Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIProg ressi v e In s u r a n c e U .S . Flat T r a c k C h a mp ionsh ips Round 4 : Illinois State Fairg r o unds - , .- [ ~~ ~ ) ~) . '.: . . , . ~ ,. STO RY A N D PH OT OS BY D AVE H OENI G/FLA T TRA K F OT OS SPRINGAELD, IWNOIS MAY 28 t did n 't take long to see t h a t dirt tracker-turned-road ra c e r Tommy Hayden hadn 't lost any o f his d irt t ra ck ski lls , m aybe e ve n im p ro ve d them , wh en t h e AMA /P rog ressive Ins ura n c e U.S. Flat Trac k Champi onships returned to th e Illino is Sta te Fa irgrounds' rodeo a rena to finish off th e we ek end o f flat -tra ck racing in Springfi e ld with its rain -postp on ed TT . Th e Yamaha factory gave one of its sta r road ra ce rs perm ission to go play in the d irt, and even helped him put tog eth er a Yamaha YZ426F for th e TT . All throu gh p ra ct ice , the stop watch es p roved wh a t was obvious: The Yama ha/Fox/ Arai-backed Hay den was go ing to be one of th e m en to be a t. The fou r-lap qu alifying heats backed t ha t u p, as Tommy Hayden was a lmost thre e seconds faster th an his brothe r Nicky. But could he ma intain th at for 10 laps? Yes, on ce ag a in, Tommy Hayd en wa s the fastest of the heat - rac e winn e rs , h is pole-s itt ing time s ome fou r-seconds faster than Nicky's. But s ure ly a 25-lap race on the tight , twisty tra c k would get the best of someone who hadn 't ridden a d irt tra c k G rand Nat ional in fo u r ye a rs , right? In s t e a d , To m m y Hayd en gav e a th or ough blistering to a strong field of TT ri ders, earning h is fi rst career AMA Grand Nati on a l d irt track victory . Furthermor e , Hayden became the first Yamaha rider to achieve an AMA Gr an d Nationa l dirt track victory in n ea rly 2 0 y ears , t he la st com ing at th e h ands o f S c ott Pea rso n at the Pe or ia TT on August 9, 1981. Th e onl y rider in Tommy Hayden 's lea g ue was Nicky Hayden, aboard his C o r b in / S ams on -backed Ro ta x . Nicky' s s e cond -pla c e finish was not without some ex pe ns e , a s Tommy 's win robbed him o f a noth e r c ruc ia l piece to the AMA Grand S lam pu zzle : a TT wi n to g o a lo n g with hi s ha lf mile , short tra ck and road ra ce victo r ies . Ha d Nic k y Ha yd en wo n th e event, he wou ld ne e d onl y a mile win to complete the historic sweep . Oh well , there's a lwa ys Pe oria . Just the s ame , Tommy and Nicky put on a show for all those who came o ut for the rain -delayed TT. The duo attacked each other much like they ha ve th ousands of t im es o n t h e ir backyard ra ce tra c k in Kentucky . "We've done th is everyday , most of our lives, " T ommy Hayden sa id afterward. "I'm sure there we re a cou - pie of p laces he [Nic ky ] could have rod e a littl e more aggressive . If th is would have been hom e, we bo t h would have p robably been down ." Instead, it was a Ha yde n o ne- two sweep , with the man with th e most TT wins in AMA his to ry, Chris Carr, a distant third . 32 n I JUNE 6,2001 • eye I e Bro thers Tommy Hayden (22C) and Nicky Hayden (6 9) battled fu riously for t he wi n at the in augura l Springfield TT. Using a slightly modified Yamaha VZ 426F, Tommy came out on to p to bag his f irst career AMA Grand National dirt track win and give Yamaha Its first Grand National dirt track w in in nearly two decades. e _ s "T hos e k ids up front were flyi ng , a nd I would ha ve had to take a lot of risks just to run with them the whol e ra c e ," Ca rr s a id . "Th a t aggressive ne ss th ey had in th e beginning , I just wasn't ready for that. " Tomm y Hayden was aggress ive right off the sta rt, though. "Will [Davis] got a re a l good start and got into turn one ahead of rile ," Tommy Hay den sa id. "He go t in a little hot and I almost got by hi m there, but I got him over b y th e j u m p . I kn e w I had to make my move fa s t and get awa y while t he track wa s good. I did n 't get away like I wanted

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