Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

any thi ng to d o w it h th e battle at th e front. " It was d e finit el y getting p retty intense toward the e nd of the ra ce," Chandler said. "I had a p retty good van tage spot to watch those guys and I was getting a bit co nce rned beca u se Jason (Prid more) wa s cat ching me up. I d id n' t want to.be around anybody. I was pretty happy w he re I was at. I think we got lucky wh en Aaron (Yates) took him and Nicky (Hayd en) o ut. I was go ing to be ha ppy with a fi ft h-p lace fin is h - n o problem . For so me reason, th e he at of the mo tor really see ms to both er it (his in jured a nkle) . It' s swo lle n , stiff and sore, but ou t there, racing, i~ wasn't so bad . It sho uld n't be . If yo u' re thi nking about that, th en yo u've got p roblems. I had enoug h just to wa tch these guys go a t it. It was pretty im p ressive. It was a p retty good show. I was in a p ret ty goo d spot. I wasn' t sure if To mmy's m u ffler was going to fall off or not - it wa s sparking through all the right-ha nders. I was hop ing fo r h im that it ' d ha ng in the re and not lose power. He di d a good job, considering what was wrong w ith h is bike." No tab les faili ng to finish w ere Ric h ard Alexan de r Jr. and Kurti s Roberts, the pair having crashed toge thf~ e r on the fou rth lap . Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexingto n, Ohio . Results : Jul y 19, 1998 (Roun d 10 of 14) &OOe(' SUI',fRS PO RT FINAL: 1. Steve Cre vier (Suz) ; 2. Tom my Ha yd en (Kaw): 3. Do ug Cha nd ler (K.1W) 4. ; Jason Pridm ore (sux)! 5. Eric Bostrom (He n): 6. Larry Pegram. (Sux ); 7. Ben Bos trom (H on): B. Ste ve Rapp (Suz); 9. Ja mie Hanshaw (SUl); 10. joseph Gill IKaw): 11. Ke ith Wilson (Suz) : 12. Bobby Kei th (Hen): 13. Eri k Sc hnacke nberg (5 u7.); 14. Denby Bra uni ng (Hen): 15. Ema nuel Manu suthakis (Ka w ): lb . jo seph Flet ch e r {Suz); 17. Mike Voe lke r (H en): 18. Todd Harrin gt o n (K.1 W); 19. N icky Ha yden (Suz); zo. Aaro n Ya tes (Suz): 2 1. Kevin Lehman (H e n ): 22. Jason Mo rse (5uz); 23. Na te Wait (Kewb 24. Kurt Marm or IHon) : 25. Jeff Pu rk (Han); 26. Brian Hcatea {Kaw), 27. Michael Radk e (Suz) ; 28. John Iecob l (Suz) : 29. Sca n Kowa lski (Hon): 30. Mike C ico tto (Suzl : 3 1. Jerry Na n tz Jr . (Su z ); -32. Ku rtis Robe rt s (Hon) : 33 . Richard A lexa nder Jr . (Su z): 34. Anthony Pur d ue (Hen): 35. larry Denni ng (Ka w ). Time: 24 min ., 45.080 sec. . D ista nce: 16 laps , 38.4 mile s Average speed: 93.086 mph Margin of victory : 0.284 ~'C . AMA & 00c< SU PERS PO RT SERIES C'S H IP POI NT ST ANDINGS (After 10 of 14 ro unds) : 1. Steve Crev ier (289/1 w in) ; 2. Dou g Chan dle r (276 /6); 3. Ben Bostrom (267/1); 4. Eric Bostrom (246); 5. Nicky Ha yden (230/ 1); 6. Tomm y He yden (2251; 7. Steve Rapp (209); 8. J.1St-1I1 Pridmor e (20R) ; q . Migu el DuHame l (l9tn; to . La rry .. Pegram (189); 11. Kurtis Robert s (63); 12. AMon Yates (136) ; 13. (T IE) Rich a rd Alexa nder Ir./ Ke it h Wil son ( 11S); 15. Bob by Keit h OBI. Ze mke (Suz) : 18. Joseph Gill (Kaw) : 19. Keith Wilson (SU:l.); 20 . William Mrk las (Suz): 21. Scan Kowa lski (Ho n): 22. Keit h Ma rque z (Suz) : 23. jose ph Fle tch e r (Suz): 24. Dav id Naysm ith (5uz) ; 25. Eric Schna ckenberg (Suz) : 26. Todd Sny der (Soz) ; 27. Dav id Simo n (Sux); 28. Eric Seward (Suz). T im e: 29 min .