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ROAD RACE NORTH AMERICAN SUPERBIKE Daytona International Speedway come, wh ile th e others were conten t to sit and wait. Bostrom exi te d the ch ic a ne ' hard , ho p ing to m ak e a brea k w hi le s till in fron t o f No bles, w ith Hig bee a sh ad owing thi rd . Then came the run to the flag, and Bost rom very nearl y pulled it 6ff. At the flag, he lost to Nobles by abou t a w heel. Higbee was a close third. Graef came along in fourth, followed by HMC-Hansen Racing's Shawn Conrad and Hals H-D /Buell's Tod d Evans . Ru e Rac in g ' s Jo h-n Ash m e ad was next, fo llowed by Shau n Ru ssell, wit h Valley Racing' s Brian Conley filling ou t the top 10. There we re 15 finishers among the 18 starters, The title wen t to H igbee by virtue of hi s remarkabl y co ns is te n t season . He wo n five times , finish ed third twice, and only' failed to scor e points w hen he sat o u t t he Road A tla n ta round with in juries. It ad d ed up to 235 points, 11 bet ter than Shawn Conrad, tod ay's fifthpl ace finis her. Billy Graef fini shed the e ig h t-r ace ca m pa ig n third w i th 214 points. n: Blackbu rn Racing's Richa rd New ma n Jr . was eig h th, pas sing Alls ta te Bo d y Shop' s Joh n Michael Silva, a lso on the last lap, and Race Team Takizou 's Scott Uecker was the final finisher. Th ere were two DNFs in the 12-rider field , all of w hom we re H ond a RS125mounted . 0 Daytona Inte rnatio nal Speedway Daytona Beach, Flor ida Results: November 2, 1997 (Round 8 01 8) . IDEM ITSU AME R ICAN G RAN D PR IX : 1. MdSdhiro IU UI..l (Hon): 2. Cbns Ul rich (Hon) ; 3. Vicky J"ck<;tln-ndl (Ho n), 4. Rolan do Quinlt'nl (l Inn); 5. Todd No rd by (Jl o n); 6. Aaron Stein (l-Ion); 7. Lance Yeager IHon ); 8. Richerd Newm an (He n): 9. John Silva (Hon); 10. SCott Uecker (Hon); 11. Gre g Esse r (H en): 12. Jeff Young (H en) . Ti mr. 15 m in ., 11.440 sec. Distan ce: Sewn laps. 25 miles . Aver age s peed: 98.429 mp h. Margin of victory: 5.507!>t'C. IO EMIT S U AM ERIC A N G RAND PR I X C'S H IP P OI N T STAN D INGS (A flf'T 8 of 8 ro un d,, ); 1. Masa ht ro lizuka (263 / 6 w in :'» ; 2. Vicky ja ckson-Bel l (2.38); J. Rola ndo Qu intero (191 ); 4 . Marcello del Giudice O M ); 5. C hris Ulrich O M 6. Ben Solis (42); 7. Je ff M 7>; Yo u ng (1 0 1) ; M. To d d N o rd by (YYJ; Y. L a v uu g h n Mon tgomery (75); 10. John Ulrich (bS); 11. (TIE) Rola nd S.1nd s / L..1ncc Ye ag cr!Jol· She lto n Jr. (64); 1'1. Richard Ne wman (63); 15. Aa ron Stein (59); 16. Pat rick Rvder (54); 17. (TIE) Mike J-1 imm e1sb;lch / Pa ul Ne lso n (5 1); 19. Hayden ~)I (46) ; 20. Eric Gus tofson (39). Buell Lightning Series Round 8: Daytona International Speedway Nobles' battle, Wgbee's war. By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEACH, FL, NOV. 2 T r-, 0\ 0\ ,...., N ,...., ... CIJ ..0 S CIJ ;:.