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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128129
Suzuki Cup Finals Caylor's start was equally bad, if not worse, in the SV-650 Cup Final. The leaders were Richmond Cycles' Bradley Champion and CAD Racing's David Yaakov, the same pair who'd battled all weekend in the Sportsman races with Champion usually the victor. Champion led the first two laps, Yaakov briefly in the lead, then Champion back in front. The pair were relentless, a point not lost on Caylor when he moved into third on the fourth lap, passing MB Motorsports' Robert Fisher. "They were really battling," Caylor said. "I saw how intense the battle was. 'Man, I don't want to be a part of that.' I really wanted to see how it tumed out." As it turned out, the pair's fight slowed each other down and Caylor was able to make the pass. "I reeled them in and figured I could make a good move into 10 and up and over II, make a clean lap in the infield and break away." When he came around the next lap the race was red-flagged with Champion and Yaakov on the ground. "He [Champion) high-sided in front of me," Yaakov said. "I had nowhere to go." Yaakov said he tried to miss Champion's bike. "I closed my eyes and the next thing I know, I hit him," he said. The win was given to Caylor with Yaakov second and Fisher third. "Those guys up front were going nuts," Fisher said. "I was thinking I'd get up with them later." Sparks Steakhouse's Charles Chouinard got the holeshot in the GSX-R750 Suzuki Cup Final, leading Arclight Suzuki's Scott Harwell on the first lap before Harwell took over, taking Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's John Haner with him. Robert Jensen moved into third early on, the top three in front of a sting of several other riders. Jensen took over the lead on the fourth lap and was in front when the race was red-flagged on the fifth of 10 laps. After over a 30-minute delay, the race was restarted as WERA officials fought a race with darkness. With Daylight Savings Time ending on Saturday, there was one less hour of light for racing, so all races, including the 750 final, were shortened by two laps. Haner led the restart from Caylor, Chouinard, Harwell, and Jensen, with Chouinard running wide in the esses and falling back. He'd end up sixth. STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS BRASELTON,GA, OCT. 28 rF'> hris "Opie" Caylor knows his ~ way around Road Atlanta. When he's not racing on the 12-turn road course, Caylor works as an instructor at the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Riding School. On the final day of the WERA Grand National Finals, he did some extra-curricular schooling, riding his Team Xtreme Suzukis to his first ever Suzuki Cup Final win in the GSXR600 Cup race, then added another in the SV-650 Cup race, and carded a second-place finish in the 750 Cup main, all on a cold and sunny Sunday. The 750 Suzuki Cup Final was the closest of the day, with four riders all finishing on the same second and Robert Jensen leading the way from Caylor, Corona Extra EBSCO Media's Vincent Haskovec, and Roadracingworld.com's Chris Ulrich. Ulrich won the final Cup race, the GSX-R 1000 Suzuki Cup Final, over 2Wheelsales.com's Tim Bemisderfer, with Vesrah Racing's Mark Junge third. The TL-l 000 Suzuki Cup Final went to Scott Harwell by less than a second over Delano Sports Centers' Steve Johnson, with Russell Masecar third. Mark Junge led the first lap of the 600 final with Caylor back in fifth, but to the front on lap two and every lap thereafter. The top five riders made a break on the second lap, then the top three got away, with three more just behind. Robert Jensen had moved into second on the fourth lap, with Junge seeming to drift back, but making a comeback as the laps ran down. While Jensen worried about Junge, Caylor inched away, Winning his first ever Cup race by 2.022 seconds. "I really wanted that one bad," said Caylor, who's Team Xtreme Suzukis are backed by Suzuki of Canton, Pennzoil, and EMGO. "The whole plan was to get away. 1 kept seeing plus zero on my board. 'You've got to be kidding? Who's going along?' On the fifth or sixth lap it was plus one. The next lap it was plus 2. I didn't back off on the last lap, but I did it right." Caylor attributed some of his success to a gearing change. Strong winds on Friday and Saturday caused him to reconsider his gearing, so he added a tooth on the rear. It caused two more upshifts and two more downshifts, but it was worth it. "It seemed to work really well," he said. 6 NOVEMBER 7,2001 • cue I • neVIl'S Out front, Caylor stuffed his way into the lead on the second lap, Haner fighting back, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Jensen was lurking with intent in third. On the fifth lap, Jensen made his move, taking Vincent Haskovec with him, as Haner fell back to fourth, then fifth a lap later when Ulrich passed him. By now, Caylor was sliding around and he knew why. "I took a gamble and it killed me," Caylor said. The gamble was not changing the rear tire during the red-flag break. "The tire went off on the fourth or fifth lap. It killed my drives." Jensen took the lead on the seventh lap with Caylor just back and in front of Haskovec, but Caylor wasn't done. On the final lap, Caylor tested Jensen out of turn 11 and over the hill, briefly getting the lead, but Jensen got the better drive out of the final comer and the win, by .117 of a second. Vincent Haskovec was third, .757 of a second back, with Ulrich fourth .896 of a second behind the winner. "He outdrove me up and over the hill and beat me out of 12," Caylor said. "That was the money pass," Jensen said of his move past Caylor in turn 12. "I wasn't very strong there all weekend. I thought I'd go for it on the last lap and got by him. He got by me in the [Gravity] Cavity. I got a good drive coming under the bridge and held it on down the hill." " I really tried my best," Haskovec said. "It's been a tough weekend." The first of the Cup races was the TL-I000 final with Steve Johnson getting the jump on the field from Russell Masecar and Arclight Suzuki's Scott Harwell. Harwell challenged for the lead early in the second lap, Masecar taking it back, with Johnson