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Genuine Suzuki Accessor-ies 75Dcc Super-sporot: Round One Round 1: Daytona Inter-national Speedway (Lett) Veteran Jason Pridmore punches his flst In the air after out·strategizlng youngster Ben Spies for the win. In the background Is fourth·place finisher Jimmy Moore. (RIght! Pridmore leads SpIes _ (11), Mike Clccotto (13), Rich A1eJlander (hidden) and Brian Gibbs (150) through the chicane off the start. STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS DAYTONA BEACH, Fl, MAR 9 hen Jason Pridmore scored his first professional road race points at Daytona in 1990, Ben Spies was six years old. Eleven years later, Pridmore is second on the all-time 750cc Supersport win list and Spies is starting his first full professional season. Experience counts for something, especially at a track with a personality like Daytona, and today, on a cloudy, bright afternoon, Pridmore proved it. On the final lap of the Genuine Suzuki Accessories 750cc Supersport race, Spies was leading, but he didn't want to. Neither did Pridmore. Spies had slowed so much that Attack Suzuki's Pridmore "thought he was going to slow down and buy me flowers." The Valvoline Emgo Suzuki rider didn't want to lead because he didn't want to be drafted by Pridmore at the finish line. So he crept in the infield W 36 MARCH 21, 2001 • cue •• and Pridmore took the bait, taking the lead on the backstraight and through the chicane on the final lap. Pridmore had seen the gamble work before and put his faith in the Suzuki. It paid off. Spies, 16, made a charge all the way to the stripe, but it was the veteran by 0.065 of a second, Pridmore earning his first win in nearly three years. "Probably a little bit of experience that last lap," Pridmore, 31, said after his 17th career 750cc Supersport win, second only to Scott Russell. "I said, •Just go through the chicane as clean as you can, Jason. Get a good drive and then you've done your job. That's all you can do,' and I was able to hold on." Pridmore completed the IS-lap, 53.4-mile race in 28 minutes, 53.916 seconds at an average speed of 110.871 mph. "On the final laps, I was just thinking that I didn't need to be leading out of the chicane," Spies, who was n • _ s riding with a recently broken left hand, and in only his fourth professional AMA race, said. "I was starting to try to get off the throttle out of the horseshoes and Jason would pull up next to me and keep waving me on. We were laughing, we could see each other in the helmets laughing. "Just came onto the back banking and I just let off the throttle complete· Iy and I thought we were about second gear going onto the banking. He finally led it and I just couldn't get him," Spies said. Third went to Richie Alexander, Pridmore's Attack Suzuki teammate. The New Yorker had run with the leaders early before an error dropped him out of the draft. Neither he nor Pridmore thought he'd be on the podium, so it was a pleasant surprise. Corona Extra EBSCO Suzuki's Jimmy Moore blew the start, but recovered to finish fourth, with Hooters Suzuki's Brian Gibbs fifth. The win puts Pridmore at the top of the championship charts with 36 points after the first of 11 races. Spies has 33, with Alexander in at 29. Spies had earned the pole with a new track record time of 1:52.847, over a second faster than the previous mark set last year by Australian Damon Buckmaster. He wasn't the only one in record territory. The first six riders were all under the old mark, which meant a crowd at the front of the field. That's how it went. Spies and Pridmore sprinted to·the lead while Moore bobbled. "Pretty much made a mess of the start," Moore said. "I wasn't able to put in my best first lap, and I lost the draft. " The draft pack was seven strong, Pridmore heading it from Spies, with Spies drafting by to lead the first lap in front of Pridmore, Arclight Racing's Lee Acree, Hooters Suzuki's Mike Ciccotto, Alexander, Arclight's Brian Parriott, and Hooters' Brian Gibbs. Spies tried to make a break, but Pridmore wasn't having it, even though Spies was able to lead across the line ending the second lap. Then it was Pridmore's turn. Ciccotto was the first to leave the group and his exit changed the complexion of the race. Exiting the International Horseshoe on the fourth lap, Ciccotto high-sided, splitting the top three from the rest. Ciccotto explained that he was just trying to get a drive out of the third tum. "Before I could settle into a pace, I had to ride it pretty hard in the infield to make up what I was losing on the banking," Ciccotto said. "I just got spit off." The lead trio was fluid, changing everywhere on the course, no one holding a distinct edge. Spies made a mistake and found himself in third on the 11 th lap, but it wouldn't be fatal. Acree moved into second starting the 13th lap. Seconds later his race was over. A lapped rider in turn one forced both to take evasive action, Acree to the apron. "When I hit the transition, the bars went back and forth a lot, and then straightened out. Once I got it straightened out I was out of racetrack. Once I was in the grass, there was no stopping it then." "It wasn't intentional, obviously," Pridmore said. "I really didn't know he was there." Spies took advantage of the excitement to try to check out and nearly crashed. He entered the chicane too hot and ran into the dirt on the inside of the entrance, pushing the front and compressing the suspension. Thinking Pridmore was going to hit him, he immediately looked back. "I was scared that he was going to run into me. I was just trying to see where he was," Spies said. "I think I was just scared racing against Jason Pridmore. I've never raced against somebody like that." Pridmore closed, but didn't pass him, the pair now in traffic on the 14th lap as Pridmore took the lead in the infield, Spies soon to take it back on the flat run to the start/finish line to end the lap. Then it came down to the final lap and neither wanted to lead. It looked like Pridmore was waving Spies through in the first horseshoe, but it was more that Pridmore was running in too deep, allowing Spies to get by. Pridmore knew that Spies had been getting a better drive out of turn six, onto the banking, the last few laps, and knew it would cost him if he wasn't in front by then. Spies nearly lost him in turn six, two laps from the end, but a big slide slowed his drive. It was time for Pridmore to make his move, though neither wanted to lead.