- o Z 10 ill ey' s Harley-D avidson' s Tr ipp Nobles used a cra fty last-lap slingshot pass of Miller Electrica l Co nstru ctions' Eric Bostrom to win the final Buell Lightning Series race of the year st by the narrow e of mar gin s at Dayto na Internati ona l Speed w a y . But it w a s G rav es Motnrsports ' Sha w n H ig be e who took the big pri ze, the class championship, w ith a thir d -pla ce finish alter a hectic last lap. No bles completed the seve n-lap, 25mile race in 14 min u tes, 41.785 seconds, at an average speed of 101.739 mph . H e won by about a w heel's width (officially 0.002 of a seco nd) a lter running d own last-lap lead er Bostrom at the flag . W ith in a lap, it was cl ear tha t th e wi n n er w as g o ing to co m e fro m th e fro nt -run ning trio of Bos tro m, H igbee and N obles . They' d split fro m th e 18rid er pack ea rly on, thou gh Billy Graef ma d e a n ea rl y e llo r t to han g o n . H e co u ldn ' t, a nd wo u ld soldi e r o n to a lonel y fourth as no one behi nd him was able to mak e a d ent in his margin. Bostrom led the firs t lap, Higbee the se cond, 'and Nobles was al ways in the mix - though no t a t the very fro n t. The re were lea d changes o n e ve ry la p an d s p o t-swa p p in g a mon g th e top three, with none of th em able to power away to a clear ad va n tage. . Bo str om w as a lwa ys goo d on th e bra kes into turn one, and led there from the th ird through th e s i xt h laps . H e wo uld be at the front w hen the final lap s tar ted. Tha t was probably a mistake and he knew it. Wi th o ut a s u rfei t of horsepower , there wasn ' t mu ch chance tha t Bos trom wo uld be able to hold 011 H igbee and Daytona Internationa l Speedway Daytona Beac h, Flori d a ResUlts: No vember 2,1 997 (Round 8 of 8) N obles as long a s th e y s tayed close co m i ng o u t of th e ch ica ne . Bostro m pu shed hard through the infield on the final lap, bu t could n't shake either one. w ith H igbee p a s s in g No bl e s in th e In tern a ti o na l H orses hoe o n th e fi na l lap . As they headed d own the back ch u te for the fina l time, it was clear that they were slowi ng d own . Bostrom was hopin g fo r th e pa ss , w hich wo u Id never (Above) Masahlro Iizuka celebrates his win In the Idemlts u American Grand Prix. (Below) Eric Bostrom (20) led the start of the Buell Lightning race over Shawn Higbee (3) and eventual race winner Tripp Nobles (87). RUU t l.I GIlTNI N G SER IES: 1. Tr ipp Noble...; 2. Eric Bostro m; J. Shawn l Iigbee: 4. Billy Grad; 5. Shawn Con ra d ; 6. Todd Evans: 7. Iohn As hm ead; M. Shau n Rus se ll; Y Brian Co n ley; 10. Bria n Bodine; 11. Micha el . Fri ber g; 12. Ra ndy Texter; 13. Sco tt Koro l; 14. Ja mes Sweghei me r; 15 . Todd H e n ne s sy ; 16 . M ichael Ml'S. '1ingl'r; 17. Jody Hen d ley; 18. Shawn McNary. T imes 14 min ., 41.785 M'C. D istan ce: Seven laps, 25 miles . Average speed : 101.739 mph . · Margin of vict ory: 0.002 sec. BUELL LI GHTNI N G S ERI ES C' S H IP POINT STANDINGS (Afl t'r 8 o f 8 roun ds) : 1. SIMwn Il igho.·t' (235 / 5 wi ns) ; 2. Shaw n Cn nra d (224); 3. Billy Grad (21 4); 4. Todd Eva ns (203); 5 . Bria n Bod ine (186); 6. Mich a el Friber g (178 ); 7. Sco tt Ko rol 0 5tJ); 8. Eric Bostro m (H 7! ll; 9, To d d Hen nessy (133); tu. Da vid s McC ra th (12l::1); 11. Brian Co nley (1 27); 12. Trip p Noble (SQ /2); 13. Shawn McNary (81); 1-1 . Jake Ze m ke (l'>6); 15. Robe rt Bu ssey (46); 16. Roy Nic holson (44); 17. Rand y Te xt e r (42); 18 . Jod y H e n dl e y (37 ); 19 . M ich ael Mes singe r (33); 20. Chuck Graws (30).