most popular. It was a corner that simpl y belonged to DuHamel. On the second lap the French Canadian shot by James und er bra kin g for turn seven; and tw o la ps later he d id likewi se to Chandler. By this time, Ca rr's race was over with a high-speed crash in tum one at the end of the d rag str ip , his and H arleyDavidson's hopes of a top finish gone in a cloud of dust. "I just caught a false neutral going in," Carr explained later. "I tried brakin g, but fifth lap. The group behind w as led by .Pico tte, jus t a hea d of hi s teamm ate Mladin, Crevier, Smith, Higbee and Kipp. Furth er back ca me th e in jured Aa ro n Yates on the th ird Yoshi m ura Suzuki, holding off th e best of th e remaining Harleys ridden by Tripp Nobles. Pegram continued to lead for the first time in a Superbike National, but it was hard to imagine that DuHamel wasn't just sitting there, waiting for a mistake or the appropriate time to pass. He continually looked to the inside of Pegram on the entrance to tum seven, on ly to shy away at the last possible second. 11 was becoming obvious that the pass wou ld come, it was only a mailer of when . All of this wasn' t lost on Pegram, either. "11 really felt good be in g ou t. th er e (leading) un til he (DuHa me l) was righ t behind me," Pegram said. "I was n't nervous because I knew he was going to be able to run with me. I just didn 't like him getti ng up there that quick. I wanted to try and put a little distance on him, but he (Du Hamel) got to second ri gh t away