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ROAD RACE AMA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (Left) Who would have thought that either Miguel DuHamel (1) or Doug Chandler (10) would fall to finish the 600cc Supersport final? Neither finished and the win went to Ben Bostrom (11) over Steve Crevier (4) and his brother Eric Bostrom (17). (Below) Bostrom celebrates his flrstever victory In the class. AMA Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Series Round 6: Rllad Atlanta Family affair By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, MAY 31 ap eight wasn't so great for two of AMA road racing's best, but what occurred on the eighth lap at Road. Atlanta certainly helped one of the sport's rising stars reach the next level. A group of four contesting the lead in the 600cc Supersport final was whittled down to two on lap eight when Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler crashed (believe it or not), and Honda's Miguel DuHamel suffered a mechanical problem that dropped him to an eventual 17th-place finish. That left Honda's Ben Bostrom to fight off the determined charge of Yoshimura Suzuki's Steve Crevier to take the first 600cc Supersport win of his career. To make things even more "cool" for the 24-year-old Bostrom, his younger brother Eric finished not far behind in third place on the Erion Racing Honda CBR600. It was the first time that anyone could remember a pair of brothers sharing the winner's circle in an AMA road race. Though a bit disappointed not to have taken advantage of what may have been his best-ever opportunity to finally win a 600cc Supers port race, Crevier had the consolation of taking over the lead in the series championsl1ip. As strange as it seems, Crevier has never won a 600cc final and this marked his 16th runner-up finish in the class - no one has more second-place finishes than the gritty little Canadian. But this year those seconds may pay off with the big prize. Crevier leads DuHamel by three points, 172-169, after six of 14 rounds. Ben Bostrom is third L with 162 points, dear of fourth-placed Eric Bostrom's 138. Fourth place at Road Atlanta went to Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates, in his return to action after suffering a badly broken wrist earlier in the season. Yates wasn't with the lead group, but he did a good job of working his way through the next pack to card only his second finish of the season. Yates completed the first lap in hinth place. HyperCyde Suzuki's Jason Pridmore ended up fifth, one spot better than Muzzy Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, who turned in his best ride of the season. Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts was a career-best seventh as he continues to improve in his first season on a 600cc Supersport bike. San Gabriel Mountain Spring Water's Steve Rapp, Kawasaki Team Green's Eric Wood and Yoshimura Suzuki's Larry Pegram filled out the top 10. With quaWying voided because of wet weather on Saturday, grid positions were based on championship positions. This was good for the likes of DuHamel and Chandler, but bad for Yates, who was forced to start from the fifth row. When the lights changed to green, DuHamel took advantage of the situation to storm into turn one with the lead; followed closely by Crevier, Ben Bostrom, Chandler and Eric Bostrom. Ben Bostrom was ready to win, and it showed almost immediately as he blasted past Crevier and onto the back of his teammate's CBR600. Things at the front didn't change much until the fifth lap. That's when Chandler disposed of Crevier, and Ben Bostrom shot past DuHamel into the chicane. Bostrom's lead lasted less than a lap, and then DuHamel was back in front. A few laps later, Chandler blasted by Bostrom - and DuHamel. Then it all went wrong for the top two. Going into turn seven with the lead, Chandler lost the front and crashed. He couldn't believe it, nor could anyone who was watching. Chandler doesn't crash. "I locked it up:' Chandler admitted. "It was my first lap in the lead in that corner and I was trying to get away. [ put it off in there and I knew [ was in too hot. I thought I could make it, but it immediately went down the moment it went into the corner. Everything was working good up to that point." Fortunately, he wasn't injured, but his championship aspirations took a serious hit. Chandler now trails Crevier by 36 points, despite winning the first three races of the season. With Chandler out, DuHamel took over at the front. But only for a brief time. As he exi ted the chicane, the Honda almost high-sided him after a violent slide. Then he slowed, looking down at his motorcycle, and began a fade to an eventual 17th. A rock had punctured the radiator on the CBR600, causing the bike to lose its fluids. DuHamel was lucky to have finished at all. "J saw him catch one real violent slide:' Bostrom explained later. "J saw him look back, but by then I was going by him." "J reckon his bike was overheating," Crevier said. "I was smelling coolant. For some reason they took a long time to get that start going and ·the bikes overheated a bit. J think Miguel leaked oil or something." That left just two, though Eric Bostrom was lurking behind Crevier and brother Ben. He just couldn't get close enough to strike. 'These guys were riding really, really good:' Eric Bostrom said after finishing third. "And I just couldn't close the gap. I was about a half-second to a full second back and J just wasn't getting the drive onto the back straightaway. Those guys were doing a really excellent job, and I've got to just thank my team for putting a really excellent bike under me. Next time." It came down to the final lap, with Crevier electing to lead the way. The Honda, though, had more power and Bostrom went by on the back straight, outbraked the Canadian, and led to the finish line - beating Crevier by just .165 of a second. "It could've been mine, but sometimes you've got to think a little bit beyond the race of the day," Crevier said. "That was definitely my concern. This is definitely the longest race year J can remember, with more races than ever. Finishing everyone is really important. Both Ben and Eric, from my past riding experiences with them, are pretty good on the brakes - to say the least. Right now the Honda's top-end power is really good and we still have some work to do on my Suzuki. It's coming around to me more and more and we're getting more and more competitive. It's definitely a better-handling bike and J was making up time in the infield, or what you would call the infield or the twisties. I knew that on the last lap that drafting past him wouldn't work, so J decided to lead and tried to shake him .off a bit. J could have swapped and swapped and just tried tQ run wide to the edge of everything, but that's not very sportsmanlike and it's dangerous. That's just the way it goes. I took second and second is just fine. Get- . ting the championship lead was my main concern. Suzuki isn't resting on what we have now, and they're very concerned about a championship. We're just going to build on it and build on it. Sometimes you've got to do the right thing, and that was the right thing - def. initely." . Bostrom's first win in the class came just a day after his first-ever podium finish in an AMA Superbike National. It also came just a day after he'd crashed that same superbike, hurting his Tight hand" in the process. Whether or not he'd even ride on Sunday was a question. "When J woke up this morning, I had trouble brushing my teeth and combing