• 49.100 sec . Dista nce: Ielaps, 38,4 milt'S Ave rage speed: 77.268 mph Ma rgi n of victory: 0.298 5eC. AMA 150" SUPE RS PO RT SE R IES C'S HI P POINT ST A N D INGS (Afte r 9 o f 13 ro u n ds) : 1. Steve Rap p (26 1 / 1 win ); 2. jason Pr idmore (255 /4); 3. Richard Alexander Jr. (246/1); 4. [am es Randolph (234); 5. Mario DuH amel ( 213) ; 6 . N ic ky Ha yden (1 97 / 3); 7. Paul Ha rre ll (1q 3 ); 8. Jimmy Moore (159); 9. Da le Kieffer (144); 10. Jamie Bowman (143); 11. John Jacobi ( 36); 12. Ja ke Ze mke (122); 13. St ev e Tl'sch ke (116); 14. Mik e Sulli va n (86); 15. Keith Wilson (84); 16. Sea n Koal ski (SO); 17. Charles Cho ui nard (67); 18. Eri k Sch nac kenberg (59); 19. Ricardo Bo rd in (54); 20. Co ry Ca ll (52). bot h the 600 an d 750cc Su persport finals the re. Hayd en led the race wire to wire to w in his th ird 750cc Su pe rs port race of 1998, ho ld ing back the rele ntless la te-lap attack of his teammate Jaso n Pridmore a nd San Gabrie l Moun ta in Spring Wat er's Steve Rapp . In the end, Hayden crossed the finish line with just .298 of a second to s pare, with P ridm ore an d Rapp fin ishi ng second and third, respectively. Fourth place went to Barnett Tool & Engineering's Richa rd Alexander Jr. The New Yorke r sta rted off seco nd bu t had to give way to both Pridmore and Rapp before settling into a comfortabl e a nd lonely fou rth. Hooter's Res ta ura nt' s Pau l Ha rrell w as fif th, followed by Ric ci Motors p o r ts ' Ji m my Moore, Motorsports Suzuki 's Brian Gibbs, 4&6 Cycle's Todd Ha rri ngton, Hoote r's Mario DuHamel an d 10th-place finish er James Rand olp h, o n the seco nd Ricci Mo torsports en try.• Everyo n e in t he t o p 10 with the excep tio n of Kawasaki-mounted Harrin gt on rode Suz uki GSX-R750s. In fact, yo u had to look back to 18th p lace to find ano ther non -Suzu ki in the field . Pridm or e' s second-place fin is h to Rapp's th ird allowed Prid more to gain a fe w ' poin ts in th e ra ce for th e 750cc Supersport championship . Rapp now leads Pr id more by just six points, 261. 255. Alexa nder is thi rd with 246 points, with Ra nd lo ph fourth a t 234. H ayden jumped from seventh to sixth in the stand ings , but he trails Rapp - who has finis hed on the podium in four of the nine races by 64 poin ts. Th is one was all Hayd en' s early on , th ou gh i t did e nd up ge t ti ng a bi t tough er. Hayd en led th e way into tu rn one of th e 16-lap race, lead ing Alexand er a nd Pridmo re, wit h Rapp q uickly s hoo ti ng p a st Pridm o re . Prid mo re, thou gh , wo u ld .hold the spot at the completion of the first lap . M ean wh ile , H a yd en w as pu ll in g away as Prid more and Rapp cau ght up to Alexa nder. By this time, Randolph ha d received the bad news via a meat ball flag that he'd jumped the sta rt and would req uire to pull in for a stop-andgo pe nalty. He d id well to climb his way back to 10th by the end of the race. H ayd en ' s la rges t lead ca me o n the sixth lap, when he led by 1.6 seconds. By then Pridmo re had wo rked his way past Alexa nder, an d now his job was clear: catch his team mate. "I go t off the line a little slow ," Pridmore expla ined . "Steve (Ra pp ) go t by me on the first lap an d I ended up getting back by him. Then I had to ge t by Richie (Alexa nder), a nd Richi e, I th ink, was hold ing Steve an d I up a little bit. I knew that once we go t by Richie, m aybe we could catch up to Nicky (Hayden). I jus t pu t my head down and tried to reel in Nicky." . Prid m o re s ta r te d to chi p away a t > Upcoming Rounds: Round 11 . Brainerd. Minnesota, August 2 Round 12 - Joliet, Illinois, A~g ust 9 A AfTe mline7 M a 50ccS rsport Series upe R ound9 id-Qhio S Car Course :M ports Tho reltarn of "aydCln By Pa ul Ca rruthe rs Photo by Hen ny Ra y Ab ra ms LEXINGTON,OH, JULY 18 ~ ype rCycle Suzuki's Nicky Hayd en was t h e h o t t es t th i n g in A mer ican roa d racing ea rly in t e yea r. For those wh o m ight have for go tte n, Ha yd e n sent o u t a re m inder notice by winning th e 750cc Su pe rspo rt fina l a t the Mid -O hio Sports Car Course today . It was th e 16-year-old' s first wi n s ince he sco re d the d ou bl e a t Willo w Sp ri n g s ba ck in A p ril w hen h e w on Nicky Hayden (69) mana ged to hold off his team mate J as on Pridmore (41) to win the 750cc Supers port final at Mid-Qhio. Upcoming Rounds Round 10 - Brainerd, Minnesota, August 1 Round 11 - Joliet, Illinois , August 8 . AMAE R n aceFuelslLubricantsG P rand rix R 9 ound :Mid-OhioS portsC rC a ourse fill in tho Ha den 's lead, bri nging Rapp with him . The l.6-second lead dwindled to 1.1 and then all of a sudden it wa s go ne - thanks to lapped traffic h indering H ayd en' s progress. "Traffic really he lped me catch him he got so me back markers in so me rea lly bad p laces," Pridmo re exp la in ed . " It By Henny Ra y Abrams d e fi n it e ly worked in my fa vo r over Nicky's . He go t held u p really bad right LEXINGTON, OHIO, JULY 19 b efore the Ke yhole; h e had to go by u r ti s Ro be rts did n 't t hink he three guys and I jus t charged in th er e. co u ld rac e h is Erio n Ra c in g We were having trou ble ge tting the bike H ond a RS250 tod a y , no t a fte r off the corn ers today - I just d idn't see m being punted off the tra ck d u ring the to have it com ing off the corne rs. Unless Pro Hond a Oils 600cc Supersport race, I could get close enough on the straightflying through the air and landing bad ly aways, I was n't go ing to ge t by 'e m ." on his left foot and hand . To make matters wo rse for Pridmore, " H e' ll on ly do a la p or two, " then he was sick and later ad mi tted to having pu ll in , 'a member of his crew said jus t d ry heaves o n the final laps. before the sta rt of the race. Though he could get close, Pridmore But so met hing happen ed during the couldn't pass his teammate. race w hich kept him going - ke p t him "I go t a reall y good start and rig ht going so fast, in fact, tha t he was able to from the beginning I jus t tried to be condo so me thing his father, Ken ny Roberts, sistent and smooth," Hayd en sai d. "I go t d id numerous tim es, and so me thing his a little bit of d istance in the beginn ing, broth er, Ken ny Roberts [ r. , never d id : but I knew they were go ing to be comHe wo n an AMA pro fession al road race. ing. Once we go t into traffic, I just didn't No t o nly d id he win his first AMA race, really push real ha rd in traffic beca use I it was h is firs t p ro fessi o nal road race didn't want to do no thing stupid. I don ' t w in of any kind . . know w ha t my times we re, bu t I th ink I "I told myself if I cou ld ride the thing was really con sistent the w hol e time. I today th a t I would win," the yo ungest knew that tire wear was probably going Rober ts said after coming out on top of to be a facto r a t th e end, so I tr ied to a th r ill ing th ree-way slug fes t w it h save my tire as bes t I cou ld. It's bee n a World Sport Imports' C huck Sorensen, while since I won one, so I just wanted second today, an d thi rd-placed Roland to win rea lly bad today. I was rea dy to Sands of Performance Machine. go." "Ir s reall y b een a w h ile co m ing," Rap p crossed th e line third , just .6 of Roberts continued . "I thou gh t we had a second behi nd Pridmore and .8 behind the bike at Road Atlanta. I th ought we Hay de n . Ele ve n seco n ds lat er ca me h ad the co m b ina tio n fo r Lo u do n . Alexa nder. Elkhart, we actually should ha ve never " It was o ne of the b est rid es I'v e been on the p odi um -. (Taka hi to) M ori had ," Rapp said . "I felt good a nd th e ha nded u s tha t. We just di d n't ge t the b ike w ent goo d. W e mad e ' s o m e s tart a n d co ul d n 't keep up with th e changes and it's obviously im p roved guys. We cou ld d o th e sa me tim es, we a lot. Before, it was a lmost impossib le . ju s t co u ld n 't go a ny faste r tha n they just to tr y and stay with th em . Now, were go ing to ca tch up wit h them . It' s wit h the cha nges, it feel s good a nd I rea lly a s tra nge place for it all to come fee l good fo r the rest of the series. It \ togethe r here, es pecially after tod ay . I wa s a chassis thing . Th e m o to r is no hit the g ro und tw ice, once in mornin g d iffere nt , but we changed some chassis . wa rm u p o n the 600 an d I go t drilled stuff and I was surprised a t ho w much going' in to the carousel. I was, I'd say, at difference it made. Before, I'd q ua lify at least eig ht feet off the grou nd befor e I least a second o ff a t every ra ce - now hit. I ca n't wa lk s till. My hand 's reall y I'm only a co uple of ten th s her e an d bad ." th ere. Even though it is th ird , it's s till And how wo u ld his d ad react to the good for me.': 0 news? "I don't think he can complain wh en Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington , Ohio you wi n . It' s ki nd o f ha rd to d o th at. Resu lts: J uly 18, 1998 (Round 9 of 13) Yea h, he' ll be ha p p y. Especially after hea rin g w hat we we n t th rough tod ay. 750cc SU IJERs rO RT FINAL: 1. Nic ky Ha yden (Suz): 2. Jason Pr id mo re (Suz); 3. Steve Rapp (Suz ): 4. Everyone's hap py." Rich ard Alexa nder Jr. (SU7.); 5. Paul Ha rr ell (Suz ): 6. The win allowed Rober ts to close u p Jim m y Moore (Suz ): 7. Brian G ibbs (Suz); 8. Todd Har rington (Ka w): 9. Ma rio DuHa me l (5uz) ; 10. [am es a few points on Sands in th e race for the Randolph (Suz ): 11. Brian Gibson (Suz) : 12. Dille Kieffer Elf Ra ce Fuels /Lu brican ts Grand Pr ix (Suz ): 13. Jamie Hansha w (Suz): 14. John Jacob i (Suz ); Champ ions hip . Wit h four races remain15. Dan iel Bailey (Suz); 16. Mike Clccotto (Suz); 17. Jake falllily K 11

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